Device for control of data transfer in local area network

• US 9,351,100 B2
• Filed: 10/14/2014
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Trnhed, Kristian, strand, Per, Agardh, Kre, Bolin, Thomas, Rodzevski, Aleksandar, Bengtsson, Henrik
• Primary Examiner(s): AKINYEMI, AJIBOLA A
• Application Number:
  US14/513,672
• Publication Number:
  US 20150312704A1
• Time in Patent Office: 588 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/22 Capacitive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• 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 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks

Abstract

The present invention concerns wearable electronic communication devices (100) for control of data transfer in a personal area network. The wearable device is adapted for Body Coupled Communication in close proximity to a person'"'"'s body. The wearable device comprises an antenna adapted for Body Coupled Communication and a capacitance sensor indicating that the wearable device is in close proximity to the body of the person or even in contact with the body or not. The invention also concerns a portable electronic communication device comprising the inventive wearable device for cooperation with at least a second portable electronic communication device in a personal area network.

Claims

1. A wearable electronic communication device for a portable electronic communication device, the wearable device is configured for Body Coupled Communication (BCC) and capacitance measurement in close proximity to a person'"'"'s body and comprises:

a BCC antenna over which BCC is carried out and that functions as a capacitance sensor that makes a body capacitance measurement, wherein if the body capacitance measurement belongs to a predefined capacitance range, the body capacitance measurement indicates that the wearable device is in close proximity to or in contact with a body part of the person, and

processing circuitry in operational connection with the BCC antenna, the processing circuitry controlling the BCC and the body capacitance measurement, wherein

the antenna and the capacitance sensor are the same structural entity arranged as one common electrode for both the BCC and the body capacitance measurement of the wearable device, the processing circuitry comprising a first impedance used when the common electrode is used for body capacitance measurement and a second impedance used when the common electrode is used for BCC.

2. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry of the wearable device comprises first and second processing circuitry operationally coupled to the common electrode and respectively presenting the first and second impedances, the first processing circuitry is configured to perform/control the body capacitance measurement and to present a higher impedance than the impedance of the second processing circuitry configured to perform/control the BCC.

3. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 2, wherein the second processing circuitry comprises a band-pass filter operationally arranged as an input of the second processing circuitry to filter out any interfering noise originating from signals of the common antenna and capacitance sensor as a result of the capacitance measurement.

4. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 2, wherein the second processing circuitry comprises a high-pass filter operationally arranged as an input of the second processing circuitry to filter out any interfering noise originating from signals of the common antenna and capacitance sensor as a result of the capacitance measurement.

5. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 2, wherein the first processing circuitry comprises a resistor operationally arranged as an input of the first processing circuitry to increase the impedance of the first processing circuitry.

6. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 2, wherein the first processing circuitry comprises a low-pass filter operationally arranged as an input of this first processing circuitry to increase the impedance of the first processing circuitry.

7. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry comprises sub-circuitry operationally adapted to tune the impedance of the processing circuitry resulting from when the common antenna and capacitance sensor is in close proximity to or in contact with the body of the person or not to match both the receiving and transmitting impedances of the processing circuitry simultaneously.

8. A wearable electronic communication device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry comprises sub-circuitry operationally adapted to control/perform BCC via the common antenna and capacitance sensor when the common antenna and capacitance sensor is in close proximity to or in contact with the body of the person, the sub-circuitry comprising a transmitter and a receiver.

9. A portable electronic communication device configured as a wearable electronic communication device according to claim 1 and configured to carry out Body Coupled Communication (BCC) and short-range wireless RF communication when in close proximity to or in contact with a person'"'"'s body, further comprising:

a controller configured to control autonomous and external and internal operation of the portable electronic communication device and the BCC wireless communication and the short-range wireless RF communication from and to the portable electronic communication device.

10. A portable electronic communication device according to claim 9, wherein the portable electronic communication device is at least one of a headphone, headset, wristlet, necklace, ring, ankle band, visors or goggles.