PHONE COVERS WITH NFC CIRCUIT POWERED DISPLAY DEVICES

• US 20150288421A1
• Filed: 02/20/2014
• Published: 10/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nambord, Magnus, Hansson, Emil
• Granted Patent: US 9,369,184 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/11 Supports for sets, e.g. incorporating armrests
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7246 by connection of exchangeable housing parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/04 including near field communication means, e.g. RFID

Abstract

A cover for a user equipment, such as a cell phone, includes a housing, a display device, and a near field communication (NFC) circuit. The housing is attachable to the user equipment, and while attached covers a back surface of the user equipment. The display device is at least partially disposed within the housing. The NFC circuit that is configured to generate power through inductive coupling to another NFC circuit within the user equipment, the NFC circuit configured to operate using the power to receive data from the other NFC circuit within the user equipment, and to supply the power and the data to the display device to cause the data to be displayed for viewing by a user. Related user equipment, methods, and computer program products are disclosed.

Claims

1. A cover for a user equipment, the cover comprising:

a housing that is attachable to the user equipment, and while attached covers a back surface of the user equipment;

a display device at least partially disposed within the housing; and

a near field communication (NFC) circuit that is configured to generate power through inductive coupling to another NFC circuit within the user equipment, the NFC circuit configured to operate using the power to receive data from the other NFC circuit within the user equipment, and to supply the power and the data to the display device to cause the data to be displayed for viewing by a user.

2. The cover of claim 1, wherein the display device of the cover is configured to continue displaying the data after the NFC circuit ceases supplying power to the display device.

3. The cover of claim 2, wherein the display device of the cover comprises an E-Ink display.

4. The cover of claim 1, wherein the display device responds to completing display of data on the display device by transmitting an acknowledgment through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the user equipment to indicate that the user equipment can turn off the other NFC circuit of the user equipment to cease powering the NFC circuit through the inductive coupling.

5. The cover of claim 1, wherein the display device of the cover is configured to respond to the data received from the NFC circuit by displaying text information that matches at least a portion of text information being displayed on a separate display device at least partially disposed within a front surface of the user equipment.

6. The cover of claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit comprises a charging circuit and a rechargeable power supply, the charging circuit charging the rechargeable power supply to at least an upper threshold level of stored power, in response to power received through the inductive coupling to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment, and then at least partially discharging the rechargeable power supply to provide power to the display device of the cover to temporarily power the display device to display the data.

7. The cover of claim 6, wherein the charging circuit is configured to charge the rechargeable power supply using magnetic fields received from the other NFC circuit of the user equipment.

8. The cover of claim 6, wherein the charging circuit is configured to initiate the discharging of the rechargeable power supply to temporarily power the display device of the cover in response to the NFC circuit of the cover receiving the data from the NFC circuit of the user equipment and the rechargeable power supply reaching at least the upper threshold level of stored power.

9. The cover of claim 8, wherein the display device responds to the rechargeable power supply becoming discharged to at least a lower threshold level of stored power by transmitting an acknowledgment through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the user equipment that indicates that the user equipment can turn off the other NFC circuit of the user equipment to cease powering the NFC circuit of the cover.

10. The cover of claim 6, wherein the charging circuit is configured to further respond to the rechargeable power supply being charged to at least the upper threshold level by transmitting a ready signal through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the user equipment to indicate that the display device is operating and is ready to receive the data from the other NFC circuit for display on the display device.

11. The cover of claim 6, wherein the rechargeable power supply is connected to power a user input interface and to sense activation of the user input interface, and the rechargeable power supply responds to a user activating the user input interface by turning on the NFC circuit to transmit user data from the user input interface to the other NFC circuit of the user equipment.

12. The cover of claim 11, wherein the user input interface comprises a touch sensitive interface on the display device to receive the user data responsive to a user touch selection on the touch sensitive display.

13. The cover of claim 1, wherein the display device is configured to transmit information, which identifies a display characteristic of the display device, through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit to cause formatting of data by the user equipment for compatible display operations on the display device.

14. The cover of claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit is configured to transmit a universal resource locator address to the other NFC circuit that indicates where the user equipment can obtain data for transmission to the NFC circuit of the cover for display on the display device.

15. A user equipment comprising:

a housing that attaches to a cover that covers a back surface of the user equipment;

a display device at least partially disposed within a front surface of the housing;

a near field communication (NFC) circuit that is configured to provide power through inductive coupling to another NFC circuit of the cover to power the other NFC circuit and another display device that is at least partially disposed in the cover; and

a processor configured to transmit data through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the cover for display on the other display device of the cover.

16. The user equipment of claim 15, wherein:

the processor is further configured to respond to an acknowledgment received by the NFC circuit from the other NFC circuit of the cover indicating that the data has been displayed on the other display device of the cover, by turning off the NFC circuit to cease powering the other NFC circuit of the cover.

17. The user equipment of claim 15, wherein:

the processor is further configured to respond to the data being ready for transfer to the other NFC circuit of the cover by turning on the NFC circuit to power the other NFC circuit and to transmit the data to the other NFC circuit for display on the other display device of the cover.

18. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein:

the processor is further configured to delay transmission of the data through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the cover until expiration of a defined time after turning on the NFC circuit that is sufficient for the other NFC circuit of the cover to have stored at least a threshold level of power sufficient to power the other display device of the cover to enable display of the data.

19. The user equipment of claim 17, wherein:

the processor is further configured to delay transmission of the data through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the cover until a ready signal is received from the other NFC circuit of the cover indicating that the other NFC circuit has stored at least a threshold level of power sufficient to power the other display device of the cover to allow display of the data.

20. The user equipment of claim 15, wherein:

the processor is further configured to receive information through the NFC circuit from the other NFC circuit of the cover that identifies a display characteristic of the other display device of the cover, and to format the data transmitted through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the cover for compatible display operation on the other display device of the cover.

21. The user equipment of claim 20, wherein:

the processor is further configured to receive information through the NFC circuit from the other NFC circuit of the cover that identifies a display characteristic of the other display device of the cover, and to regulate a length of time that the NFC circuit remains on, when data is ready to be transmitted to the other NFC circuit of the cover, based on the display characteristic of the other display device of the cover.

22. The user equipment of claim 15, further comprising:

a radio access transceiver configured to communicate with a network node of a wireless communication system,

wherein the processor is further configured to respond to the radio access transceiver receiving a phone call containing a call identifier and/or receiving a text message containing text by turning on the NFC circuit and transmitting the call identifier of the phone call and/or the text content of the text message through the NFC circuit to the other NFC circuit of the cover for display on the other display device of the cover.