Application selection in a mobile terminal
A contactless communication circuit (card) communicates with a proximity coupling device (reader). The card hosts at least two applications. The card initializes an identifier of a communication protocol to a first value. In response to a failure of a transaction with the reader, the card increments a counter. When the counter reaches a threshold, the card changes the identifier to a second value.
1. A method, comprising:
initializing, in a contactless communication circuit hosting at least two applications having different communication protocols, an identifier of a communication protocol to a first value corresponding to a first hosted application;
in response to a failure of a transaction between the contactless communication circuit and a proximity coupling device, incrementing a counter value in the contactless communication circuit; and
when the counter value reaches a threshold, changing the value of the identifier to a second value corresponding to a second hosted application.
2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
responding to each successful transaction by resetting a counter storing the counter value.
3. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
resetting the identifier to the first value for a next transaction.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the value of the identifier indicates a communication protocol accepted by the contactless communication circuit.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the first value of the identifier indicates an ISO 14443-4 protocol and the second value of the identifier indicates an ISO 14443-3 protocol.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein a first application is a Eurocard-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) application.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein a second application is one of a MIFARE Classic and a MIFARE Classic+ application.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the threshold has a value in a range from 2 to 10.
9. A device, comprising:
one or more memories; and
contactless communication circuitry coupled to the one or more memories, wherein the contactless communication circuitry, in operation:
initializes an identifier of a communication protocol to a first value corresponding to a first hosted application;
increments a counter value in response to a failure of a transaction between the contactless communication circuitry and a proximity coupling device; and
changes the value of the identifier to a second value corresponding to a second hosted application in response to the counter value reaching a threshold.
10. The device of claim 9 wherein the contactless communication circuitry, in operation, resets a counter storing the counter value in response to a successful transaction.
11. The device of claim 9 wherein the contactless communication circuitry, in operation, resets the identifier to the first value for a next transaction.
12. The device of claim 9 wherein the value of the identifier indicates a communication protocol accepted by the contactless communication circuit.
13. The device of claim 12 wherein the first value of the identifier indicates an ISO 14443-4 protocol and the second value of the identifier indicates an ISO 14443-3 protocol.
14. The device of claim 9 wherein the first application is a Eurocard-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) application.
15. The device of claim 14 wherein the second application is one of a MIFARE Classic and a MIFARE Classic+ application.
16. The device of claim 9 wherein the threshold has a value in a range from 2 to 10.
17. The device of claim 9 , comprising:
a microcircuit card including the one or more memories and the contactless communication circuitry.
18. The device of claim 9 , comprising:
mobile telecommunication circuitry.
19. A system, comprising:
one or more circuits; and
contactless communication circuitry coupled to the one or more circuits, wherein the contactless communication circuitry, in operation:
initializes an identifier of a communication protocol to a first value corresponding to a first application hosted by the contactless communication circuitry;
increments a counter value in response to a failure of a transaction between the contactless communication circuitry and a proximity coupling device; and
changes the value of the identifier to a second value corresponding to a second application hosted by the contactless communication circuitry in response to the counter value reaching a threshold.
20. The system of claim 19 wherein the contactless communication circuitry, in operation, resets a counter storing the counter value in response to a successful transaction.
21. The system of claim 19 , comprising:
the proximity coupling device.
22. The system of claim 19 wherein the contactless communication circuitry comprises a near-field communication (NFC) router operating in card mode.