NFC device and method of operating the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11637591-B2
Application number	US-202117447956-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2021
Priority date	Oct 13, 2020
Publication date	Apr 25, 2023
Grant date	Apr 25, 2023

Abstract

In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, a near field communication (NFC) device is provided, comprising: a communication unit configured to be communicatively coupled to an NFC reader; a processing unit configured to use a plurality of emulated cards for executing one or more applications; a profile determination unit configured to determine a polling profile of said NFC reader; and a card selection unit configured to select a specific one of said emulated cards for use by the processing unit in dependence on the polling profile determined by the profile determination unit. In accordance with a second aspect of the present disclosure, a corresponding method of operating a near field communication (NFC) device is conceived. In accordance with a third aspect of the present disclosure, a corresponding computer program is provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A near field communication (NFC) device, comprising:
a communication unit configured to be communicatively coupled to an NFC reader;
a processing unit configured to use a plurality of emulated cards for executing one or more applications;
a profile determination unit configured to determine a polling profile of said NFC reader;
a card selection unit configured to select a specific one of said emulated cards for use by the processing unit in dependence on the polling profile determined by the profile determination unit.

2. The NFC device of claim 1 , wherein the card selection unit is further configured to perform a preselection of a subset of said emulated cards in dependence on a geographical location of the NFC device, and to select said specific emulated card from said subset.

3. The NFC device of claim 2 , comprising one or more further communication units configured to enable determining the geographical location of the NFC device.

4. The NFC device of claim 3 , wherein the further communication units are at least one of a satellite communication unit, a wireless local area network communication unit, a Bluetooth communication unit, a cellular communication unit, and an ultra-wideband communication unit.

5. The NFC device of claim 2 , wherein the card selection unit is configured to select a default emulated card if the geographical location of the NFC device has not been determined.

6. The NFC device of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is configured to override the selection of the specific emulated card by the card selection unit.

7. The NFC device of claim 1 , wherein the card selection unit is configured to select said specific emulated card using a programmable mapping table in which polling profiles are mapped to said emulated cards.

8. The NFC device of claim 7 , wherein the programmable mapping table further maps geographical location information to said polling profiles and emulated cards.

9. The NFC device of claim 1 , wherein the card selection unit is further configured to select said specific emulated card using a user input which is indicative of a manual selection performed by a user.

10. The NFC device of claim 1 , wherein the polling profile represents a pattern of radio frequency, RF, transmission events detected by the NFC device when the communication unit is communicatively coupled to the NFC reader.

11. The NFC device of claim 1 , wherein said emulated cards are used for carrying out transactions with the NFC reader.

12. A method of operating a near field communication (NFC) device, the NFC device comprising a communication unit, a processing unit, a profile determination unit and a card selection unit, the method comprising:
communicatively coupling the communication unit to an NFC reader;
determining, by the profile determination unit, a polling profile of said NFC reader;
selecting, by the card selection unit, a specific one of a plurality of emulated cards in dependence on the polling profile determined by the profile determination unit;
using, by the processing unit, the specific emulated card for executing an application.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the card selection unit performs a preselection of a subset of said emulated cards in dependence on a geographical location of the NFC device, and selects said specific emulated card from said subset.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein one or more further communication units comprised in the NFC device enable determining the geographical location of the NFC device.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the further communication units are at least one of a satellite communication unit, a wireless local area network communication unit, a Bluetooth communication unit, a cellular communication unit, and an ultra-wideband communication unit.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the card selection unit selects a default emulated card if the geographical location of the NFC device has not been determined.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the processing unit overrides the selection of the specific emulated card by the card selection unit.

18. The method of claim 12 , wherein the card selection unit selects said specific emulated card using a programmable mapping table in which polling profiles are mapped to said emulated cards.

19. The method of claim 12 , wherein a computer program comprising executable instructions stored in a computer-readable non-transitory medium, when executed by the NFC device, causes the NFC device to carry out the method.

Assignees

• Nxp Bv

Inventors

• Spiss Thomas
• Ismail Abu Syed Firoz
• Wobak Markus

Classifications

• H04W4/029 Primary

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04B5/70

  specially adapted for specific purposes · CPC title

• H04B5/20

  characterised by the transmission technique; characterised by the transmission medium · CPC title

• G06K19/0723

  the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs · CPC title

• H04W4/023

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title