Electronic device and operating method thereof

• US 9,319,945 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2015
• Issued: 04/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: France Brevets SAS
• Original Assignee: France Brevets SAS
• Inventors: FRANCE BREVETS, Son, Juhyung, Cho, Jihoon, Lee, Byoungwook
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao, Minh D
• Application Number:
  US14/728,677
• Publication Number:
  US 20150271716A1
• Time in Patent Office: 322 Days
• Field of Search: 455/436, 455/439, 455/444, 455/443, 455/440, 370/331, 370/335
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0055 Transmission or use of information for re-establishing the radio link
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0066 of control information between different types of networks in order to establish a new radio link in the target network
• 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 52/0212 managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic device and a method of operating the electronic device. There are provided an electronic device and a method of operating the electronic device that may more effectively resolve handover request collisions by using a specific field value included in a handover request message.

Claims

1. A method of establishing a communication link between a first electronic device and a second electronic device, comprising:

transmitting to the second electronic device an NFC handover request message for establishing communication between the first device and the second device using an alternative carrier for at least one alternative communication link, wherein the NFC handover request message includes a provision for collision resolution information; and

receiving an NFC handover select message from the second device, wherein the NFC handover select message includes a provision for power state information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative carrier is Bluetooth.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative carrier is Wi-Fi.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the handover request message comprises information associated with the alternative carrier supported by the first electronic device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information associated with the alternative carrier includes a provision for at least one of auxiliary data reference information and auxiliary data reference count information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the collision resolution information comprises a number.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the number is a random number.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the alternative carrier is Bluetooth.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the alternative carrier is Wi-Fi.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising receiving an NFC handover request message from the second device, wherein the received NFC handover request message comprises collision resolution information including a random number.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising comparing the random number received from the second electronic device with the random number transmitted by the first electronic device.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising when the two random numbers are the same, transmitting another handover request message with a re-generated random number to the second electronic device.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising configuring the first electronic device as a handover selector if specific bit values of the two random numbers are the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is larger than the random number received from the second electronic device.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising configuring the first electronic device as a handover selector if specific bit values of the two random numbers are not the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is smaller than the random number received from the second electronic device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the NFC handover request message and the NFC handover select message includes a provision for version information.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein each of the NFC handover request message and the NFC handover select message includes a provision for a first flag related to a beginning of a message and a provision for a second flag related to an end of the message.

17. The method of claim 1, further including transmitting to the second electronic device an NFC handover request message including a provision for power state information in response to the handover select message from the second device.

18. A first electronic device comprising:

an NFC communication module configured to transmit to the second electronic device a handover request message for establishing communication between the first device and a second device using an alternative carrier for at least one alternative communication link, wherein the handover request message includes a provision for collision resolution information;

the NFC communication module also configured to receive a handover select message from the second device, wherein the handover select message includes a provision for power state information; and

an alternative communication module configured to establish the communication between the first device and the second device using the alternative carrier.

19. The first electronic device of claim 18, wherein the alternative carrier is Bluetooth.

20. The first electronic device of claim 18, wherein the alternative carrier is Wi-Fi.

21. The first electronic device of claim 18, wherein the handover request message comprises information associated with the alternative carrier supported by the first electronic device.

22. The first electronic device of claim 21, wherein the information associated with the alternative carrier includes a provision for at least one of auxiliary data reference information and auxiliary data reference count information.

23. The first electronic device of claim 18, wherein the collision resolution information comprises a number.

24. The first electronic device of claim 23, wherein the number is a random number.

25. The first electronic device of claim 24, wherein the alternative carrier is Bluetooth.

26. The first electronic device of claim 24, wherein the alternative carrier is Wi-Fi.

27. The first electronic device of claim 18, wherein each of the handover request message and the handover select message includes a provision for version information.

28. The first electronic device of claim 27, wherein each of the handover request message and the handover select message includes a provision for a first flag related to a beginning of a message and a provision for a second flag related to an end of the message.

29. The first electronic device of claim 18, wherein the NFC communication module is further configured to transmit to the second electronic device a handover request message including a provision for power state information in response to the handover select message from the second device.

30. The first electronic device of claim 18 further comprising a controller configured to control the NFC communication module and the alternative communication module.

31. The first electronic device of claim 30 wherein the alternative communication module is a Bluetooth communication module.

32. The first electronic device of claim 30 wherein the NFC communication module of the first electronic device is configured to receive a handover request message from the second electronic device, wherein the received handover request message comprises collision resolution information including a random number.

33. The first electronic device of claim 32 wherein the received random number is compared with the transmitted random number.

34. The first electronic device of claim 33 wherein if the two random numbers are the same, then the NFC communication module of the first electronic device is configured to transmit another handover request message with a re-generated random number to the second electronic device.

35. The first electronic device of claim 33 wherein if specific bit values of the two random numbers are the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is larger than the random number received from the second electronic device, then the first electronic device is configured as a handover selector.

36. The first electronic device of claim 33 wherein if specific bit values of the two random numbers are not the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is smaller than the random number received from the second electronic device, then the first electronic device is configured as a handover selector.

37. A method performed by a first electronic device, comprising:

transmitting to a second electronic device, via an NFC communication module of the first electronic device, a handover request message for establishing an alternative communication link between the first electronic device and the second electronic device using an alternative carrier, wherein the handover request message comprises a collision resolution record including a random number; and

receiving from the second electronic device, via the NFC communication module of the first electronic device, a handover select message, wherein the handover select message comprises alternative carrier power state information; and

establishing via an alternative communication module of the first electronic device, the alternative communication link between the first device and the second device using the alternative carrier, wherein the alternative carrier is Bluetooth.

38. The method of claim 37 further comprising controlling via a controller, the NFC communication module and the alternative communication module.

39. The method of claim 38 wherein the alternative communication module is a Bluetooth communication module.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising receiving from the second electronic device, via the NFC communication module of the first electronic device, a handover request message, wherein the received handover request message comprises a collision resolution record including a random number.

41. The method of claim 40 further comprising comparing the received random number with the transmitted random number.

42. The method of claim 41 further comprising when the two random numbers are the same, transmitting, via the NFC communication module of the first device, another handover request message with a re-generated random number to the second electronic device.

43. The method of claim 41 further comprising configuring the first electronic device as a handover selector if specific bit values of the two random numbers are the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is larger than the random number received from the second electronic device.

44. The method of claim 41 further comprising configuring the first electronic device as a handover selector if specific bit values of the two random numbers are not the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is smaller than the random number received from the second electronic device.

45. A first electronic device comprising:

an NFC communication module configured to transmit to a second electronic device a handover request message for establishing an alternative communication link between the first electronic device and the second electronic device using an alternative carrier, the handover request message comprises a collision resolution record including a random number;

the NFC communication module also configured to receive a handover select message from the second electronic device, wherein the handover select message comprises alternative carrier power state information; and

an alternative communication module configured to establish the alternative communication link between the first electronic device and the second electronic device using the alternative carrier, wherein the alternative carrier is Bluetooth.

46. The first electronic device of claim 45 further comprising a controller configured to control the NFC communication module and the alternative communication module.

47. The first electronic device of claim 46 wherein the alternative communication module is a Bluetooth communication module.

48. The first electronic device of claim 47 wherein the NFC communication module of the first electronic device is configured to receive a handover request message from the second electronic device, wherein the received handover request message comprises a collision resolution record including a random number.

49. The first electronic device of claim 48 wherein the received random number is compared with the transmitted random number.

50. The first electronic device of claim 49 wherein if the two random numbers are the same, the NFC communication module of the first electronic device is configured to transmit another handover request message with a re-generated random number to the second electronic device.

51. The first electronic device of claim 49 wherein if specific bit values of the two random numbers are the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is larger than the random number received from the second electronic device, then the first electronic device is configured as a handover selector.

52. The first electronic device of claim 49 wherein if specific bit values of the two random numbers are not the same and the random number transmitted by the first electronic device is smaller than the random number received from the second electronic device, then the first electronic device is configured as a handover selector.