TERMINAL DEVICE, PROGRAM, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE

• US 20160165383A1
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Published: 06/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kawakami, Daisuke, Amano, Sho
• Granted Patent: US 10,348,598 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/48 Transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/28 Timers or timing mechanisms used in protocols
• 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 52/0229 where the received signal is a wanted signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

To be able to, while increasing the convenience of the user of the device having the function for the short range wireless communication, enable the consumption of electric power of the device to be suppressed. Note that the above problem is an example, and together wish the above problem, or in place of the above problem, other problems may be the problems that are to be solved.

Provided is a terminal device including: an acquisition unit configured to acquire a result of determination of whether another terminal device that has a function for short range wireless communication is positioned near the terminal device; and a control unit configured to, on the basis of the result of the determination, control a time interval of polling related to the short range wireless communication.

Claims

1. A terminal device comprising:

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a result of determination of whether another terminal device that has a function for short range wireless communication is positioned near the terminal device; and

a control unit configured to, or the basis of the result of the determination, control a time interval of polling related to the short range unit wireless communication.

2. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the time interval in a manner that, when there is another terminal device positioned near the terminal device, the time interval is shorter than the time interval when there is no other terminal device positioned near the terminal device.

3. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the time interval by outputting a command for setting the time interval.

4. The terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the command is a command that makes a module having a function for the short range wireless communication update a register that stores the time interval.

5. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the short range wireless communication is near field communication (NFC).

6. The terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the near field communication is wireless communication that conforms to either of ISO/IEC 14443 Type A, ISO/IEC 14443 Type B, ISO/IEC 15693, ISO/IEC 18092, and ISO/IEC 21481.

7. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising

a short range wireless communication unit configured to perform the short range wireless communication.

8. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the determination is performed on the basis of information that is information provided from another terminal device through wireless communication that has a communication range that is wider than a communication range of the short range wireless communication and that is information indicating whether the function for the short range wireless communication is available.

9. The terminal device according to claim 8, wherein the wireless communication is wireless local area network (LAN) communication.

10. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the wireless local area network communication is wireless communication that conforms to IEEE 802.11.

11. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the information indicating whether the function for the short range wireless communication is available is information included in a beacon or a probe response from another terminal device.

12. The terminal device according to claim 9, wherein the information indicating whether the function for the short range wireless communication is available is information of a supported configuration method.

13. The terminal device according to claim 8, further comprising

a determination unit configured to perform the determination.

14. The terminal device according to claim 8, further comprising

a wireless communication unit configured to perform the wireless communication.

15. The terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising

a magnetic flux generation unit configured to generate a magnetic flux,

wherein the control unit controls generation of the magnetic flux by the magnetic flux generation unit in a manner that a magnetic flux is generated in a direction in which another terminal device is to be disposed when the another terminal device performs the short range wireless communication wish the terminal device or in a manner that a magnetic flux is generated in a direction opposite to the direction.

16. The terminal device according to claim 15, wherein the magnetic flux generation unit includes an electromagnetic coil.

17. The terminal device according to claim 15, wherein the control unit changes a size of the magnetic flux generated by the magnetic flux generation unit according to a size of an antenna of another terminal device that performs the short range wireless communication with the terminal device.

18. The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the function for the short range wireless communication includes a reader/writer for the short range wireless communication or a tag for the short range wireless communication.

19. A program for causing a processor configured to control a terminal device to execute processing of:

acquiring a result of determination of whether another terminal device that has a function for short range wireless communication is positioned near the terminal device; and

controlling, on the basis of the result of the determination, a time interval of polling related to the short range wireless communication.

20. An information processing device that controls a terminal device, the information processing device comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory configured to store a program that is executed by the one or more processors,

wherein the program is configured to execute processing of

acquiring a result of determination of whether another terminal device that has a function for short range wireless communication is positioned near the terminal device, and

controlling, on the basis of the result of the determination, a time interval of polling related to the short range wireless communication.