Methods and apparatus for improving NFC activation and data exchange reporting mechanisms

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9735834-B2
Application number	US-201514597778-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2015
Priority date	May 31, 2011
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

Aspects relate to improving reporting NFC RF technology usage in activation and data exchange for NFC devices. For example, with a near field communication (NFC) device, a NFCC may be configured to obtain a first radio frequency (RF) technology and mode value, a second RF technology and mode value, and one or more RF specific parameters associated with a NFC device during an activation phase of a communication link using a first NFC RF technology. The one or more RF specific parameters may be based on the first RF technology and mode value. Further, the NFCC may be configured to configure communications to be supported by a second NFC RF technology for use during a data exchange phase of the communication link. The second NFC RF technology may be based on the second RF technology and mode value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of wireless communications, comprising:
obtaining a first radio frequency (RF) technology and mode value, a second RF technology and mode value, and one or more RF specific parameters associated with a remote near field communication (NFC) device during an activation phase of a communication link using a first NFC RF technology, wherein the one or more RF specific parameters is based on the first RF technology and mode value; and
configuring communications to be supported by a second NFC RF technology for use during a data exchange phase of the communication link, wherein the second NFC RF technology is based on the second RF technology and mode value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the configuring comprises:
determining the start of the data exchange phase; and
enabling the communications supported using the second NFC RF technology.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the obtaining further comprises obtaining a data exchange phase transmit bit rate and a data exchange phase receive bit rate, and wherein the data exchange phase transmit bit rate and the data exchange phase receive bit rate are associated with the second RF technology and mode value and are used during the data exchange phase.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote NFC device includes one selected from among a remote NFC tag, a reader device, a writer device, a NFC card, and a remote peer target device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second NFC RF technology supports different data rate communications than the first NFC RF technology.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second RF technologies includes one selected from among a NFC-A technology, a NFC-B technology, and a NFC-F technology.

7. The method of claim 1 , furthering comprising:
estimating a time duration to transfer a data package of a first size based on a data rate associated with the second NFC RF technology.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
prompting a user with an option to proceed with the data package transfer based on the estimated time duration; and
receiving a response from the user indicating whether to proceed with the data package transfer.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising generating a RF activate notification message including the obtained values and parameters and sending the RF activate notification message to a device host.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second NFC RF Technologies uses a communication link, wherein the communication link is one link among a Passive communication link and an Active communication link.

11. The method of claim 10 , furthering comprising:
estimating an available coverage range for the second NFC RF technology based on the communication link in use by the second NFC RF technology.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
prompting with a notification indicating a potential change in the communication link and a change in the estimated available coverage range associate with the change.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code, comprising:
code executable to obtain a first radio frequency (RF) technology and mode value, a second RF technology and mode value, and one or more RF specific parameters associated with a remote near field communication (NFC) device during an activation phase of a communication link using a first NFC RF technology, wherein the one or more RF specific parameters is based on the first RF technology and mode value; and
code executable to configure communications to be supported by a second NFC RF technology for use during a data exchange phase of the communication link, wherein the second NFC RF technology is based on the second RF technology and mode value.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising:
code executable to determine the start of the data exchange phase; and
code executable to enable the communications supported using the second NFC RF technology.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , further comprising:
code executable to obtain a data exchange phase transmit bit rate and a data exchange phase receive bit rate, and wherein the data exchange phase transmit bit rate and the data exchange phase receive bit rate are associated with the second RF technology and mode value and are used during the data exchange phase.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the remote NFC device includes one selected from among a remote NFC tag, a reader device, a writer device, a NFC card, and a remote peer target device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the second NFC RF technology supports different data rate communications than the first NFC RF technology.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein each of the first and second RF technologies includes one selected from among a NFC-A technology, a NFC-B technology, and a NFC-F technology.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising:
code executable to estimate a time duration to transfer a data package of a first size based on a data rate associated with the second NFC RF technology.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising:
code executable to prompt a user with an option to proceed with the data package transfer based on the estimated time duration; and
code executable to receive a response from the user indicating whether to proceed with the data package transfer.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , further comprising:
code executable to generate a RF activate notification message including the obtained values and parameters and send the RF activate notification message to a device host.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the communication link is on link among a Passive communication link and an Active communication link.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 22 , further comprising:
code executable to estimate an available coverage range for the second NFC RF technology based on the communication link in use by the second NFC RF technology.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 23 , further comprising:
code executable to prompt with a notification indicating a potential change in the communication link and a change in the estimated available coverage range associate with the change.

25. An apparatus for communication, comprising:
means for obtaining a first radio frequency (RF) technology and mode value, a second RF technology and mode value, and one or more RF specific parameters associated with a remote near field communication (NFC) device during an activation phase of a communication link using a first NFC RF technology, wherein the one or more RF specific parameters is based on the first RF technology and mode value; and
means for configuring communications to be supported by a second NFC RF technology for use during a data exchange phase of the communication link, wherein the second NFC RF technology is based on the second RF technology and mode value.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the means for configuring comprises:
means for determining the start of the data exchange phase; and
means for enabling the communica

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Hillan John
• O'Donoghue Jeremy Robin Christopher

Classifications

• G06K7/10247 Primary

  issues specific to the use of single wire protocol [SWP] in NFC like devices · CPC title

• H04B5/20

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

• H04B5/02

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04B5/0031 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04B5/48 Primary

  Transceivers · CPC title