Configuration of NFC routers for P2P communication
View Patent ↗A method for configuring a first device for a near-field communication with a second device, wherein a peer-to-peer mode is selected if the second device draws the power supply of its circuits from a battery.
1. A method, comprising:
determining, by a first near-field communication device in reader mode, whether a second near-field communication device is self-powered; and
selecting, by the first near-field communication device, a mode of communication with the second near-field communication device based on the determination of whether the second near-field communication device is self-powered, wherein the determining whether the second near-field communication device is self-powered comprises determining whether the second near-field communication device is extracting power from a communication field generated by an oscillating circuit of the first near-field communication device by measuring a voltage in the oscillating circuit, the voltage being representative of a current in the oscillating circuit, wherein
when a value of said measured voltage is lower than a transponder-detection voltage threshold and higher than a power-extraction voltage threshold, the second near-field communication device is determined to be self-powered and a peer-to-peer mode of communication is selected by the first near-field communication device; and
when the value of said measured voltage is lower than both the transponder-detection voltage threshold and the power-extraction voltage threshold, the second near-field communication device is determined not to be self-powered and another mode of communication is selected, said another mode of communication comprising:
emitting, by the first near-field communication device, frames according to different modulation types; and
monitoring, by the first near-field communication device, a response of the second near-field communication device to the emitted frames.
2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
setting a default communication mode of the first near-field communication device to type-F modulation.
3. A near-field communication device, comprising:
an oscillating circuit, which, in operation, generates a communication field; and
processing circuitry coupled to the oscillating circuit, wherein the processing circuitry, in operation:
determines whether a second near-field communication device is self-powered; and
selects a mode of near-field communication with the second near-field communication device based on the determination of whether the second near-field communication device is self-powered, wherein the determining whether the second near-field communication device is self-powered comprises determining whether the second near-field communication device is extracting power from the communication field by measuring a voltage in the oscillating circuit representative of a current in the oscillation circuit, wherein, the processing circuitry, in operation,
in response to a value of said measured voltage being lower than a transponder-detection voltage threshold and higher than a power-extraction voltage threshold, determines the second near-field communication device to be self-powered and selects a peer-to-peer mode of communication of the near-field communication device; and
in response to the value of said measured voltage being lower than both the transponder-detection voltage threshold and the power-extraction voltage threshold, determines the second near-field communication device not to be self-powered and selects another mode of communication, said another mode of communication comprising:
emitting frames according to different modulation types; and
monitoring a response of the second near-field communication device to the emitted frames.
4. The device of claim 3 wherein, in operation, the processing circuitry selects an initial communication mode of type-F modulation.
5. The device of claim 3 , comprising:
a battery; and
a touchscreen.
6. A device, comprising:
one or more inputs to couple to an oscillating circuit; and
processing circuitry coupled to the one or more inputs, wherein the processing circuitry, in operation:
determines whether a second near-field communication device is self-powered; and
selects a mode of near-field communication with the second near-field communication device based on the determination of whether the second near-field communication device is self-powered, wherein the determining whether the second near-field communication device is self-powered comprises determining whether the second near-field communication device is extracting power from a communication field, generated by the oscillating circuit, by measuring a voltage in the oscillating circuit representative of a current in the oscillation circuit, wherein the processing circuitry, in operation,
in response to a value of said measured voltage being lower than a transponder-detection voltage threshold and higher than a power-extraction voltage threshold, determines the second near-field communication device to be self-powered and selects a peer-to-peer mode of communication of the near-field communication device; and
in response to the value of said measured voltage being lower than both the transponder-detection voltage threshold and the power-extraction voltage threshold, determines the second near-field communication device not to be self-powered and selects another mode of communication, said another mode of communication comprising:
emitting frames according to different modulation types; and
monitoring a response of the second near-field communication device to the emitted frames.
7. The device of claim 6 wherein, in operation, the processing circuitry selects an initial communication mode of type-F modulation.
8. A near-field communication device, comprising:
an oscillating circuit, which, in operation, generates a communication field; and
processing circuitry coupled to the oscillating circuit, wherein the processing circuitry, in operation:
determines whether a second near-field communication device is extracting power from the communication field by measuring a voltage in the oscillating circuit representative of a current in the oscillation circuit; and
selects a mode of near-field communication with the second near-field communication device based on the determination of whether the second near-field communication device is extracting power from the communication field, wherein, the processing circuitry, in operation,
in response to a value of said measured voltage being lower than a transponder-detection voltage threshold and higher than a power-extraction voltage threshold, determines the second near-field communication device to be self-powered and selects a peer-to-peer mode of communication of the near-field communication device; and
in response to the value of said measured voltage being lower than both the transponder-detection voltage threshold and the power-extraction voltage threshold, determines the second near-field communication device not to be self-powered and selects another mode of communication, said another mode of communication comprising:
emitting frames according to different modulation types; and
monitoring a response of the second near-field communication device to the emitted frames.
9. The near-field communication device of claim 8 wherein the near field communication is selected from a peer-to-peer mode and a reader mode.
10. The near-field communication device of claim 3 wherein the mode of near field communication is selected from a peer-to-peer mode and a reader mode.
11. The near-field communication device of claim 6 wherein the mode of near field communication is selected from a peer-to-peer mode and a reader mode.