Consumers appreciate ease of use in their devices. They also appreciate the ability to update their devices with new features and/or functionality. Designers and manufacturers may, therefore, endeavor to create or build devices directed toward one or more of these objectives.
The following detailed description references the drawings, wherein:
Near field communications (NFC) is expected to become ubiquitous on devices, such as computers, smart or mobile phones, and tablets, in the near future. Singular or single-use near field communication solutions are predetermined for a specific purpose. A general use model is a near field communication device that receives a “tap” from a near filed communication tag. The near field communication device then receives a transfer of data or other information as a result of the “tap” from the near field communication tag. As an example, a smart or mobile phone designed for use as an authentication or authorization NFC tag is used to conduct a financial transaction or to work. as an identity token when the user taps the phone to a point of sale device.
An issue arises, however, when today's consumers desire features and/or functionality that was not included in devices previously configured and sold. These devices are locked into their original intended use and cannot be adapted to such future demands unless the hardware and/or software of such devices are updated. This limited purpose of current near filed communication solutions is seen as a restriction that provides an opportunity for innovation.
A near field communication system 10 directed to addressing these challenges is illustrated in
As used herein, the term “near field communication data tag”, “near field communication tag”, “NEC data tag”, and “NEC tag” are defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to, a near field communication device that contains or stores one or more scripts and/or data. These scripts and/or data may be read-only or rewriteable. Examples of near field communication data tags include, but are not necessarily limited to, tickets, tokens, information signs or placards, passes, currency, or storage devices containing data formatted to a data tag specification.
Devices using near field communication may he active or passive. A passive NEC device, such as an NFC data tag, contains information that other devices can read, but does not read any information itself. Active devices can read information, as well as send it. An active NFC device, is not only able to collect information from an NFC tag, but also able to exchange information and data with other active NEC devices. An active NEC device can even alter scripts, information and/or data on a passive NFC device, if authorized to make such changes.
As used herein, the term “non-volatile storage medium” is defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to, any media that can contain, store, or maintain programs, scripts, information, and data. A non-volatile storage medium may include any one of many physical media such as, for example, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of suitable a non-volatile storage media include, but are not limited to, a magnetic computer diskette such as floppy diskettes cir hard drives, magnetic tape, a random access memory (RAM) a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a flash drive, a compact disc (CD), or a digital video disk (DVD).
As used herein, the term “processor” is defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to an instruction execution system such as a computer/processor based system, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a computing device, or a hardware and/or software system that can fetch or obtain the logic from a non-volatile storage medium and execute the instructions contained therein. “Processor” can also include any controller, state-machine, microprocessor, cloud-based utility, service or feature, or any other analogue, digital and/or mechanical implementation thereof.
As used herein, “device”, “near field communication device” and “NFC device” are defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to, a computer, server, a smart or mobile phone, a tablet, computing device, personal digital assistant, peripheral or other similar device. As used herein, “automatic” or “automatically” are defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to, an action, process, function, task, operation, work, or procedure that is performed, executed, or otherwise carried out independent of or without requiring action, input, or effort on the part of a user of a device, such as a near field communication device, or a near field communication system.
As used herein, “script” is defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to, a program, macro, or set of instructions operating or executing in software, firmware, and/or hardware for automating the execution of a task or tasks which could alternatively be completed by a human operator, person or computer application. As used herein, “scripting module” or “scripting language” are defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to, a program, code, or set of instructions operating or executing in software, firmware, and/or hardware that supports the writing, creating, and or generation of one or more scripts.
As used herein, “communication channel” is defined as including, but not necessarily being limited to a link or connection by which one or more scripts, data, commands, and/or information are or can be transmitted. Examples of a communication channel include, but are not necessarily limited to, radio frequency transmission, the internet, an intranet, the cloud, a cloud-based facility, infra-red transmission, photonics, electromagnetic, and/or a physical connection.
Referring again to
Task 22 may be one or more operations or commands that a device performs such as, for example, sending an e-mail, remote logon, launching an application, displaying information, completing a transaction, etc. Script 16 may be partially or completely stored on near field communication tag 14 for transmission to processor 12 via a communication channel Alternatively or additionally, script 16 may be partially or completely obtained elsewhere (e.g., remote server or storage) via a communication channel.
Another example of a near field communication system 26 is shown in
Modified or new task 38 may be one or more operations or commands that a device performs such as, for example, sending an e-mail, remote logon, launching an application, displaying information, completing a transaction, etc. Modified script 32 may be partially or completely stored on near field communication tag 30 for transmission to processor 28 via communication channel 42. Alternatively or additionally, modified script 32 may be partially or completely obtained elsewhere (e.g., remote server or storage) via communication channel 42.
As can also be seen in
As can further be seen in
Examples of various types of technologies that may be used by communication channel 42 are shown in
As can be seen in
An illustration of an example of a non-volatile storage medium 74 is shown in
An illustration of an example of additional instructions that may be on non-volatile storage medium 74 is shown in
Alternatively or additionally, non-volatile storage medium 74 may include additional instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to receive data, such as data 52, the transfer of which is initiated by the near filed communication tag, as indicated by block 88, and utilize the data during the automatic performance of the task, as indicated by block 90. Non-volatile storage medium 74 may be in a near field communication device, as generally indicated block.
An illustration of an example of a method of near field communication 94 is shown in
An illustration of an example of additional possible elements of method of near field communication 94 is shown in
From the forgoing description, it can be seen that by providing a scripting language that is communicated to a device through a near field communication tag, the device can not only receive data (e.g., authentication and authorization tokens), but also execute one or more tasks, for example to produce a multiple of outcomes. An advantage of this scripting solution is that the purpose of a near field communication device does not need to be predetermined at NFC system configuration time. Additionally, the complexity and configurability of tasks can be increased.
Although several examples have been described and illustrated in detail, it is to be clearly understood that the same are intended by way of illustration and example only. These examples are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or to the exemplary embodiments disclosed. Modifications and variations may well be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The spirit and scope of the present invention are to be limited only by the terms of the following claims.
Additional reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean one and only one, unless explicitly so stated, but rather means one or more. Moreover, no element or component is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element or component is explicitly recited in the following claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2012/063642 | 11/6/2012 | WO | 00 |