A claim for priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 is made to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0172967, filed on Dec. 4, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The inventive concept relates to a wireless communication device, and more particularly, to a wireless communication device performing an authentication operation through a near field communication (NFC) function.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) systems, which may be characterized as wireless frequency identification systems, create an automatic identification field using a radio wave such as an ultra shortwave or a long wave, to recognize predetermined information stored in advance. According to operation principles of RFID systems, a reader may obtain unique information of goods fitted with a tag, by receiving and analyzing information stored in the tag.
Because an RF signal is used, RFID systems typically are not affected by surrounding environment such as snow, rain, wind, dust and magnetic flux. RFID systems are capable of recognizing information with high recognition speed even when a tag is moving and are capable of recognizing information even from a long distance, and each tag is given a unique ID in the manufacturing process to be unforgeable.
RFID systems generally include a reader, an antenna and a tag. The antenna acts as a relay between the tag and the reader. The reader transmits power and a signal to the tag using a signal of a predetermined frequency to activate the tag, and receives a response from the activated tag.
Near field communication (NFC) is a category of RFID systems as provided in the International Organization of Standards (ISO) 18092 standards, and uses a frequency of 13.56 MHz and transmits data with low power over a short range. Signals of various frequencies such as 125 MHz, 135 MHz and 900 MHz can be used for NFC instead of 13.56 MHz.
NFC is capable of transmission and reception of data between information devices, and therefore address books, games, MP3 files, or the like may be exchanged between a notebook and portable terminals, as well as between portable terminals. NFC technology using a predetermined frequency band is highly stable and may thereby be used to enable mobile payment using a transportation card for example. By accessing tags storing predetermined information, NFC technology may be used in information terminals to obtain all sorts of information in the future.
It is predicted that in the near future, portable terminals for mobile communications, such as cellular phones for example, may be fitted with a chip for NFC is at an early stage of manufacture. Portable terminals fitted with a chip for NFC would include an NFC antenna, and would perform communication with an external reader through the NFC antenna.
Embodiments of the inventive concept provide a wireless communication device. The wireless communication device includes a terminal body including a near field communication (NFC) function; and accessories attachable to the terminal body. The accessories include a wireless authentication module configured to perform an authentication operation through wireless communication with the terminal body. Upon attachment of the accessories to the terminal body, the wireless authentication module is configured to perform the authentication operation using inductive coupling between an NFC coil of the terminal body and an authentication coil of the wireless authentication module, and at least a part of a side of a first coil of the authentication coil is located outside a side of a second coil of the NFC coil.
Embodiments of the inventive concept also provide a terminal cover built in a portable terminal, the portable terminal including a near field communication (NFC) function configured to perform a function set after an authentication operation with the terminal cover. The terminal cover includes a wireless authentication module configured to perform the authentication operation with the portable terminal. The wireless authentication module includes a parallel resonant circuit including a coil, a capacitor and a resistor; and a control circuit configured to control wireless communication with the portable terminal by changing a resonant frequency and quality factor of the parallel resonant circuit.
Embodiments of the inventive concept further provide a portable terminal that includes a terminal body including a first coil configured to perform near field communication (NFC); and an accessory detachably connected to the terminal body. The accessory includes a wireless authentication module configured to perform an authentication operation through NFC with the terminal body. The wireless authentication module includes a second coil configured to perform the NFC with the first coil, and a control circuit configured to change a resonant frequency of the second coil responsive to a state of the wireless authentication module.
Embodiments of the inventive concept will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the inventive concept may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Embodiments of inventive concepts will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the inventive concept are shown. This inventive concept may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the size and relative sizes of layers and regions may be exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will also be understood that when an element such as a layer, region or substrate is referred to as being “on” or “onto” another element, it may lie directly on the other element or intervening elements or layers may also be present. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present.
Generally, a portable terminal such as a cellular phone, a tablet PC, or the like, is provided with original accessories by the manufacturing company, the original accessories capable of performing additional functions. The original accessories may be built in the terminal body BD to perform a function set. For example, in the case that the accessory is a flip cover, the accessory may perform turning on or turning off the screen of the wireless communication device. For example, in the case that an accessory is an audio playing device, the accessory may control a function of a docking station, such as playing, pausing, forwarding, or stopping when the wireless communication device is docked in the docking station. In the case that original accessories are built in the terminal body BD, the terminal body BD can check whether the built-in accessories are original or not. That is, an authentication operation may be performed between the accessories and the terminal body BD. The wireless authentication module 100 may be built in the accessories described above. The accessories with built-in wireless authentication module 100 may be built in the terminal body BD to perform an authentication operation with respect to the terminal body BD.
In the case that the wireless authentication module 100 is built in an accessory such as the cover CV, its location has to be a location that can perform an NFC with the NFC coil located at the terminal body BD. In the case that the cover CV is built on the terminal body BD, it is best that a coil included in the wireless authentication module 100 is located inside the NFC coil of the terminal body BD. In this case, the greatest electro motive force is induced in the coil included in the wireless authentication module 100, and a communication with the terminal body BD may be smoothly performed. Only from the viewpoint of such an authentication operation, it is desirable that an authentication coil of the wireless authentication module 100 is located inside the NFC coil of the terminal body BD. However, in a reader mode or a card mode, the NFC coil of the terminal body BD may perform an NFC (near field communication) with a coil of an external device. In this case, a problem may occur in an NFC between the terminal body BD and the external device depending on a location of the wireless authentication module 100.
The wireless authentication module 100 in accordance with the inventive concept may be built on the cover CV. In the case that the cover CV is built on the terminal body BD, an NFC module of the terminal body BD may be set in a reader mode to generate a magnetic field through the NFC coil. The terminal body BD can perform a communication with the wireless authentication module 100, using the magnetic field generated by the NFC coil. The terminal body BD judges whether the built-in cover CV is an authenticated cover through the communication described above. The authentication operation may be performed only once when the cover CV is built on the terminal body BD, or may be repeatedly performed after each of a plurality of set periods. In the case that this authentication operation is completed, the wireless authentication module 100 is deactivated and an NFC may be performed between the NFC coil of the terminal body BD and an object coil (OB coil) of an external device.
The object coil may be a coil that may exist in an external device capable of performing an NFC with the portable terminal 200. The external device may be different depending on whether the NFC mode of the portable terminal 200 is a card mode or a reader mode. For example, in the case that the NFC mode of the portable terminal is a card mode, the external device may be a terminal installed in public transportation to collect payment of fare. For example, in the case that the NFC mode of the portable terminal is a reader mode, the external device may be a device of a card type for transmitting specific information to the portable terminal through NFC.
When the NFC mode of the portable terminal 200 operates in a card mode or a reader mode, the object coil of the external device is located on a Z axis of the NFC coil. In the case that the object coil and the NFC coil are located within a distance from each other at which communication is possible, the portable terminal 200 may exchange information with the external device according to the mode described above.
As described above, in the case that an authentication operation is performed on the terminal body BD and the cover CV fitted with the wireless authentication module 100, it is desirable that the authentication coil is located inside the NFC coil. In this case, the authentication coil can be supplied with the largest electric power from the NFC coil and thereby a communication for an authentication operation may be smoothly performed.
From the viewpoint of an authentication of the cover CV, it is desirable that the authentication coil is located inside the NFC coil. However, this relative location between the authentication coil and the NFC coil may cause a problem when the portable terminal 200 performs an NFC with an external device. This is because as described above, although the wireless authentication module 100 may be deactivated after an authentication operation, a current may still flow through the authentication coil according to an induced electromotive force.
In the case that the NFC mode of the portable terminal 200 is a reader mode, and in the event that current may flow through the authentication coil when deactivated according to an induced electromotive force as described above, resonant frequencies of the NFC coil of portable terminal 200 and the object coil of the external device, when the portable terminal 200 performs an NFC with the external device, may not match. This reduces an output of the NFC coil which operates as a reader. Thus, a communication with the external device may not be smoothly performed. If the portable terminal 200 is controlled in a reader mode to optimize resonance matching with the external device, this phenomenon may be solved.
Moreover, in the case that the NFC mode of the portable terminal 200 is a card mode, a serious problem may occur in a communication with the external device. This is because a current of the NFC coil induced by the object coil of the external device and a current of the authentication coil may become a level enough to compare with each other, and thereby a phenomenon that a resonant frequency of the NFC coil of the portable terminal 200 is lowered may occur. Because of such a frequency reduction, a range of an NFC in a card mode of the portable terminal 200 may be reduced.
In the case of
The authentication coil, the capacitor (C) and the resistor (R) are connected in parallel to form a parallel resonance circuit. Capacitance of the capacitor (C) and a resistance level of the resistor (R) may be controlled by the control circuit 110. For example, in the case that a communication in accordance with an authentication operation between the authentication coil and the NFC coil has to be performed, the control circuit 110 may control capacitance of the capacitor (C) and a resistance level of the resistor (R), so that a resonance frequency of the authentication coil becomes the same as a resonance frequency of the NFC coil. In the case that the authentication operation is finished, it may be desirable that the effect on the authentication coil by controlling capacitance and resistance level as noted above be removed if possible. Thus, the control circuit 110 may control capacitance of the capacitor (C) and a resistance level of the resistor (R) so that a resonance frequency of the authentication coil becomes different from a resonance frequency of the NFC coil.
The control circuit 110 may change a quality factor (Q) of the parallel resonant circuit. The quality factor (Q) of the parallel resonant circuit may be changed by controlling capacitance of the capacitor (C) and a resistance level of the resistor (R).
In the case that a communication in accordance with an authentication operation between the authentication coil and the NFC coil has to be performed, the control circuit 110 may control capacitance of the capacitor (C) and a resistance level of the resistor (R), so that the quality factor (Q) of the parallel resonant circuit has a high value. In this case, power transmitted from a resonance frequency of the parallel resonant circuit increases and thereby the authentication operation may be better performed. In the case that authentication operation is finished, it may be desirable that the effect on the authentication coil by controlling capacitance and resistance level as noted above be removed if possible. The control circuit 110 may control capacitance of the capacitor (C) and a resistance level of the resistor (R) so that the quality factor (Q) of the parallel resonant circuit has a low value. In this case, power transmitted from a resonance frequency of the parallel resonant circuit is reduced and thereby an effect by the magnetic field generated by the authentication coil may be reduced.
In the case of
In the case of
As described above, an operation of the wireless authentication module can be optimized by properly changing the resonant frequency and the quality factor (Q) according to a state of the wireless authentication module.
Referring to
The GSM block 1500 is connected to the antenna 1600 and operates to provide wireless telephone operations in a well known manner. The GSM block 1500 internally includes a receiver (not shown) and a transmitter (not shown) to perform corresponding receiving and transmitting operations.
The NFC transmitter/receiver 1700 performs wireless communication using inductive coupling, and includes a transmitter 1720 and a receiver 1740. The transmitter 1720 of the NFC transmitter/receiver 1700 provides NFC signals to the antennal 1800, and the antenna 1800 transmits NFC signals through inductive coupling. The antenna 1800 receives NFC signals (provided from another NFC device) and provides the received NFC signals to the receiver 1740.
The NFC transmitter/receiver 1700 operates according to regulations described in an NFC interface/a protocol-1 (NFCIP-1) and an NFC interface/a protocol-2 (NFCIP-2) and standardized in ECMA-340, ISO/IEC 18092, ETSI TS 102 190, ISO 21481, ECMA 352, ETSI TS 102 312, and the like.
The application block 1200 includes hardware circuits (for example, one or more processors) and operates to provide various user applications provided by the portable terminal 1000. The user applications may include voice call operations, data transmission, or the like. The application block 1200 operates together with the GSM block 1700 and provides those characteristics.
The display 1400 displays an image in response to display signals received from the application block 1200. The image may be generated by a camera (not shown) provided to the portable terminal 1000. The display 1400 may internally include a memory (for example, a frame buffer) to temporarily store pixel values, and may be constituted by a liquid crystal display screen together with related control circuits. The input/output block 1100 provides an input function to a user and provides outputs to be received through the application block 1200.
The memory 1300 stores programs (commands) to be used by the application block 1200 and/or data, and may be embodied by a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, or the like. Thus, the memory 1300 may include not only volatile storage devices but also nonvolatile storage devices.
The antenna 1800 communicates with external antennas through inductive coupling and may be used to transmit and receive NFC signals. The antenna 1800 may have a coil form.
The wireless authentication module 1900 may perform a wireless-communication with the NFC transmitter/receiver 1700 through the antenna 1910. The antenna 1910 may have a coil form. That is, the antenna 1800 may be the NFC coil and the antenna 1910 may be the authentication coil as previously described. The wireless authentication module 1900 may be installed in accessories that may be built in the portable terminal 1000. In the case that accessories are built in the portable terminal 1000, the wireless authentication module 1900 may perform an authentication operation through the antenna 1910. In this case, locations of the antenna 1910 and the antenna 1800 may be one of dispositions illustrated in
According to some embodiments of the inventive concept, an authentication operation of accessories being built in a portable terminal can be wirelessly performed, and thereby there is no need to form a separate contact terminal in a wireless communication device. Thus, price competitiveness of the portable terminal can be improved.
According to some embodiments of the inventive concept, an effect on an NFC function of the portable terminal due to addition of an authentication coil for an authentication operation can be minimized.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2014-0172967 | Dec 2014 | KR | national |