System-on-chip having near field communication and other wireless communication

• US 9,160,419 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2014
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Syndefense
• Original Assignee: Equispan
• Inventors: Dua, Robin
• Primary Examiner(s): Milord, Marceau
• Application Number:
  US14/171,819
• Publication Number:
  US 20140154982A1
• Time in Patent Office: 616 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/2.01, 455/3.06, 455/556.1, 455/552.1, 455/41.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/48 Transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/77 for interrogation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2809 indicating that an appliance service is present in a home automation network monitoring functionality H04L43/0817; discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services, H04L67/51
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/281 indicating a format for calling an appliance service function in a home automation network for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2816 Controlling appliance services of a home automation network by calling their functionalities arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station; in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom H04Q9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2841 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/2849 Audio/video appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1068 Discovery involving direct consultation or announcement among potential requesting and potential source peers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0264 for a camera module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0266 for a display module assembly
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 : Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 : Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A wireless media player and a related system and methodology are disclosed. One aspect of the wireless media player system pertains to a virtual connector system, apparatus, and method for the automatic establishment of wireless connectivity with other electronic devices. In one embodiment, the media player device employs the use of integrated Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology to exchange communication settings, media capability, and other parameters with an external device that also has integrated RFID technology. The automatic exchange of settings and other information via a proximity-based RFID data exchange allows a media player to quickly establish a secure communication link with another device via a commonly supported wireless protocol such as Ultra Wideband (UWB) or Bluetooth. Another aspect of the media player system pertains to a method of using the captured media capability of the connecting device to customize certain menu options and software parameters in the media player.

Claims

1. A system-on-chip, comprising:

a Bluetooth radio and antenna interface configured to couple to an external antenna to transmit and receive data wirelessly via a Bluetooth communication protocol; and

a Near Field Communication (NFC) circuit communicatively coupled to the Bluetooth Radio, the NFC circuit including an NFC antenna interface configured to couple to an external NFC antenna, and at least one of a NFC tag and a NFC reader to receive or selectively provide wireless connectivity data via a NFC communication link over the NFC antenna interface to an external device including the external antenna and the external NFC antenna, the wireless connectivity data enabling at least one Bluetooth connection with the external device via the Bluetooth radio and antenna interface.

2. The system-on-chip of claim 1, wherein the Bluetooth radio and antenna interface establish a communication link with the external device in accordance with communication configuration information received by the NFC circuit via the NFC link.

3. The system-on-chip of claim 1, wherein the Bluetooth radio is coupled to a Bluetooth sequencer to execute at least one layer of a Bluetooth stack to transmit and receive the data wirelessly via the Bluetooth communication protocol.

4. The system-on-chip of claim 1, further comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the NFC circuit and the Bluetooth radio to control at least one operation thereof.

5. The system-on-chip of claim 1, wherein the NFC antenna interface comprises an NFC antenna configured to communicate with the external NFC antenna.

6. The system-on-chip of claim 1, wherein the Bluetooth antenna interface comprises a Bluetooth antenna configured to communicate with the external antenna.

7. A system-on-chip, comprising:

a near field communication (NFC) circuit comprising an NFC antenna interface configured to couple to an NFC antenna of an external device to obtain communication configuration information from the external device via an NFC link over the NFC antenna interface, the communication configuration information enabling at least one wireless connection with the external device; and

a wireless transceiver communicatively coupled to the NFC circuit and comprising an antenna interface configured to couple to an antenna of the external device to establish a communication link with the external device in accordance with the obtained communication configuration information received via the NFC link.

8. The system-on-chip of claim 7, wherein the wireless transceiver comprises:

a Bluetooth radio and antenna interface configured to couple to the external antenna of the external device to selectively transmit and receive data wirelessly via a Bluetooth communication protocol with the external device in accordance with the communication configuration information obtained via the NFC link.

9. The system-on-chip of claim 8, wherein the Bluetooth radio is coupled to a Bluetooth sequencer to execute at least one layer of a Bluetooth stack to selectively transmit and receive the data wirelessly via the Bluetooth communication protocol.

10. The system-on-chip of claim 7, wherein the NFC circuit includes at least one of a NFC tag and a NFC reader.

11. The system-on-chip of claim 7, further comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the NFC circuit and the wireless transceiver to control at least one operation thereof.

12. A system-on-chip, comprising:

a Bluetooth antenna interface configured to couple to an antenna of an external device;

a near field communication (NFC) antenna interface configured to couple to an NFC antenna of the external device; and

one or more radio frequency (RF) circuits being operable to generate a first signal to enable at least one of transmission and reception of Bluetooth signals, and to enable at least one of transmission and reception of NFC signals with the external device via the NFC antenna interface to enable at least one Bluetooth connection to be established with the external device via the Bluetooth antenna interface.

13. The system-on-chip of claim 12, further comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the one or more RF circuits to control at least one operation thereof.

14. A system-on-chip, comprising:

a first circuit comprising an antenna interface configured to couple to an antenna of an external device to enable at least one of transmission and reception of Bluetooth signals; and

a second circuit, communicatively coupled to the first circuit, comprising near a field communication (NFC) antenna interface configured to couple to an NFC antenna of the external device to enable at least one of transmission and reception of NFC signals with the external device to enable at least one Bluetooth connection to be established with the external device via the first circuit.

15. The system-on-chip of claim 14, further comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the first and second circuits to control at least one operation thereof.

16. A system-on-chip, comprising:

a first circuit comprising an antenna interface configured to couple to an antenna of another device that is located within a predetermined distance to enable at least one of transmission and reception of wireless signals to the other device; and

a second circuit, communicatively coupled to the first circuit, comprising a near field communication (NFC) antenna interface configured to couple to an NFC antenna of the other device to enable at least one of transmission and reception of NFC signals with the other device to enable at least one wireless connection to be established with the other device via the first circuit.

17. The system-on-chip of claim 16, further comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the first and second circuits to control at least one operation thereof.

18. A wireless communication system comprising:

a first circuit comprising an antenna interface configured to couple to an antenna of another device that is located within a predetermined distance to enable at least one of transmission and reception of wireless signals to the other device; and

a second circuit, communicatively coupled to the first circuit, comprising a near field communication (NFC) antenna interface configured to couple to an NFC antenna of the other device to enable at least one of transmission and reception of NFC signals with the other device to enable at least one wireless connection to be established with the other device via the first circuit.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a processor communicatively coupled to the first and second circuits to control at least one operation thereof.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the wireless signals are Bluetooth signals.

21. A wireless communication system comprising:

a system-on-chip disposed in a host device, comprising;

a first circuit comprising an antenna interface configured to couple to an antenna of another device that is located within a predetermined distance to enable at least one of transmission and reception of wireless signals to the other device; and

a second circuit, communicatively coupled to the first circuit, comprising a near field communication (NFC) antenna interface configured to couple to an NFC antenna of the other device to enable at least one of transmission and reception of NFC signals with the other device to enable at least one wireless connection to be established with the other device via the first circuit; and

a processor disposed in the host device and communicatively coupled to the system-on-chip to control one or more operations of the system-on-chip.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the processor controls one or more operations of at least one of the first circuit and the second circuit of the system-on-chip.