Methods and apparatus for improving NFC RF discovery based on detection of other RF activity

• US 9,351,144 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2012
• Issued: 05/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Hillan, John, Linsky, Joel Benjamin
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): HU, RUI MENG
• Application Number:
  US13/487,552
• Publication Number:
  US 20130324036A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,450 Days
• Field of Search: 455/9, 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/67.11, 455/67.15, 455/67.7, 455/515, 455/574, 4553431-3436
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving NFC RF discovery through monitoring RF activity associated with one or more RATs. In one example, a first NFC device may be configured to use both a first RAT and NFC. The first NFC device may monitor RF activity on a first RAT to determine whether there is at least a greater probability that a second NFC device is within a threshold. The NFC device may be also configured to modify at least an interval between polling modes in a NFC RF discovery loop based on the determination.

Claims

1. A method of communications, comprising:

monitoring a signal strength value of a first radio access technology (RAT) used by a first near field communication (NFC) device, wherein the first RAT is different than a NFC radio frequency (RF) technology used by the first NFC device;

determining an increase the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT by the NFC device;

determining that a probability that a second NFC device is within a threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased based at least on the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT and the increase in the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT, wherein the threshold distance is based on a coverage area of the NFC RF technology used by the first NFC device; and

modifying at least an interval between polling modes in a NFC RF discovery loop based on the determination that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring further comprises:

monitoring the signal strength value of the first RAT at a first time and a second time after the first time; and

determining the increase in the monitored signal strength value based on the signal strength value of the first RAT at the first time and the second time.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased further comprises determining that the signal strength value of the first RAT monitored at the second time is above a power threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at a rate that is greater than a threshold rate, and wherein the determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased is further based on the determination that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at the rate that is greater than the threshold rate.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying further comprises modifying occurrence of polling for each NFC RF technology.

6. The method of claim 1,

wherein the modifying further comprises decreasing the interval between polling modes based on the monitored signal strength value.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining a change in the monitored signal strength value; and

wherein the modifying further comprises decreasing the interval between polling modes proportionally with respect to the determined change.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the modifying further comprises modifying the interval between polling modes in a manner to improve power consumption efficiency for the first NFC device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT includes a RAT supporting a wireless communication system based on one of a group consisting of:

FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second NFC device is one of a group consisting of:

a peer NFC device, a reader device, a writer device, a tag, and a card.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RAT supports at least one of a personal area network (PAN) and a local area network (LAN).

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code for:

monitoring a signal strength value of a first radio access technology (RAT) used by a first near field communication (NFC) device, wherein the first RAT is different than a NFC radio frequency (RF) technology used by the first NFC device;

determining an increase in the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT by the NFC device;

determining that a probability that a second NFC device is within a threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased based at least on the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT and the increase in the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT, wherein the threshold distance is based on a coverage area of the NFC RF technology used by the first NFC device; and

modifying at least an interval between polling modes in a NFC RF discovery loop based on the determination that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising code for:

monitoring the signal strength value of the first RAT at a first time and a second time after the first time; and

determining the increase in the monitored signal strength value based on the signal strength value of the first RAT at the first time and the second time.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, the determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased further comprises determining that the signal strength value of the first RAT monitored at the second time is above a power threshold.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising code for:

determining that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at a rate that is greater than a threshold rate, and wherein the determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased is further based on the determination that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at the rate that is greater than the threshold rate.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium claim 12, further comprising code for modifying occurrence of polling for each NFC RF technology.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises code for:

decreasing the interval between polling modes based on the monitored signal strength value.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising code for:

determining a change in the monitored signal strength value; and

decreasing the interval between polling modes proportionally with respect to the determined change.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising code for modifying the interval between polling modes in a manner to improve power consumption efficiency for the first NFC device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the first RAT includes a RAT supporting a wireless communication system based on one of a group consisting of:

FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the second NFC device is one of a group consisting of:

a peer NFC device, a reader device, a writer device, a tag, and a card.

22. An apparatus for communications, comprising:

means for monitoring a signal strength value of a first radio access technology (RAT) used by a first near field communication (NFC) device, wherein the first RAT is different than a NFC radio frequency (RF)technology used by the first NFC device;

means for determining an increase in the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT by the NFC device;

means for determining that a probability that a second NFC device is within a threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased based at least on the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT and the increase in of the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT, wherein the threshold distance is based on a coverage area of the NFC RF technology used by the first NFC device; and

means for modifying at least an interval between polling modes in a NFC RF discovery loop based on the determination that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for monitoring further comprises means for monitoring the signal strength value of the first RAT at a first time and a second time after the first time;

and

wherein the means for determining the increase in the monitored signal strength value comprises means for determining the increase in the monitored signal strength value based on the signal strength value of the first RAT at the first time and the second time.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance has increased further comprises means for determining that the signal strength value of the first RAT monitored at the second time is above a power threshold.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising means for determining that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at a rate that is greater than a threshold rate, and wherein the means for determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased further comprises means for determining that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased based on the determination that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at the rate that is greater than the threshold rate.

26. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for modifying further comprises means for modifying occurrence of polling for each NFC RF technology.

27. The apparatus of claim 22,

wherein the means for modifying further comprises means for decreasing the interval between polling modes based on the monitored signal strength value.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising:

means for determining a change in the monitored signal strength value; and

wherein the means for modifying further comprises means for decreasing the interval between polling modes proportionally with respect to the determined change.

29. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the means for modifying further comprises means for modifying the interval between polling modes in a manner to improve power consumption efficiency for the first NFC device.

30. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the first RAT includes a RAT supporting a wireless communication system based on one of a group consisting of:

FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.

31. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the second NFC device is one of a group consisting of:

a peer NFC device, a reader device, a writer device, a tag, and a card.

32. An NFC device for communications, comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory; and

a radio frequency (RF) activity module coupled to at least one of the memory or the processor, and configured to;

monitor a signal strength value of a first radio access technology (RAT) used by a first near field communication (NFC) device, wherein the first RAT is different than a NFC RF technology used by the first NFC device;

determine an increase in the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT by the NFC device;

determine that a probability that a second NFC device is within a threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased based at least on the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT and the increase in the monitored signal strength value of the first RAT, wherein the threshold distance is based on a coverage area of the NFC RF technology used by the first NFC device; and

modify at least an interval between polling modes in a NFC RF discovery loop based on the determination that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased.

33. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the RF activity module is further configured to:

monitor the signal strength value of the first RAT at a first time and a second time after the first time; and

wherein the RF activity module configured to determine the increase in the monitored signal strength value further comprises the RF activity module configured to determine the increase in the monitored signal strength value based on the signal strength value of the first RAT at the first time and the second time.

34. The NFC device of claim 33, wherein the RF activity module configured to determine that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased further comprises the RF activity module configured to determine that the signal strength value of the first RAT monitored at the second time is above a power threshold.

35. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the RF activity module is further configured to:

determine that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at a rate that is greater than a threshold rate, and determine that the probability that the second NFC device is within the threshold distance of the first NFC device has increased further based on the determination that the monitored signal strength value is increasing at the rate that is greater than the threshold rate.

36. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the RF activity module is further configured to modify occurrence of polling for each NFC RF technology.

37. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the RF activity module is further configured to:

decrease the interval between polling modes based on the monitored signal strength value.

38. The NFC device of claim 37, wherein the RF activity module is further configured to:

determine a change in the monitored signal strength value ; and

decrease the interval between polling modes proportionally with respect to the determined change.

39. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the RF activity module is further configured to modify the interval between polling modes in a manner to improve power consumption efficiency for the first NFC device.

40. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the first RAT includes a RAT supporting a wireless communication system based on one of a group consisting of:

FlashLinQ, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and Wi-Fi based on the IEEE 802.11 standard.

41. The NFC device of claim 32, wherein the second NFC device is one of a group consisting of:

a peer NFC device, a reader device, a writer device, a tag, and a card.