JP5955901B2 - Method, electronic device, and computer program for facilitating touch operation for wireless communication - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology that uses a touch panel mounted on an electronic device for wireless communication, and further relates to a technology that facilitates a touch operation of a portable device.

  RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) and near field communication (NFC) are known as wireless communication technologies using a non-contact IC card or a non-contact IC tag. NFC is conceptually similar to RFID in that it uses a contactless IC card, but some RFIDs can communicate on the order of several meters, while NFC connects antennas between 2 centimeters and 4 centimeters. The communication was carried out by approaching to a certain extent and the usages were different, so a standardization organization called NFC Forum developed technical specifications separately from RFID and defined them as ISO / IEC14443 and ISO / IEC18092.

  In recent years, portable electronic devices such as smartphones and tablet terminals have come to include NFC modules. In NFC, a reader / writer communicates with a contactless IC card or contactless IC tag that does not have a power supply, and two devices equipped with a power supply alternately communicate with an initiator and a target. Active communication is defined. The NFC standard defines three functions: a card emulation function that replaces the role of a contactless IC card, a reader / writer function for reading an NFC tag, and an inter-device communication (P2P) function for communicating between NFC devices. .

  The reader / writer function can read four types of contactless IC cards such as Felica (registered trademark) and Mifare (registered trademark) from type 1 to type 4. In NFC, the NFC antenna of one device must be brought close to the NFC antenna of the other device to a communicable distance to perform electromagnetic coupling, but data can be read from and written to a contactless IC card without a power source. Since communication can be started simply by bringing the two close together, expansion of applications in portable electronic devices is expected. Patent Document 1 discloses an input system that recognizes the position, direction, and code information of a card placed on a capacitive touch panel and inputs the information in combination with the position of a finger touched from above the card. The code information defines an ID for identifying a plurality of media, a card shape, a size, and the like.

International Publication No. 2012/070593

  When the NFC module mounted on the tablet terminal serves as a reader / writer to perform NFC with the non-contact IC card, the non-contact IC card is brought close to the touch surface on which the NFC antenna is arranged. In the following, an operation for bringing the non-contact IC card close to the touch surface for NFC and electromagnetically coupling the antennas will be referred to as a touch operation. Therefore, in the touch operation of the non-contact IC card, there is a state where the non-contact IC card is separated from the touch surface by a slight distance.

  Since a tablet terminal has many electronic devices mounted at high density inside a casing and the casing is often formed of metal, it is necessary to devise an NFC antenna mounting method for the tablet terminal. At this time, as a tablet terminal, securing of an NFC antenna storage space, measures against noise interference for an electronic device, securing of a magnetic path for electromagnetic coupling and reduction of influence on a housing structure are the main examination factors.

  As NFC antennas, downsizing, ease of attachment, communication performance, and the like are the main considerations. FIG. 10A is a plan view for explaining the structure of the non-contact IC card 10, and FIG. 10B is a plan view for explaining the attachment position of the NFC antenna in the tablet terminal 50. FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 10B when the non-contact IC card 10 is arranged. The non-contact IC card 10 has an NFC antenna 13 and a semiconductor chip 15 embedded in a main body formed entirely of plastic. The passive non-contact IC card 10 does not have a power source, and uses the magnetic flux emitted from the tablet terminal 50 as the energy of the semiconductor chip 15.

  The NFC antenna 13 is configured as a rectangular loop coil having about 1 to 4 turns arranged around the card, and is connected to the semiconductor chip 15. Hereinafter, a plane on which the loop coil is arranged is referred to as a coil surface, and an axis perpendicular to the coil surface and passing through the center of the coil opening of the loop coil is referred to as a coil shaft 17. When the NFC antenna 13 is formed to have as large a coil opening as possible within the range permitted by the physical extension of the card in this way, the NFC antenna of the reader / writer placed at the ticket gate of the station or the entrance of the theater This is convenient because NFC is possible over a wide area of the touch surface when communicating between the two.

  In order for the tablet terminal 50 and the non-contact IC card 10 to perform NFC, when a touch operation is performed on the touch surface 63 provided on the surface of the touch screen 61, the magnetic flux radiated from one NFC antenna is temporarily changed to the other. It is necessary to link the NFC antenna and perform electromagnetic coupling. If the NFC antenna 55 having a loop coil shape is arranged on the tablet terminal 50 so that the coil surface is parallel to the touch surface 63 and a touch mark 57 that can be visually recognized by the user is drawn at the position of the coil axis, NFC can be performed by performing a touch operation so that the coil axis 17 of the contact IC card 10 approaches the touch mark 57.

  A state at this time is shown in FIG. FIG. 11A shows a state in which the magnetic flux radiated from the NFC antenna 55 and the NFC antenna 13 are linked when a touch operation is performed on a position where the coil axes of the NF antennas 13 and 55 coincide with each other. Yes. As shown in FIG. 11 (A), the NFC antennas 13 and 55 have a wide electromagnetic coupling range, so that even when the coil axis is deviated, a degree of electromagnetic coupling greater than a predetermined value can be obtained. There is no need to move the IC card 10 around the touch mark 57. Since the electromagnetic coupling circuit between the NFC antennas 13 and 55 is symmetrical, a high degree of electromagnetic coupling can be obtained for the magnetic flux radiated from the non-contact IC card 13 as well.

  However, the provision of the NFC antenna 55 in the tablet terminal 50 embeds a non-magnetic material in a part of the metal casing to secure a magnetic path for electromagnetic coupling in the vicinity of the touch surface, or to prevent noise. Securing space limits the degree of freedom in designing tablet devices. In addition, when the touch mark 57 is displayed on the touch screen 61, the display by another application is hindered. Therefore, when the touch mark is necessary on the tablet terminal 50, the back surface of the housing needs to be a touch surface. . Note that an antenna that radiates magnetic flux in the front direction of the touch screen or in the direction perpendicular to the touch surface 63 like the NFC antenna 55 is referred to as a front radiation type antenna.

  On the other hand, if the NFC antenna 51 is disposed in the region of the edge frame 59 provided around the touch screen 61, the above-described problem can be solved. However, the NFC antenna 51 that actually radiates the magnetic flux from the end of the housing is arranged in the region of the edge frame 59, and the touch mark 53 is drawn at the position of the edge frame 59 corresponding to the center of the NFC antenna 51. It was found that NFC may not be possible in a short period of time depending on the tester when the touch operation is aimed at.

  The situation at this time is shown in FIGS. When the NFC antenna 13 is arranged so that the coil shaft 17 is close to the touch mark 53 as shown in FIG. 11B, the magnetic flux with respect to the NFC antenna 13 is a component parallel to the coil surface as shown in FIG. It has also been found that when the magnetic flux once interlinked is apparently returned, the number of components that are not substantially interlinked increases and the degree of electromagnetic coupling decreases. When the non-contact IC card 10 is arranged and verified at various positions, as shown in FIG. 11 (D), the non-contact IC card 10 is moved from the position of FIG. 11 (C) to the arrow shown in FIG. 10 (B). It was found that there is a high probability of NFC when moving in the A direction.

  FIG. 11E shows how the magnetic flux links at this time. As shown in FIG. 11E, at the position where the non-contact IC card 10 is moved in the direction of arrow A, the component perpendicular to the coil surface of the magnetic flux interlinking with the NFC antenna 13 increases. As shown in FIGS. 11 (F) and 11 (G), it has been found that even if the non-contact IC card 10 is moved in the direction of the arrow B, the linkage magnetic flux increases in the same manner, and the probability of NFC is increased.

  Here, the directions of the arrows A and B coincide with the direction in which the magnetic flux radiated from the NFC antenna 51 flows. In general, since the user thinks that NFC can be performed by performing a touch operation that brings the center portion (coil shaft 17) of the non-contact IC card 10 closer to the touch mark 53, the NFC antenna 51 uses FIG. It is inconvenient until the position of the touch operation in (F) is known. Note that an antenna that radiates magnetic flux in the direction of the side surface of the housing or in the direction horizontal to the touch surface 63 like the NFC antenna 51 is referred to as a side-emitting antenna.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for facilitating a touch operation of a portable device on an electronic device that provides a touch surface. A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for arranging an NFC antenna in the peripheral part of the casing of an electronic device. A further object of the present invention is to provide a method for reducing power consumption of an NFC module mounted on an electronic device. Furthermore, the objective of this invention is providing the electronic device and computer program which implement | achieve such a method.

  The present invention provides a method for wireless communication between an electronic device mounted with a touch screen and a first antenna, and a portable device mounted with a second antenna. The touch screen detects the second antenna. In response to the detection of the second antenna, the electronic device performs a predetermined operation related to wireless communication. Therefore, it is convenient because operations related to wireless communication can be performed simply by bringing the portable device close to the touch screen.

  The first antenna may be either a side emission type or a front emission type. Wireless communication can be guided short-range wireless communication. The second antenna can be formed of a rectangular coil pattern. The portable device may be an active type that emits a magnetic field with its own power source such as a smartphone, or a passive type that does not have a power source inside such as a non-contact IC card. The predetermined operation may be an operation of displaying information indicating a moving direction of the portable device for increasing the degree of electromagnetic coupling between the first antenna and the second antenna on the touch screen.

  The display of the moving direction allows the user to correct the position of the touch operation by looking at the touch screen when the wireless communication cannot be started even if the touch operation is performed. When the touch screen provides a touch surface, the user can determine the moving direction with the line of sight toward the portable device. The moving direction can be determined from the position of the coil side of the second antenna. It is possible to set a target point in the electronic device and generate information indicating a moving direction that indicates a direction in which the coil side approaches the target point. The target point may be recognized only by the system, but may be a position that coincides with the position of the touch mark for providing the user with a target of the touch operation.

  As a result, the user can perform a touch operation that brings the coil side closer to the position of the touch mark from the beginning by learning the NFC success rate by performing the touch operation several times. The information indicating the moving direction may indicate the direction in which the coil side closest to the target point existing in the direction of the magnetic flux approaches the target point. The information indicating the moving direction can be an arrow mark. The information indicating the moving direction may include information indicating a change in the distance between the target point and the nearest coil side as the portable device moves.

  The predetermined operation can be an operation of starting a power source of a device for wireless communication. As a result, the power supply of the device for wireless communication can be stopped in a normal state. Since the touch screen operates so that the touch input can be detected at all times, the power consumed by the touch screen is not increased by the application of the present invention. The predetermined operation can be an operation of starting a program for wireless communication.

  According to the present invention, a method for facilitating a touch operation of a portable device with respect to an electronic device that provides a touch surface can be provided. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a method for arranging an NFC antenna in the periphery of the casing of an electronic device. Furthermore, according to the present invention, a method for reducing the power consumption of an NFC module mounted on an electronic device can be provided. Furthermore, according to the present invention, an electronic apparatus and a computer program that realize such a method can be provided.

It is a figure for demonstrating the general | schematic structure of the tablet terminal 100 which mounts the NFC antenna 200. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the structure of the side emission type NFC antenna. 2 is a functional block diagram for explaining a hardware configuration of a tablet terminal 100. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram for explaining a software configuration of the tablet terminal 100. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure in which the tablet terminal 100 performs NFC with the non-contact IC card. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the guidance screen which shows the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 10 with respect to the side emission type NFC antenna 200. FIG. It is a figure explaining an example of the guidance screen which shows the moving direction of the non-contact IC card. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the structure of a side-emitting NFC antenna 400. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the guidance screen which shows the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 10 with respect to the front radiation type NFC antenna 500. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the subject of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the subject of this invention.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a schematic structure of a tablet terminal 100 on which an NFC antenna 200 is mounted. 1A is a plan view, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line YY in FIG. 1A. In the tablet terminal 100, the surface of the glass plate 109 fitted into a casing 107 formed in a box shape from a metal material such as magnesium or aluminum constitutes the touch surface 109 a of the non-contact IC card 10.

  The housing 107 houses the touch screen 101, the decorative panel 111, the side-emitting NFC antenna 200, the aluminum sheet 251, the circuit board 131, and the battery unit 133. An area where the decorative panel 111 is arranged constitutes an edge frame 103 surrounding the periphery of the touch screen 101. Various devices shown in FIG. 3 are mounted on the circuit board 131. The NFC antenna 200 can be attached by being attached to the lower surface of the decorative panel 111 disposed under the glass plate 109 with a double-sided tape or an adhesive. The aluminum sheet 251 is disposed to prevent noise from entering the circuit board 131 due to the high-frequency alternating magnetic field radiated from the NFC antenna 200.

  A plastic member 108 is embedded in the side wall of the housing 107 so as to form a magnetic path that efficiently guides the magnetic flux 106 radiated by the NFC antenna 200 into the air near the touch surface 109a. The NFC antenna 200 is housed in the lower part of the upper side of the edge frame 103 that surrounds the touch screen 101 in four directions. On the edge frame 103, a touch mark 105 indicating a rough position for the user to position the non-contact IC card 10 on the touch surface 109a is drawn. In one example, the touch mark 105 is provided at a position corresponding to the center of the coil opening 253 (FIG. 2) of the NFC antenna 200 in a plan view.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the structure of the side-emitting NFC antenna 200. 2A is a plan view, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the Z1-Z1 arrow of FIG. 2A. Here, the side-emitting NFC antenna has a structure that is in contrast to the front-emitting antenna that emits magnetic flux from the touch surface. When the NFC antenna is stored in the tablet terminal 100, the plastic member 108 on the side surface of the housing is magnetized. It corresponds to an antenna having a structure in which a large amount of magnetic flux is radiated from a direction perpendicular to the side of the antenna or the touch surface 109a so as to be part of the path.

  The NFC antenna 200 includes an antenna coil 207 on the surface 201 a of the insulating substrate 201. The insulating substrate 201 may be a rigid substrate such as a glass epoxy substrate or a composite substrate, or a flexible substrate such as a polyimide film or a polyester film. There is no particular limitation on the pattern formation method, and various methods such as etching the copper foil attached to the entire surface of the insulating substrate 201 or plating the resist on the insulating substrate 201 formed with a resist are adopted. Can do.

  The antenna coil 207 is formed on the surface 201a so as to form a loop coil as a single continuous conductor. The antenna coil 207 includes an inner pattern 207a and an outer pattern 207b that are opposed to each other with the coil opening 253 interposed therebetween. When the NFC antenna 200 is mounted on the tablet terminal 100, the inner pattern 207a is arranged in the direction inside the casing 107, and the outer pattern 207b is arranged in the direction in the side face of the casing 107. In the NFC antenna 200, a magnetic sheet 205 formed of a ferromagnetic material such as ferrite powder or metal powder penetrates the coil opening 253 of the antenna coil 207.

  The projection of the magnetic sheet 205 overlaps the outer pattern 207a and the inner pattern 207b, and extends from above the outer pattern 207a to the back surface 201b of the insulating substrate 201. Both ends of the antenna coil 207 are connected to a resonance circuit 211 mounted on the back surface 201b of the insulating substrate 201. The resonance circuit 211 includes a resistor, a capacitor, and a reactor, and resonates the antenna coil 207 with a high frequency current of 13.56 MHz as an example. The resonant circuit 211 is connected to the NFC module 161 (FIG. 4) mounted on the circuit board 131 of the tablet terminal 100.

  One entrance / exit of the magnetic flux interlinking with the antenna coil 207 becomes the flat portion and side portion 203 of the magnetic sheet 205 indicated by arrow A, and the other entrance / exit becomes the flat portion and end portion 204 of the magnetic sheet 205 indicated by arrow B. . In FIG. 2B, the downward magnetic flux that does not distribute the magnetic flux in the vicinity of the touch surface 109a is omitted. An alternating magnetic field existing in the vicinity of the NFC antenna 200 generates a strong alternating magnetic flux in the magnetic sheet 205. The alternating magnetic flux that has passed through the magnetic sheet 205 penetrating the coil opening 253 is linked to the antenna coil 207 to induce an induced voltage. FIG. 2B shows a state in which an alternating magnetic flux at a certain moment enters the magnetic material sheet 205 from the arrow B direction and exits in the arrow A direction.

  Further, the alternating magnetic field generated by the antenna coil 207 when a high-frequency current is passed through the NFC antenna 200 generates a strong alternating magnetic flux in the magnetic sheet 205 and radiates it in the direction of arrow A at a certain moment. The magnetic flux radiated from the NFC antenna 200 becomes stronger at the end portions 203 and 204 where the magnetic sheet 205 opens into the air. The NFC antenna 200 is disposed inside the housing 107 so that the side portion 203 faces the plastic member 108 on the side wall, and the outer pattern 207 a approaches the glass plate 109.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram for explaining the hardware configuration of the tablet terminal 100. In the present invention, since many hardware configurations of the tablet terminal 100 are well known, the description will focus on elements necessary for understanding the present invention. The CPU package 151 includes a CPU core, a memory controller, a GPU, an I / O interface, and the like as one package. The CPU package 151 includes, as elements related to the present invention, a system memory 157 that temporarily stores a program executed by the CPU core, and a solid state drive (SSD) that stores a program executed by the CPU core. The nonvolatile memory 159, the NFC module 161, the touch screen 101, and the like are connected.

  The touch screen 101 includes a flat panel display 153 and a touch panel 155 stacked on the display 153. The touch panel 155 is a capacitance type multi-point detection device in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged in a matrix shape. Detect coordinates. Since the metal also generates electrostatic coupling with the electrodes, the touch panel 155 detects the coordinates when the metal approaches. At this time, if the touch panel 155 forms a pattern in which the metal spreads in a plane with respect to the touch surface 109a, the touch panel 155 detects the pattern as coordinates.

  The nonvolatile memory 159 stores software shown in FIG. The NFC module 161 includes a semiconductor chip and a nonvolatile memory, and the NFC antenna 200 is connected to the NFC module 161. The NFC module 161 belongs to a proximity type (Proximity) having a communication distance of 100 millimeters or less using a frequency band of 13.56 MHz defined by ISO / IEC14443, and communicates by an electromagnetic induction method.

  The NFC module 161 encodes data received from the system at the time of transmission, modulates a carrier wave with the encoded data, amplifies the modulated signal, and then causes a high-frequency current to flow through the NFC antenna 200. The NFC module 161 amplifies and demodulates the high-frequency current generated by the touch operation of the non-contact IC card 10 at the time of reception, and demodulates the demodulated data, and sends the demodulated data to the system.

  The NFC module 161 cooperates with a program stored in the CPU package 151 and the non-volatile memory 159 to provide a card emulation mode for realizing a non-contact IC card function, a function for accessing a non-contact IC card or a non-contact IC tag The reader / writer mode that realizes the above and the inter-device communication (P2P) mode that realizes bidirectional communication with other devices equipped with the NFC function are operated. The tablet terminal 100 displays a guidance screen described later when the NFC module 161 operates in the reader / writer mode.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration at the time of execution of software stored in the nonvolatile memory 159. The touch driver 189 sends the coordinates detected by the touch panel 155 to the OS 187. The coordinates detected by the touch panel 155 include the coordinates of the coil side of the non-contact IC card 10 and the coordinates of the finger touch operation. The NFC driver 191 performs control of the operation of the NFC module 161, control of data communication, and the like. The display driver 193 performs control of operation of the display 153, control of data transfer, and the like.

  The guidance application 181 is a program for recognizing the antenna pattern of the non-contact IC card 10 from the coordinates received from the OS 187 and displaying a guidance screen on the display 153 indicating a direction in which a predetermined coil side approaches the target point. . The NFC application 183 is a program for writing data to the non-contact IC card 10 or reading data from the non-contact IC card 10 by NFC. The general application 185 is a program that is not directly related to NFC, such as mail or a browser.

  Here, NFC by the NFC application 183 and the non-contact IC card 10 will be described. The semiconductor chip 15 of the non-contact IC card 10 includes elements such as a processor, firmware, and nonvolatile memory. The non-contact IC card 10 is said to be a passive type that does not have a power source. The NFC module 161 that operates as a reader / writer operates using a voltage induced in the NFC antenna 13 by a magnetic flux radiated from the NFC antenna 200 as a power source. To do. The non-volatile memory of the non-contact IC card 10 records read information or write information according to the application.

  The semiconductor chip 15 of the non-contact IC card 10 controls access to the nonvolatile memory by the tablet terminal 100. The semiconductor chip 15 operates when the voltage induced in the NFC antenna 13 increases to a predetermined value or more due to the approach to the touch mark 105. The semiconductor chip 15 communicates with the tablet terminal 100 by controlling the resonance circuit of the NFC antenna 13 and controlling the load of the NFC module 161 when both are electromagnetically coupled.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which the tablet terminal 100 performs NFC with the non-contact IC card 10. 6 and 7 are diagrams illustrating an example of a guidance screen indicating the moving direction of the non-contact IC card 10. In block 301 of FIG. 5, the tablet terminal 100 is in a standby state. The touch screen 101 displays a standby screen or a lock screen, and the NFC module 161 is stopped. The guidance application 181 needs to operate in the background before the touch operation of the non-contact IC card 10, but the NFC application 183 may be executed or stopped. Further, it is assumed that the general application 185 does not receive an input from the touch panel 155 in the standby state.

  The touch panel 155 is operating, and the user can use the tablet terminal 100 by executing the general application 185 by unlocking the screen by touching the standby screen with a finger. It is desirable that NFC can be started simply by touching the non-contact IC card 10. However, in order to realize this, the NFC module 161 is operated in the conventional method, and the NFC antenna 200 is connected to the non-contact IC card 10. It is necessary to emit a magnetic flux for polling for detecting approach. Therefore, in the conventional method, power consumption is generated by the NFC module 161 that is not used for most of the time, but in this embodiment, the NFC module 161 is stopped at this point, so that wasteful power is consumed. Do not consume.

  In block 303, the user touches the non-contact IC card 10 with respect to the touch surface 109a with the touch mark 105 as a target. Since the NFC module 161 is stopped, no electromagnetic induction is generated in the NFC antenna 13, and NFC is not started at this point. Although the touch mark 105 is arranged on the edge frame 103, a part of the non-contact IC card 10 extends above the touch screen 101 by a touch operation. The state at this time is shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 6, four rectangular coil sides 13 a to 13 d are defined for the NFC antenna 13. Since the user performs the touch operation of the non-contact IC card 10 with the target of the touch mark 105, the touch mark 105 is drawn for illustration in the figure, but the touch mark 105 is not displayed in the actual operation. It is hidden behind the contact IC card 10. Here, as shown in FIG. 6A, XY coordinates are defined on the touch panel 155 with the upper left corner of the touch screen 101 as the origin.

  In block 305, the touch driver 189 calculates the coordinates of the object to be electrostatically coupled detected by the touch panel 155. The touch driver 189 periodically passes coordinates detected as a change in capacitance when a metal such as the NFC antenna 13 and the semiconductor chip 15 approaches the guidance application 181. The touch driver 189 also calculates the coordinates of the finger that has performed a touch operation for releasing the lock screen, and periodically passes the calculated coordinates to the OS 187. The touch driver 189 periodically sends all the coordinates other than the predetermined coordinates for releasing the lock screen to the guidance application 181.

  In block 307, the guidance application 181 performs pattern recognition of the received coordinates, and determines whether or not the approach of the non-contact IC card 10 is detected. The guidance application 181 recognizes the coordinates of the touch mark 105, the size of the non-contact IC card 10 and the shape of the NFC antenna 13 in advance. In order to recognize the non-contact IC card 10, the touch panel 155 can recognize the metal pattern of the non-contact IC card that may perform NFC with the tablet terminal 100 and register it in the guidance application 181 in advance. If the pattern of the NFC antenna 13 is assumed to be rectangular, it is not always necessary to register it.

  As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D, the guidance application 181 receives the coordinates of at least three coil sides of the NFC antenna 13 and recognizes the pattern by a known method to determine the non-contact IC card 10. To do. If it is assumed that the touch operation is performed in the vicinity of the touch mark 105, the guidance application 181 excludes the coordinates in a range that is away from the touch mark 105 by a predetermined value or more from the pattern recognition target. You can also. Since the touch panel may not detect the coordinates of the semiconductor chip 15 depending on the manner of touch operation, the pattern of the semiconductor chip 15 is omitted from FIGS. 6 (A) to 6 (D). It is also possible to perform pattern recognition.

  6A to 6D show examples in which the coordinates of the three coil sides 13a to 13c are received. Depending on the manner of touch operation, the coordinates of the four coil sides 13a to 13d may be received. The guidance application 181 is non-contact because the size of the NFC antenna 13, the detected coordinates are in the vicinity of the touch mark 105, and the recognized coordinate pattern is all or part of the coil sides 13a to 13d. The IC card 10 can be recognized.

  If the non-contact IC card 10 is recognized in block 309, the process proceeds to block 311. If not recognized, the process returns to block 303. In block 311, the guidance application 181 operates the NFC module 161 through the OS 187 and the NFC driver 191. When the guidance application 181 executes the NFC application 183 through the OS 187 in block 313, the screen is displayed on the touch screen 101.

  In block 315, the guidance application 181 calculates the position of the contactless IC card 10 that is likely to start NFC when the NFC application 183 has not started NFC at this time. In order to start NFC, it is necessary to move the non-contact IC card 10 to a position where the NFC antennas 13 and 200 are coupled with a stronger degree of electromagnetic coupling. The guidance application 181 presets a target point 105a (FIG. 7) corresponding to a target coordinate when the non-contact IC card 10 is moved from the current position.

  The optimum coordinates of the target point 105a may vary depending on the magnetic flux distribution difference of the NFC antenna 200, and may be obtained by experiment. However, here, the coordinates of the touch mark 105 are matched as an example. FIG. 7 shows an example of coordinates detected by the touch driver 189. Since the XY axis has the origin at the upper left corner of the touch panel 155, the minus side of the X axis and the Y axis are virtual coordinates recognized only by the guidance application 181. FIG. 7A shows a state corresponding to FIG. 6A in which the coil side 13b is placed parallel to the Y axis in the first touch operation, and FIG. 7B shows the coil side 13b with respect to the Y axis. A state corresponding to FIG. 6B placed at an inclination is shown.

  The guidance application 181 recognizes that the main alternating magnetic flux radiated from the NFC antenna 200 in the state of being housed in the housing 107 flows in the Y-axis direction. The guidance application 181 can recognize a pattern of the coil side 13a indicated by a dotted line and a partial pattern of the coil sides 13b and 13d. The guidance application 181 calculates the coordinates of the midpoint of each of the coil sides 13a to 13d.

  In block 317, the guidance application 181 calculates the distance between the midpoints 22 and 21 of the two coil sides 13d and 13b in the Y-axis direction and the target point 105a. The guidance application 181 calculates guidance information such that the coil side 13b having a shorter distance from the target point 105a approaches the target point 105a. The guidance information can include information on the distance between the midpoint 21 and the target point 105a and the inclination angle of the line connecting the midpoint 21 and the target point 105a with respect to the X axis. The guidance application 181 determines the content of the guidance screen that indicates the direction in which the user changes the position of the non-contact IC card 10 and the distance to the target point 105a in some cases.

  Information on the guidance screen may be text, but here, an arrow mark that can be easily determined in a short time is used. The direction indicated by the arrow mark can be the direction in which the midpoint 21 is directed toward the touch mark 105, and the length of the arrow can be made to correspond to the distance to the touch mark 105. 6A and 6B show the directions of the arrows for bringing the midpoint 21 of the coil side 13b closer to the touch mark 105. FIGS. 6C and 6D show the direction of the coil side 13d. The direction of the arrow for bringing the midpoint 22 closer to the touch mark 105 is shown. In block 319, the guidance application 181 displays a guidance screen.

  As a result, the system can expect the user to move the position of the non-contact IC card 10 according to the guidance screen until the NFC communication ends. If the NFC by the NFC application 183 is completed in block 321, the process proceeds to block 351, and if not completed, the process proceeds to block 323. If the guidance application 181 does not receive coordinates from the touch driver 189 in block 323 or if the contactless IC card 10 is no longer recognized, the guidance application 181 returns to block 303.

  When the guidance application 181 recognizes the non-contact IC card 10 from the coordinates periodically received from the touch driver 189, the guidance application 181 returns to block 315 and calculates the coordinates and guidance of the non-contact IC card 10 until the NFC communication ends. Continue calculating information and display the guidance screen. The guidance application 181 can correct and display the direction and length of the arrow mark as a result of recalculation. The guidance application 181 that has received an event indicating the end of NFC from the NFC application 183 in block 351 stops the guidance screen. Further, the guidance application 181 stops the NFC module 161, stops the NFC application 183 at block 353, and returns to block 303. Therefore, since the NFC module 161 only needs to operate during NFC, power consumption can be reduced compared to the conventional case.

  In the procedure so far, the method of performing the NFC by performing the touch operation of the non-contact IC card 10 on the tablet terminal in the standby state has been described. However, when the general application 185 is executed in the block 301, the NFC can be performed. It can also be done. As an example of the operation in this case, the touch driver 189 sends the coordinates detected by the touch panel 155 to both the guidance application 181 and the general application 185 being executed. The guidance application 181 activates the NFC application 183 when the contactless IC card 10 is recognized from the received coordinates, and discards the coordinates when not recognized.

  When the general application 185 detects the coordinates for the input position on the screen, the general application 185 operates in accordance with the coordinates. When the guidance application 181 recognizes the non-contact IC card 10 from the coordinates detected by the touch panel 155 and at the same time the general application 185 also recognizes an input to the screen, priority may be given to the activation of the NFC application 183 by the guidance application 181. it can.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of the side-emitting NFC antenna. 8A is a plan view, and FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional view taken along the Z2-Z2 arrow of FIG. 8A. The NFC antenna 400 includes an antenna coil 407 formed on the surface of the front-side insulating substrate 401 and the back-side insulating substrate 402. The material of the insulating substrates 401 and 402 and the method of forming the antenna pattern can be the same as those of the NFC antenna 200.

  A magnetic sheet 405 is sandwiched between the insulating substrate 401 and the insulating substrate 402. The antenna coil 407 includes a front surface pattern 407 a formed on the insulating substrate 401 and a back surface pattern 407 b formed on the insulating substrate 402. The front surface pattern 407a and the back surface pattern 407b are electrically connected by through holes (via holes) plated at the ends so as to form a loop coil as a single continuous conductor. .

  Both ends of the antenna coil 407 are connected to a resonance circuit 411 mounted on the insulating substrate 402. The antenna coil 407 includes a flux linkage entrance corresponding to the coil opening of the antenna coil 407 on the side portions 403 and 404 of the magnetic sheet 405. The NFC antenna 400 is incorporated into the tablet terminal 100 so that the side portion 403 faces the plastic member 108 on the side wall.

  A device that performs NFC with the tablet terminal 100 may be a portable device capable of recognizing an antenna by a touch panel 155 such as a smartphone having a casing formed of plastic instead of the non-contact IC card 10. Further, the display of the guidance screen when the side radiation antennas 200 and 400 are incorporated in the tablet terminal 100 has been described so far, but the present invention is a touch operation on the front radiation NFC antenna 500 as shown in FIG. It can also be applied to. In this case, since the touch mark cannot be displayed on the touch screen 101, for example, the target point 501a recognized by the system is set at the center of the coil opening of the NFC antenna 500.

  Although the user performs a touch operation of the non-contact IC card 10 on the touch screen 101, there is a case where an appropriate position cannot be found because there is no touch mark. At this time, the guidance application 181 can perform NFC in a short time if the arrow mark indicating the direction in which the coil axis 17 of the non-contact IC card 10 approaches the target point 501a is displayed until NFC is completed.

  Although the present invention has been described with the specific embodiments shown in the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings, and is known so far as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved. It goes without saying that any configuration can be adopted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Non-contact IC card 13 NFC antenna 13a-13d Coil side 100 Tablet terminal 101 Touch screen 103 Edge frame 105 Touch mark 105a, 501a Target point 106 Magnetic flux 109a Touch surface 200 Side radiation type NFC antenna 500 Front radiation type NFC antenna

Claims (15)

A method in which an electronic device mounting a touch screen and a first antenna and a portable device mounting a second antenna perform wireless communication,
The touch screen detecting the second antenna;
In response to detection of the second antenna, the electronic device displays information indicating a moving direction of the portable device for increasing the degree of electromagnetic coupling between the first antenna and the second antenna on the touch screen. And a method comprising:   The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless communication is an electromagnetic induction near field communication (NFC).   The method of claim 1, wherein the second antenna comprises a rectangular coil pattern. The method of claim 3 , wherein the detecting step includes detecting coordinates of a coil side of the second antenna. Setting a target point on the electronic device,
The method according to claim 4 , wherein the information indicating the moving direction indicates a direction in which the coil side is brought closer to the target point. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the target point corresponds to a position of a touch mark for providing a user with a touch operation target. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the information indicating the moving direction indicates a direction in which a coil side closest to the target point existing in a direction in which magnetic flux flows approaches the target point. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the information indicating the moving direction includes information indicating a change in a distance between the target point and the nearest coil side as the portable device moves. An electronic device capable of wireless communication with a portable device using electromagnetic coupling,
A touch screen providing a touch surface for the portable device;
An antenna disposed in the vicinity of the touch surface;
An electronic apparatus having a control unit that detects from the touch screen signal that the portable device has approached the antenna and displays information indicating a direction in which the portable device is moved on the touch surface on the touch screen; . The electronic device according to claim 9 , wherein the antenna is a side-emitting antenna having a main magnetic flux entrance / exit in a direction different from a direction perpendicular to the touch surface. The electronic device according to claim 9 , wherein the information indicating the moving direction is an arrow mark. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the electronic device is a tablet terminal and the portable device is a contactless IC card. The electronic apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the antenna is a front radiation type antenna having a magnetic flux path in front of the touch screen. In order for a portable device equipped with a touch screen and an electronic device mounted with a first antenna and a portable device equipped with a second antenna linked with a magnetic flux radiated from the first antenna to perform wireless communication,
Detecting coordinates of the second antenna when the portable device approaches the touch screen ;
Recognizing the second antenna from the coordinate pattern;
And displaying information indicating a direction in which the portable device is moved on the touch screen in response to recognition of the second antenna. The second antenna includes four coil sides, and the information indicating the moving direction is information indicating a direction in which any one of the coil sides approaches a touch mark for providing a user with a touch operation target. The computer program according to claim 14 .

Images