Near field communication mimic device and method of use

• US 9,021,164 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2012
• Issued: 04/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Stedman, Roy, Sanaullah, Abu
• Primary Examiner(s): OBERLY, ERIC T
• Application Number:
  US13/566,906
• Publication Number:
  US 20140040509A1
• Time in Patent Office: 998 Days
• Field of Search: 710/8, 710/72
• US Class Current: 710/72
• 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 13/105 where the programme performs an input/output emulation function
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0201 comprising specially adapted module bus-bar structures
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/02168 the coatings being antireflective or having enhancing optical properties for the solar cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/02366 of the substrate or of a layer on the substrate, e.g. textured ITO/glass substrate or superstrate, textured polymer layer on glass substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0284 comprising porous silicon as part of the active layer(s) porous silicon as antireflective layer for photodiodes H01L31/0216; for solar cells H01L31/02168
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0488 Double glass encapsulation, e.g. photovoltaic cells arranged between front and rear glass sheets
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/049 Protective back sheets
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/0504 specially adapted for series or parallel connection of solar cells in a module
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/068 the potential barriers being only of the PN homojunction type, e.g. bulk silicon PN homojunction solar cells or thin film polycrystalline silicon PN homojunction solar cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/1804 comprising only elements of Group IV of the Periodic Table
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 31/1876 Particular processes or apparatus for batch treatment of the devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02S 30/20 Collapsible or foldable PV modules
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/547 Monocrystalline silicon PV cells

Abstract

A NFC mimic device retrieves peripheral information from a peripheral, stores the peripheral information and then mimics the peripheral information to an information handling system so that a NFC device of the information handling system receives the peripheral information as if provided directly from the peripheral. The NFC mimic device supports automated setup a wireless interface between an information handling system and a peripheral, such as a projector.

Claims

1. An information handling system comprising:

a housing;

a processor disposed in the housing and operable to process information;

memory disposed in the housing and interfaced with the processor to store information;

a wireless device disposed in the housing operable to communicate wirelessly with a peripheral using configuration information;

an NFC device disposed in the housing and having memory, the memory storing configuration information, the NFC device operable to obtain peripheral configuration information from the peripheral and provide the peripheral configuration information to the wireless device to support wireless communication with the peripheral; and

a mimic device separate from the housing and the peripheral, the mimic device operable to read the peripheral configuration information from the peripheral with a first NFC antenna, to communicate the peripheral information through a cable coupled with the first NFC antenna and coupled with a second NFC antenna, and to communicate with the NFC device by mimicking the peripheral using communications from the second NFC antenna to the NFC device.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 further comprising:

a peripheral separate from the housing, the peripheral having a wireless device to communicate wirelessly using configuration information and a peripheral NFC device having memory, the memory storing the peripheral communication information;

wherein the mimic device is further operable to read configuration from the NFC device of the housing, to store the configuration information in local memory and to communicate the configuration information to the peripheral device to support wireless communication with the wireless device.

3. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the mimic device comprises an NFC tag having programmable local memory.

4. The information handling system of claim 2 wherein the mimic device comprises an NFC device having local power and programmable local memory.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the mimic device comprises a memory, battery and processor proximate the first NFC antenna to store the peripheral configuration information and respond to requests for the peripheral configuration information.

6. The information handling system of claim 5 wherein the processor is interfaced with the first and second NFC antenna to manage communications at each of the first and second NFC antenna.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 wherein the mimic device comprises:

local memory operable to store information; and

a processor interfaced with the first NFC antenna and the local memory, the processor operable to detect information received at the first NFC antenna, to store the information in the local memory, to detect a request for the information at the second NFC antenna and, in response to detecting the request, to transmit the information from the second NFC antenna.

8. The information handling system of claim 7 wherein the information detected at the NFC device comprises peripheral configuration information and the request comprises a request from the NFC device in the housing for the peripheral information.

9. The information handling system of claim 8 wherein the processor detects information received at the NFC device in response to a transmission issued by the first NFC device that mimics the NFC device in the housing.

10. A method for configuring an information handling system to communicate with a peripheral, the method comprising:

bringing a mimic device into proximity with an NFC of the peripheral;

reading peripheral configuration information from the NFC of the peripheral to a first NFC antenna of the mimic device;

sending the peripheral communication information from the first NFC antenna to a second NFC antenna through a cable coupled with the first and second antenna;

and

mimicking the peripheral with the mimic device by transmitting the peripheral information from the second NFC antenna to an information handling system NFC, the mimicking providing the peripheral information from the mimic device to the information handling system NFC as if the mimic device is the peripheral.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

reading information with the mimic device second NFC antenna from the information handling system NFC;

storing the information read from the information handling system at the mimic device; and

mimicking the information handling system with the mimic device by transmitting the information handling system information from the mimic device to the peripheral.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the peripheral applies the information handling system information to establish a secure wireless network interface with the information handling system.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the information handling system applies the peripheral configuration information to establish a wireless network interface with the peripheral device.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the mimic device comprises a NFC tag having a mimic initiator that initiates storing the peripheral information only in response to one or more predetermined conditions.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more predetermined conditions comprise an acceleration detected at the mimic device.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more predetermined conditions comprise pressing an initiator button on the mimic device.

17. A NFC mimic device comprising:

first and second housings;

a first NFC antenna disposed in the first housing;

a second NFC device disposed in the second housing;

a cable interfacing the first and second NFC antenna;

memory interfaced with the first NFC antenna;

a processor operable to store information received at the first NFC antenna from an electronic device having a NFC device, the electronic device located distal the second housing, and to provide the information through the cable to the second NFC antenna disposed in the second housing to mimic the electronic device by emulating an NFC communication of the electronic device.

18. The NFC mimic device of claim 17 further comprising a reprogrammable NFC tag having an acceleration detector, the processor storing information in response to an acceleration detected by the acceleration detector.