APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SELECTING PICC IN PORTABLE TERMINAL

• US 20130122806A1
• Filed: 11/02/2012
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: YUN, Chuleun
• Granted Patent: US 9,219,527 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/00 Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion G06K1/00; pattern recognition G06F18/00; arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding G06V10/00; character recognition, recognising digital ink or document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00
• 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: G06K 7/10297 arrangements for handling protocols designed for non-contact record carriers such as RFIDs NFCs, e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 and 18092 cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; network security protocols H04L63/00; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; network protocols for data switching network services H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/00 Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements

Abstract

An apparatus and method for selecting a Proximity Interface Coupling Card (PICC) of a portable terminal having a Near Field Communication (NFC) module including multiple PICCs are provided. The method includes activating the NFC module when the portable terminal is at a power-off state, determining whether a key signal for activating one PICC among the multiple of PICCs is inputted in the activated NFC module, and activating the PICC mapped with the inputted key signal when the key signal is inputted.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a Proximity Interface Coupling Card (PICC) of a portable terminal having a Near Field Communication (NFC) module including multiple PICCs, the method comprising:

activating the NFC module when the portable terminal is at a power-off state;

determining whether a key signal for activating one PICC among the multiple PICCs is inputted in the activated NFC module; and

activating the PICC mapped with the inputted key signal when the key signal is inputted.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

activating a default PICC among the multiple PICCs when the key signal is not inputted.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activating of the NFC module is performed when the portable terminal approaches a reader capable of recognizing the NFC module within a certain distance and power is supplied to the NFC module by resonant inductive coupling.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

transmitting information of the activated PICC to the reader.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether the key signal is inputted includes determining whether the key signal is an individual key signal or a combination key signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining of whether the key signal is inputted includes measuring an input time of the individual key signal or the combination key signal.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

switching so that the key signal is transmitted to a controller when the portable terminal is turned on; and

switching so that the key signal is transmitted to the NFC module when the portable terminal is turned off.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising dividing a battery voltage so that the voltage becomes similar to an operating voltage of the NFC module.

9. An apparatus for selecting a Proximity Interface Coupling Card (PICC) of a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising:

a Near Field Communication (NFC) module including multiple PICCs; and

an input unit for inputting a key signal for activating one PICC among the multiple PICCs when the portable terminal is at a power-off state,

wherein the NFC module determines whether the key signal is inputted from the input unit when the NFC module is activated and when the portable terminal is at the power-off state, and activates a PICC mapped with the inputted key signal among the multiple PICCs when the key signal is inputted.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the NFC module activates a default PICC among the multiple PICCs when the key signal is not inputted.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the NFC module is activated by resonant inductive coupling generated when the portable terminal approaches a reader capable of recognizing the NFC module.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the NFC module transmits information of the activated PICC to the reader when the PICC mapped with the inputted key signal is activated.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the NFC module comprises:

a mode selection unit for recognizing the key signal inputted from the input unit, and for generating a control signal that requests activation of a PICC mapped with the recognized key signal; and

a PICC emulator for activating the one of the multiple PICCs according to the control signal transmitted from the mode selection unit.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a switch unit for switching so that the key signal is transmitted to a controller when the portable terminal is turned on, and for switching so that the key signal is transmitted to the NFC module when the portable terminal is turned off.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising:

a voltage division unit that is disposed between the switch unit and the NFC module and is connected to a battery, for dividing the battery voltage so that the voltage becomes similar to an operating voltage of the NFC module.

16. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the NFC module stores a mapping table that has mapped a certain PICC card with each or a key combination of multiple keys included in the input unit.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the mapping table maps a different PICC according to an input time of each or the key combination of the keys.

18. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the input unit separately includes at least one key for selecting one PICC among the multiple PICCs.

19. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the input unit includes at least one function key for performing a function, and the at least one function key is utilized to input the key signal in the state where the portable terminal is at a power-off state.