Methods for Adjusting Near Field Communications Circuitry during Mobile Payment Transactions

• US 20140304094A1
• Filed: 05/26/2014
• Published: 10/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Reddy, Vusthla Sunil, Narang, Mohit, Agboh, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 10,019,699 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/17
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0068 Arrangements of plural sources, e.g. multi-colour light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0073 Light emitting diode [LED]
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0088 of the light guide or other optical sheets in the package
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0091 of the light source relative to the light guide G02B6/0021 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/204 comprising interface for record bearing medium or carrier for electronic funds transfer or payment credit
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3223 Realising banking transactions through M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 1/189 characterised by the use of a flexible or folded printed circuit H05K3/326 takes precedence

Abstract

Methods for operating a portable electronic device to conduct mobile payment transactions are provided. The electronic device may include near field communications circuitry having a transmitter, a receiver, and a field detector for detecting a field from a merchant terminal. The receiver is typically idle. The receiver may be activated when the field detector detects that the electronic device is within the field of the merchant terminal. The transmitter may then be used to perform link establishment and data transfer. If the payment transaction fails for any reason, one or more hardware settings on the electronic device may be adjusted to help increase the chance of a successful transaction in a subsequent payment attempt. Another transaction may be attempted when the user moves the device out of the field and back into the field or may be performed automatically as long as the device is still within the field.

Claims

1. A method of operating a portable electronic device, comprising:

using the electronic device to conduct a mobile payment transaction at a merchant terminal; and

in response to detecting that the mobile payment transaction has failed, updating at least one operating setting on the electronic device prior to performing a subsequent payment attempt at the merchant terminal.

2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein updating the at least one operating setting on the electronic device comprises reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings.

3. The method defined in claim 2, wherein reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings comprises reconfiguring the electronic device with an updated transmit power control setting.

4. The method defined in claim 2, wherein reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings comprises reconfiguring the electronic device with an updated phase offset setting.

5. The method defined in claim 2, wherein reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings comprises reconfiguring the electronic device with an updated wakeup threshold, and wherein the wakeup threshold determines the maximum distance that the electronic device needs to be held from the merchant terminal in order for the electronic device to initiate the mobile payment transaction.

6. The method defined in claim 2, wherein reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings comprises reconfiguring the electronic device with an updated signal damping coefficient.

7. The method defined in claim 2, wherein reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings comprises reconfiguring the electronic device with an updated frame delay setting, and wherein the frame delay setting determines a period of time that the electronic device needs to wait before sending an acknowledgement in response to receiving a request from the merchant terminal.

8. A method of using an electronic device to conduct a financial transaction at a point-of-sale terminal, comprising:

detecting that the electronic device is positioned within a field generated by the point-of-sale terminal;

in response to detecting that the electronic device is positioned within the field, initiating the financial transaction; and

in response to detecting that the financial transaction has failed, waiting for the electronic device to be moved out of the field before starting a timer that sets forth a period of time within which the electronic device can be used to reattempt the financial transaction at the point-of-sale terminal.

9. The method defined in claim 8, further comprising:

before the timer expires, detecting that the electronic device has been moved back within the field; and

in response to detecting that the electronic device has been moved back within the field before the timer expires, reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings.

10. The method defined in claim 9, wherein the electronic device includes near field communications (NFC) circuitry that communicates with the point-of-sale terminal.

11. The method defined in claim 9, wherein the electronic device includes a near field communications receiver, wherein the near field communications receiver is normally in an idle state, and wherein the near field communications receiver is activated in response to detecting that the electronic device is positioned within the field.

12. The method defined in claim 11, further comprising:

in response to the timer expiring before the electronic device has been moved back within the field, placing the receiver back in the idle state.

13. The method defined in claim 9, wherein reconfiguring the electronic device with new hardware settings comprises reconfiguring the electronic with new hardware settings according to a table of predetermined settings that is stored on the electronic device.

14. The method defined in claim 13, wherein reconfiguring the electronic with new hardware settings comprises using a different combination of settings for each attempt at completing the financial transaction.

15. A method for using an electronic device to make mobile payments at a near field communications (NFC) reader device, comprising:

when the electronic device is placed within a field generated by the near field communications reader device, initiating a mobile payment transaction;

in response to detecting that the mobile payment transaction has failed, operating the electronic device using at least one new control setting; and

while the electronic device is held within the field, automatically reattempting the mobile payment transaction using the new control setting.

16. The method defined in claim 15, wherein operating the electronic device with the at least one new control setting comprises updating a setting selected from the group consisting of:

a transmit power control setting, a phase offset setting, a wakeup threshold setting, a damping coefficient setting, and a frame delay time setting.

17. The method defined in claim 15, wherein operating the electronic device with the at least one new control setting comprises reconfiguring the electronic with new hardware settings according to a table of predetermined settings that is stored on the electronic device.

18. The method defined in claim 15, wherein the electronic device includes a near field communications receiver, wherein the near field communications receiver is normally in an idle state, and wherein the near field communications receiver is activated in response to detecting that the electronic device is placed within the field.

19. The method defined in claim 18, further comprising:

in response to detecting that the electronic device is no longer within the field after the electronic device has been reconfigured with the at least one new control setting, placing the near field communications receiver back in the idle state.

20. The method defined in claim 19, further comprising:

while the near field communications receiver is in the idle state, periodically resetting the hardware settings on the electronic device so that the electronic device is configured to operate using default hardware settings when performing a subsequent mobile payment transaction.

21. The method defined in claim 15, wherein detecting that the mobile payment transaction has failed comprises detecting that at least one packet has failed to be transferred between the electronic device and the near field communications reader device, and wherein operating the electronic device using the new control setting comprises automatically retransmitting the at least one packet with the electronic device using the new control setting.