Wireless powering and communication system for communicating data between a host system and a stand-alone device

• US 5,434,396 A
• Filed: 11/10/1992
• Issued: 07/18/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Xicor LLC (Renesas Electronics Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Xicor LLC (Renesas Electronics Corporation)
• Inventors: Owen, William H., Jaffe, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hajec, Donald
• Assistant Examiner(s): Le, Thien Minh
• Application Number:
  US07/974,131
• Time in Patent Office: 980 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380, 235/449, 235/492, 235/493, 235/439, 235/436, 235/377, 235/379, 235/382, 235/375, 455/41
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07779 the inductive antenna being a coil
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07783 the coil being planar
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10336 the antenna being of the near field type, inductive coil

Abstract

A wireless communication system for communicating between a host system and a stand-alone device through an electromagnetic coupling medium is disclosed. The communication system has the capabilities of bi-directional data communications between the host and the stand-alone device and of powering the stand-alone device with energy pulses coupled through the electromagnetic coupling medium from the host. The electromagnetic medium is capable of supporting the bi-directional flow of energy pulses and energy transitions thereof between the host and stand-alone device. In one embodiment, bi-directional communication is provided by transmitting and detecting predetermined numbers of consecutive energy transitions coupled through the medium. Resting durations immediately precede and follow each predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the host communicates a first binary value to the stand-alone device by coupling a first predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions to the device and a second binary value to the device by coupling a second predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions. Additionally, the host system receives data from the stand-alone device by first coupling a third predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions to the stand-alone device. The stand-alone device then responds by coupling a predetermined number of energy transitions to the medium during the resting duration following the host'"'"'s transmission of the third predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions. The number of energy transitions sent by the stand-alone device during this resting duration is related to the value of the data digit being sent to the host.

Claims

1. A slave station formed on the substrate of an integrated-circuit chip for communicating with a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

an inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material disposed on said substrate, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions;

powering means coupled to said inductor means for powering said slave station from the energy pulses coupled to said inductor means by said master station through said electromagnetic coupling medium, said powering means comprising a first energy storage means for storing energy in an electrical form and means for coupling energy from the energy pulses coupled to said inductor means to said first energy storage means; and

a communication means for selectively coupling at least one energy transition to said electromagnetic coupling medium in a selected time interval, said communication means comprising a second energy storage means, means for charging said second energy storage means from the energy stored in said first energy storage means, and means for selectively coupling a substantial portion of the energy stored in said second energy storage means to said inductor means during said selected time interval to cause at least one energy transition to be coupled to said electromagnetic coupling medium.

2. The slave station of claim 1 wherein said second energy storage means comprises a capacitor disposed on said substrate, wherein said means for charging said second energy storage means includes means for charging said capacitor from said first energy storage means such that an amount of charge is stored thereon, and wherein said means for selectively coupling energy from said second energy storage means to said inductor means selectively couples said stored charge in said capacitor to said inductor means during said selected time interval to cause at least one energy transition to be coupled to,said electromagnetic coupling medium.

3. The slave station of claim 1 wherein the coupling of at least one energy transition to said coupling medium by said communication means is for communicating a first binary digit value to said master station, and wherein said communication means is further for coupling no energy transitions to said medium in said selected time interval for communicating a second binary digit value to said master station.

4. The slave station of claim 3 wherein said first binary digit is a binary one value and wherein said second binary digit is a binary zero value.

5. A slave station formed on the substrate of an integrated-circuit chip for communicating with a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

an inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material disposed on said substrate, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions;

means coupled to said inductor means for powering said slave station from the energy pulses coupled to said inductor means by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

a communication means for selectively coupling at least one energy transition to said electromagnetic coupling medium in a selected time interval, and

means for detecting a number of consecutive energy transitions coupled to said electromagnetic coupling medium by said master station and occurring between a first absence of such energy transitions and a second absence of such energy transitions, and wherein said selective coupling of at least one energy transition to said electromagnetic coupling medium by said slave station occurs during said second absence.

6. The slave station of claim 5 wherein the time duration of said selected interval is less than the time duration of said number of consecutive energy transitions.

7. The slave station of claim 5 further wherein said detecting means includes:

means coupled to the first and second terminals of said inductor means for detecting from said electrical signal an energy transition and outputting a transition signal in response thereto; and

means for detecting the absence of an energy transition during a predetermined time duration following the detection of a preceding energy transition and for outputting an absence signal in response thereto.

8. A slave station for communicating with a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

a first inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said first inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions;

a detection means coupled to the first and second terminals of said first inductor means for detecting from said electrical signal an energy transition and outputting a transition signal in response thereto, and for detecting the absence of an energy transition during a predetermined time duration following the detection of a preceding energy transition and for outputting an absence signal in response thereto; and

a communication means responsive to said transition and absence signals of said detection means for detecting the number of consecutive energy transitions occurring between a first absence of energy transitions and a second absence of energy transitions, said communication means comprising means for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of a first digital value when a first predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions is detected and means for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of a second digital value when a second predetermined number of consecutive transitions is detected.

9. The slave station according to claim 8 wherein said slave station is formed on the substrate of an integrated-circuit chip.

10. The slave station according to claim 9 wherein said substrate comprises one of an insulating material, a semi-insulating material, and a semiconductor material.

11. The slave station according to claim 8 wherein said communication means further includes:

means for receiving a binary digit from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station;

means responsive to said detection means for detecting a third predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions from the master station; and

transmission means for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said first inductor means during said absence following the detection of said third predetermined number of energy transitions from said medium, said predetermined number of energy transitions coupled by said transmission means being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said first inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

12. The slave station according to claim 11 wherein said transmission means of said slave station transmits a digital zero to the master station by coupling zero electrical energy transitions to said first inductor means and a digital one to the master station by coupling at least one electrical energy transition to said first inductor means.

13. The slave station according to claim 8 wherein said means for powering said slave station includes:

a rectifier means having an input port coupled to said first and second terminals of said first inductor means and an output port, said rectifier means for generating a rectified voltage at its output port from the energy received by said first inductor means, and

a first capacitor coupled to said output port of said rectifier means, said first capacitor for storing electrical energy generated by said rectifier means.

14. The slave station according to claim 8 wherein said segment of conductive material of said first inductor means comprises at least one loop of conductive wire disposed on a substrate.

15. The slave station according to claim 8 wherein said slave station further comprises a second inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said second inductor means for coupling magnetic energy transitions to the medium, and wherein said communication means further includes:

means for receiving a binary digit from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station;

means responsive to said detection means for detecting a third predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions from the master station; and

transmission means for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said second inductor means during said absence following the detection of said third predetermined number of energy transitions from said medium, said predetermined number of energy transitions coupled by said transmission means being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said second inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

16. The slave station according to claim 15 wherein said first inductor means and said second inductor means are disposed separately from one another.

17. The slave station according to claim 15 wherein the segment of conductive material of each said first and second inductor means is formed as at least one loop of conductive material and wherein the loop of said first inductor means and the loop of said second inductor means are disposed concentric to one another.

18. The slave station according to claim 15 wherein said segment of conductive material of said first inductor means comprises at least one loop of conductive wire disposed on a substrate, and wherein said segment of conductive material of said second inductor means comprises at least one loop of conductive wire disposed on said substrate.

19. The slave station of claim 8 wherein said slave station is an integrated circuit chip disposed on one of a badge, ring, key, coin, or token.

20. A slave station for communicating with a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem;

a first inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions;

a detection means coupled to the first and second terminals of said inductor means for detecting from said electrical signal an energy transition and outputting a transition signal in response thereto, and for detecting the absence of an energy transition during a predetermined time duration following the detection of a preceding energy transition and for outputting an absence signal in response thereto; and

a communication means responsive to said transition and absence signals of said detection means for detecting the number of consecutive energy transitions occurring between a first absence of energy transitions and a second absence of energy transitions, said communication means comprising means for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of a first digital value when a first predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions is detected and means for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of a second digital value when a second predetermined number of consecutive transitions is detected.

21. The slave station according to claim 20 wherein said communication means further includes:

means for receiving a binary digit from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station;

means responsive to said detection means for detecting a third predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions from the master station; and

transmission means for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said first inductor means during said absence following the detection of said third predetermined number of energy transitions from said medium, said predetermined number of energy transitions coupled by said transmission means being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said first inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

22. A slave station formed on the substrate of an integrated-circuit chip for communicating with a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

an inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions;

a detection means coupled to the first and second terminals of said inductor means for detecting from said electrical signal an energy transition and outputting a transition signal in response thereto, and for detecting the absence of an energy transition during a predetermined time duration following the detection of a preceding energy transition and for outputting an absence signal in response thereto; and

a communication means responsive to said transition and absence signals of said detection means for detecting the number of consecutive energy transitions occurring between a first absence of energy transitions and a second absence of energy transitions, said communication means comprising means for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of a first digital value when a first predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions is detected and means for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of a second digital value when a second predetermined number of consecutive transitions is detected.

23. A slave station for communicating with a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

an inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions;

a detection means coupled to the first and second terminals of said inductor means for detecting from said electrical signal an energy transition and outputting a transition signal in response thereto, and for detecting the absence of an energy transition during a predetermined time duration following the detection of a preceding energy transition and for outputting an absence signal in response thereto; and

a communication means responsive to said transition and absence signals of said detection means for detecting the number of consecutive energy transitions occurring between a first absence of energy transitions and a second absence of energy transitions, said communication means including means for receiving a binary digit from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station, means responsive to said detection means for detecting a first predetermined number of consecutive energy transitions from the master station, and transmission means for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said inductor means during said absence following the detection of said first predetermined number of energy transitions from said medium, said predetermined number of energy transitions coupled by said transmission means being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

24. The slave station of claim 23 wherein said slave station is an integrated circuit chip disposed on one of a badge, ring, key, coin, or token.

25. A slave station formed on a substrate as an integrated-circuit chip for communicating an identifier to a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the master station allowing said slave station entry into a desired area when the identifier is communicated to the master station, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data hi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem having a plurality of non-volatile binary digits for representing said identifier;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

an inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions; and

a communication means for receiving a binary digit of said identifier from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station and for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said inductor means in a selected interval, said predetermined number of energy transitions being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

26. A slave station formed on a substrate as an integrated-circuit chip for communicating an identifier for a credit card account to a master station which is coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, said master station receiving the identifier from said slave station and obtaining account information corresponding to said identifier, said master station evaluating the account information in view of a desired purchase amount and selectively authorizing the purchase amount, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem having a plurality of non-volatile binary digits for representing said identifier;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

an inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions; and

a communication means for receiving a binary digit of said identifier from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station and for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said inductor means during a selected interval, said predetermined number of energy transitions being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

27. A slave station formed on a substrate as an integrated-circuit chip for communicating a current monetary value to a master station and for receiving a revised monetary value from said master station, said master station receiving the current monetary value from said slave station, said master station selectively authorizing a desired purchase when the purchase amount is less than the monetary value and then communicating a revised monetary value to said slave station, said master'"'"'station being coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem having a plurality of non-volatile binary digits for representing said monetary value;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

a first inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said first inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions; and

a communication means for receiving a binary digit of said current monetary value from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station and-for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said first inductor means during a selected time interval, said predetermined number of energy transitions being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said first inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium, said communications means including means for receiving from said master station a data digit of a revised monetary value and for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative said data digit.

28. A slave station formed on a substrate as an integrated-circuit chip for communicating current labeling information to a master station and for receiving revised labeling information from said master station, said master station receiving said current labeling information from said slave station and selectively communicating revised labeling information back to said slave station, said master station being coupled to said slave station by an electromagnetic coupling medium, the electromagnetic coupling medium being capable of communicating data bi-directionally between the master station and said slave station in the form of electromagnetic energy transitions, said energy transitions being coupled through said medium in the form of energy pulses, said slave station comprising:

a digital subsystem having a plurality of non-volatile binary digits for representing said labeling information;

means for powering said slave station including said digital subsystem from the energy pulses coupled to said slave station by said master station through said energy coupling medium;

a first inductor means magnetically coupled to the coupling medium and including a segment of conductive material, a first terminal and a second terminal coupled at respective ends of said segment of conductive material, said first inductor means for receiving magnetic energy transitions from the medium and for providing at said terminals an electrical signal indicative of said transitions; and

a communication means for receiving a binary digit of said current labeling information from said digital subsystem to be communicated to the master station and for causing a predetermined number of energy transitions to be coupled to said first inductor means during a selected time interval, said predetermined number of energy transitions being related to the value of the binary digit received from said digital subsystem, said first inductor means being caused thereby to couple said energy transitions to said medium.

29. The slave station of claim 28 wherein said communication means further comprises means for receiving a data digit of revised labeling information and for outputting a signal to said digital subsystem representative of said data digit.

30. The slave station of claim 28 wherein said slave station is affixed to a shipping container and wherein said labeling information comprises the destination of said shipping container.

31. The slave station of claim 28 wherein said slave station is affixed to a human and wherein said labeling information comprises at least one of the medical conditions of said human.