WO2016095801A1

WO2016095801A1 - Contactless card and communication and power supply method thereof

Info

Publication number: WO2016095801A1
Application number: PCT/CN2015/097385
Authority: WO
Inventors: 丁励
Original assignee: 珠海艾派克微电子有限公司
Priority date: 2014-12-15
Filing date: 2015-12-15
Publication date: 2016-06-23
Also published as: CN105550738A; WO2016095803A1; WO2016095802A1; CN105610472A; CN105404913A; CN205354075U

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention are a contactless card and communication and power supply method thereof, overcoming the inconvenience caused by the slow transmission speed, high cost, and large size of current high-capacity contactless cards. The card comprises: a coupling antenna, used for receiving an external modulation signal and/or carrier signal over a first frequency, which is the centre oscillation frequency; a conversion circuit, used for outputting a direct current voltage on the basis of the modulation signal and/or carrier signal; and a wireless communication module, used for accessing the direct current voltage, and configured to communicate wirelessly on a carrier wave higher than the first frequency; wherein the first frequency is in a preset frequency range. The present invention overcomes the deficiency of the relatively slow transmission speed of contactless cards, and effectively uses the capacity of a contactless card such that the contactless card can simultaneously store abundant information and rapidly transmit information.

Description

Contactless card and communication and power supply method thereof

This application claims to have the Chinese patent application CN201410782498.1, which was submitted on December 15, 2014, entitled "Contactless Passive Card", and the name "Contactless Passive Card" submitted on January 26, 2015. The priority of the Chinese patent application CN201510039763.1, the entire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a contactless card and a communication and power supply method thereof.

Background technique

With the proliferation of mobile terminals such as smart phones, more and more information can be obtained through mobile terminals and transmitted through the Internet or the mobile Internet. However, there are not many sources of information that can directly obtain information through mobile terminals. For example, a traditional USB flash drive uses a standard USB interface, while a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone often uses a mini USB or a micro USB interface. Since the interface and the transmission protocol do not correspond, the mobile terminal such as a mobile phone cannot conveniently read the U directly. Information on the disk. Mobile hard drives also have problems in that they cannot easily read information. By adding a WiFi or Bluetooth module to an existing hard disk, a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone can access a data source of the hard disk through its own Bluetooth module or WiFi module, and can also provide a large-capacity information source to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, but this needs to be given The hard disk is equipped with a battery to provide sufficient electric power, and the hard disk volume of the battery is increased, which is not convenient to carry.

With the increasing popularity of mobile terminals (such as mobile phones) supporting NFC (Near Field Communication, also known as near field communication), it is a very convenient way to obtain information through the NFC module. An electronic business card (NFC business card) using NFC technology. In addition to these traditional NFC business cards, these NFC business cards can print master information (such as names, positions, telephones, etc.) on both sides of the business card, and an NFC module is embedded inside the business card. When the business card information is stored in the NFC module, the NFC business card only needs to be close to the mobile terminal supporting the NFC, and the mobile terminal can quickly and accurately read the owner information in the NFC business card.

NFC is a short-range high-frequency radio technology that operates at 13.56 megahertz (MHz) with a communication distance of typically 10 cm and a connection time of less than 1 second. Currently, its transmission speed is 106 kilobits (kbit) / sec, 212 kbit / sec or 424 kbit / sec. NFC has passed the ISO/IEC18092 international standard, the EMCA-340 standard and the ETSI TS 102 190 standard.

NFC uses both active and passive read modes. Since the NFC is a point-to-point communication and the communication distance is short, the user can conveniently control the range of reading the NFC business card, and the information in the NFC business card is prevented from being acquired by others without consent, and has high security.

However, the existing NFC control chip has a capacity of only a few kilobytes (Kilobyte, KB) to several tens of kilobytes, and is only suitable for storing plain text information. With the development of multimedia technology, people hope that NFC business cards can carry multimedia information such as pictures, sounds and even videos. Such NFC business cards can spread more information to other people and improve the attention of business card recipients. However, the storage of multimedia information requires a larger storage capacity in units of megabytes (MB), although simply expanding the storage capacity of the NFC business card can solve the capacity problem, even with the current maximum transmission speed of 424 kbit. / sec to transmit multimedia information in MB, it also requires hundreds or even hundreds of seconds of transmission time, obviously this is difficult to exchange the speed of both sides of the exchange NFC business card. The actual situation is that when a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone is used, the transmission speed is much lower than the maximum transmission speed in the NFC communication protocol because of power consumption and interference problems.

Because of the convenience of operation and many other advantages, access to information through non-contact means has become more and more popular, such as bus cards, medical cards, access cards, pass cards, passes, etc. have been rapidly applied and popularized. However, like the above-mentioned NFC-based electronic business cards, these contactless cards have the characteristics of small amount of information storage. When large-capacity information needs to be stored in the card, the existing communication speed is very slow, and the user cannot be satisfied. Increased demand for high speed transmission. If you consider adding a WiFi or Bluetooth module to these contactless cards, although the problem of slow transmission speed can be solved, it is necessary to add a power supply battery to the non-contact card to support the operation of the communication module. Obviously, this will lead to a significant increase in the cost and volume of the contactless card, making it difficult to miniaturize and produce the contactless card.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a contactless card that is portable and has a fast data transmission speed.

Summary of the invention

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art high-capacity non-contact card transmission speed, high cost, and large volume resulting in poor convenience.

The present invention firstly provides a contactless card comprising: a coupling antenna for receiving an external modulated signal having a center oscillation frequency of a first frequency and/or a carrier signal; and a conversion circuit for using the modulation signal and/or Or a carrier signal outputting a DC voltage; a wireless communication module, configured to access the DC voltage, configured to perform wireless communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency; wherein the first frequency is located in a preset frequency range in.

Preferably, the first frequency is 13.56 MHz.

Preferably, the wireless communication module is configured to reduce transmit power, reduce communication rate, or reduce reception sensitivity To reduce power consumption.

Preferably, the conversion circuit outputs the DC voltage by rectifying and stabilizing the modulation signal and/or the carrier signal.

Preferably, the instantaneous power of the wireless communication module is not greater than the output power of the conversion circuit.

Preferably, the wireless communication module is a Bluetooth communication module, a WiFi communication module or a Zigbee communication module.

Preferably, the Bluetooth communication module includes: a Bluetooth antenna for receiving or transmitting a Bluetooth signal; a Bluetooth main control module, configured to access the DC voltage, demodulate a Bluetooth signal received by the Bluetooth antenna, and generate a modulation The Bluetooth signal is sent to the Bluetooth antenna for transmission.

Preferably, the Bluetooth master module is configured to transmit power no more than -1 dBm.

Preferably, the transmit power of the Bluetooth master module is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.

Preferably, the RSSI value of any receiving point at a preset distance in the vicinity of the wireless communication module is not more than -100 dBm.

Preferably, the contactless card comprises: a power storage module for charging by using a DC voltage output by the conversion circuit, or independently, or with the conversion circuit, the wireless communication for the wireless communication module .

The present invention also provides a communication method for a contactless card, comprising: receiving an external modulated signal having a central oscillation frequency of a first frequency and/or a carrier signal; and outputting a DC voltage according to the modulated signal and/or the carrier signal; Wireless communication is performed with the DC voltage at a carrier higher than the first frequency; wherein the first frequency is located in a preset frequency range.

Preferably, the first frequency is 13.56 MHz.

Preferably, performing wireless communication with the DC voltage at a carrier higher than the first frequency comprises: performing Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, or Zigbee communication with a carrier wave higher than the first frequency by using the DC voltage.

Preferably, when the Bluetooth communication is performed on a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is not greater than -1 dBm.

Preferably, when the Bluetooth communication is performed with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.

Preferably, the RSSI value of any receiving point at a preset distance in the vicinity of the wireless communication module transmitting the wireless signal at a carrier higher than the first frequency is not greater than -100 dBm.

The invention also provides a power supply method for a contactless card, the contactless card comprising a coupling antenna, a conversion circuit and a wireless communication module, wherein the method comprises: receiving an external central oscillation frequency by using the coupled antenna as a modulated signal and/or a carrier signal of a first frequency; said modulation signal and/or carrier signal by said conversion circuit Obtaining a DC voltage; providing the DC voltage as an operating power of the wireless communication module to the wireless communication module for wireless communication; wherein the first frequency is in a preset frequency range.

Preferably, the first frequency is 13.56 MHz.

Preferably, the wireless communication module is configured to perform Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication or Zigbee communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency.

Preferably, when the wireless communication module performs the Bluetooth communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is no more than -1 dBm.

Preferably, when the wireless communication module performs the Bluetooth communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.

Preferably, the method comprises: charging a built-in power storage module of the contactless card with a DC voltage obtained by the conversion circuit, using the power storage module independently or together with the conversion circuit The wireless communication module performs the wireless communication power supply.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the non-contact card transmission speed in the prior art, and can effectively utilize the capacity of the contactless card, so that the contactless card can store rich information at the same time. It can transmit information at high speed. The non-contact card of the invention has low energy consumption, does not need to set the battery independently, improves the portability and security of the contactless card, and does not need to charge the non-contact card during the use of the user, thereby avoiding the contactless card being Carry the risk of running out or running out of power.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by the structure and/or <RTIgt;

DRAWINGS

The drawings serve to provide a further understanding of the technical aspects of the invention or the prior art and form part of the specification. The drawings that express the embodiments of the present invention are used to explain the technical solutions of the present invention together with the embodiments of the present invention, but do not constitute a limitation of the technical solutions of the present invention.

1 to 7 are respectively schematic views showing the construction of various non-contact cards according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic flowchart of a communication connection between a contactless card and a mobile terminal in an application according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic flowchart diagram of a communication method of a contactless card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart of a method for powering a contactless card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, by which the present invention can be applied to the technical problems and the implementation of the corresponding technical effects can be fully understood and implemented. The features of the embodiments of the present invention and the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict, and the technical solutions formed are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

Additionally, the steps involved in the method of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawings may be executed in a computer system such as a set of computer executable instructions. Moreover, although the method of the embodiment of the present invention embodies a certain logical sequence of the technical solution of the present invention at the time of execution in the flowchart shown, in general, the logical sequence is limited to being illustrated by the flowchart. An embodiment. In other embodiments of the present invention, the logical order of the technical solutions of the present invention may also be implemented in a manner different from that shown in the accompanying drawings.

The contactless card referred to in the present invention refers to a power supply that does not depend on a built-in battery or a power storage module, and does not need to be connected to a power supply through a wire, and only supplies power from a wireless RF signal from the power supply. An electronic card that can work normally; of course, in order to work stably with a contactless card, on the basis of extracting electric energy from a wireless radio frequency signal, a battery or a storage capacitor is added to the non-contact card to assist the work. It should still fall within the scope of the contactless card of the present invention.

Embodiment 1

As shown in FIG. 1 , the contactless card of the embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a coupling antenna 11 , a conversion circuit 12 , a Bluetooth main control module 13 and a Bluetooth antenna 14 . The coupling antenna 11 is for receiving an external modulated signal having a central oscillation frequency of a first frequency and/or an unmodulated carrier signal. The conversion circuit 12 is connected to the coupling antenna 11 for rectifying and regulating the received modulated signal and/or carrier signal to output a DC voltage. The Bluetooth master module 13 is connected to the Bluetooth antenna 14 and the conversion circuit 12, and uses the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 12 as an operating power source.

Those skilled in the art can understand that the coupling antenna 11 in the present invention receives a modulation signal and/or a carrier signal whose center oscillation frequency is the first frequency, and includes a modulation signal and/or a carrier whose center oscillation frequency is close to the first frequency. The signal, or the center oscillation frequency is a modulated signal and/or carrier signal near the first frequency. In fact, the technical solution of the present invention is applicable to any frequency in a certain preset frequency range. For example, in the solution of the present invention, the first frequency may be 13.56 MHz, or may be a frequency range centered on 13.56 MHz. In addition, the modulated signal refers to a signal that has been modulated and added with information to be transmitted. The carrier signal means that it has not been modulated yet. A signal containing information that needs to be transmitted.

The contactless card of the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented by means of a power supply acquisition circuit in the NFC module when applied. The NFC communication system includes an NFC reader and a corresponding NFC tag. In the present invention, the circuit structure in the NFC tag is described as an NFC module, and each of the NFC reader and the NFC tag includes a coupling antenna for communicating and transmitting power. The coupling antenna 11 of the present embodiment has a coil for receiving an external modulated signal and/or an unmodulated carrier signal. The external modulated signal and/or unmodulated carrier signal referred to herein refers to a modulated signal and/or an unmodulated carrier signal transmitted by the NFC reader/writer to the NFC tag, and the NFC reader/writer can be disposed on a fixed terminal. It can also be set on a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone.

The contactless card realized by the power supply acquisition circuit of the NFC module acquires electric energy from the NFC reader through the coupling antenna 11. The carrier frequency of the NFC communication is 13.56 MHz, and the center oscillation frequency of the coupled antenna 11 is close to 13.56 MHz. Due to the deviation of the system, the coupled antenna may also receive and process within a certain frequency range including 13.56 MHz (for example, the frequency is A modulated signal or carrier signal of 13.56 MHz plus or minus 10%). The external modulation signal is generally sent by the above NFC reader/writer. In the present invention, the NFC reader/writer is generally disposed on a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone. In order to save power, the NFC reader periodically transmits a carrier signal or a modulated signal (ie, a card seek command or a search command) periodically (for example, every 0.5 seconds) to search for nearby NFC tags without continuously transmitting. Carrier signal; when the NFC reader/writer needs to transmit signals to the outside, the carrier signal is modulated, and the information to be transmitted is added to form a modulated signal. Of course, the non-continuous transmission of the carrier signal is set from the viewpoint of energy saving, and thus the present invention does not exclude the case where the NFC reader continuously transmits the carrier signal.

The conversion circuit 12 converts the received AC signal into a DC voltage to provide operating power to other modules of the contactless card. In general, the conversion circuit 12 includes a rectifying portion and a voltage stabilizing portion, and the rectifying portion converts the alternating current voltage into a positive voltage having a large ripple voltage, which is generally implemented by a rectifier bridge. The voltage regulator partially smoothes the ripple voltage, making the output voltage stable and gentle, ensuring the stability of the Bluetooth master module and the NFC module.

In order to achieve a regulated output of the DC voltage, a conventional method is to use an LDO (Low Dropout Regulator) circuit as a voltage stabilizing unit. The advantages of LDO are low noise and low quiescent current. Of course, a DC/DC conversion circuit can also be used as the voltage stabilization unit. The DC/DC conversion circuit is a type of switching power supply circuit. The advantage is that it is more efficient than the LDO, but the disadvantage is that the ripple noise is relatively large. The DC/DC converter circuit can reduce the power loss during voltage regulation.

The Bluetooth main control module in the embodiment of the present invention has a similar structural composition to the existing Bluetooth main control module, and mainly includes a link layer, a radio frequency signal processing unit (RF), and a storage unit (EEPROM, flash memory). , phase change memory, ferroelectric memory, ROM, ERPOM, MTP, etc.) and control unit (CPU and RAM). Can It is understood that the storage unit in the Bluetooth master module can be integrated into the Bluetooth master module, such as an embedded flash memory; or it can be an external memory, such as an external SD card. The Bluetooth master module is mainly used to process and respond to signals received from the Bluetooth antenna.

The main difference between the Bluetooth main control module in the embodiment of the present invention and the existing Bluetooth main control module is that the Bluetooth main control module of the present invention uses the DC voltage outputted by the conversion circuit as the working power source. On the other hand, considering that the DC voltage converted by the conversion circuit is derived from the NFC reader, the power supplied by the converter is small, so the Bluetooth main control module of the present invention and the conventional Bluetooth communication module (including the completeness of the Bluetooth antenna) The Bluetooth device is different, and its overall power consumption should be smaller than that of the standard Bluetooth communication module.

There are several main factors affecting the overall power consumption of the Bluetooth master module, including transmit power, communication rate, and receiving sensitivity. The present invention can reduce the Bluetooth master by reducing the transmit power, reducing the communication rate, or reducing the receiving sensitivity. The power consumption of the module.

Preferably, the Bluetooth master module of the present invention is configured such that the decibel value of the transmit power is no more than -1 dBm.

Take TI (Texas Instruments) Bluetooth master module CC2540 as an example, it supports 4 kinds of transmit power selection: 4dBm, 0dBm, -6dBm and -23dBm, defined by radio power: L _dBm =10*log ₁₀ (Pwr/1mW ), the above four decibel values (L _dBm ) are converted into watts (Pwr): 2.51mW, 1mW, 0.251mW and 0.005mW. When the receiving sensitivity of the receiving end is -90dBm, the effective communication distance is: 30m, 10m. , 7 meters and 3 meters. The communication distance suitable for the application of the present invention is generally less than 1 meter. For example, when applied, the distance between the mobile terminal and the contactless card is only 10 cm or less.

When the signal propagates in free space, there is the following expression for the calculation of the wave propagation loss:

[Lfs](dB)=32.44+20lgd(km)+20lgf(MHz) Equation (1)

Where Lfs is the transmission loss in dB; d is the transmission distance in km; f is the operating frequency, and the unit is calculated in MHz.

It can be seen from the above equation that the wave propagation loss (also known as attenuation) in free space is only related to the operating frequency f and the propagation distance d. The so-called free space propagation refers to the propagation of electric waves around an infinite vacuum around the antenna, which is an ideal propagation condition. When a wave propagates in free space, its energy is neither absorbed by the obstacle nor reflected or scattered.

The radio wave communication distance is related to the transmission power, the receiving sensitivity, and the operating frequency. Assuming that the communication distance between the contactless card and the mobile terminal of the present invention is 10 cm and the signal propagates in free space, the transmission loss of the Bluetooth communication signal (carrier frequency of 2.4 GHz) can be calculated according to the above formula:

Lfs=32.44+20×lg(0.1/1000)+20×lg(2400)=32.4-80+67.6=20dB Equation (2)

If the receiving sensitivity of the Bluetooth communication module set in the mobile terminal is -40 dBm, the contactless card is issued. The shooting power should be -40+20=-20dBm. This is the calculation relationship between the transmission distance, the transmission power, and the reception sensitivity under ideal conditions. In practical applications, the transmission loss will be greater than 20 dB, because wireless communication is subject to various external factors, such as the loss caused by the atmosphere, obstacles, multipath, and the like. Therefore, even if the transmission power is 0 dBm, if the transmission environment is bad, the effective communication distance will be less than 10 meters; and if the receiving sensitivity of the receiving end is relatively poor, the effective communication distance will be further shortened.

It can be seen that in the case where the transmission loss is a certain value, the higher the transmission power, the farther the effective communication distance is. Therefore, considering the short-distance application environment of the contactless card of the present invention, reducing the transmission power is a way to reduce the power consumption of the Bluetooth main control module without causing communication interruption. On the other hand, since the receiving sensitivity of the Bluetooth communication module of the mobile terminal may be different, and the receiving sensitivity is high, the transmitting power of the Bluetooth main control module of the contactless card may be configured to be smaller. However, when the receiving sensitivity is relatively poor, it is necessary to increase the transmitting power of the Bluetooth master module to ensure that the Bluetooth communication is not interrupted. Therefore, the transmit power of the Bluetooth master module of the contactless card cannot be configured too small.

Therefore, in order to save power, the Bluetooth main control module in the embodiment of the present invention has a transmit power configured to have a decibel value of less than 0 dBm and not more than -1 dBm, and may be configured to be configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm (which may be equal to -1 dBm or -99dBm), for example -3dBm, -15dBm, -20dBm, -30dBm, -40dBm, -50dBm, -60dBm, -80dBm, even configured to be as low as -110dBm, so as to minimize the effective communication Energy consumption.

In order to improve the receiving sensitivity of the Bluetooth communication module, it is generally necessary to introduce a more complicated algorithm, or increase the number of stages or amplification of the signal amplifying circuit, etc., which will cause an increase in the circuit scale, thereby increasing the power consumption of the Bluetooth communication module. Therefore, by reducing the complexity of the algorithm, reducing the number of stages of the signal amplifying circuit or the amplification factor, the receiving sensitivity can be reduced, and the power consumption of the Bluetooth main control module can be reduced.

In addition, the storage unit of the Bluetooth main control module can store various information contained in the business card in a general sense, such as name, address, telephone, position, and website address. In addition, since the contactless card of the present invention is a large-capacity card, in addition to the simple text information stored in the above-mentioned general business card, various multimedia information such as icons, pictures, voices, music, animations, and videos can be stored. , as well as documents, software, etc., especially in the business application level of corporate profiles, product catalogs, promotional videos and other comprehensive media information content. Compared with the existing contactless card, the storage unit of the present invention needs to store some or all of the multimedia information listed above, and therefore, it is necessary to use a memory larger than tens of bytes in the prior art, and preferably, the present invention The storage unit is a memory greater than or equal to 200 kilobytes, such as 256 kilobytes, 512 kilobytes, 1 Mbytes, 2 Mbytes, 4 Mbytes, etc., or a larger capacity storage unit.

The application of the contactless card according to the present invention requires that various information can be stored in the storage unit in combination, for example, when the contactless card of the present invention is used as an electronic product, person, business, event or attraction. Propaganda When you are in the book, you can store information about these items in the storage unit. When used as an electronic menu, information on various dishes such as materials, tastes, prices, pictures, and eating methods can be stored in the storage unit. When used as a greeting card, a gift card, or an invitation, the storage unit can store a richer content such as a greeting, a specific happy event, and the like than the existing paper material. Those skilled in the art can understand that the storage unit generally stores basic attribute information about the Bluetooth master module, such as Bluetooth device name and address information.

Since the existing Bluetooth communication module generally adopts an active power supply mode, regardless of whether the power consumption is too large, the non-contact card of the present invention solves the power supply problem, thereby avoiding setting a battery or an external connection on the contactless card. Power supply. Through the coupling antenna 11 and the conversion circuit 12, the power supply problem of the Bluetooth main control module is effectively solved. In addition, considering the problem that the coupled antenna 11 can obtain less power and the application of the contactless card of the present invention, the Bluetooth master module can be configured to have a transmit power decibel value of no more than -1 dBm. This is because, in the conventional Bluetooth device, the usual receiving sensitivity is above -80 dBm, and the non-contact card of the present invention needs to be close to a mobile phone or the like in use, and the communication distance is about 10 cm or less (that is, 0 to 10 cm). Therefore, in order to reduce the power consumption of the Bluetooth module of the present invention while ensuring that the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) in the range of about 30 cm from the contactless card is greater than -80 dBm, the transmission power of the Bluetooth main control module is not More than -1dBm can satisfy both conditions at the same time.

Embodiment 2

As shown in FIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a contactless card including a coupling antenna 21 having a center oscillation frequency of 13.56 MHz, a conversion circuit 22, and a wireless communication module having a carrier frequency higher than 13.56 MHz. twenty three. The coupling antenna 21 is for receiving an external modulated signal and/or an unmodulated carrier signal. The conversion circuit 22 is connected to the coupling antenna 21 for rectifying and regulating the received modulated signal and/or the carrier signal to output a DC voltage. The wireless communication module 23 is connected to the conversion circuit 22, and uses the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 22 as an operating power source, and is configured to perform wireless communication using a carrier higher than 13.56 MHz.

The coupling antenna 21 has a coil for receiving an external modulated signal and/or an unmodulated carrier signal. In this embodiment, the contactless card obtains electrical energy from the NFC reader through the coupling antenna 21, and the carrier frequency of the NFC communication is 13.56 MHz, and the center oscillation frequency of the coupled antenna 21 should be close to this, due to system deviation, coupling The antenna may also receive and process modulated or carrier signals with frequencies between plus or minus 10% of 13.56 MHz. A communication system using a frequency of 13.56 MHz as a carrier, and an RFID (radio frequency identification) communication system, the external modulated signal and carrier signal can also come from the RFID reader. In addition, the coupled antenna can also be a 125 kHz coupled antenna with a center oscillation frequency of 125 kHz, which is another carrier frequency used by RFID communication systems.

The conversion circuit 22 is connected to the coupling antenna 21 for rectifying and regulating the received modulated signal and the carrier signal to output a DC voltage. The conversion circuit 22 converts the received AC signal into a DC voltage to provide operating power to other modules of the contactless card. In general, the conversion circuit 22 includes a rectifying portion and a voltage stabilizing portion, and the rectifying portion converts the alternating current voltage into a positive voltage having a large ripple voltage, and the voltage stabilizing portion smoothes the ripple voltage, so that the output voltage is stable and gentle.

The wireless communication module 23 uses the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 22 as an operating power source. The wireless communication module 23 is configured to communicate wirelessly using a carrier above 13.56 MHz. When the coupled antenna is a 125 kHz coupled antenna, the wireless communication module 23 is configured to communicate wirelessly using a carrier above 125 kHz.

There are several main factors affecting the overall power consumption of the wireless communication module, including transmission power, communication rate, and reception sensitivity, which can reduce the power consumption of the wireless communication module by reducing the transmission power, reducing the communication rate, or reducing the receiving sensitivity.

Similar to the foregoing embodiment, since the operating power supply supplied by the conversion circuit 22 is limited, in order to prevent the power consumption of the wireless communication module 23 from being too large to work, the application of the contactless card according to the embodiment of the present invention, that is, the communication distance is generally considered. Within the range of 0.1 m, the transmission power of the wireless communication module can be reduced, thereby reducing the power consumption of the wireless communication module 23. In the existing wireless communication equipment, the receiving sensitivity is generally about -80 dBm, and the individual ultra-high sensitivity can reach -97 dBm. Therefore, under the assumption that the receiving sensitivity of the receiver of the mobile terminal is generally -80 dBm high sensitivity, the transmission power of the wireless communication module can be reduced as much as possible. It is possible to first determine an effective communication distance, and then determine the transmission power to ensure that the RSSI value at any point within the effective communication distance is greater than the receiver sensitivity of the receiver, and the RSSI value at any point greater than the effective communication distance is less than the receiver sensitivity of the receiver. In this case, the transmit power is small enough to ensure that the communication is not interrupted.

Preferably, the wireless communication module 23 is configured to use any carrier at a preset distance from the wireless communication module 23 when a carrier higher than 13.56 MHz is used to transmit a signal (with a contactless card as the center, the radius is preset) The RSSI value of any point on the spherical surface of the distance is not more than -100 dBm. Such a configuration can ensure that the reader/writer such as the mobile terminal can effectively receive the signal of the wireless communication module 23 within a preset distance, and can also prevent the power consumption of the wireless communication module 23 from being excessively large and unable to work due to insufficient power supply. In the present invention, the preset distance may be from 0.1 centimeters (cm) to 10 cm, or a distance closer than 0.1 cm, or a distance further than 10 cm, which may be set according to practical applications.

The wireless communication module 23 of the present invention can be a module for wireless communication using a carrier higher than 13.56 MHz, such as a Bluetooth communication module, a Zigbee communication module or a WiFi communication module, and the communication speed is higher than the existing NFC communication speed, so it can be overcome The disadvantage of the slow communication speed of the contactless card in the prior art. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that ZigBee is a low-power wireless connection technology based on the IEEE802.15.4 standard and can work at 2.4 GHz (global popularity). The 868MHz (popular in Europe) and 915MHz (popular in the US) three frequency bands; the WiFi communication module is a wireless wireless network (Wireless Fidelity) communication device based on the IEEE 802.11 series of standards.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication module 23 includes a composition included in a conventional wireless communication module such as a communication antenna, a storage unit, and a main control unit. The main control unit receives a modulated signal with a carrier frequency higher than 13.56 MHz and a transmission modulation through the communication antenna. The signal, the main control unit demodulates and processes the modulated signal, and modulates the data that needs to be sent out as needed.

The storage unit of the wireless communication module 23 can store information contained in a business card in a general sense, such as a name, an address, a phone, a job, a website address, and the like. Further, since the contactless card of the present invention is a large-capacity card, In addition to these simple text messages, you can also store various multimedia information such as icons, pictures, voices, music, animations and videos, as well as documents, software, etc., especially in the business application level of corporate profiles, product catalogs, promotional videos, etc. The content of multiple media information. The application of the contactless card according to the present invention requires that various information can be stored in the storage unit in combination, for example, when the contactless card of the present invention is used as an electronic product, person, business, event or attraction. When you are in the brochure, you can store information about these items in the storage unit. When used as an electronic menu, information on various dishes such as materials, tastes, prices, pictures, and eating methods can be stored in the storage unit. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the storage unit typically stores basic attribute information about the wireless communication module 23, such as device name and address information. Compared with the existing contactless card, the storage unit of the wireless communication module needs to store some or all of the multimedia information listed above, and therefore, it is necessary to use a memory larger than tens of bytes in the prior art, and preferably, the present invention The storage unit of the wireless communication module is a memory larger than or equal to 200 kilobytes, for example, 256 kilobytes, 512 kilobytes, 1 Mbytes, 2 Mbytes, and 4 Mbytes, or a larger capacity. Storage unit.

Embodiment 3

As shown in FIG. 3, the contactless card of the embodiment of the present invention mainly includes an NFC module and a Bluetooth communication module. The NFC module includes a 13.56 MHz coupled antenna 31 and a conversion circuit 32. The Bluetooth communication module includes a Bluetooth main control module 34 and Bluetooth. Antenna 33. The 13.56 MHz coupled antenna 31 is for receiving an external modulated signal and/or an unmodulated carrier signal. A coupled antenna generally referred to by those skilled in the art has a coil.

The conversion circuit 32 is coupled to the 13.56 MHz coupled antenna 31 for rectifying and stabilizing the received modulated signal and/or carrier signal to output a DC voltage. The conversion circuit converts the received AC voltage to a DC voltage to provide power to other modules of the contactless card. The Bluetooth master module 34 is connected to the conversion circuit 32, and uses the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 32 as the operating power source.

The Bluetooth master module 34 is connected to the Bluetooth antenna 33 and is used to demodulate the modulated signal received from the Bluetooth antenna 33. No., and modulate the data to be transmitted through the Bluetooth antenna 33. On the other hand, based on the demodulated signal, data is read from its own internal memory or written into its own internal memory. That is, the internal memory in the Bluetooth master module 34 is used to store data for Bluetooth communication.

When the internal memory capacity of the Bluetooth main control module 34 itself is small and it is difficult to meet the requirements of Bluetooth communication, it is necessary to expand the storage capacity. In this regard, embodiments of the present invention may also add external memory 35 as shown in FIG. 3 to store data for Bluetooth communication in conjunction with internal memory in Bluetooth master module 34. The external memory 35 is connected to the conversion circuit 32 and the Bluetooth main control module 34, and receives the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 32 as an operating power source. In this case, the internal memory of the Bluetooth master module 34, together with the external memory 35, may be collectively referred to as a memory for storing data for Bluetooth communication by the Bluetooth master module 34.

A communication system using a frequency of 13.56 MHz as a carrier mainly includes an NFC communication system and an RFID (radio frequency identification) communication system, and the external modulation signal and carrier signal may be from an NFC reader or from an RFID. Reader. In addition, the coupled antenna can also be a 125 kHz coupled antenna with a center oscillation frequency of 125 kHz, which is another carrier frequency used by RFID communication systems.

For an NFC modulated signal, it is generally a frame signal having a prescribed format. NFC communication uses low amplitude Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) modulation, amplitude shift keying modulation and demodulation, which are well known to those skilled in the art. Since the carrier frequency of the NFC communication is 13.56 MHz, the center oscillation frequency of the coupled antenna should be close to this. The external modulated signal is generally sent by an NFC reader. In the present invention, the NFC reader is generally disposed on a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone. When the NFC reader does not transmit the modulated signal to the NFC tag in its vicinity, in order to save power, the NFC reader will also periodically transmit the carrier signal or modulation signal periodically (for example, every 0.5 seconds). (ie, a card-seeking instruction or a search command) searches for nearby NFC tags.

The Bluetooth main control module of the contactless card in the embodiment of the present invention may further include a clock circuit connected to the Bluetooth antenna for detecting and extracting a clock signal from a modulated signal received by the Bluetooth antenna, and the clock signal may be used for Bluetooth communication.

The contactless card of the embodiment of the present invention may further include a clock processing circuit. The clock processing circuit is coupled to a 13.56 MHz coupled antenna for detecting and extracting a clock signal from the received modulated signal. In NFC communication, an ETU (Elementary Time Unit) is defined. The duration of each ETU is the time for transmitting one bit (bite). According to 1ETU=128/fc, and fc=13.56MHz, an ETU is used. It is 9.44 microseconds. When the NFC module uses an external clock for signal sampling, it counts as a ETU by counting the signal period of 128 carrier signals on the carrier signal.

However, since the NFC module can handle some of the operations it needs, these operations may not be needed. Such a high clock frequency of 13.56MHz, in terms of energy conservation, can use an internal relatively low frequency internal clock circuit, which is generated by a crystal oscillator or a programmable oscillator. With the internal clock circuit, the modulated signal or the demodulated signal is sampled every time it is clocked to 9.44 microseconds (one ETU) without counting the carrier signal of 128 cycles. In this case, in other embodiments of the present invention, the above-described clock processing circuit is not provided in the contactless card, but an internal clock circuit is provided to synchronize the clock. The oscillation frequency of the internal clock circuit can be higher or lower than 13.56 MHz.

The memory can store information contained in a business card in a general sense, such as a name, an address, a phone number, a job title, a website address, etc. Further, since the contactless card of the present invention is a large-capacity card, in addition to the simple text information, It can store other multimedia information such as icons, pictures, voices, music, animations and videos, especially the contents of comprehensive media information such as corporate profiles, product catalogs, promotional videos, etc. at commercial application level, as well as documents and software. The application of the contactless card according to the present invention requires that various information can be stored in the storage circuit in combination, for example, when the contactless card of the present invention is used as an electronic product, person, business, event or attraction. At the time of the brochure, information about these items can be stored in the storage circuit. When used as an electronic menu, information such as various dishes, drinks, and the like can be stored in the storage circuit, such as materials, tastes, prices, pictures, and eating methods. The memory can also store the device name and address information of the Bluetooth communication module. Preferably, the storage unit of the wireless communication module of the present invention is a memory greater than or equal to 200 kilobytes, for example, 256 kilobytes, 512 kilobytes, 1 Mbytes, 2 Mbytes, and 4 Mbytes. , or a larger capacity storage unit.

The Bluetooth main control module generally includes a signal transceiving processing unit, a clock unit, a control unit, and the like, which are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described herein.

The Bluetooth communication modules commonly used in the prior art generally support a communication distance of about 10 meters, so the power consumption during operation is generally relatively large. If only the conversion portion of the 13.56 MHz module is used for power supply, there is a problem of insufficient power supply. The transmission power consumption of the Bluetooth communication module includes the static power consumption of the internal circuit of the Bluetooth main control module and the transmission power when transmitting the signal, and the transmission power consumption is related to the transmission power. The transmission power is mainly related to two factors. One is the effective communication distance. The farther the distance is, the greater the required transmission power. The second is the communication rate. The faster the communication rate, the larger the transmission power.

In order to reduce power consumption during contactless card communication, the Bluetooth communication module of the present invention preferably supports a Bluetooth communication module of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) 4.0. On the other hand, to further reduce To transmit power consumption, the Bluetooth communication module of the present invention is an improved Bluetooth communication module that reduces the transmission power of the Bluetooth communication module by reducing the effective communication distance. For example, considering that the application form of the invented card is generally a form in which a user holds a mobile terminal and then contacts the non-contact card to the mobile terminal for access, the maximum communication distance of the Bluetooth communication module can be limited to, for example, 0 to 10 cm. For example, 1 cm, 2 cm, 3 cm, 4 cm, 5 cm, 7 cm, 9 cm, etc. within 0.1 m. According to the power of the DC voltage outputted by the conversion circuit, the Bluetooth communication module adjusts its own transmission power to reduce the power consumption of the Bluetooth communication module, thereby reducing the power consumption of the entire contactless card. For example, the instantaneous transmit power of the Bluetooth master module is not greater than the output power of the conversion circuit. Preferably, when the Bluetooth communication module is configured to perform signal transmission at the maximum communication distance, the instantaneous transmission power consumption does not exceed (ie, is less than or equal to) the power output by the conversion circuit.

Reducing the effective communication distance is generally achieved by reducing the transmission power of the Bluetooth main control module, that is, reducing the driving current. Therefore, when it is desired that the transmission power consumption is as small as possible, the effective communication distance can be limited to a close distance, for example, within 1 cm. At this time, according to the conversion relationship between the effective communication distance and the transmission power (for example, the calculation formula of the free space propagation loss in the first embodiment), the transmission power may be reduced to a corresponding value. By adjusting the transmission power of the Bluetooth main control module, the driving current when the signal is transmitted is directly affected, and the driving current is reduced to the corresponding value according to the conversion relationship between the effective communication distance and the driving current.

However, the communication distance of the application of the present invention is generally less than 0.1 m, for example, 5 cm. Therefore, in order to save power, the decibel value of the transmission power of the Bluetooth main control module can be configured to be less than -1 dBm, and -1 dBm to -99 dBm can be selected, even As low as -110dBm.

The power consumption of the Bluetooth main control module during communication is phased. For example, within a set communication period of 6.25 ms, the first 1.25 ms is used to receive and transmit the modulated signal, the instantaneous current is the peak value, and after 1.25 ms, it is Bluetooth. The main control module performs internal processing (including but not limited to demodulation, decryption, calculation, writing, and reading) on the received modulated signal, and sleeps after processing. At this time, the working current is relatively flat and the power consumption is relatively small. Especially when sleeping, the working current is static, only a few μA.

In order to reduce the power consumption of the Bluetooth master module, one way is to extend the communication cycle, thereby reducing the average power. For example, the communication cycle is adjusted to 12.5 ms. Thus, since the time taken to receive and transmit the modulated signal with high power consumption is not changed, and the sleep time is increased, the average power can be lowered.

Therefore, in order to reduce the transmission power of the Bluetooth master module, other embodiments of the present invention are implemented by reducing the communication rate, or simultaneously reducing the effective communication distance and reducing the communication rate. Obviously, the way to reduce the effective communication distance can reduce the transmission power of the Bluetooth master module more effectively, so the drive current is often reduced first, and then the communication rate is considered to be reduced.

Further, in view of the fact that the contactless card of the present invention is more suitable for the case of public information, such as a business card, a product manual card, a menu card, etc., it is not necessary to keep the stored information confidential. Therefore, in order to reduce the power consumption of the card, in some applications, it is considered to remove the hardware module mainly used for implementing encryption, authentication or verification functions in the conventional Bluetooth main control module, only for cards with special requirements (such as financial cards, Reserved in the medical card). In this way, the demodulation and modulation process of the signal can relatively reduce the processing steps, thereby improving the processing efficiency while reducing the power consumption; on the other hand, the circuit scale of the Bluetooth main control module can be reduced, thereby reducing the static working power consumption. , further reducing costs.

In particular, embodiments of the present invention can configure a Bluetooth module in two ways. The 13.56 MHz module of the contactless card of this embodiment may further include a control circuit connected to the conversion circuit 32 and the Bluetooth main control module 34. The control circuit monitors the electric power received by the conversion circuit in real time, and sends a notification according to the monitoring result. Signal to the Bluetooth master module to configure the maximum communication distance of the Bluetooth master module or configure the transmit power of the Bluetooth master module. On the other hand, it is also possible to initialize the maximum communication distance of the Bluetooth module or configure the transmission power of the Bluetooth module during the production process.

These two configurations have different characteristics: in order to supply the power of the conversion circuit to the Bluetooth communication module as much as possible, it is better to complete the Bluetooth connection or Bluetooth pairing (described later), and the 13.56MHz module will be The source circuit is turned off or enters a power saving mode, such as turning off the control circuit while keeping the coupled antenna and switching circuit operating. In this case, the control circuit may not be able to send a notification signal about the received power of the conversion circuit to the Bluetooth main control module. Therefore, it is often necessary to initialize the maximum communication distance of the Bluetooth main control module or configure the transmission of the Bluetooth main control module during the production process. power.

If the control circuit is not turned off after completing the Bluetooth connection or the Bluetooth pairing, the control circuit can send the notification signal to the Bluetooth module in real time, and as a result, the conversion circuit has a wider conversion according to the power supply performance of the NFC reader of different mobile terminals. The receiving power, so that the Bluetooth main control module can also adjust the maximum communication distance autonomously according to the receiving power or configure the transmitting power of the Bluetooth main control module, and the adaptability is better, and the communication range is likely to be larger.

The embodiments of the present invention can be implemented based on the simple setting of the existing NFC module and the existing Bluetooth module, without substantially modifying the hardware, designing the wafers of the two modules to the same card and correspondingly The configuration is OK.

Embodiment 4

As shown in FIG. 4, the contactless card of the embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a coupling antenna 41, a conversion circuit 42, a data transceiver circuit 43, a storage circuit 44, a control circuit 45, and a Bluetooth antenna 46.

The coupling antenna 41 is for receiving an external modulated signal and/or an unmodulated carrier signal. Typically, the frequency of the modulated signal and the carrier signal is 13.56 MHz, and the coupled antenna 41 receives the NFC signal or is received by the coupled antenna 41. It is an RFID signal.

The conversion circuit 42 is coupled to the coupling antenna 41 for rectifying and stabilizing the received modulated signal and/or carrier signal to output a DC voltage.

The data transceiver circuit 43, the storage circuit 44, and the control circuit 45 are all connected to the conversion circuit 42, and the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 42 is used as the operating power source. The data transceiver circuit 43 is connected to the conversion circuit 42 and the Bluetooth antenna 46, respectively, for demodulating the Bluetooth signal received from the Bluetooth antenna 46, and modulating the Bluetooth data to be transmitted through the Bluetooth antenna 46 to obtain a Bluetooth signal and transmitting the Bluetooth signal to the Bluetooth signal. Antenna 46. Bluetooth antenna 46 is used to receive and transmit Bluetooth signals.

The control circuit 45 is connected to the data transmitting and receiving circuit 43 and the storage circuit 44, and reads data from the storage circuit 44 or writes data to the storage circuit 44 based on the signal demodulated by the data transmitting and receiving circuit 43.

The current short-range communication system mainly includes an NFC communication system and an RFID (radio frequency identification) communication system, so the external modulation signal and carrier signal can be from an NFC reader or from an RFID reader. . In addition, the coupled antenna can also be a 125 kHz coupled antenna with a center oscillation frequency of 125 kHz, which is another carrier frequency used by RFID communication systems.

In the present embodiment, the coupling antenna 41 and the like are regarded as the main body of the contactless card, and the data transmitting and receiving circuit 43 and the Bluetooth antenna 46 are regarded as one communication link. In the present invention, the main function of the contactless card is to store and process signals. In this sense, short-range communication (such as NFC communication) and Bluetooth communication can be used as the communication chain of the contactless card of the present invention. road.

In still other embodiments of the invention, the contactless card simultaneously communicates with the wireless communication module on the mobile terminal via the coupling antenna and the Bluetooth antenna. At this time, the data transmitting and receiving circuit 43 is also connected to the coupling antenna 41 (shown in FIG. 4) for demodulating the modulated signal received from the coupling antenna 41, and modulating the data to be transmitted through the coupling antenna 41. The coupled antenna 41 is transmitted, wherein the modulated signal is, for example, an NFC signal (of course, it can also be an RFID signal).

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, for the case where the data transceiving circuit 43 is not connected to the coupling antenna 41, only the Bluetooth communication link is used for communication, and the data transceiving circuit 43 is mainly used for modulating/demodulating the Bluetooth signal. For the case where the data transmitting and receiving circuit 43 is also connected to the coupling antenna 41, the data transmitting and receiving circuit 43 is used not only for modulating/demodulating the Bluetooth signal but also for modulating/demodulating the signal communicated through the coupling antenna 41. If the coupled antenna 41 receives and transmits an NFC signal, the data transceiver circuit 43 is not only used to modulate/demodulate the Bluetooth signal, but also to modulate/demodulate the NFC signal. In summary, when the coupled antenna 41 receives and transmits a non-Bluetooth signal (a modulation signal different from the Bluetooth signal), the data transceiver circuit 43 is not only used to modulate/demodulate the Bluetooth signal, but also to a non-Bluetooth signal (eg, The NFC signal is modulated/demodulated.

Taking the NFC signal received and transmitted by the coupling antenna 41 as an example, when the data transceiver circuit 43 simultaneously modulates/demodulates the Bluetooth signal and the NFC signal, the portion that modulates/demodulates the Bluetooth signal and modulates/decomposes the NFC signal. The adjusted parts can be fused together or separated separately. Those skilled in the art can also understand that for other types of non-Bluetooth signals, the same can be understood by means of NFC signals; that is, when the data transceiver circuit 43 simultaneously modulates/demodulates the Bluetooth signal and the non-Bluetooth signal, The portions of the two signals that are modulated/demodulated may be fused together or separately.

Embodiment 5

On the basis of the fourth embodiment, Fig. 5 shows another contactless card of an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the coupled antenna 41b receives and transmits an NFC signal, and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 42b modulates/demodulates the Bluetooth signal, and the NFC signal processing circuit 43b that modulates/demodulates the NFC signal. Separate settings. In this case, the coupling antenna 41b generally receives an NFC signal of 13.56 MHz, and the portion mainly used for modulating/demodulating the NFC signal is an NFC signal processing circuit 43b, which is mainly used for modulating/demodulating the Bluetooth signal. The part is the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 42b. The conversion circuit 44b simultaneously connects the NFC signal processing circuit 43b and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 42b to supply power to both. The coupled antenna 41b is also coupled to the NFC signal processing circuit 43b for receiving and transmitting NFC signals. The Bluetooth antenna 45b is connected to the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 42b for receiving and transmitting Bluetooth signals. The control circuit 46b and the storage circuit 47b are connected to the conversion circuit 44b to operate with a DC voltage, and the control circuit 46b is also connected to the NFC signal processing circuit 43b and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 42b. Moreover, in a specific implementation, the control circuit 46b and the memory circuit 47b can be integrated. For the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, please also refer to the description of the embodiment shown in FIG.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the coupling antenna 41b and the NFC signal processing circuit 43b constitute a communication link (NFC communication link) of the contactless card, and the Bluetooth antenna 45b and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 42b constitute a contactless type. Another communication link for the card (Bluetooth communication link). That is, the contactless card of the present invention can include both communication links at the same time. Correspondingly, in order to communicate with the contactless card of the present invention, the reader/writer terminal on the mobile terminal is also equipped with two communication links for Bluetooth communication and NFC communication with the contactless card of the present invention. When the storage circuit and the control circuit are shared, they can be implemented by the same unit (such as a control circuit), and the two communication links share one control circuit.

As described in the previous embodiments, there are several main factors affecting the overall power consumption of wireless communication, including transmission power, communication rate, and reception sensitivity, so that it can be reduced by reducing transmission power, reducing communication rate, or reducing reception sensitivity. Reduce the power consumption of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit and the NFC signal processing circuit.

Preferably, the Bluetooth signal processing circuit is configured to have a transmit power of no more than -1 dBm, for example configured from -1 dBm to -99 dBm. On the other hand, if considering from the perspective of the receiver, it is possible to define a valid communication distance as a set distance according to the application of the contactless card, and only need to ensure that it is within the set distance. The RSSI value at any point is greater than the receiver sensitivity of the receiver, and the RSSI value at any point greater than the effective communication distance is less than the receiver sensitivity of the receiver. In this case, the transmit power is sufficiently small and communication is guaranteed to be uninterrupted. Preferably, the Bluetooth signal processing circuit is configured to transmit any signal to any point at a predetermined distance from the contactless card (any point on the spherical surface with the radius being a preset distance centered on the contactless card) The RSSI value is not greater than -100 dBm.

According to the power of the DC power source outputted by the conversion circuit, the Bluetooth signal processing circuit of this embodiment needs to adjust its own transmission power. For example, the instantaneous transmission power of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit is not greater than the output power of the conversion circuit. For another example, when the Bluetooth signal processing circuit is configured to perform signal transmission at the maximum communication distance, the instantaneous transmission power consumption does not exceed (ie, is less than or equal to) the power output by the conversion circuit. In particular, the Bluetooth signal processing circuit can be configured in two ways. The control circuit can monitor the electric power received by the conversion circuit in real time, and according to the monitoring result, send a notification signal to the Bluetooth signal processing circuit to configure the maximum communication distance of the Bluetooth unit or configure the transmission power of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit. On the other hand, it is possible to initialize the maximum communication distance of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit or configure the transmission power of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit during the production process.

In this embodiment, when it is not necessary to exchange the NFC signal, but only needs to be powered by the NFC communication link, the NFC signal processing circuit may not be enabled. The control circuit is only used to read and write according to the signals of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit. When the NFC signal needs to be exchanged, for example, by quickly exchanging the device name and device address (ie, pairing) of the Bluetooth signal processing circuit and the Bluetooth communication module on the mobile terminal through the NFC communication link, the NFC signal processing circuit, NFC, needs to be enabled. The signal processing circuit is configured to demodulate the modulated signal of the coupled antenna by the module, and modulate the information to be exchanged and send the information to the NFC communication module on the mobile terminal through the coupled antenna.

In the foregoing embodiments of the present invention, although the power consumption by the coupled antenna is limited, the application of the contactless card of the present invention is substantially within 0.5 meters, for example, only a communication distance of 0-10 cm is required. Therefore, the power consumption of the contactless card can be reduced in various ways.

Embodiment 6

In another non-contact card according to the embodiment of the present invention, an electric storage module is additionally provided on the basis of the foregoing fourth embodiment. In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the power storage module 63 is connected to the conversion circuit 62, and includes a storage element, and the storage element is charged by the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 62.

In this embodiment, it is mainly considered that when the Bluetooth communication link works, only one front part is in one communication cycle. The time-consuming power is consumed, and the remaining time is consumed. There is a case where the instantaneous power of the current peak exceeds the electrical power supplied by the conversion circuit. At this time, in order to ensure that the Bluetooth communication link can work normally, it can be charged by the power storage module 63 before its operation, and when the charging reaches the set value, the components in the Bluetooth communication link are turned on for communication.

Since the second half of a communication cycle consumes less power, in the second half of the cycle, the conversion circuit 62 can continue to charge the power storage module 63 in addition to directly supplying power to the associated circuit, thereby providing the next communication cycle. The instantaneous current peak is prepared. For example, within a set communication period of 6.25 ms, the first 1.25 ms is used to receive and transmit the modulated signal, and the instantaneous current is the peak value; after 1.25 ms, the received modulated signal is internally processed for the Bluetooth communication link (including It is not limited to demodulation, decryption, calculation, writing, and reading, etc., and the stage of sleep after processing.

The power storage module according to the embodiment of the present invention may further include a power storage control unit, wherein the power storage element is one or more components including a capacitor or an inductor and the like, and the power storage control unit is configured to control the power storage element. Charging and discharging. As mentioned earlier, in the latter part of a communication cycle, the Bluetooth communication link consumes very little power, and the power storage control unit can control the storage element for more adequate charging, which is a high-energy operation and time. prepare.

The above is described in a parallel manner in which the conversion circuit 62 and the power storage module 63 simultaneously supply power to other modules of the contactless card. Of course, the conversion circuit 62 and the power storage module 63 may also be in a series relationship, that is, the conversion circuit 62. The output DC voltage is supplied only to the power storage module 63, and the power storage module 63 supplies power to other modules of the contactless card.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the coupling antenna 61, the conversion circuit 62, the storage circuit 64, the control circuit 65, the data transceiver circuit 66, the Bluetooth antenna 67, etc. are connected to the corresponding circuits in the embodiment shown in FIG. No longer.

After the power storage module is added, it is not necessary to limit the instantaneous power of the Bluetooth communication link to be greater than the output power of the conversion circuit. In this case, as long as the accumulated power consumption of the storage circuit, the data transceiver circuit, and the control circuit in a single communication cycle is not greater than the cumulative output power of the conversion circuit, the normal operation of the contactless card can be ensured. In this case, the instantaneous power of the data transceiver circuit can be greater than the output power of the conversion circuit, thereby improving the stability of the contactless card.

Example 7

In the foregoing embodiment 6, the power storage module is added on the basis of the fourth embodiment. Similarly, the power storage module can also be added on the basis of the fifth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, another non-contact card according to an embodiment of the present invention is further provided with a power storage module 78 based on the foregoing fifth embodiment. The power storage module 78 is connected to the conversion circuit 74, and includes a storage element, and the storage element is charged by the DC voltage output from the conversion circuit 74. The power storage module 78 is connected to the conversion circuit 74, the control circuit 76, the NFC signal processing circuit 73, and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72 (the corresponding connection relationship is not shown) for supplying power only to the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72 or respectively. Processing control circuit 76, NFC signal processing The path 73 and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72 are powered to supplement the power supply to the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72 while the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72 is receiving power from the conversion circuit 74; or in the control circuit 76, the NFC signal processing circuit 73, and the Bluetooth The signal processing circuit 72 or the like performs supplementary power supply to the control circuit 76, the NFC signal processing circuit 73, and the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72 while acquiring power from the conversion circuit 74. The coupling antenna 71, the Bluetooth signal processing circuit 72, the NFC signal processing circuit 73, the conversion circuit 74, the Bluetooth antenna 75, the control circuit 76, the storage circuit 77, and the like in this embodiment are also combined with the foregoing embodiment 5 and the fourth embodiment. Embodiment 6 is not described here. Moreover, it should be noted that the present embodiment is based on the foregoing fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and is based on the improvement of the fourth embodiment based on the foregoing embodiment 6, and thus the foregoing embodiment five, the fourth embodiment and the implementation The contents of Example 6 are helpful in understanding the embodiment shown in FIG.

Similarly, as in the sixth embodiment, in other embodiments of the present invention, the DC voltage outputted by the conversion circuit 74 may be provided only to the power storage module 78, and then the power storage module 78 to the other non-contact card. The module is powered.

Example eight

The communication connection method between the contactless card and the mobile terminal in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, generally includes the following steps:

In step S810, the user brings the contactless card close to the mobile terminal.

Step S820, when the mobile terminal opens the reader, the contactless card enters the effective communication range, and can receive the 13.56 MHz modulated signal or the carrier signal, and the conversion circuit converts the AC voltage to supply other circuits, non-contact. The NFC module of the card starts working.

Step S830, the NFC module assists the Bluetooth communication module to complete Bluetooth pairing between the mobile terminal and the contactless card. The use of an NFC module for fast pairing of Bluetooth communication modules and then establishing a Bluetooth communication mode is well known to those skilled in the art, such as the pairing and connection establishment disclosed in Chinese Patent Application Nos. CN201210007084.2, CN201010019422.5, and CN200480015810.9. method. This application does not describe this.

Although the use of the NFC module to assist the Bluetooth communication module in completing the pairing has such advantages, the present invention is not limited to assisting the pairing of the Bluetooth communication module as a necessary function of the NFC module of the present invention, utilizing the existing Bluetooth pairing method (for example, It is also possible to search for a Bluetooth communication module on a mobile device and then select and pair it. The NFC module of the present invention is mainly used to supply power to a Bluetooth communication module, or mainly for low speed communication (relative to a Bluetooth communication module).

When you need to pay attention, the Bluetooth communication module can work in master mode, slave mode and broadcast mode. When the Bluetooth communication module works in the broadcast mode, the contactless card of the present invention does not need to be paired with the Bluetooth device on the reader/writer, and the Bluetooth device within the effective communication range of the contactless card can receive the contactless card. Bluetooth pass A signal is transmitted to transfer the data of the storage unit to the reader.

Step S840, maintaining the effective communication range of the contactless card in the reader/writer of the mobile terminal, and transmitting and transmitting with the mobile terminal by using the Bluetooth communication module.

It is not difficult to understand that the NFC module in the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 can be replaced with the 13.56 MHz module in the foregoing embodiment of the present invention. For the embodiment in which the 13.56 MHz module is replaced with the NFC module, please refer to the technical content of the eighth embodiment shown in FIG. 8 and the non-contact card according to the first embodiment to the seventh embodiment.

Since the contactless card provided by the embodiment of the present invention simultaneously adopts the NFC module and the Bluetooth communication module, the improved communication module is powered by the NFC module. The improved Bluetooth communication module has a short effective communication distance and low power consumption compared to the existing Bluetooth communication module. Preferably, the Bluetooth communication module consumes less than or equal to the power provided by the NFC module, so even the non-contact type The card can still work normally without setting the battery. In addition, since the transmission speed of the Bluetooth module is several to several tens of times faster than that of the NFC module, the combination scheme of the present invention solves the problem of contradiction between power supply and transmission speed.

Although the above embodiment is described by taking an independent power supply battery in the non-contact card as an example, in practice, an independent power supply battery can also be provided in the contactless card to meet the needs of some occasions. Those skilled in the art can understand that the implementation of the above embodiments is not affected after the independent power supply battery is provided. In addition, it can be understood that the storage unit can also be set in the Bluetooth main control module, and the multimedia information stored in the storage circuit is stored in the storage unit of the Bluetooth main control module, and after the Bluetooth pairing is completed, the contactless card and the The communication between the mobile terminals can be implemented on the Bluetooth main control module, so that the NFC module or the NFC signal processing circuit can be turned off or enter the power saving mode, and the conversion circuit can still normally receive the carrier signal or the modulated signal to other circuits and The power supply of the Bluetooth main control module does not affect the work of the Bluetooth main control module.

Example nine

The communication method of the contactless card according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9, mainly includes the following steps.

Step S910, receiving an external modulation signal and/or a carrier signal whose center oscillation frequency is the first frequency.

Step S920, rectifying and stabilizing the received modulated signal and/or carrier signal, and outputting a DC voltage.

Step S930, using the output DC voltage to perform wireless communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the first frequency is located in a preset frequency range, for example, the first frequency is 13.56 MHz.

In the communication method of the contactless card according to the embodiment of the present invention, the DC voltage is used for wireless communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, and the DC voltage may be used to perform Bluetooth with a carrier higher than the first frequency. Communication, WiFi communication or Zigbee communication. When the Bluetooth communication is performed with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is not more than -1 dBm. Typically, the transmit power is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.

In the communication method of the contactless card according to the embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication using the DC voltage with the carrier wave higher than the first frequency may be a data read operation or a data write operation. Since the contactless card can be configured to be read-only or readable and writable according to the purpose, the Bluetooth communication of the contactless card can be only for the read data operation, and does not include the write data operation; or the read data operation and the write data are included. operating.

Example ten

A method for supplying a contactless card according to an embodiment of the present invention is for supplying power to a card according to an external wireless signal. The contactless card includes a coupling antenna, a conversion circuit, and a wireless communication module. As shown in FIG. 10, the power supply method mainly includes the following steps.

In step SA1, the externally modulating signal whose center oscillation frequency is the first frequency and/or the unmodulated carrier signal is received by the coupled antenna.

In step SA2, the received modulation signal and/or the carrier signal are rectified and regulated by the conversion circuit to obtain a DC voltage.

In step SA3, the DC voltage is provided as the working power of the wireless communication module to the wireless communication module, so that the wireless communication module performs wireless communication. The first frequency is in a preset frequency range, for example, the first frequency is 13.56 MHz.

In the method for powering a contactless card according to an embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication module is configured to perform Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, or Zigbee communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency. When the wireless communication module performs the Bluetooth communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is not greater than -1 dBm. Generally, when the wireless communication module performs the Bluetooth communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.

In the power supply method of the contactless card according to the embodiment of the present invention, the RSSI value of any receiving point at a preset distance in the vicinity of the wireless communication module is not more than -100 dBm.

In the power supply method of the contactless card according to the embodiment of the present invention, the method further includes charging the built-in power storage module of the non-contact card by using a DC voltage output by the conversion circuit, and independently using the power storage module for the wireless The communication module performs the wireless communication power supply, or uses the power storage module together with the conversion circuit to perform the wireless communication power supply for the wireless communication module.

Since the contactless card can be configured to be read-only or readable and writable according to the purpose, the wireless communication of the contactless card can be only for the read data operation, and does not include the write data operation; or the read data operation and the write data are included. operating.

For the communication method of the contactless card described in the ninth embodiment of the present invention and the power supply method of the contactless card described in the tenth embodiment of the present invention, please refer to the non-contact card in the first embodiment and the second embodiment. description. Of course, the contents described in the foregoing Embodiment 3 to Embodiment 7 and Embodiment 8 can also help to understand the embodiment of the present invention. The communication method of the contactless card described in the nineth and the power supply method of the non-contact card described in the tenth embodiment of the present invention are referred to together.

Other variants

1. Embodiment 6 and Embodiment 7 respectively illustrate an embodiment in which a power storage module is disposed on a contactless card. According to another aspect of the present invention, the power storage module may be disposed to the foregoing embodiment 1 to The third is used to balance the power consumption of the non-contact card under different working conditions, and improve the stability of the non-contact card. Moreover, after the power storage module is added, it is not necessary to limit the instantaneous power of the Bluetooth main control module to be greater than the output power of the conversion circuit, as long as the cumulative power consumption of the Bluetooth main control module in a single communication cycle is not greater than the cumulative output of the conversion circuit. Power can also make contactless cards work properly. In this case, the instantaneous power of the Bluetooth master module can be greater than the output power of the conversion circuit, thereby improving the stability of the contactless card.

2. In the above embodiment, the Bluetooth main control module or the control circuit may include a CPU or an MCU, or may not include, but replace the function of the CPU or the MCU by a hardware circuit capable of performing a specific function. When a CPU or MCU is included, the function of the contactless card can be modified and adjusted by firmware or software, and has greater flexibility. When the customized hardware circuit is implemented, the response speed is faster and the circuit is more power-saving. .

Those skilled in the art should understand that the components of the apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present invention and the steps in the method may be concentrated on a single computing device or distributed in a network composed of multiple computing devices. on. Alternatively, they may be implemented in program code executable by a computing device. Thus, they may be stored in a storage device by a computing device, or they may be fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or a plurality of modules or steps thereof may be implemented as a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The embodiments disclosed in the present invention are as described above, but the description is only for the purpose of understanding the technical solutions of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modification and variation in the form and details of the embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope defined by the appended claims shall prevail.

Claims

A contactless card that includes:

a coupling antenna for receiving an external modulated signal and/or carrier signal having a central oscillation frequency of a first frequency;

a conversion circuit for outputting a DC voltage according to the modulation signal and/or the carrier signal;

a wireless communication module, configured to access the DC voltage, configured to perform wireless communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency;

The first frequency is located in a preset frequency range.
The contactless card of claim 1 wherein:

The first frequency is 13.56 MHz.
The contactless card of claim 1 wherein:

The wireless communication module is configured to reduce transmit power, reduce communication rate, or reduce receive sensitivity to reduce power consumption.
The contactless card of claim 1 wherein:

The conversion circuit outputs the DC voltage by rectifying and stabilizing the modulation signal and/or the carrier signal.
The contactless card of claim 1 wherein:

The instantaneous power of the wireless communication module is not greater than the output power of the conversion circuit.
A contactless card according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

The wireless communication module is a Bluetooth communication module, a WiFi communication module or a Zigbee communication module.
The contactless card of claim 6, wherein the Bluetooth communication module comprises:

Bluetooth antenna for receiving or transmitting Bluetooth signals;

The Bluetooth main control module is configured to access the DC voltage, demodulate the Bluetooth signal received by the Bluetooth antenna, modulate and generate a Bluetooth signal, and send the signal to the Bluetooth antenna for transmission.
The contactless card of claim 7, wherein the Bluetooth master module is configured to transmit power no greater than -1 dBm.
The contactless card of claim 8, wherein the transmit power of the Bluetooth master module is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.
The contactless card of claim 1 wherein: the RSSI value of any of the receiving points at a predetermined distance in the vicinity of the wireless communication module is no more than -100 dBm.
The contactless card of claim 1 wherein the contactless card comprises:

The power storage module is configured to perform charging by using a DC voltage output by the conversion circuit, or independently, or together with the conversion circuit, to supply power to the wireless communication performed by the wireless communication module.
A contactless card communication method includes:

Receiving an external modulated signal having a center oscillation frequency of a first frequency and/or a carrier signal;

Outputting a DC voltage according to the modulation signal and/or the carrier signal;

Performing wireless communication with the DC voltage at a carrier higher than the first frequency;

The first frequency is located in a preset frequency range.
The method of claim 12 wherein:

The first frequency is 13.56 MHz.
The method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the wireless communication using the DC voltage at a carrier higher than the first frequency comprises:

Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, or Zigbee communication is performed with the DC voltage at a carrier higher than the first frequency.
The method of claim 14 wherein:

When the Bluetooth communication is performed with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is not greater than -1 dBm.
The method of claim 15 wherein:

When the Bluetooth communication is performed with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.
The method of claim 12 wherein:

Any of the preset distances in the vicinity of the wireless communication module that transmits the wireless signal at a carrier higher than the first frequency The RSSI value of the intended receiving point is not more than -100 dBm.
A method for powering a contactless card, the contactless card comprising a coupling antenna, a conversion circuit, and a wireless communication module, wherein the method comprises:

Receiving, by the coupled antenna, an external modulated signal and/or a carrier signal having a central oscillation frequency of a first frequency;

And obtaining, by the conversion circuit, a DC voltage according to the modulation signal and/or the carrier signal;

Providing the DC voltage as an operating power of the wireless communication module to the wireless communication module for wireless communication;

The first frequency is located in a preset frequency range.
The method of claim 18 wherein:

The first frequency is 13.56 MHz.
A method according to claim 18 or 19, wherein:

The wireless communication module is configured to perform Bluetooth communication, WiFi communication, or Zigbee communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency.
The method of claim 20 wherein:

When the wireless communication module performs the Bluetooth communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is not greater than -1 dBm.
The method of claim 21 wherein:

When the wireless communication module performs the Bluetooth communication with a carrier higher than the first frequency, the transmission power is configured between -1 dBm and -99 dBm.
The method of claim 18 wherein:

The RSSI value of any receiving point at a preset distance in the vicinity of the wireless communication module is not greater than -100 dBm.
The method of claim 18 wherein the method comprises:

Charging the built-in power storage module of the contactless card with a DC voltage obtained by the conversion circuit, and using the power storage module to perform the wireless for the wireless communication module independently or together with the conversion circuit Communication power supply.