DUAL MODE WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE

• US 20120309453A1
• Filed: 05/31/2011
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Maguire, Yael
• Granted Patent: US 8,644,892 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.1
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/20 using microwaves or radio frequency waves
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/04 including near field communication means, e.g. RFID
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave

Abstract

A wireless communications device includes a battery, a processing section coupled to the battery, and an RF interface. The battery is configured to provide power to operate the wireless communications device in a first mode of operation. The processing section is configured to operate on battery power in the first mode of operation. The RF interface is configured to receive an RF signal and generate operating power for the wireless communication device from the RF signal in a second mode of operation. The wireless communications device is configured to detect available RF power and enter the second mode of operation from the first mode of operation.

Claims

1. A wireless communications device comprising:

a battery configured to provide power to operate the wireless communications device in a first mode of operation;

a processing section coupled to the battery and configured to operate on battery power in the first mode of operation; and

an RF interface configured to receive an RF signal and generate operating power for the wireless communication device from the RF signal in a second mode of operation;

wherein the wireless communications device is configured to detect available RF power and enter the second mode of operation from the first mode of operation.

2. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications device is configured to function as one of a cellular telephone, a tablet computer and a notebook computer in the first mode of operation.

3. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications device is configured such that the processing section enters a sleep mode in the second mode of operation, and the wireless device is further configured to detect a fill state of a memory device and based on the fill state change the processing section from the sleep mode to an active mode and conduct data transfer with the memory device.

4. The wireless communications device of claim 3, wherein the RF interface is configured to receive data from the RF signal in the second mode of operation and the wireless communications device is configured to store the data in the memory device.

5. The wireless communications device of claim 1, wherein the RF interface is configured to modulate the RF signal and provide backscatter communication with a source of the RF signal.

6. The wireless communication device of claim 3, wherein the wireless communications device is configured to read data from the memory and provide an output message to the source of the RF signal by modulating the RF signal.

7. The wireless communication device of claim 4, wherein the wireless communications device is configured to read data from the memory and provide an output message to the source of the RF signal by modulating the RF signal.

8. A method of communicating with a wireless communications device comprising:

operating the wireless communications device in a first mode of operation using operating power supplied by a battery contained in the wireless communications device;

detecting presence of an RF signal, and in response, operating the wireless communications device in a second mode of operation using operating power derived from the RF signal.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

in the first mode of operation, operating the wireless communications device as one of a cellular telephone, a tablet computer and a notebook computer.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

detecting that a storage level of a memory has reached a limit; and

changing a processor of the wireless communications device from an inactive state to an active state.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising;

extracting data from the RF signal in the wireless communications device in the second mode of operation; and

storing the data in the memory in the wireless communications device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising moving data from the memory using the processor.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising reading data from the memory and providing an output message from the wireless communications device by modulating the RF signal.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising modulating the RF signal by the wireless communications device to provide backscatter communication with a source of the RF signal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein modulating the RF signal includes modulating the RF signal with identification data of the wireless communications device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the source of the RF signal is a base station having at least one network connection, and wherein the method further comprises receiving the identification data at the base station and providing the identification data to at least one remote device over the network connection.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving at the base station from a remote device over the network connection a message for the wireless communications device, and modulating the RF signal to provide the message to the wireless communications device.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the source of the RF signal is a base station having at least one network connection, and wherein the method further comprises receiving data from the wireless device at the base station and providing the data to a remote device over the network connection.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising reading data from the memory and providing an output message from the wireless communications device by modulating the RF signal.

20. A wireless communication system comprising:

a wireless device; and

a base station having at least one network connection and an RF transceiver configured to generate an RF signal and communicate with the wireless device using backscatter communication;

wherein the wireless device includes;

a battery configured to provide power to operate the wireless device in a first mode of operation;

a processing section coupled to the battery and configured to operate on battery power in the first mode of operation; and

an RF interface configured to receive the RF signal from the base station and generate operating power for the wireless device from the RF signal in a second mode of operation;

wherein the wireless device is configured to detect available RF power and enter the second mode of operation from the first mode of operation.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the wireless device is configured to function as one of a cellular telephone, a tablet computer and a notebook computer in the first mode of operation.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the wireless device is configured such that the processing section enters a sleep mode in the second mode of operation, and the wireless device is further configured to detect a fill state of a memory device and based on the fill state change the processing section from the sleep mode to an active mode and conduct data transfer with the memory device.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the RF interface is configured to receive data from the RF signal in the second mode of operation and the wireless device is configured to store the data in the memory device.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein the RF interface is configured to modulate the RF signal to provide data to the base station.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the wireless device is configured to read data from the memory and provide an output message to the source of the RF signal by modulating the RF signal.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein the RF interface is configured to modulate the RF signal with identification data of the wireless device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the base station is configured to receive the identification data and provide the identification data to at least one remote device over the network connection.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the base station is further configured to receive from a remote device over the network connection a message for the wireless device, and modulate the RF signal to provide the message to the wireless device.

29. The system of claim 26 wherein the base station is configured to receive data from the wireless device at the base station and provide the data to a remote device over the network connection.

30. The system of claim 23, wherein the RF interface is configured to receive data from the RF signal in the second mode of operation and the wireless device is configured to store the data in the memory device.