Wirelessly Communicating Radio Frequency Signals

• US 20090108063A1
• Filed: 11/17/2008
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DeviceFidelity, Inc. (Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: DeviceFidelity, Inc. (Block, Inc. (f/k/a Square, Inc.))
• Inventors: Malhotra, Amitaabh, Jain, Deepak, Dao, Tuan Quoc
• Granted Patent: US 9,311,766 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07732 the record carrier having a housing or construction similar to well-known portable memory devices, such as SD cards, USB or memory sticks housings for electrical equipment in general, see H05K5/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10237 the reader and the record carrier being capable of selectively switching between reader and record carrier appearance, e.g. in near field communication [NFC] devices where the NFC device may function as an RFID reader or as an RFID tag
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/352 Contactless payments by cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3574 Multiple applications on card
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3576 Multiple memory zones on card
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/0806 Details of the card record carriers per se G06K
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0274 for an electrical connector module
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7246 by connection of exchangeable housing parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/47 using near field communication [NFC] or radio frequency identification [RFID] modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/00 Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for wirelessly communicating Radio Frequency (RF) signals. In some implementations, a microSD payment system includes an antenna element and a card element. The antenna element affixes to a surface of a mobile device and includes antenna for wireless communicating RF signals with retail terminals and a connection to a microSD card element. The card element includes a shape and dimensions approximately equal to a standard microSD card and wirelessly executes transactions with the retail terminals using the antenna of the antenna element.

Claims

1. A micro SecureDigital (microSD) payment card, comprising:

a first interface that connects to a microSD slot of a mobile host device;

a second interface that includes an antenna for wirelessly communicating with retail terminals;

secure memory that stoles user credentials and a payment application used to execute financial transactions with the retail terminals, the user credentials and the payment application associated with a financial institution;

a user-interface module that presents and receives information through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the mobile host device; and

a processing module that executes the payment application using the user credentials in response to at least a transaction request received by the RF module and transmits at least one transaction response to the retail terminal based, at least in part, on the executed payment application.

2. The microSD payment card of claim 1, further comprising a housing that encloses at least a portion of the secure memory, the user-interface module and the processing module.

3. The microSD of claim 2, wherein the housing includes a substantially-planar interior surface, the antenna includes a coiled antenna adjacent the substantially-planar interior surface.

4. The microSD of claim 2, wherein the antenna includes a helical antenna, the housing enclosing the helical antenna.

5. The microSD of claim 4, further comprising a dielectric core, wherein the helical antenna is adjacent a surface of the dielectric core.

6. The microSD of claim 5, wherein the dielectric core at least includes ferrite.

7. The microSD payment card of claim 2, wherein the housing includes an external surface, further comprising a resilient element substantially encasing the antenna and abutting the external surface of the housing.

8. The microSD payment card of claim 7, wherein the antenna includes a coiled antenna.

9. The microSD payment card of claim 7, wherein the antenna includes a helical antenna.

10. The microSD payment card of claim 9, further comprising a dielectric core, wherein the helical antenna is adjacent a surface of the dielectric core.

11. The microSD payment card of claim 10, wherein the dielectric core at least includes ferrite.

12. The microSD payment card of claim 1, further comprising an isolation element that substantially directs interference signals generated by the microSD payment card away from circuitry of the mobile host device.

13. The microSD payment card of claim 12, wherein the isolation element substantially prevents an additional load on a battery of the mobile host device resulting from the interference signals.

14. A microSD payment system, comprising:

a resilient member enclosing at least a portion of an antenna and forming a slot for receiving a microSD payment card, wherein the slot includes a first set of electrical contacts for the antenna; and

the microSD payment card that wirelessly executes transactions with retail terminals using the antenna of the resilient member and includes a housing with a second set of electrical contacts, wherein the first set and the second set are electrically connected during insertion.

15. The microSD payment system of claim 14, wherein the antenna includes a coiled antenna.

16. The microSD payment system of claim 14, wherein the microSD payment card includes a first notch for receiving an element in a microSD slot and a second notch for receiving a protrusion in the slot of the resilient member.

17. The microSD payment system of claim 14, wherein the microSD payment card includes a width and a thickness at least approximately to a width and a thickness of a standard microSD card and a length greater than a length of the standard microSD card.

18. The microSD payment system of claim 14, further comprising an isolation element that substantially directs interference signals generated by the microSD payment card away from circuitry of the mobile host device.

19. The microSD payment system of claim 18, wherein the isolation element substantially prevents an additional load on a battery of the mobile host device resulting from the interference signals.

20. A microSD payment system, comprising:

an antenna element that affixes to a surface of a mobile device and includes antenna for wireless communicating RF signals with retail terminals and a connection to a microSD card element; and

the card element that includes a shape and dimensions approximately equal to a standard microSD card and wirelessly executes transactions with the retail terminals using the antenna of the antenna element.

21. The microSD payment system of claim 20, wherein the connection to the microSD card element is a flexible wired connection.

22. The microSD payment system of claim 20, wherein the connection to the microSD card element is a wireless connection.

23. The microSD payment system of claim 22, wherein the wireless connection uses a first frequency to communicate with the antenna element, the antenna element uses a second frequency different from the first frequency to communicate with the retail terminals.

24. The microSD payment system of claim 20, wherein the antenna element includes a biometric reader.

25. The microSD payment system of claim 20, further comprising an isolation element that substantially directs interference signals generated by the microSD payment card away from circuitry of the mobile host device.

26. The microSD payment system of claim 25, wherein the isolation element substantially prevents an additional load on a battery of the mobile host device resulting from the interference signals.

27. A microSD payment card, comprising:

a physical interface that connects to a microSD slot of a mobile host device that includes a circuit board;

secure memory that stores user credentials and a payment application used to execute financial transactions with the retail terminals, the user credentials and the payment application associated with a financial institution;

a contactless chipset that wirelessly transmits and receives RF signals using the circuit board of the mobile host device; and

a processing module that executes the payment application using the user credentials in response to at least a transaction request received by the RF module and transmits at least one transaction response to the retail terminal based, at least in pail, on the executed payment application.

28. The microSD payment card of claim 27, further comprising a frequency filter circuit for filtering out RF signals received from the circuit board.