WO2013072613A1

WO2013072613A1 - Auxiliary portable device, in particular for a mobile phone

Info

Publication number: WO2013072613A1
Application number: PCT/FR2012/052609
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jacek Kowalski
Original assignee: Jacek Kowalski
Priority date: 2011-11-14
Filing date: 2012-11-13
Publication date: 2013-05-23
Also published as: FR2982727A1; FR2982727B1

Abstract

The present invention is an auxiliary portable device (20) configured to provide a functionality (HWF) to a main device (15), and comprising means (MC) for deactivating at least one of the constituent members (WLCT, HWF) thereof in order to reduce the electrical consumption thereof. The device also comprises means (VD) for detecting a dedicated mechanical vibration (MV) generated by a vibrator of the main device, and means (MC, VD) for activating the deactivated member when the vibration is detected.

Description

AUXILIARY PORTABLE DEVICE, IN PARTICULAR FOR MOBILE TELEPHONE

The present invention relates to an auxiliary portable device to be associated with a main device for providing functionality to the main device.

An exemplary auxiliary portable device 10 is described in PCT application WO 2008/122869 and is shown schematically in FIGS. 1A, 1B. Currently marketed under the name "sticker", the device 10 is in the form of a small plastic card to be arranged on a mobile phone 15 and offering near field communication (NFC) functionality.

The internal architecture of the device 10 is shown in FIG. 2. The device 10 comprises a processor MC, a Bluetooth ™ communication circuit BTCT, a near-field communication circuit NFCCT, a voltage regulator RG and a voltage source PS. The BTCT communication circuit enables the telephone to establish a Bluetooth ™ connection with the device 10 and then use the communication circuit NFCCT via the processor MC.

The voltage source PS, generally an electric battery, supplies a supply voltage V1 to the processor MC and the circuits BTCT, NFCCT via the regulator RG. The PS voltage source is usually rechargeable but its autonomy must be as great as possible. For this purpose, it is essential to limit the power consumption of the device 10 outside periods of use. The device is therefore configured to turn off automatically after a period of activity, and has a push button switch 11 allowing a user to turn it on again before each new use.

More particularly, the processor MC is configured to shut off the RG controller after a period of activity, applying a power off signal to an OFF input thereof. The processor MC is then deprived of power, as well as the circuits HWF, WLCT. When the user actuates the switch 11, a voltage pulse VI is applied to an ON input of the regulator RG, which activates it and returns the device 10 into service.

Actuation of the manual switch 11 is hardly practical because the device is generally arranged on the back of a telephone. The user must return the phone with one hand, and activate the switch with the other hand. In addition, by doing so, the user can put his fingers on a touch screen of the phone and unintentionally trigger features or applications of the phone.

Automatic activation solutions of the auxiliary device 10 have been sought. In particular, it has been envisaged to detect the electric field emitted by the Bluetooth ™ circuit of the telephone. This, however, leads to untimely power-ups when the user uses the Bluetooth ™ feature to connect the phone to another peripheral device or when the auxiliary device is in proximity to another device that has Bluetooth ™ enabled.

It may therefore be desired to provide an auxiliary device that can be activated by the main device with which it is associated, without requiring action by the user.

Embodiments of the invention relate to an auxiliary portable device configured to provide functionality to a main device, and comprising means for disabling at least one of its constituent members to reduce its power consumption, means for detecting a dedicated mechanical vibration generated by a vibrator of the main device, and means for activating the deactivated member on detection of the vibration.

According to one embodiment, the device comprises means for detecting, in a frequency band, a repetitive vibration having a determined temporal characteristic.

According to one embodiment, the deactivated member is a wireless communication circuit, and the device is configured to activate the wireless communication circuit after vibration detection, and establish communication with a primary device by means of the wireless communication circuit.

According to one embodiment, the device comprises a processor configured to deactivate the device and then self-deactivate, and a vibration detector configured to activate the processor and the deactivated device on detection of the vibration.

According to one embodiment, the device comprises a processor configured to switch to a standby state, and a vibration detector configured to provide a wake-up signal to the processor upon detection of the vibration.

According to one embodiment, the processor is configured to activate the deactivated member after being awakened by the vibration detector.

According to one embodiment, the device comprises a vibration detector for detecting vibration, and a processor configured to turn off the vibration detector and switch to a timed sleep state, return to an activated state, activate the vibration detector and use it to detect a vibration, if no vibration is detected, switch back to the timed sleep state, and, if the vibration is detected, activate the deactivated organ.

According to one embodiment, the vibration detector is configured to autonomously detect the vibration, and provide the processor with a signal representative of the vibration detection.

According to one embodiment, the vibration detector is configured to provide a raw detection signal to the processor, and the processor is configured to analyze the raw signal to detect the dedicated vibration.

According to one embodiment, the vibration detector comprises an accelerometer providing a first signal in the presence of a vibration, a high pass filter circuit receiving the first signal and providing a second signal, an extractor circuit of the envelope of the second signal, providing the raw detection signal, the processor being configured to cyclically reset the raw detection signal, compare the detection signal gross to a threshold after each reset, count, in an observation window, the number of times the gross detection signal is greater than the threshold, and deduce the presence of the vibration.

Embodiments of the invention also relate to a device equipped with a vibrator and intended to be associated with an auxiliary device according to the invention, comprising at least one application program for exploiting a functionality of the auxiliary device, in which the application program is configured to emit a dedicated mechanical vibration by means of the vibrator to activate the auxiliary device.

According to one embodiment, the device is configured to establish communication with the auxiliary device after having activated it by means of the dedicated vibration.

According to one embodiment, the device is configured to emit a series of vibrations having a determined temporal characteristic.

According to one embodiment, the device comprises configurable mobile telephone means for, in response to a telephone call, transmitting a series of call vibrations having a first duration and a first time interval between two vibrations, and the application program is configured to emit a series of vibrations having a second duration shorter than the first duration, and / or a second time interval between two vibrations less than the first time interval.

Embodiments of the invention also relate to a method for activating an auxiliary portable device associated with a main device and configured to provide functionality to the primary device, comprising the steps of applying mechanical vibration to the auxiliary device, by means of a device vibrator main, and configure the auxiliary device to detect the vibration and activates at least one deactivated member after detection of the vibration.

According to one embodiment, the deactivated member is a wireless communication circuit, and the method comprises a step of establishing a communication between the main device and the auxiliary device by means of the wireless communication circuit, after having activated.

Embodiments of an auxiliary portable device according to the invention and of a method for activating such a device will be described in the following, in a non-limiting manner, in relation to the appended figures among which:

- Figures 1A, 1B previously described schematically show a conventional auxiliary device associated with a mobile phone,

FIG. 2 previously described is the block diagram of the conventional auxiliary device,

FIG. 3 is the block diagram of an auxiliary device according to the invention,

FIGS. 4 to 10 show different embodiments of the auxiliary device of FIG. 3,

FIG. 11 represents an embodiment of a vibration detector present in the auxiliary device,

FIG. 12 represents a main device emitting a vibration to the attention of an auxiliary device according to the invention,

FIG. 13 describes operations performed by the main device to use the auxiliary device,

FIG. 14 describes operations performed by an auxiliary device according to the invention in response to the detection of a vibration,

FIGS. 15 to 19 are timing diagrams of electrical signals appearing in the vibration detector of FIG. 11, and

FIG. 20 represents another embodiment of an auxiliary device according to the invention. Figure 2 is a block diagram of an auxiliary portable device 20 according to the invention. The device 20 is intended to be used with a main device 15 such as a mobile telephone, a digital personal assistant (PDA) and generally any device to which one wishes to add one or more functionalities. The auxiliary device 20 is generally in the form of a plastic card, but could also be housed in a telephone protective shell or in a wall of the telephone housing 15. It is intended to be mechanically coupled to the main device 15. enough for the device 15 to transmit a vibration MV.

The auxiliary device 20 comprises a voltage source PS, a vibration detector VD, a processor MC, a wireless communication circuit WLCT and a functionality implemented here by means of a hardware circuit HWF ("Hardware Function"). The processor MC is for example a microcontroller equipped with a microprocessor, a non-volatile program memory, a volatile data memory, input / output ports, a clock circuit, etc. The circuit WLCT is for example a Bluetooth ™ circuit or any other circuit allowing the exchange of wireless data with the main device 15. The HWF circuit is for example a near field communication circuit NFC, provided for exchanging data with a device. external NFC device (not shown) by inductive coupling. It can also be a GPS receiver, for transmitting location information to the main device 15, a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and generally any circuit making it possible to propose to a user of the main device 15 a or more complementary features.

The device 20 is configured to enter a low power consumption sleep mode after a period of activity during which it communicates with the primary device 15 via a wireless data link WL and the WLCT circuit. The switchover to the standby mode can be requested by the main device 15 (stop activity control) or be decided by the processor MC at the end of the period of activity, if the device 15 does not require any more. When the device 15 wants to reactivate the auxiliary device 20, it generates a vibration MV by means of an internal vibrator, for example an electromechanical vibrator with eccentric mass or a piezoelectric vibrator. The vibration MV is detected and identified by the vibration detector VD and causes the activation of all or part of the organs of the auxiliary device. The processor MC then establishes a new data link WL with the main device 15.

Such vibration MV will be called in what follows "dedicated vibration". This vibration must be distinguishable from a vibration emitted by the main device for a reason not related to the auxiliary device, for example a call vibration (reception of a call in vibrating mode). The dedicated vibration MV has a frequency or time characteristic that distinguishes it from a call vibration. A time characteristic will generally be preferred to a frequency characteristic in an application to mobile phones, since mobile phone vibrators are generally monotonous (they do not include a frequency modulator) and have a vibration frequency that differs according to the telephone models, and is generally between 100 and 250 Hertz. An example of a vibration having a time-differentiating characteristic will be described later.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment 21 of the auxiliary device. The device 21 comprises an independent vibration detector VD1 and a switch SW, for example an electronic switch or a voltage regulator providing an on / off function. The voltage source PS supplies a voltage V V which is applied to the power supply inputs VIN of the processor MC, the communication circuit WLCT and the circuit HWF, via the switch SW. The latter has an ON activation input and an OFF deactivation input. The processor MC has a PI output (for example a port) connected to the OFF input of the switch SW, as well as various inputs / outputs connected to the circuits WLCT and HWF via a link CB, for receiving or transmitting signals. data or control signals. The processor is configured to apply a deactivation signal to the switch SW at the end of a period of activity, on its own initiative or upon request of the device 15. The switch SW then stops supplying the voltage V1 to the processor MC and the circuits HWF, WLC. The auxiliary device 20 is then in a standby mode where only the vibration detector VD1 consumes current.

The detector VD1 is powered by the voltage V1, directly or via a regulator (not shown), and is configured to detect the dedicated vibration. When this vibration is detected, the detector VD1 applies to the input ON of the switch SW a detection signal DET which activates the switch. The voltage VI is then sent again to the processor MC and the circuits WLCT, HWF. The communication circuit WLCT is activated and the main device 15 can establish communication with the processor MC to use the HWF circuit.

FIG. 5 represents an embodiment 22 of the auxiliary device in which the processor MC is permanently powered by the voltage VI, like the vibration detector VD1. The voltage V1 can be supplied to the processor MC and to the detector VD1 via a regulator REG represented in dotted lines. In addition to its output PI which controls the OFF input of the switch SW, the processor has an output P2 which controls the ON input of the switch SW and an activation input P3 which receives the signal DET emitted by the detector VD1 when the Dedicated vibration has been detected. The MC processor is also equipped with a sleep mode with low power consumption. This is for example an operating mode where the frequency of a processor clock is greatly reduced.

At the end of a period of activity, the processor MC disables the switch SW, as before, but continues to be powered, while the circuits HWF and WLCT are off. The processor MC then switches to the standby mode while the detector VD1 remains awake and analyzes the vibrations detected to determine if one of them is the dedicated vibration.

When the dedicated vibration is identified, the detector VD1 applies the signal DET to the processor. It switches to the active mode and activates the SW switch. The voltage VI is then sent to the VIN inputs of the processor and its peripheral circuits. The communication circuit WLCT is activated and the main device 15 can establish a communication with the processor MC.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment 23 of the auxiliary device which differs from that of FIG. 5 in that the switch SW is suppressed. The detector VD1, the processor MC, the circuits HWF, WLCT are directly powered by the voltage VI, or via a non-switchable REG regulator represented in dashed lines. Before entering standby mode, the processor MC applies to the HWF circuits, WLCT, via the link CB, a deactivation signal OFF which places them in a low power sleep mode. When the processor is awakened by the detector VD1, it applies an activation signal ON.

In the three embodiments that have just been described, the autonomous vibration detector VD1 is an "intelligent" circuit which comprises, in addition to a vibration sensor, means for analyzing the signal supplied by the sensor, for identify the dedicated vibration and distinguish it from a call vibration. The vibration sensor is for example a capacitive membrane accelerometer type MEMS (Microsystem electromechanical). Programmable smart detectors are available as standard components in the microelectronics market, usually digital programmable sensors with a microprocessor.

In a variant of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the detector VD1 includes a sleep mode with low power consumption, and a wake-up timer. When the processor MC and the circuits HWF, WLCT are deactivated or in the standby mode, the detector VD1 cyclically switches from the active mode to the standby mode and vice versa, in order to further reduce the consumption of the device 20, 21, 22 and preserve the autonomy of the PS voltage source. When in the active mode, the VD1 detector seeks to identify the dedicated vibration, then switches back to sleep mode if it has not detected anything. Figures 7, 8 show embodiments 24, 25 of an auxiliary device according to the invention which differ from embodiments 22, 23 in that they comprise a vibration detector VD2 / 3 having a control input CIN. The control input CIN receives an ON / OFF signal provided by a processor output P4, causing the vibration detector to be activated or deactivated. The MC processor is equipped with a low-power sleep mode and has a wake-up timer (WUT) that wakes it up after a set time that can be programmed.

In these embodiments 24, 25, the processor MC deactivates the VD2 / 3 detector before switching to standby mode. When it goes out of sleep mode, it reactivates the VD2 / 3 detector and tries to detect the presence of a dedicated vibration. If no dedicated vibration is detected, the processor again deactivates the VD2 / 3 detector and switches back to sleep mode, and so on. If a dedicated vibration is detected, the processor disables the VD2 / 3 detector because the latter is no longer useful in the active mode (except specific application based on a vibration detection). The detector will be reactivated later, when leaving sleep mode.

It will be noted that in the embodiment of FIG. 8, as well as embodiment 23 of FIG. 6, the HWF circuit could be activated after the WLCT circuit, only at the moment when the processor has to use this circuit. .

Moreover, the detector VD2 / 3 shown in FIGS. 7, 8 can be produced according to two embodiments VD2 or VD3. In the first embodiment VD2, the detector is an autonomous detector and therefore "intelligent" of the type described above, capable of detecting the dedicated vibration, and differs only from the detector VD1 by its control input CIN.

In the second embodiment VD3, the detector is made in a simple and inexpensive way in order to consume little power and reduce the cost price and the size of the auxiliary device 24, 25. The detector VD3 provides the processor MC a detection signal RS in the raw state. The signal RS is analyzed by the processor MC, to detect the presence of a dedicated vibration.

FIGS. 9, 10 show embodiments 26, 27 of the auxiliary device which differ from embodiments 24, 25 of FIGS. 7, 8 in that the detector VD2 / 3 is integrated on the same semiconductor chip as the MC processor. The CIN control input of the detector is not shown but can be provided. As before, the detector VD2 / 3 provides the signal DET (embodiment VD2) or the raw signal RS (embodiment VD3) to the processor MC.

Fig. 11 shows an embodiment of the VD3 detector. The detector comprises a MEMS1 accelerometer, a C1R1 passive high-pass filter, an HPF active high-pass filter, a D1C2 envelope extractor circuit, a T1 transistor and a CMP comparator. The filter C1R1 comprises a series capacitor C1 and a parallel resistor RI connected to ground. The envelope extractor circuit D1C2 comprises a series diode D1 and a parallel capacitor C2 arranged between the cathode of the diode D1 to ground. The transistor T1 is also arranged between the cathode of the diode and the ground.

In the presence of a vibration, the MEMS1 accelerometer provides an oscillating signal SI which is applied to the C1R1 filter to remove a possible DC component. The filter C1R1 provides a signal S2 which is applied to the high-pass filter HPF, whose output provides a signal S3 free of parasitic components having frequencies lower than that of the vibrator of the main device 15, which is generally between 100 Hz and 250 Hz. The signal S3 is applied to the anode of the diode D1 whose cathode provides the raw signal RS. The latter is integrated by the capacitor C2 and thus forms the envelope of the signal S3. The transistor T1 is connected between the cathode of the diode D1 and ground and has a control terminal controlled by a reset signal RST supplied by the processor MC. When the signal RST is at 1, the transistor T1 is on and resets the RS signal. Finally, the signal RS is applied to a positive input of the comparator CMP, whose negative input receives a reference threshold voltage Vth. The output of the comparator CMP supplies the input P3 of the processor MC with digital samples RSi of the signal RS which, after resetting this signal, are equal to 1 when the signal RS becomes greater than Vth, otherwise equal to 0.

The operation of the detector VD3 will now be described in connection with an exemplary implementation illustrated in FIG. 12, in which the main device 15 repetitively emits a dedicated vibration of duration Tv interspersed with silences of duration Ts. It will be assumed for example that the durations Tv and Ts are 100 ms (millisecond) each.

In general, the duration Tv of a dedicated vibration is preferably much less than the duration of a call vibration, which is generally of the order of one second. Similarly, the duration Ts of a silence between two dedicated vibrations is much shorter than the duration of a silence between two call vibrations. Thus, to identify the dedicated vibration, the processor is configured to detect the beginning and end of the vibration and ensure that its duration is not greater than Ts, or to detect the end of a vibration and the beginning of vibration. a new vibration, and ensure that the silence between the two vibrations is not greater than Ts. For this purpose, an observation window of duration To equal to 2Tv + Ts or Tv + 2Ts (the greater of the two values), is equal to 3Tv when Tv = Ts, is in principle sufficient to detect the dedicated vibration. The processor MC can therefore be configured to leave the sleep mode for a very short time corresponding to the observation window, and then switch back to the standby mode for a duration to be specified according to the intended application. The duration of the standby mode depends on the desired reactivity on the part of the auxiliary device 20 when the main device 15 sends a dedicated vibration. If this duration is too long, the user will perceive an unpleasant latency during an attempt to activate the auxiliary device.

FIG. 13 describes operations performed by the primary device 15 to execute an application program that has been loaded into its memory program. This application program is for example a program for reading a contactless electronic label (commonly called "tag"), by means of the auxiliary device 20. The HWF circuit is in this case an inductively coupled contactless reader equipped with a antenna coil (not shown) and emitting a magnetic field.

During an SOI step, the software application loaded into the main device 15 is activated by the user. During a step S02, the device 15 repeatedly transmits the dedicated vibration and waits for a response from the auxiliary device 20. This response is made via the communication circuit WLCT, for example a Bluetooth ™ circuit. During a step S03, the device 15 establishes a communication with the auxiliary device 20 and executes the application. In the example considered here, the data read by the device 20 in the electronic tag (not shown) is transferred to the device 15 via the Bluetooth ™ link. When the application has been executed, the device 15 can send a standby command to the auxiliary device 20, during a step S04.

Fig. 14 depicts corresponding operations performed by the auxiliary device 20. In a step S10, the wake-up timer WUT of the processor MC removes it from standby mode. The processor activates the vibration detector VD3 by applying the ON / OFF signal to CIN control inputs of the MEMS1 accelerometer and the HPF active filter (Fig. 11), and initializes a count variable "i" to In step S, the processor sets the signal RST to 1 to reset the raw signal RS (Fig. 11). During a step S12, the processor resets the signal RST, waits a corresponding period of time substantially equal to the time constant of the integrator circuit D1C2, then reads on its input P3 a sample RSi of the signal RS supplied by the CMP comparator. As indicated above, this sample is equal to 1 if the signal RS after being reset has become greater than the threshold voltage Vth. The value of the sample and its rank "i" are stored by the processor.

During a step S13, the processor determines whether the variable i is equal to a limit N. This limit N is equal to the duration To of the window of observation divided by the duration of the steps SU and S12, the duration of a sampling step. If the duration To of the observation window is equal to 3Tv is 300 ms according to the example given above, and if the steps SU and S12 last 10 ms each, it comes that N = 300/20 = 15. If the answer is negative, the processor goes to a step S14 where it increments the variable i by one unit, then returns to step SU and repeats the sampling steps S12 and S13. If the response is positive, it means that the duration of the observation window has elapsed and the processor goes to a step S15 where it analyzes the samples RSi, ie 15 samples RS1 to RS15 in the example in question.

As will be shown later with the help of examples, the analysis of the samples RSi makes it possible to know if a vibration has been detected or not, and, if so, whether this vibration is the dedicated vibration or a vibration of 'call. If no vibration has been detected, or if a call vibration has been detected, the processor goes to a step S18 during which it activates its wake up timer WUT and then switches to the standby mode. If a dedicated vibration has been detected, the processor goes to a step S16 where it activates the communication circuit WLCT and establishes a communication with the main device 15. During a step S17, the processor executes the requested application, by example reading an electronic tag. When the application has been executed, the device 20 waits for a new command from the device 15 or a sleep command. If, after a delay, no command is received, the device 20 goes to a step S18 where it automatically goes into standby by cutting the Bluetooth communication. To wake him up, a new sequence of vibrations will be necessary.

FIGS. 15 to 19 each represent the signals S3, RST, RS and samples RSi in the observation window To, in five different situations:

- Figure 15: no vibration is detected,

- Figure 16: a call vibration is detected throughout the duration of the observation window,

Figure 17: two dedicated vibrations are detected in the observation window, Figure 18: a dedicated vibration is detected in the observation window,

- Figure 19: a call vibration appears in the observation window.

In each of these figures, the reset signal RST is set 1 to 15 times during the observation window and thus defines 15 slots ("slots") for sampling the signal RS, each sampling slot being located after setting the RST signal to 1.

In the situation illustrated in FIG. 15, the signal S3 at the output of the filter HPF (FIG.11) remains at zero throughout the duration of the observation window. Spurious low frequency vibrations (due to hand movements or walking with the phone in the pocket, for example) may have been detected by the MEMS1 accelerometer, but have been filtered by the HPF filter. The signal RS therefore remains equal to 0, as well as the samples RSi.

In the situation illustrated in FIG. 16, the signal S3 oscillates at the frequency transmitted by the vibrator of the main device 15. The signal RS has in each sampling slot a voltage ramp which exceeds the threshold voltage Vth, and RSI to RS15 samples of the RS signal are equal to 1. The processor deduces that it is in the presence of a call vibration.

In the situation illustrated in Fig. 17, the signal S3 oscillates during the first 5 sampling slots, is equal to 0 during the next sampling slots, and then oscillates again during the next sampling slots. The samples RSI to RS5 are equal to 1, the samples RS6 to RS10 are equal to 0, and the samples RS10 to RS15 are equal to 1. The processor deduces that a silence of a duration of the order of 100 ms has been detected, which is representative of the presence of two successive dedicated vibrations.

In the situation illustrated in FIG. 18, the samples RS5 to RS9 are at 1 and the other samples R1 at RS4, RS10 at RS15 are at 0. The The processor deduces that a dedicated vibration has been detected in the observation window.

It will be noted that a minimum number of samples RSi equal to 1 may be required to ensure that the detected signal is indeed a vibration emitted by a buzzer, and not a short-lived frequency component of a vibration generating event. for example a shock. In the example shown, this minimum number is for example equal to 4.

In the situation illustrated in FIG. 19, the samples RS6 to RS15 are at 1 and the samples RSI at RS5 are at 0. The processor deduces that a call vibration has been detected in the observation window because it has not detected a vibration or silence of a duration of the order of 100 ms.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is susceptible to various applications and improvements.

In some embodiments, it may happen that the vibrator of the main device 15 has at start or stop too great inertia to provide between two vibrations a silence of very short duration Ts and less than the duration between two vibrations of call, or conversely to provide a duration Tv of the dedicated vibration which is very short and less than that of a call vibration. In this case, the discrimination of the dedicated vibration will be made with respect to its duration Tv and not the duration Ts, or conversely with respect to the duration Ts and not the duration Tv. A more complex temporal coding may also be provided, for example a series of vibrations of different durations and / or a series of silences of different durations.

However, a coding of the dedicated vibration may not be necessary in an application where the main device 15 is equipped with a vibrator which is only used for the purposes of implementing the invention, or is equipped with a complementary vibrator operating at a different frequency than that of the main vibrator, which is easy to isolate by means of a high-pass or band-pass filter. The term "dedicated vibration" therefore does not mean necessarily that the vibration has a differentiating characteristic relative to another vibration, and simply means that the auxiliary device, after having detected it, is able to know that this vibration is intended for it.

On the other hand, in some embodiments, the functionality provided by the auxiliary device 20 could be something other than a hardware functionality requiring the HWF circuit. The feature could be purely software. The auxiliary device 20 may for example be equipped with a cryptographic algorithm and a unique cryptography key provided by a service provider. When the user wants to benefit from this service, he activates in the phone an application that connects via the Internet to a server of the provider, and which simultaneously activates the auxiliary device 20 to ask him to provide an encrypted access code that he echo to the remote server to access the service.

Also, although it has been referred to above that the WLCT communication circuit of the auxiliary device is activated by means of a vibration emitted by the main device 15, embodiments of the present invention can be applied to an auxiliary device that is not configured to establish communication with the main device 15, but to perform a specific operation on receiving the vibration. The auxiliary device may for example form an electronic key equipped with a radio transmitter, electromagnetic or infrared configured to issue an opening code having a determined frequency and / or coding. To open a secure door, the user activates an application in the main device 20, possibly after entering a secret code. The main device 20 then sends the auxiliary device a vibration having a determined coding. The latter identifies the coded vibration and even transmits the door opening code. Several types of vibrations could also be provided, each type of vibration corresponding to a given operation.

Moreover, although the vibration detector has been designed to prevent the user from using a manual switch, embodiment of an auxiliary device according to the invention may comprise such a switch. By way of example, FIG. 20 shows an embodiment 28 of an auxiliary device according to the invention that differs from embodiment 22 of FIG. 5 in that it is equipped with such a manual switch. The switch 11 is arranged between the voltage source PS and an activation input P6 of the processor MC. Pressing the switch allows the user to activate the auxiliary device 28 in the absence of dedicated vibration.

Claims

claims

An auxiliary portable device (20-27) configured to provide a feature (HWF) to a main device (15), and comprising means (SW, MC) for disabling at least one of its constituent members (WLCT, HWF) ) in order to reduce its electricity consumption,

characterized in that it comprises:

means (SW, MC, VD, VD1, VD2, VD3) for detecting a dedicated mechanical vibration (MV) generated by a vibrator of the main device, and means (SW, MC, VD, VD1) for activating the deactivated member on detection of the vibration.

2. Auxiliary device according to claim 1, comprising means for detecting, in a frequency band, a repetitive vibration having a determined temporal characteristic (Tv, Ts).

3. Auxiliary device according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the deactivated member is a wireless communication circuit (WLCT), and configured to activate the wireless communication circuit after detection of the vibration, and establish a communicating with a main device (15) by means of the wireless communication circuit.

4. Auxiliary device (21) according to one of claims 1 to 3, comprising:

a processor (MC) configured to deactivate the organ (WLCT, HWF) then self-deactivate, and

a vibration detector (VD1) configured to activate the processor (MC) and the deactivated member (WLCT, HWF) on detection of the vibration.

Auxiliary device (22, 23) according to one of claims 1 to 3, comprising:

a processor (MC) configured to switch to a standby state, and

a vibration detector (VD1, VD2) configured to provide a wake up signal (DET) to the processor (MC) upon detection of the vibration.

An auxiliary device according to claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to activate the deactivated member (WLCT, HWF) after being awakened by the vibration detector.

7. Auxiliary device (24-27) according to one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a vibration detector (VD2, VD3) for detecting the vibration (MV), and a processor (MC) configured to:

- turn off the vibration detector (VD2, VD3) and switch to a timed sleep state,

return to an activated state, activate the vibration detector and use it to detect a vibration,

- if no vibration is detected, switch back to the timed sleep state,

- if vibration is detected, activate the deactivated device (WLCT, HWF).

An auxiliary device according to claim 7, wherein the vibration detector (VD2) is configured to autonomously detect the vibration, and provide the processor with a signal (DET) representative of the vibration detection.

Auxiliary device according to claim 7, wherein:

the vibration detector (VD3) is configured to provide a raw detection signal (RS) to the processor, and

the processor is configured to analyze the raw signal in order to detect the dedicated vibration.

An auxiliary device according to claim 9, wherein the vibration detector (VD3) comprises:

an accelerometer providing a first signal (SI) in the presence of a vibration,

a high-pass filtering circuit (C1, R1, HPF) receiving the first signal and supplying a second signal (S3),

a circuit extracting the envelope of the second signal, providing the raw detection signal (RS),

the processor being configured to:

- Reset (RST, Tl) cyclically the raw detection signal, comparing (CMP) the gross detection signal with a threshold (Vth) after each reset,

counting, in an observation window (o), the number of times that the gross detection signal is greater than the threshold, and

- to deduce the presence of the vibration.

11. Device (15) equipped with a vibrator and intended to be associated with an auxiliary device (20-27) according to one of claims 1 to 10, comprising at least one application program for exploiting a feature (HWF) of the device auxiliary, wherein the application program is configured to emit a dedicated mechanical vibration (MV) by means of the vibrator to activate the auxiliary device (S02).

12. Device according to claim 11, configured to establish a communication with the auxiliary device after activating it by means of the dedicated vibration.

13. Device (15) according to one of claims 11 and 12, comprising configurable mobile telephone means for, in response to a telephone call, emit a series of call vibrations having a first duration and a first time interval between two vibrations, wherein the application program is configured to emit a series of vibrations having a second duration (Tv) less than the first duration, and / or a second time interval (Ts) between two vibrations less than the first time interval .

A method for activating an auxiliary portable device (20-27) associated with a main device (15) and configured to provide a functionality (HWF) to the primary device, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:

applying a dedicated mechanical vibration (MV) to the auxiliary device, by means of a vibrator of the main device, and

- configure the auxiliary device to detect the vibration and activate at least one deactivated member (WLCT, HWF, MC) after detection of the vibration.

The method of claim 14, wherein the deactivated member is a wireless communication circuit (WLCT) and comprising a step of establishing communication between the primary device and the auxiliary device by means of the wireless communication circuit, after activating it.