Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120309303 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC ACTIVATION AND DATA EXCHANGE REPORTING MECHANISMS - 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 and the first NFC RF technology 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. | 12-06-2012 |
20120329393 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR IMPROVING NFC PARAMETER UPDATE MECHANISMS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing improved mechanisms for updating parameter values for communications between a DH and a remote NFC endpoint. In one example, a DH associated with a NFC device may be configured to determine that one or more parameter values included in a parameter selection request message are different than one or more corresponding parameter values used during discovery of a remote NFC endpoint using a frame RF interface, and communicate the parameter values to a NFC Controller using a parameter update message. In another example, a NFCC associated with a NFC device may be configured to receive, using a NFC-DEP interface, a parameter selection request message including one or more parameters, determine to implement one or more parameter changes based on the received one or more parameters, and communicate an activation message to a DH indicating values to which the NFC Controller changed the one or more parameter values. | 12-27-2012 |
20130052950 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING MANAGEMENT OF NFC LOGICAL CONNECTIONS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving mechanisms for managing logical connection establishment between NFCC and a DH. In one example, with a NFC device a NFCC may be configured to receive a core initialization command, from a DH, as part of an initialization and activation procedure. The NFCC may be configured to transmit a core initialization response to the DH without information associated with a static RF connection. Thereafter, the NFC device may detect one or more remote NFC endpoints. The NFCC may further be operable to determine a maximum payload size and an initial number of credits for the static RF connection based, at least in part, on at least one of a RF interface or a RF protocol used by a remote NFC endpoint chosen for communications, and transmit the determined maximum payload size and the initial number of credits to the DH to establish a logical connection. | 02-28-2013 |
20130054417 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS AGGREGATING MICROPAYMENTS IN A MOBILE DEVICE - Various aspects include methods and devices for aggregating a number of micro-payment transactions within a secure memory of a purchaser's computing device to enable completion of micropayment electronic commerce transactions with reduce the number of fund transfers and verification messages. Transactions in which a purchaser pays a micropayment (i.e., <$1.00) are aggregated over time in a purchaser's computing device. Eventually accumulated transaction information is downloaded to a trusted payment authority for settlement. The trusted payment authority pays the merchant for all aggregated transactions in a single funds transfer. Transactions among many purchasers may also be aggregated into a single funds transfer. By aggregating micropayments within the purchaser's computing device, the amount of money involved in transactions processed through the payment authority can become large enough to justify the transactions costs of exchanging money between the purchaser and various merchants. The aspects enable business to economically charge and receive micropayment amounts. | 02-28-2013 |
20130078920 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING A NFCEE DISCOVERY PROCESS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing a mechanism by which an NFCC can provide a DH with sufficient information to begin RF Discovery on behalf of a NFCEE. In one example, with a NFC device a DH may be configured to receive a discovery request notification from a NFCC indicating a NFCEE is requesting that the DH perform a discovery process. The discovery request notification may include information formatted to simplify the creation of a RF discovery command. The DH may further be configured to determine whether to generate the RF discovery command using the information included in the discovery request notification, generate the DH based discover command using the information included in the discovery request notification upon a determination to include the received information, and transmit the RF discovery command to the NFCC. | 03-28-2013 |
20130102247 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC DATA EXCHANGE CONFIGURATION PARAMETER UPDATE MECHANISMS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving mechanisms for prompting a NFCC to update data exchange parameters for ISO-DEP communications between a DH and a remote NFC endpoint. In an example, with a NFC device a DH may be configured to receive an activation message from a NFCC that is using a Frame RF interface over NFC-B RF technology, determine that one or more data exchange parameters included in the activation message are different from one or more corresponding current relevant data exchange parameters that the NFCC is configured to implement, generate an RF parameter update command including the one or more data exchange parameters corresponding to the one or more current relevant data exchange parameters that are determined to be different, and send the generated RF parameter update command to the NFCC to prompt the NFCC to update the one or more corresponding current relevant data exchange parameters. | 04-25-2013 |
20130165042 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC LLCP PARTITIONING - Aspects disclosed herein relate to partitioning LLCP responsibilities between the NFCC and DH. In an example, with a NFC device a DH maybe configured to establish a LLCP link with a remote NFC endpoint through a NFCC, and partition LLCP related responsibilities between the DH and the NFCC when the NFCC is operable for LLCP split communications. Further, the NFCC may be operable to receive a PDU from a remote NFC endpoint, determine whether the received PDU is a SYMM PDU or a link deactivation PDU, and communicate the received PDU to a DH upon a determination that the received PDU is not a SYMM PDU or a link deactivation PDU. | 06-27-2013 |
20130201007 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING RESOLUTION AMONG DEVICES WITH DIFFERENT SIZE NFC IDENTIFIERS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving NFC-A device collision resolution in an environment with different NFCID sizes. In one example, a communications device is equipped determine a colliding bit in a first NFCID that has a byte length corresponding to a first cascade level value, set a cascade level collision value based on the first cascade level value, generate a second NFCID by selecting a value for the colliding bit, determine that a byte length associated with the second NFCID results in an incomplete NFCID for a first remote NFC device, obtain a further part of the second NFCID using a second cascade level value that corresponds to a longer byte length NFCID than the first cascade level value, determine that at least one other remote NFC device is not yet identified based on the set cascade level collision value, and obtain a third NFCID that corresponds to a second remote NFC device. | 08-08-2013 |
20130203349 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING PEER COMMUNICATIONS USING AN ACTIVE COMMUNICATION MODE - Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing peer communications between NFC enabled devices using an active communication mode. In one example, a communications device is equipped to detect a remote NFC device field within an operating volume, establish a peer communication link with the remote NFC device using an active communication mode, determine that the peer communication link is to be deselected, and transmit a deselection request message to the remote NFC device indicating to the remote NFC device that it has been deselected while maintaining the peer communication link. In another example, a communications device is equipped to sense an operating volume, as part of an active communication mode collision avoidance procedure, determine that no field is sensed, initiate an unmodulated carrier as part of switching an operating field to an on state, and maintain the unmodulated carrier for a collision avoidance threshold duration of time. | 08-08-2013 |
20130203351 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING THE IDENTIFICATION OF MULTIPLE NFC-A DEVICES - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving technology detection and collision resolution among multiple NFC devices using a NFC type-A RF technology. In one example, a communications device is equipped to determine that a first device sensing response message includes one or more collisions, identify a first remote NFC device of the plurality of remote NFC devices by performing collision resolution on the first device sensing response message, transmit a sleep request message to the first remote NFC device that prohibits the first remote NFC device from responding to a first device sensing request message and the first device sensing request message, receive a second device sensing response message that includes collisions among the plurality of remote NFC devices, and identify a second remote NFC device of the plurality of remote NFC devices by performing collision resolution on the second device sensing response message. | 08-08-2013 |
20130225073 | METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR REDUCING THE NONVOLATILE MEMORY USED TO SUPPORT APPLICATION IDENTIFIER ROUTING IN AN NFC CONTROLLER - The present application presents example data routing methods and apparatuses for reducing the amount of nonvolatile memory required to store secure element application locations associated with a near-field communications device. For example, the present disclosure presents a method of communication routing in a near-field communication device, which can include receiving, at a near-field communications controller (NFCC), a routing request message (e.g. from a requesting device), wherein the routing request message includes an original application identifier (AID) associated with an application. The example method may also include generating a compressed AID by applying a hash function to the original AID, reading an entry corresponding to the compressed AID in a routing data structure, wherein the entry contains one or more secure element pointers associated with one or more secure elements, and querying at least one of the secure elements to determine whether each contains the application. | 08-29-2013 |
20130267169 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING DEVICE ACTIVITION AMONG A PLURALITY OF NFC DEVICES THAT SUPPORT TYPE A RF TECHNOLOGY - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving device activation among a plurality of NFC type-A RF technology listening devices. In one example, a communications device is equipped to determine that a remote NFC device of a plurality of resolved remote NFC devices, other than a last remote NFC device of the plurality of resolved remote NFC devices, is a target NFC device for a device activation process, and transmit a first sleep request to the last remote NFC device of the plurality of resolved remote NFC devices. | 10-10-2013 |
20130281013 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING RF DISCOVERY FOR PEER MODE COMMUNICATIONS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing peer mode passive communications while accounting for a power level available to operate a NFC device. In the disclosed aspects, a near field communication (NFC) device may be equipped to detect a value for a power level available to operate the NFC device. The NFC device may be further equipped to determine a first duration to allocate for a listening mode and a second duration to allocate for a polling mode based at least in part on the determined available power level value and select a RF discovery loop based on the determined first duration and second duration. The NFC device may be further operable to perform peer mode discovery using the selected RF discovery loop. | 10-24-2013 |
20130281014 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC CONNECTION THROUGH DEVICE POSITIONING - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving near field communication (NFC) device positioning for performing a NFC action based on one or more sensory cues. In one example, a NFC device may be equipped to detect that a device is attempting to perform a NFC action to communicate with a remote NFC device and may provide a first sensory cue to indicate a first location on a first surface of the device corresponding to an antenna location on a second surface of the device in response to the determination that the device is attempting to perform the NFC action. The NFC device may be further operable to determine a type of NFC action the device is attempting to perform and provide a second sensory cue indicating a second location on the first surface of the device based on one or more factors associated with the determined type of NFC action. | 10-24-2013 |
20130309965 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC RF DISCOVERY LOOP TUNING BASED ON DEVICE SENSOR MEASUREMENTS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing improved selection of a near field communication (NFC) radio frequency (RF) discovery loop based on one or more measurements obtained from one or more sensors associated with a NFC device. In the disclosed aspects, a NFC device may be equipped to obtain an informational value for a device based on a measurement obtained from one or more device sensors. The NFC device may be further equipped to select a RF discovery loop based on the obtained informational value. The NFC device may be further operable to perform RF discovery using the selected RF discovery loop. | 11-21-2013 |
20130309967 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING COLLISION RESOLUTION AMONG MULTIPLE NFC-A DEVICES - Aspects disclosed herein relate to providing an improved collision resolution mechanism for handling multiple NFC-A devices where one or more of the NFC-A devices may not support SDD. In one example, a communications device is equipped to determine that a remote NFC device of two or more remote NFC devices supports SDD, resolve the remote NFC device of the two or more remote NFC devices using SDD, and determine whether a remaining remote NFC device of the two or more remote NFC devices supports SDD. In an aspect in which the remaining remote NFC device does not support SDD, the communications device may be equipped to set a flag indicating that unresolved remote NFC devices are present and/or send a read identifier (RID) message to the remaining remote NFC device. | 11-21-2013 |
20130324036 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC RF DISCOVERY BASED ON DETECTION OF OTHER RF ACTIVITY - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving NFC RF discovery through monitoring RF activity associated with one or more RATs. In one example, a first NFC device may be configured to use both a first RAT and NFC. The first NFC device may monitor RF activity on a first RAT to determine whether there is at least a greater probability that a second NFC device is within a threshold. The NFC device may be also configured to modify at least an interval between polling modes in a NFC RF discovery loop based on the determination. | 12-05-2013 |
20140106671 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING OVERHEAD FOR NFC DATA EXCHANGE PROTOCOL MESSAGES - A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in connection with improving NDEF message processing. In one example, a communications device is equipped to determine, based on one or more contextual factors, that data received at a NFC device is missing at least a portion of a NDEF header, and generate a complete NDEF message by adding the missing portion of the NDEF header. In another example, a communications device is equipped to receive a complete NDEF message that includes a NDEF header and data and is intended to be written on a remote NFC device, determine, based on one or more contextual factors, that the remote NFC device is configured to receive a modified version of the complete NDEF message, and generate the modified version of the complete NDEF message by removing at least a portion of the NDEF header. | 04-17-2014 |
20140120833 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR DISCOVERING TAG TALKS FIRST DEVICES - A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided in connection with enabling a NFC-enabled device to discover and/or communicate with a TTF device. In one example, a NFC enabled device is equipped to initiate a RF field that is not modulated by the NFC-enabled device as part of a technology detection process, monitor the RF field for at least a portion of a wait duration, determine whether, during the wait duration, the RF field is modulated in a manner consistent with modulation characteristics of a NFC technology, and terminate the technology detection process upon the determination that the RF field is modulated a manner consistent with modulation characteristics of the NFC technology. | 05-01-2014 |
20140370805 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING RE-ACTIVATION OF A NFC-F BASED REMOTE NFC DEVICE - Techniques for improving re-activation of an NFC-F based remote near field communication (NFC) device are described. A polling NFC device may be configured to determine that an NFC-F based remote NFC device was previously deactivated, and transmit a sense request message to enable the remote NFC device to receive an attribute request message as part of a device activation procedure. A polling NFC device may be configured to set a sleep flag to indicate that a deselected NFC-F based remote NFC device is in a sleep sub-state. The polling NFC device may be configured to determine that the remote NFC device is to be activated as a type 3 tag, as part of a device activation procedure, and reset the sleep flag to indicate that the remote NFC device is no longer in the sleep sub-state based on the determination. | 12-18-2014 |
20150044967 | METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NFC DATA EXCHANGE CONFIGURATION PARAMETER UPDATE MECHANISMS - Aspects disclosed herein relate to improving mechanisms for prompting a NFCC to update data exchange parameters for ISO-DEP communications between a DH and a remote NFC endpoint. In an example, with a NFC device a DH may be configured to receive an activation message from a NFCC that is using a Frame RF interface over NFC-B RF technology, determine that one or more data exchange parameters included in the activation message are different from one or more corresponding current relevant data exchange parameters that the NFCC is configured to implement, generate an RF parameter update command including the one or more data exchange parameters corresponding to the one or more current relevant data exchange parameters that are determined to be different, and send the generated RF parameter update command to the NFCC to prompt the NFCC to update the one or more corresponding current relevant data exchange parameters. | 02-12-2015 |