Card payment system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9330385-B2
Application number	US-201314013107-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 29, 2013
Priority date	Aug 29, 2012
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

In one example embodiment, a card payment system includes a card payment apparatus, having an audio jack, configured to: read account information stored on a payment card, transmit the account information via a microphone contact of an audio jack, and receive an acoustic signal via at least one earphone contact of the audio jack; and a client device, having an audio jack socket to receive the audio jack, configured to: receive, from the card payment apparatus, the account information via a receptor for the microphone contact of the audio jack, and transmit, to the card payment apparatus, the acoustic signal via the at least one earphone contact.

First claim

We claim:

1. A card payment system, comprising:
a card payment apparatus, having an audio jack, configured to:
read account information stored on a payment card,
transmit the account information via a microphone contact of the audio jack,
receive an acoustic signal generated from a client device via at least one earphone contact of the audio jack, wherein the acoustic signal includes a periodic acoustic signal and a non-periodic acoustic signal,
convert electrical components of the received acoustic signal into electric power to operate the card payment apparatus,
extract a second analog signal that is the non-periodic acoustic signal from the acoustic signal, and
convert the second analog signal into a request to read the account information; and

the client device, having an audio jack socket to receive the audio jack, configured to:
receive, from the card payment apparatus, the account information via a receptor for the microphone contact of the audio jack, and
generate the acoustic signal and transmit, to the card payment apparatus, the generated acoustic signal via the at least one earphone contact.

2. The card payment system of claim 1 , wherein the card payment apparatus is further configured to transform an alternating current (AC) voltage of the acoustic signal to a direct current (DC) voltage,
wherein the acoustic signal is a pulse signal having at least one charging duration and at least one discharging duration, and
wherein an absolute value of a voltage increase of the DC voltage in the at least one charging duration is greater than an absolute value of a voltage decrease of the DC voltage in the at least one discharging duration.

3. The card payment system of claim 1 , wherein the card payment apparatus is configured to transmit the account information by:
converting the account information into a first analog signal; and
transmitting the first analog signal, via the microphone contact, to the client device, and
wherein the client device is configured to receive the account information by:
receiving the first analog signal, via the receptor for the microphone contact from the card payment apparatus, and
converting the first analog signal into the account information, and

wherein the account information is a digital signal.

4. The card payment system of claim 3 ,
wherein the client device is further configured to convert the digital signal request to read the account information into the second analog signal.

5. The card payment system of claim 3 , wherein the client device is further configured to execute a card payment based on the account information through a card payment server.

6. The card payment system of claim 4 ,
wherein the second analog signal includes a plurality of waveforms, each of which is set to have a different duration time, and
wherein the client device is further configured to convert the request to read the account information into the second analog signal based on at least one of the plurality of waveforms and the duration time.

7. An apparatus, comprising:
an audio jack having at least one earphone contact and a microphone contact;
a card reader configured to read a first digital signal stored on a card;
a signal processor configured to:
convert the first digital signal to a first analog signal,
transmit, to a client device, the first analog signal via the microphone contact,
receive, via the at least one earphone contact, from the client device, an acoustic signal generated from the client device, the acoustic signal including a periodic signal and a non-periodic signal,
extract a second analog signal that includes the non-periodic signal from the acoustic signal, and
convert the second analog signal to a second digital signal,
wherein the first digital signal includes account information and the second digital signal includes a request to read the account information; and

a power generator configured to:
receive, from the client device, the acoustic signal generated from the client device via the at least one earphone contact, and
convert electrical components of the received acoustic signal into electric power to operate the apparatus.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the power generator is further configured to transform an alternating current (AC) voltage of the acoustic signal to a direct current (DC) voltage,
wherein the acoustic signal is a pulse signal having at least one charging duration and at least one discharging duration, and
wherein an absolute value of a voltage increase of the DC voltage in the at least one charging duration is greater than an absolute value of a voltage decrease of the DC voltage in the at least one discharging duration.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the second analog signal includes a plurality of waveforms, each of which is set to have a different duration time, and
wherein the signal processor is further configured to convert the second analog signal into the second digital signal based on at least one of the plurality of waveforms and the duration time.

10. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the audio jack includes two earphone contacts,
wherein the signal processor is configured to receive the second analog signal via one of the earphone contacts, and
wherein the power generator is further configured to receive the acoustic signal via the other of the earphone contacts.

11. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising:
a signal switching unit configured to:
determine that the second analog signal is transmitted from the client device via the at least one earphone contact, and
transmit the second analog signal to the signal processor, and

wherein the signal processor is further configured to:
receive the second analog signal from the signal switching unit, and
convert the second analog signal into the second digital signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 7 , further comprising:
a signal switching unit configured to:
receive, from the client device via the at least one earphone contact, the second analog signal and the acoustic signal,
transmit the second analog signal to the signal processor, and
transmit the acoustic signal to a power generator; and

a power generator configured to:
receive the acoustic signal from the signal switching unit, and
convert electrical components of the received acoustic signal into electric power to operate the apparatus,

wherein the signal processor is further configured to:
receive the second analog signal from the signal switching unit, and
convert the second analog signal into the second digital signal.

13. A client device, comprising:
an audio jack socket configured to receive an audio jack that includes at least one earphone contact and a microphone contact;
a transceiver configured to:
receive, from the microphone contact, a first analog signal to which a first digital signal is converted, and
transmit, to the least one earphone contact, an acoustic signal generated from the client device and a second analog signal to which a second digital signal is converted, wherein electrical components of the acoustic signal converted into electrical power, via a card payment apparatus, to operate the card payment apparatus, wherein the acoustic signal generated from the client device includes a periodic acoustic signal and a non-periodic acoustic signal, and the second analog signal is the non-periodic acoustic signal that is to be converted into a request to read account information via the card payment apparatus; and

a signal generator configured to:
generate the acoustic signal, and
convert the second digital signal to the second analo

Assignees

• Kt Corp

Inventors

• Cho Youngbin
• Kim Sung-Chul
• Jeung Youn-Pil

Classifications

• H04M1/72412

  using two-way short-range wireless interfaces · CPC title

• H04M1/72409

  by interfacing with external accessories (hands-free H04M1/60) · CPC title

• G06Q20/3567 Primary

  Software being in the reader · CPC title

• G06Q20/3272 Primary

  using an audio code · CPC title

• G07F7/0873

  Details of the card reader · CPC title