WO2013150192A1

WO2013150192A1 - Removable nfc accessory for mobile telephone

Info

Publication number: WO2013150192A1
Application number: PCT/FR2013/000088
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bernard Calvas; Benjamin MEAR
Original assignee: Smart Packaging Solutions (Sps)
Priority date: 2012-04-04
Filing date: 2013-04-04
Publication date: 2013-10-10
Also published as: FR2989243A1; FR2989243B1

Abstract

The invention relates to an NFC accessory or casing (1) for a wireless communication terminal (10). Said accessory or casing comprises a housing provided with: a front surface, having a screen and/or a keyboard; a rear surface; and an electronic communication unit (20) that is to be connected to a wireless telecommunication network. Said accessory (1), in particular in the form of a mounted casing, comprises a means for attachment onto the housing of the wireless communication terminal. Said accessory is characterized in that it also comprises a removable attachment means (3, 7), for a chip card (4) provided with an antenna, and moreover comprises an antenna (2) placed on said accessory (1) so as to generate inductive coupling between the antenna (6) of the chip card and the antenna (2) of said accessory.

Description

Removable accessory NFC for mobile phone

The invention relates to a radiofrequency communication interface between a contactless smart card integrated into a mobile communication terminal, and an external reader located near the mobile communication terminal and intended to communicate by radio frequency with said contactless smart card, directly using a near field communication, including NFC type. The invention also relates to a mobile communication terminal provided with such a communication interface.

The invention applies in particular and advantageously to the case in which the mobile communication terminal is constituted by a mobile telephone and in which the smart card is a SIM-type card or another microprocessor card inserted into the card. mobile phone. Accordingly, it will be described in more detail in this context by way of example, without this example having a limiting nature. The invention is indeed likely to apply to other communicating portable objects provided with a smart card, such as PDA (the English terminology "Personal Digital Assistant"), or others.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, mobile phones have become internationally successful, with billions of people still carrying their mobile phones with them. In this context, the mobile phone appears more and more like a hardware and software platform on which applications other than the mobile phone application by the GSM network or equivalent, could turn.

But in the current applications hosted by the mobile phone, the SIM card interacts with the mobile phone by means of electrical contacts placed on the SIM card, and the mobile phone interacts with the cellular telephone network, in particular according to the GSM standard, by means of an antenna on the phone mobile, allowing it to communicate over great distances, via the mobile cellular network.

Given the generalization of the mobile phone as an application platform beyond the telephony applications, a new need has emerged for non-voice applications, for example banking applications possibly loaded into the smart card of the mobile phone or in a dedicated smart card, can communicate locally by radio frequency with a contactless reader located near the mobile phone or more generally the mobile communication terminal.

Indeed, some applications hosted in the SIM-type smart card or in microelectronic cards of different formats arranged in the mobile phone, as and without limitation an "SD card", a "mini SD card", a "Multi Media Card ", could take advantage of a direct radiofrequency communication, notably according to the NFC (Near Field Communication) type communication protocol with a contactless card reader placed in the environment of the mobile telephone or the terminal of mobile communication.

Non-contact smart card payment applications, or physical access control applications in which these smart cards are used as a carrier identifier, are examples of applications that could further enrich the range of applications offered by a mobile phone or a mobile communication terminal provided with a single smart card.

In these new contactless applications, which are proximity applications in that the smart card needs to interact by contactless coupling with a card reader that also operates without contact, it is necessary to establish direct communication. , in particular of near-field radiofrequency type, between the smart card reader external to the mobile telephone or the mobile communication terminal, and the smart card, without going through the cellular telephone network.

STATE OF THE ART In mobile phones according to the current state of the art, the SIM or other type smart card is generally inserted in a housing provided with contacts, so that the contacts of the mobile phone operating in a smart card reader , come into contact with the contacts of said smart card. And the housing receiving the smart card is disposed inside the mobile phone, most often facing the battery that acts as the back cover of the phone, the front face of the latter being occupied by the screen and the keyboard the phone.

In this way the battery of the majority of mobile phones in the field covers a large part of the back of the phone, and especially as the growing needs in autonomy tend to require high capacity batteries and therefore large cut.

In addition, the metal structure of the battery, mainly lithium, presents an obstacle for the transmission of radiofrequency signals that would be exchanged between a smart card inserted in the mobile phone and a contactless reader located near the mobile phone. This last point considerably blocks the development of contactless applications using a mobile phone, since users' mobile phones should be massively changed and replaced with phones that are natively compatible with a near-field communication standard, for example the NFC standard. .

The problem therefore lies in finding a simple means of providing a mobile communication terminal with a near-field radio frequency communication capability, for example of the NFC type, with a contactless reader located nearby, this communication not having to be hampered by the physical context of the terminal, in particular by the battery which is likely to shield a radio frequency communication not passing through the GSM antenna of the mobile phone.

Solutions have been proposed to this problem, in which the SIM card is connected to an antenna that can be deployed on demand beyond the perimeter of the mobile terminal, but this solution is not practical because it requires the user to modify the physical configuration of his phone during each communication according to the NFC mode

There are also known mobile phones whose case back, namely the face of the case opposite to that which carries the screen and / or the keyboard, carries a chip and an antenna incorporated in a sticker or "sticker". In this device, the smart card integrated sticker is not easily removable and has no functional link with the phone.

Moreover in case of change of phone, it would take to recover the smart card take off the sticker, which in practice is difficult and leads to the deterioration of the antenna and / or card,

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is therefore to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

A particular object of the invention is to propose a radiofrequency interface device making it possible to establish a direct near-field communication, in particular of the NFC type, between a contactless smart card disposed in a mobile communication terminal such as: a mobile phone, and a contactless reader located outside the mobile phone, while allowing the smart card to be removed from the device to connect to the GSM channel of the telephone, for charging purposes. applications, customization, or updates,

Another aim of the invention is to propose a removable NFC device provided with a contactless chip and a booster amplification antenna for moving the NFC antenna away from the telephone battery to improve the NFC communication between the phone and an external contactless reader.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mobile phone NFC interface device that is particularly simple and inexpensive, and can be easily adapted to many mobile phones.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The principle of the invention consists in designing an insert, for example in the form of an interchangeable accessory such as a mobile phone shell, specially adapted to contain an NFC type communication interface, composed of a first antenna , and a chip card provided with a second antenna and disposed in the shell so as to provide inductive coupling with the first antenna.

The accessory thus composed comprises means for removably attaching to the communication terminal, and removable retention means of a contactless smart card provided with a memory housing any application requiring NFC type communication, for example an application. contactless payment method, or a physical access control application implementing a contactless reader.

More specifically, the invention therefore relates to an accessory for a wireless communication terminal comprising a housing provided with a front face having a screen and / or a keyboard, a rear face, and a communication electronics to be connected. to a wireless telecommunications network, this accessory comprising fixing means on the housing of the wireless communication terminal and being characterized in that it further comprises on the one hand a removable fixing means for a chip card provided an antenna, and secondly an antenna disposed on said accessory so as to create an inductive coupling between the antenna of the chip card and the accessory dudlt antenna.

In this way, a mobile communication terminal thus equipped with this accessory is provided with a near-field communication function independent of the cellular telephone communication function according to a standard of the GSM or equivalent type, which makes it possible to multiply the applications usages. of the terminal, and extend them for example to non-contact payment or access control functions using the NFC communication channel.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the NFC accessory, its antenna is disposed on an adhesive sheet disposed on its inner face, facing the electronics of the mobile communication terminal. But it is also possible in that the antenna of the accessory or shell is integrated within the body of the accessory itself.

Ideally, a sheet of ferrite is disposed between the adhesive sheet carrying the antenna of the accessory, and the electronics of the mobile communication terminal, which makes it possible not to disturb the NFC type near-field communication because of the operation. electronic components of the mobile communication terminal.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the NFC accessory is in the form of a removable shell to be attached to the phone instead of or in addition to the back shell thereof.

Advantageously, the means for removably attaching said non-contact smart card to the NFC shell is in the form of a slot provided on the inner face of the shell facing the electronics of the mobile terminal, this slot being configured to retain removably said smart card.

As a variant, the means for removably attaching said non-contact smart card is in the form of a receptacle forming a receptacle for the chip card, this receptacle being provided with a removable retention means for the smart card, in particular a retaining tongue of elastic material.

The invention also relates to a mobile communication terminal, in particular a mobile phone, comprising means for the removable attachment of an accessory or an NFC shell as described above.

In an advantageous embodiment of the terminal, the latter itself comprises a near field communication antenna, in particular according to the NFC standard, connected to the communication electronics of the terminal, and the terminal further comprises an accessory or shell NFC as described above, and provided with a contactless smart card. The invention then provides that the antenna of the accessory or NFC shell and the near-field communication antenna of the terminal are configured to allow direct near-field communication between the contactless smart card housed in the accessory or NFC shell, and the NFC communication electronics of the terminal. This advantageous configuration then makes it possible to use the mobile communication terminal NFC and the accessory or NFC shell to load data and / or a software application into the memory of a contactless smart card housed in the accessory or shell, by (Intermediate to a near-field communication between the terminal and the accessory or shell.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the detailed description of the appended drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A, 1B are diagrammatic front views of a mobile phone accessory, in the form of a reported NFC hull, according to the invention;

Figure 2A is an exploded perspective view of a mobile phone having an NFC shell according to Figure 1;

Figure 2B is a schematic elevational view in section of an NFC shell according to Figure 1, in phase of attachment to a mobile phone.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a variant of the invention similar to Figure 2B, wherein the NFC shell is reported on a mobile phone which also has an NFC communication functionality.

Referring to Figures 1A, 1B. FIG. 1A schematically shows the internal face of an accessory NFC 1 according to the invention, ie the face intended to come into contact with a mobile communication terminal 10, such as for example a mobile phone.

This accessory NFC 1 is for example in the form of a protective shell of the mobile phone, as there is a large number of variants, but here it is a shell with radiofrequency communication means. In the following we will indifferently use the terminology of accessory or shell, it being understood that the intended accessory will preferably, but not necessarily, the shape of a reported hull for mobile phone.

Indeed, the shell 1 is provided on its inner face with an antenna 2 coiled or screen printed or made by other means, and having one or more turns. In order to optimize the captured electromagnetic flux, the surface of the antenna 2 is preferably close to the surface of the shell.

The NFC shell 1 further comprises a housing 3 forming a receptacle for a smart card 4, and a removable or elastic retention means of this smart card, for example in the form of a tongue 7 of plastic.

FIG. 1B shows the NFC shell 1 according to the invention, with a contactless smart card 4 inserted in its housing 3 and retained by the tongue 7.

The smart card 4 comprises in known manner a microelectronic chip 5 connected to an antenna 6 of smaller size. Given the arrangement of the smart card slot 3 inside the surface of the antenna 2 of the NFC shell, the antenna 2 of the shell and the 6 of the smart card are partially superimposed, so that the electromagnetic flux passing through the antenna 6 of the contactless smart card is amplified by the antenna 2 of the NFC 1 shell.

Of course, the antennas 2, 6 are easily dimensioned by those skilled in the art so that the communication range of the shell 1 thus formed and equipped is compatible with a near field communication standard, for example the NFC standard which operates in at frequencies of 13.56 Mhz, so that the contactless smart card 4 can communicate with an external radio frequency reader (not shown) using the same standard, by means of the NFC shell.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show a mobile phone 10 whose rear face, that is to say the face opposite to that which comprises the screen 9 and / or the keypad of the telephone, is equipped with the NFC shell 1 according to the invention.

It is not shown the means of fixing the shell on the phone, which can be of any suitable nature: dipsage, screwing, etc.

FIG. 3 shows a particular case in which the mobile communication terminal 10 itself has a near-field communication function, for example of the NFC type, independently of that provided by the accessory or shell NFC 1 according to the invention.

For this purpose, the mobile terminal 10 has a specific antenna 13 integrated in its structure, connected to a dedicated communication stage 20 of the terminal. The NFC antenna 13 is protected, if necessary, from the electronics of the terminal 10 by a sheet of ferrite 22 to protect the operation of the NFC antenna 13 parasitic electromagnetic flows.

The NFC antenna 13 of the terminal 1 is furthermore arranged in the terminal and configured so as to establish an electromagnetic coupling with the NFC antenna 2 of an NFC 1 accessory such as that described above, when this one is fixed on the terminal of mobile communication.

This arrangement then allows an innovative new use of the NFC communication terminal 10 and its accessory NFC 1, taking advantage of a direct NFC communication between the antenna NFC 2 of the accessory (coupled with the antenna 6 of the card contactless chip 4), and the NFC antenna 13 of the mobile terminal

10, knowing that the communication electronics 20 of the mobile communication terminal 10 is also connected to the outside world by the mobile telephone network, via its GSM communication stage or the like.

In this innovative use, it is then possible to exchange data, for example to load data or applications in the mobile communication terminal 10 from the cellular network, and then to load them into the contactless smart card 4 of the accessory NFC 1 through the NFC link between the terminal 10 and the accessory 1. This makes it possible to customize or update a contactless smart card 4 integrated into the NFC 1 accessory, without having to open the communication terminal 10 and to connect the smart card 4 to the terminal 10 by an electrical contact connection. .

We can then describe an example of use of the entire mobile terminal

NFC 10, for example an NFC mobile phone, and its accessory or NFC shell 1, for example for a banking application, according to the steps as follows:

a blank secure element is inserted in the NFC shell 1, in the form of a contactless smart card 4 simply containing an NFC communication functionality;

then we recover via the mobile phone 10 and the network

GSM, a software application, for example a payment application, and this application is loaded into the contactless smart card 4 of the NFC shell, thanks to the contactless NFC link between the mobile phone and its NFC shell. once the payment application is loaded in the smart card 4 of the NFC shell, the application is personalized with the cardholder's bank details, using the same NFC communication procedure between the mobile phone NFC 10 and its NFC shell 1 .

When the contactless smart card 4 of the NFC 1 shell is thus personalized, the user can use it to perform contactless payment transactions using an external merchant NFC reader (not shown), which will communicate directly with the merchant. NFC channel with the contactless smart card inserted into the NFC shell.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

The invention as described achieves the goals and addresses the problem of making mobile terminals such as including mobile phones, able to communicate in NFC mode with an external drive, and at the cost of a very good communication interface. simple that can easily be adapted to different mobile phones on the market,

In addition, since the contactless smart card of the NFC shell is removable, the user can easily carry it from one hull to another, especially in case of change of mobile phone.

Claims

An accessory (1) for a wireless communication terminal (10) having a housing having a front panel having a screen (9) and / or a keyboard, a rear panel, and a communication electronics (20) for to be connected to a wireless telecommunications network, this accessory (1) comprising fixing means on the housing of the wireless communication terminal and being characterized in that it further comprises firstly a removable fixing means (3) for a non-contact operation smart card (4) provided with an antenna (6), and an antenna (2) disposed directly on said accessory (1) so as to create an inductive coupling between the antenna (6) of said chip card and the antenna (2) of the accessory dice (1),

2. Accessory (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that its antenna (2) is disposed on a self-adhesive sheet disposed on its inner face, facing the electronics (20) of the mobile communication terminal (10).

3. Accessory (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that its antenna (2) is integrated inside the body of the accessory (1).

4. Accessory (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a ferrite sheet (12) is arranged between the antenna (2) of the accessory (1), and the electronics (20). ) of the mobile communication terminal (10),

5. Accessory (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is in the form of a removable shell (1), and in that said removable fixing means (3) of said card non-contact chip: is in the form of a slot (3) arranged on the internal face of the shell facing the electronics of the mobile terminal, this slot (3) being configured to removably retain said smart card (4).

6. Hull (1) according to claim 5, characterized in that said removable fixing means (3) of said contactless smart card is in the form of a housing (3) forming a receptacle for the smart card, this housing being provided with means (7) removably retaining the chip card (4).

Shell (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that said means (7) for retaining the chip card is configured in the form of a retaining tab (7) of elastic material,

8. Terminal (10) mobile communication, including mobile phone, characterized in that it comprises means for the removable attachment of an accessory or a shell according to any one of the preceding claims.

9. Terminal (10) for mobile communication according to claim 8, characterized in that it itself comprises a near field communication antenna (13), in particular according to the NFC standard, connected to the communication electronics (20). ) of the terminal, and in that it further comprises an accessory (1) or NFC shell according to any one of claims 1 to 7, this accessory (1) or NFC shell being provided with a contactless smart card , and the antenna (2) of the NFC accessory or shell and the near-field communication antenna (13) of the terminal (10) being configured to allow direct near-field communication between the contactless smart card ( 4) housed in the accessory or NFC shell, and the communication electronics (20) of the terminal. io. Use of the terminal (10) according to claim 8 or claim 9, and the accessory (1) or shell according to one of claims 1 to 7, for loading data and / or a software application in the memory of a contactless smart card (4) housed in the accessory or shell, via a near-field communication, in particular according to the NFC standard, between the terminal (10) and the accessory (1) or shell .