Mobile wireless communications device providing guide direction indicator for near field communication (NFC) initiation and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9706036-B2
Application number	US-201113311013-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 5, 2011
Priority date	Dec 5, 2011
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

A mobile device may include a display, an optical sensor having a field of view, a movement sensor, a first near-field communication (NFC) device, and a controller. The controller may be configured to display the field of view of the optical sensor on the display, locate a second NFC device within the field of view, and display a direction indicator(s) on the display to indicate a guide direction of movement to align the first NFC device with the second NFC device. When the second NFC device falls outside the field of view, the controller may be configured to display the guide direction indicator(s) on the display to relocate the second NFC device within the field of view based upon the movement sensor. The controller may also be configured to cause the first NFC device to communicate with the second NFC device based upon proximity to the second NFC device.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A mobile wireless communications device comprising:
a memory that stores executable instructions;
a display;
an optical sensor having a lateral field of view;
a movement sensor;
a first near-field communication (NFC) device; and
a controller coupled with the display, the optical sensor, the movement sensor and the first NFC device, wherein the controller, responsive to executing the executable instructions, facilitates performance of operations comprising:
displaying a video of the lateral field of view of the optical sensor on the display;
locating and identifying a second NFC device within the video of the lateral field of view, capturing a still image of the second NFC device, and displaying a range indicator on the display to indicate a range distance to the second NFC device to initiate NFC communication with the second NFC device, wherein the identifying of the second NFC device is based on detecting, via image recognition, an identification indicator on the second NFC device;
responsive to the second NFC device being outside the lateral field of view, displaying the still image of the second NFC device on the display, determining a lateral alignment indicator based upon the movement sensor and displaying the lateral alignment indicator on the display to facilitate relocation of the second NFC device to a position within the lateral field of view;
responsive to the second NFC device being inside the lateral field of view, displaying the video of the lateral field of view on the display, ceasing the displaying of the lateral alignment indicator on the display and displaying a scanning indicator on the display to relocate the second NFC device aligned with the scanning indicator based upon the movement sensor; and
causing the first NFC device to communicate with the second NFC device based upon proximity to and alignment with the identification indicator of the second NFC device.

2. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the controller is further capable of overlaying the range indicator and the lateral alignment indicator over the video of the lateral field of view on the display, responsive to the second NFC device being inside the lateral field of view.

3. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the controller is further capable of displaying the still image of the lateral field of view on the display, and overlaying the range indicator and the lateral alignment indicator over the still image of the second NFC device on the display, responsive to the second NFC device being outside the lateral field of view.

4. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 3 wherein the controller is further capable of panning the still image of the lateral field of view on the display, based on a relative movement of the mobile wireless communications device and the second NFC device.

5. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 3 wherein the controller is further capable of zooming the still image of the second NFC device on the display.

6. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 4 wherein the second NFC device has viewable dimension indicia thereon; and wherein the controller generates the range indicator based upon the viewable dimension indicia within the lateral field of view of the optical sensor, wherein the scanning indicator is presented utilizing broken lines.

7. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the movement sensor comprises an accelerometer, and wherein the identification indicator comprises readable dimension data that is read by the controller to determine dimensions of the second NFC device.

8. The mobile wireless communications device of claim 1 wherein the movement sensor comprises a gyroscope, and wherein the identification indicator comprises readable dimension data that is read by the controller to determine dimensions of the second NFC device.

9. A communications system comprising:
a mobile wireless communications device comprising:
a display;
an optical sensor having a lateral field of view;
a movement sensor;
a first near-field communication (NFC) device; and
a controller coupled with the display, the optical sensor, the movement sensor and the first NFC device; and

a second NFC device,
wherein the controller of the mobile wireless communications device facilitates performance of operations comprising:
displaying a video of the lateral field of view of the optical sensor on the display;
locating and identifying the second NFC device within the lateral field of view, obtaining a still image of the second NFC device, and displaying a range indicator on the display to indicate a range distance to the second NFC device to initiate NFC communication with the second NFC device, wherein the second NFC device is identified based on detecting via image recognition an identification indicator on the second NFC device;
responsive to the second NFC device being outside the lateral field of view displaying the still image of the second NFC device on the display, determining a lateral alignment indicator based upon the movement sensor and displaying the lateral alignment indicator on the display to facilitate relocation of the second NFC device to a position within the lateral field of view;
responsive to the second NFC device being inside the lateral field of view, displaying the video of the lateral field of view of the optical sensor on the display, ceasing the displaying of the lateral alignment indicator on the display and displaying a scanning indicator on the display to relocate the second NFC device aligned with the scanning indicator based upon the movement sensor; and
causing the first NFC device to communicate with the second NFC device based upon proximity to and alignment with the identification indicator of the second NFC device.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise overlaying the range indicator and lateral alignment indicator over the video on the display, responsive to the second NFC device being inside the lateral field of view of the optical sensor.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise displaying the still image of the lateral field of view on the display, and overlaying the range indicator and the lateral alignment indicator over the still image of the second NFC device on the display, responsive to the second NFC device being outside the lateral field of view of the optical sensor.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the operations further comprise at least one of panning the still image of the lateral field of view on the display or zooming the still image of the second NFC device on the display.

13. A method on a mobile wireless communications device comprising a display, an optical sensor having a lateral field of view, a movement sensor, a processing system including a processor, and a first near-field communication (NFC) device, the method comprising:
displaying a video of the lateral field of view of the optical sensor on the display;
locating and identifying a second NFC device within the video of the lateral field of view, capturing a still image of the second NFC device, and displaying a range indicator on the display to indicate a range distance to the second NFC device to initiate NFC communication with the second NFC device, wherein the identifying of the second NFC device is based on detecting via image recognition at least one of an identification indicator on the second NFC device or a shape of the second NFC device;
responsive to the second NFC device being outside the lateral field of view, displaying the st

Assignees

• Walker David Ryan
• Pasquero Jerome
• Blackberry Ltd

Inventors

• Walker David Ryan
• Pasquero Jerome

Classifications

• H04B5/20

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

• G01S5/02

  using radio waves (using satellite radio beacon systems for determining position G01S19/00) · CPC title

• H04M1/7253 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04B5/00

  Near-field transmission systems, e.g. inductive or capacitive transmission systems · CPC title

• H04M2250/04

  including near field communication means, e.g. RFID · CPC title