Method and apparatus for near field communications
Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for inductively charging a battery. The battery comprises a housing ( 102 ), at least one battery cell ( 104 ) carried in the housing and a multimode near field transceiver ( 106 ) carried also in the housing. The near field transceiver is operable in a passive mode to provide information and active mode to exchange information. The battery further comprises a charging coupler ( 108 ) coupled to the cell through a charging circuit ( 110 ) and a communication coupler ( 112 ) or antenna coupled to the transceiver.
1 . A battery comprising:
a housing;
at least one battery cell carried in said housing; and
a multi-mode near field transceiver carried in said housing.
2 . The battery as defined in claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is operable in a passive mode to provide a device ID.
3 . The battery as defined in claim 2 , further comprising an antenna coupled to the transceiver.
4 . The battery as defined in claim 1 , further comprising a charging circuit coupled to said at least one cell through a battery charging circuit.
5 . The battery as defined in claim 4 , wherein the charging circuit includes a schottky diode.
6 . The battery as defined in claim 4 , further comprising an element coupled to said at least one cell and to said transceiver, the element providing an antenna for said transceiver and a charging coupler for said at least one cell.
7 . The battery as defined in claim 2 , wherein the transceiver is further operable in a passive mode to provide a charging profile to a charging base.
8 . The battery as defined in claim 7 , wherein the transceiver communicates the charging status while said at least one cell is charging.
9 . The battery as defined in claim 1 , further including a port connected to the transceiver for coupling to an electronic device, the port for passing signals to control the transceiver operation in at least a reader mode or a peer-to-peer mode.
10 . The battery as defined in claim 9 , wherein the transceiver and said electronic device are powered by said at least one cell.
11 . The battery as defined in claim 1 , further including a second port coupled to the transceiver, said second port for inputting power from an external device.
12 . A method of controlling a battery, comprising:
receiving charging power from a near field source;
transmitting from a near field transceiver operating in a passive mode information indicating cell charging information.
13 . The method as defined in claim 12 , further including permitting the operation of the near field transceiver in a non-passive mode when the at least one cell is at least partially charged.
14 . The method as defined in claim 13 , further including the step of transmitting data received from a master device in the active mode, data from the master device.
15 . The method as defined in claim 12 , wherein the step of transmitting includes transmitting the cell charging state.
16 . The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising the step of transmitting a battery identification indicating that it is a valid battery.
17 . The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising the step of monitoring the near field.
18 . The method as defined in claim 12 , further comprising the step of enabling charging of the cell when the near field present is suitable for charging the cell.
19 . A battery comprising:
a housing;
an active transceiver carried in the housing;
a passive transceiver carried in the housing;
a communication coupler coupled to the active transceiver and the passive transceiver;
a memory coupled to the passive transceiver;
at least one rechargeable battery cell
a charging circuit coupled to the at least one battery cell; and
a charging coupler coupled to the charging circuit, wherein the charging coupler is configured to couple to at least an inductive charger.
20 . The battery as defined in claim 19 , wherein a device ID is stored in the memory.