Apparatus and method for selecting PICC in portable terminal

• US 9,219,527 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2012
• Issued: 12/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Yun, Chuleun
• Primary Examiner(s): Safaipour, Bobbak
• Assistant Examiner(s): SANDIFORD, DEVAN A
• Application Number:
  US13/667,557
• Publication Number:
  US 20130122806A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,145 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1, 455/558, 235/375, 235/380, 235/382, 235/487, 235/492, 235/493
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/00 Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion G06K1/00; pattern recognition G06F18/00; arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding G06V10/00; character recognition, recognising digital ink or document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10237 the reader and the record carrier being capable of selectively switching between reader and record carrier appearance, e.g. in near field communication [NFC] devices where the NFC device may function as an RFID reader or as an RFID tag
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10297 arrangements for handling protocols designed for non-contact record carriers such as RFIDs NFCs, e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 and 18092 cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; network security protocols H04L63/00; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; network protocols for data switching network services H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/00 Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 1/00 Details of selecting apparatus or arrangements

Abstract

An apparatus and method for selecting a Proximity Interface Coupling Card (PICC) of a portable terminal having a Near Field Communication (NFC) module including multiple PICCs are provided. The method includes activating the NFC module when the portable terminal is at a power-off state, determining whether a key signal for activating one PICC among the multiple of PICCs is inputted in the activated NFC module, and activating the PICC mapped with the inputted key signal when the key signal is inputted.

Claims

1. A method for selecting a Proximity Interface Coupling Card (PICC) of a portable terminal,

wherein the portable terminal includes:

a Near Field Communication (NFC) module including multiple PICCs;

an input unit including at least one function key;

a switch unit; and

a voltage division unit disposed between the switch unit and the NFC module and connected to a battery, and

wherein the method comprises;

activating the NFC module when the portable terminal is at a power-off state;

determining whether a key signal, for activating one PICC among the multiple PICCs, is provided to the activated NFC module by an activation of the at least one function key in the activated NFC module;

connecting, by the switch unit, the at least one function key to the voltage division unit when the portable terminal is at the power-off state;

dividing, by the voltage division unit, a voltage output from the battery to set an operating voltage of the at least one function key; and

providing the operating voltage of the at least one function key to the NFC module to activate the one PICC, which is mapped with the provided key signal, when the key signal is provided, such that the operating voltage of the at least one function key provided to the NFC module by the voltage division unit is equal to or greater than an operating voltage of the NFC module.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating a default PICC among the multiple PICCs when the key signal is not provided.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the activating of the NFC module is performed when the portable terminal approaches a reader capable of recognizing the NFC module within a certain distance and when power is supplied to the NFC module by resonant inductive coupling.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising transmitting information of the activated one PICC to the reader.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of whether the key signal is provided includes determining whether the key signal is an individual key signal or a combination key signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining of whether the key signal is inputted includes measuring an input time of the individual key signal or the combination key signal.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

switching, by the switch unit, such that the key signal is transmitted to a controller when the portable terminal is turned on.

8. An apparatus for selecting a Proximity Interface Coupling Card (PICC) of a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising:

a Near Field Communication (NFC) module including multiple PICCs and configured to determine whether a key signal is provided from an input unit when the NFC module is activated and when the portable terminal is at a power-off state;

the input unit including at least one function key and configured to provide the key signal when the at least one function key is activated to activate one PICC among the multiple PICCs when the portable terminal is at the power-off state;

a switch unit; and

a voltage division unit disposed between the switch unit and the NFC module and connected to a battery,

wherein the switch unit is configured to connect the at least one function key to the voltage division unit when the portable terminal is at the power-off state, and

wherein the voltage division unit is configured to;

divide a voltage output from the battery to set an operating voltage of the at least one function key, and

provide the operating voltage of the at least one function key to the NFC module to activate the one PICC, which is mapped with the provided key signal when the key signal is provided, such that the operating voltage of the at least one function key provided to the NFC module by the voltage division unit is equal to or greater than an operating voltage of the NFC module.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the NFC module is further configured to activate a default PICC among the multiple PICCs when the key signal is not provided.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the NFC module is configured to be activated by resonant inductive coupling generated when the portable terminal approaches a reader capable of recognizing the NFC module.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the NFC module is configured to transmit information of the activated one PICC to the reader when the one PICC mapped with the provided key signal is activated.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the NFC module comprises:

a mode selection unit configured to;

recognize the key signal provided from the input unit, and

generate a control signal that requests the activation of the one PICC mapped with the recognized key signal; and

a PICC emulator configured to activate the one PICC of the multiple PICCs according to the control signal transmitted from the mode selection unit.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the switch unit is configured to switch, such that the key signal is transmitted to a controller when the portable terminal is turned on.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the NFC module is configured to store a mapping table having a certain PICC card mapped with each function key or a key combination of multiple function keys included in the input unit.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the mapping table is configured to map a different PICC according to an input time of each function key or the key combination of the multiple function keys.