Apparatus and method for controlling diverse short-range antennas of a near field communications circuit
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
- an antenna selector in a near field communications circuit, coupled to a first short-range antenna and to a second short-range antenna, programmed with antenna selection control software; and
a near field communications logic chip selectively coupled through the antenna selector to either the first antenna or the second antenna, in response to programmed control of the antenna selector by the antenna selection control software.
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Abstract
An intelligent antenna system for extending the effective communication range of a machine-readable passive tag. The system may include intelligence that allows one of a plurality of extension antennas in an antenna network to be active at any given time. The machine-readable tag and antenna network may further be embedded in a structure. For example, the system may include multiple passive tags that are active in correspondence to a display or advertisement currently being exhibited. The system may include means for operatively coupling the corresponding machine-readable tag to the embedded antenna network.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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an antenna selector in a near field communications circuit, coupled to a first short-range antenna and to a second short-range antenna, programmed with antenna selection control software; and a near field communications logic chip selectively coupled through the antenna selector to either the first antenna or the second antenna, in response to programmed control of the antenna selector by the antenna selection control software. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method, comprising:
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detecting proximity of a reader with either a first antenna or a second antenna; and signaling an antenna selector to couple a near field communications chip to an antenna detected as proximate to the reader. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer readable program code comprising:
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a computer readable program code for detecting proximity of a reader with either a first antenna or a second antenna; and a computer readable program code for signaling an antenna selector to couple a near field communications chip to an antenna detected as proximate to the reader. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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Specification