Base station for a contactless interrogation system comprising a phase locked and voltage controlled oscillator

• US 6,272,320 B1
• Filed: 01/12/1998
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: EM Microelectronic - Marin SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: EM Microelectronic - Marin SA (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Roz, Thierry, Nandra, Navraj
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): GELIN, JEAN ALLAND
• Application Number:
  US09/005,838
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41, 455/561, 455/260, 455/113, 455/107, 455/121, 455/123, 340/825.72, 340/870.31, 340/870.37, 340/10.3, 340/10.1, 340/572.7, 235/380, 235/439, 235/449, 235/488, 375/327, 375/328, 375/329, 375/376, 375/371, 375/373, 375/375, 327/156, 342/42, 342/51
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• 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

Abstract

A base station (13) for a contactless interrogation system includes an oscillating device (23) supplying a control signal having a frequency which is adjustable via adjusting circuits (21, 22), a circuits (24) for controlling an antenna connected to the base station (13) for transmitting information, decoding circuits (25, 26, 27) for decoding the information picked up by the antenna. The oscillating device (23) is a voltage controlled oscillator which is phase locked by the adjusting circuits (21, 22), so that the control signal frequency is determined by the base station (13) and is adapted to the antenna. The sensitivity of a contactless interrogation system comprising the base station (13) of the present invention is improved, its structure is simpler and its different components can be integrated in a same chip.

Claims

1. A base station connected between a microprocessor and antenna means for transmitting and/or receiving data signals for a contactless interrogation system, said base station comprising an oscillating device supplying a control signal to means for controlling antenna means for transmitting data, said control signal having a carrier frequency which is adjustable via adjusting means, means for decoding the data signals for a microprocessor connected to said base station, said data signals being picked up by said antenna means from received signals, wherein said oscillating device comprises a voltage controlled oscillator which is phase locked by said adjusting means, so that the carrier frequency of said control signal is determined solely by said base station independently of said microprocessor and is continuously tuned to the resonant frequency of said antenna means by said adjusting means in a phase locked loop so that the sensitivity of said base station connected to antenna means is increased.

2. A base station according to claim 1, wherein said oscillating device, said adjusting means, said control means and said decoding means are elements integrated on a same chip.

3. A base station according to claim 1, wherein said adjusting means comprise a phase comparator and a filter which constitute a phase lock means for said oscillating device.

4. A base station according to claim 1, wherein said decoding means comprise a sampler, a pass-band filter and a decision circuit in order to convert data signals for the microprocessor.

5. A base station according to claim 4, wherein said sampler is synchronized by a clock signal originating from said oscillator.

6. A base station according to claim 1, wherein data signals received by said antenna means are radio frequency signals, and wherein said phase locked loop of adjusting means includes a phase comparator for comparing the phase of said carrier frequency control signal to the phase of said resonant frequency signal, said phase comparator producing a correction signal for changing the frequency of said oscillator.

7. A base station according to claim 6, wherein said phase locked loop includes a filter for filtering said correction signal before it is applied to said oscillator.

8. A base station according to claim 1, operating over a frequency range between 100 and 150 kHz.

9. A base station connected to antenna means for transmitting and/or receiving data for a contactless interrogation system, said base station comprising an oscillating device supplying a control signal to means for controlling antenna means for transmitting data, said control signal having a carrier frequency which is adjustable via adjusting means, means for decoding the data picked up by said antenna means from received signals, wherein said oscillating device comprises a voltage controlled oscillator which is phase locked by said adjusting means, so that the carrier frequency of said control signal is determined solely by said base station and is continuously tuned to the resonant frequency of said antenna means by said adjusting means in a phase locked loop, wherein said decoding means comprise a sampler, a pass-band filter and a decision circuit, and wherein said sampler is synchronised by a clock signal originating from said voltage controlled oscillator.