AVOIDING NFC COMMUNICATION COLLISIONS BETWEEN ACCESSORIES AND USER EQUIPMENT

• US 20160269079A1
• Filed: 02/18/2014
• Published: 09/15/2016
• 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 9,577,716 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1628 Carrying enclosures containing additional elements, e.g. case for a laptop and a printer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1633 Protecting arrangement for the entire housing of the computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0727 the arrangement being a circuit facilitating integration of the record carrier with a hand-held device such as a smart phone of PDA
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07771 the record carrier comprising means for minimising adverse effects on the data communication capability of the record carrier, e.g. minimising Eddy currents induced in a proximate metal or otherwise electromagnetically interfering object
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/24 Inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• 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 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• 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

An accessory for a user equipment (UE) includes a housing and a near field communication (NFC) circuit. The housing is slid on the UE to become attached in a stored position relative to the UE. The NFC circuit is attached at a location on the housing and configured to become powered by inductive coupling to signals emitted by another NFC circuit within the UE to temporarily operate to transmit data to the other NFC circuit within the UE as the accessory NFC circuit passes over the other UE NFC circuit while the housing is being slid on the UE before reaching the stored position relative to the UE. While the housing is in the stored position relative to the UE, the NFC circuit may be configured to be inhibited from transmitting data to the other NFC circuit within the UE irrespective of whether the other NFC circuit within the UE is emitting signals to attempt to provide inductive coupling to the NFC circuit.

Claims

1. An accessory for a user equipment, the accessory comprising:

a housing that is slid on the user equipment to become attached in a stored position relative to the user equipment; and

a near field communication circuit attached at a location on the housing and configured to become powered by inductive coupling to signals emitted by another NFC circuit within the user equipment to temporarily operate to transmit data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment as the NFC circuit passes over the other NFC circuit while the housing is being slid on the user equipment before reaching the stored position relative to the user equipment.

2. The accessory of claim 1, wherein:

the NFC circuit is further configured to become powered by inductive coupling to signals emitted by the other NFC circuit within the user equipment to temporarily operate to transmit data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment as the NFC circuit passes over the other NFC circuit while the housing is being slid off the user equipment.

3. The accessory of claim 1, wherein:

while the housing is in the stored position relative to the user equipment, the NFC circuit is inhibited from transmitting data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment irrespective of whether the other NFC circuit is emitting signals to attempt to provide inductive coupling to the NFC circuit.

4. The accessory of claim 3, wherein:

while the housing is in the stored position relative to the user equipment, the NFC circuit is too remotely located from the other NFC circuit within the user equipment to be sufficiently powered by any inductive coupling to signals emitted by the other NFC circuit to operate the transmit data.

5. The cover of claim 4, wherein:

the housing has a top that is adjacent an ear speaker of the user equipment and a bottom that is adjacent a microphone of the user equipment while the housing is in the stored position relative to the user equipment, and the NFC circuit is located adjacent the bottom of the housing and remote from the other NFC circuit located adjacent the ear speaker of the user equipment.

6. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the accessory comprises a cover configured to protect a back surface of the user equipment.

7. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the accessory comprises a stand that supports and holds the user equipment in a defined orientation.

8. The accessory of claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit comprises:

a pair of antennas, each antenna is configured to be inductively coupled to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment;

a transceiver configured to be powered by at least one of the pair of antennas to operate to transmit data through at least one of the pair of antennas to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment; and

a signal comparator and charging circuit connected to the pair of antennas and configured to prevent the transceiver from transmitting data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment until subsequently triggering the transceiver to transmit data to the other NFC circuit based on comparison of relative levels of signals from the pair of antennas.

9. The accessory of claim 8, wherein:

the pair of antennas extend in opposite directions from each other.

10. The accessory of claim 9, wherein:

one of the pair of antennas extends in a first direction along which the housing is slid on the user equipment and the other one of the pair of antennas extends in an opposite second direction.

11. The accessory of claim 8, wherein:

the signal comparator and charging circuit is configured to trigger the transceiver to transmit data to the other NFC circuit based on a difference between the levels of signals from the pair of antennas being within a defined range.

12. The accessory of claim 8, wherein:

the signal comparator and charging circuit is configured to trigger the transceiver to transmit data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment when comparison of relative levels of the signals from the pair of antennas indicates that the other NFC circuit within the user equipment is presently positioned equally distant from the pair of antennas.

13. The accessory of claim 8, wherein:

the signal comparator and charging circuit is configured to trigger the transceiver to transmit data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment when comparison of relative levels of signals from the pair of antennas indicates that the other NFC circuit within the user equipment has reached a closest distance to the NFC circuit as the housing is being slid on the user equipment before reaching the stored position relative to the user equipment.

14. The accessory of claim 1, further comprising:

a conductive signal shield attached at a location on the housing that is between the NFC circuit and the other NFC circuit within the user equipment while the housing is in the stored position relative to the user equipment to decrease inductive coupling of the NFC circuit to signals emitted by the other NFC circuit and substantially prevent the NFC circuit from transmitting data while the housing is in the stored position relative to the user equipment.

15. The accessory of claim 14, wherein:

the NFC circuit comprises;

an antenna configured to be inductively coupled to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment; and

a transceiver configured to be powered by the antenna to operate to transmit data through the antenna to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment, the conductive signal shield extends between the antenna and the other NFC circuit within the user equipment to inhibit inductive coupling between the antenna and the other NFC circuit while the housing is in the stored position relative to the user equipment.

16. The accessory of claim 15, wherein:

the antenna is a conductive line pattern extending along a plane; and

the conductive signal shield extends across the plane to cover one side of the conductive line pattern.

17. The accessory of the claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit is configured to delay transmission of the data to the other NFC circuit of the user equipment until expiration of a defined delay time after the NFC circuit becomes sufficiently powered on to operate.

18. The accessory of the claim 17, wherein the NFC circuit is configured to receive a delay setting signal transmitted by the other NFC circuit of the user equipment, and to set the defined delay time based on the delay setting signal.

19. The accessory of the claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit is configured to transmit a universal resource locator address as the data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment that indicates where the user equipment can obtain information from a network node of a communications system.

20. The accessory of the claim 1, wherein the NFC circuit is configured to transmit a product code as the data to the other NFC circuit within the user equipment that activates functionality within the user equipment.