CN104601200B - Near field communication extension method and extension device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a near field communication extension method and an extension device. The method comprises the following steps: controlling a first near field communication unit to perform a pairing operation with a second near field communication unit of a host device through a near field communication function, so as to establish a first wireless connection based on a wireless communication protocol between the second communication unit of the host device and the first communication unit of the extension device. Then, determining whether pairing data is received from an electronic device through the near field communication function. If so, determining whether the first wireless connection is valid. If so, transmitting the pairing data to the host device through the first wireless connection.

Description

Near field communication extension method and extension device

technical field

The present invention relates to an extension method and an extension device, and in particular to a near-field communication extension method and an extension device.

Background technique

Due to the high reliability, security and convenience that can be provided, the application of Near Field Communication (NFC for short) has become more and more extensive. As long as the distance between the devices is close enough, functions such as payment and identification can be easily completed. The common NFC function is not only used for functions such as financial authentication, but also can be used for pairing authentication between devices, such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth) and wireless fidelity direct (wireless fidelity direct, referred to as: Wi-Fidirect).

However, for some devices, although their near field communication function can facilitate authentication with other devices, this authentication is usually only a one-time action, resulting in a relatively low utilization rate of the near field communication function. Taking the pairing behavior between a Bluetooth mouse and a computer as an example, after the Bluetooth mouse is paired with a computer through its near field communication function, its near field communication function will hardly have a chance to be used again. From another point of view, although the designer increases the cost to install the near-field communication chip in the Bluetooth mouse, because the utilization rate of this chip is extremely low, the cost is wasted virtually.

Contents of the invention

In view of this, the present invention provides a near field communication extension method and an extension device, which can effectively improve the utilization rate of the near field communication function in the extension device.

The present invention provides a near-field communication extension method, which is suitable for an extension device including a first near-field communication unit and a first communication unit. The method includes the following steps: controlling the first near field communication unit to perform a pairing operation with the second near field communication unit of the host device through the near field communication function, so that the second communication unit of the host device and the first communication unit of the extension device A first wireless connection based on a wireless communication protocol is established between them. Next, it is determined whether to receive pairing data from the electronic device through the near field communication function. If yes, determine whether the first wireless connection is valid. If yes, transmit pairing data to the host device through the first wireless connection.

The present invention provides an extension device, which includes a first near field communication unit, a first communication unit, a storage unit and a processing unit. The storage unit stores a plurality of program codes. The processing unit is coupled to the first near field communication unit, the first communication unit and the storage unit. The processing unit is configured to access the program codes to perform the following steps. First, the processing unit controls the first near field communication unit to perform a pairing operation with the second near field communication unit of the host device through the near field communication function, so as to establish a communication between the second communication unit of the host device and the first communication unit of the extension device. The first wireless connection based on the wireless communication protocol. Next, the processing unit determines whether the first near field communication unit receives pairing data from the electronic device through the near field communication function. If yes, the processing unit determines whether the first wireless connection is valid. If so, the processing unit controls the first communication unit to transmit the pairing data to the host device through the first wireless connection.

Based on the above, the near-field communication extension method and the extension device provided by the embodiments of the present invention can establish a first wireless connection (such as a Bluetooth connection) with the host device through a pairing operation, and then establish a connection with the electronic device through its first near-field communication unit. Connecting to obtain pairing data from the electronic device for the host device to pair with the electronic device.

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, the following specific embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a near field communication system shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a flow chart of a near field communication extension method shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a flow chart of a near field communication extension method shown in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a host device and an extension device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a host device and an extension device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of reference signs:

100: near field communication system;

110, 310: host device;

112: the second communication unit;

114: a second near-field communication unit;

116, 128: processing unit;

120, 320: extension device;

122: the first communication unit;

124: a first near-field communication unit;

126: storage unit;

312: the fourth communication unit;

322: the third communication unit;

WL1: the first wireless connection;

WL3: the third wireless connection;

S210-S270: steps.

detailed description

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a near field communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the NFC system 100 includes a host device 110 , an extension device 120 and an electronic device 130 . The host device 110 , the extension device 120 and the electronic device 130 are respectively, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, a notebook, a personal computer or a personal digital assistant (PDA for short). and other devices.

The host device 110 includes a second communication unit 112 , a second near field communication unit 114 and a processing unit 116 . The extension device 120 may include a first communication unit 122 , a first near field communication unit 124 , a storage unit 126 and a processing unit 128 .

In this embodiment, the first communication unit 122 and the second communication unit 112 are, for example, communication components that can communicate with each other according to the Wi-Fi direct connection protocol, the Bluetooth protocol or other similar communication protocols. The first near field communication unit 124 and the second near field communication unit 114 are, for example, communication components capable of exchanging data with each other through a near field communication function.

The processing unit 116 is coupled to the second communication unit 112 and the second near field communication unit 114 . The processing unit 128 is coupled to the first communication unit 122 , the first near field communication unit 124 and the storage unit 126 . The processing unit 116 and the processing unit 128 are, for example, general-purpose processors, special-purpose processors, conventional processors, digital signal processors, multiple microprocessors (microprocessors), one or more integrated digital signal processor cores, etc. Microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), any other kind of integrated circuit, State machines, Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) based processors, and the like. The storage unit 126 is, for example, a storage medium such as a hard disk, a solid state disk (Solid State Disk, SSD for short), or a memory. The storage unit 126 can store a plurality of program codes, and the processing unit 128 can execute the NFC extension method provided by the embodiment of the present invention by accessing the program codes, the details of which will be described later.

In addition, the electronic device 130 may also include a near field communication unit with a near field communication function and a communication unit capable of performing functions such as Wi-Fi communication and Bluetooth communication with the second communication unit 112 of the host device 110 .

In general, the extension device 120 provided by the embodiment of the present invention can establish a connection with the electronic device 130 through its first near-field communication unit 124 after establishing a wireless connection (such as a Bluetooth connection) with the host device 110 through a pairing operation, so as to The pairing data (such as the identity information of the electronic device 130 , etc.) by which the host device 110 can be paired with the electronic device 130 is obtained from the electronic device 130 . Then, the extension device 120 can transmit the pairing data to the host device 110 through the previously established wireless connection (such as Bluetooth connection) with the host device 110 . In other words, the extension device 120 can replace the host device 110 to perform the near field communication function with the electronic device 130, so that the host device 110 can communicate with the electronic device 130 according to the pairing data transmitted by the extension device 120 (such as the identity information of the electronic device 130). Make a pair. Please refer to Figure 2 below and its related descriptions for the above details.

FIG. 2A is a flow chart of a method for extending near field communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method shown in FIG. 2A can be executed by the extension device 120 in FIG. 1 , and the steps of the method in this embodiment will be described below in conjunction with each device and unit in FIG. 1 .

In step S210, the processing unit 128 of the extension device 120 can control the first near field communication unit 124 to perform pairing operation with the second near field communication unit 114 of the host device 110 through the near field communication function, so that the second near field communication unit 114 of the host device 110 A first wireless connection WL1 based on a wireless communication protocol is established between the communication unit 112 and the first communication unit 122 of the extension device 120 .

Specifically, when the user moves the extension device 120 near the host device 110, so that the distance between the first near field communication unit 124 and the second near field communication unit 114 is less than the distance within which the near field communication function can be activated (for example, 20 cm), the first near-field communication unit 124 of the extension device 120 and the second near-field communication unit 114 of the host device 110 can (automatically) start their respective near-field communication functions, and then can be used to establish the first Data exchange operations (for example, exchange of identity information) of wireless connection WL1 (for example, Bluetooth connection). Then, the processing unit 128 of the extension device 120 and the processing unit 116 of the host device 110 can respectively set the first communication unit 122 and the second communication unit 112 correspondingly according to the exchanged data, so that the host device 110 and the extension device 120 can perform subsequent various file transfer operations (eg, file transfer, etc.) through the first wireless connection WL1 (eg, Bluetooth connection).

In other words, for the user, the user only needs to place the extension device 120 near the host device 110, and the extension device 120 can automatically pair with the host device 110 to establish the first wireless connection WL1 such as a Bluetooth connection.

In this embodiment, after the first wireless connection WL1 is established between the host device 110 and the extension device 120, the user can trigger the respective near field of the extension device 120 and the electronic device 130 by placing the extension device 120 on the electronic device 130 communication function.

Therefore, in step S220 , the processing unit 128 can determine whether the first near field communication unit 124 receives the pairing data from the electronic device 130 through the near field communication function. If not, the processing unit 128 may repeat step S220. On the other hand, if the processing unit 128 determines that the first NFC unit 124 has received the pairing data from the electronic device 130 , the processing unit 128 may execute step S230 to further determine whether the first connection is valid.

In detail, since the first wireless connection WL1 may fail due to factors such as the distance between the host device 110 and the extension device 120, the communication environment, etc., when the extension device 120 receives the pairing data, it will not immediately The pairing data is forwarded to the host device 110, and it will firstly determine whether the first wireless connection WL1 is still valid. In addition, when the user closes one of the first communication unit 122 or the second communication unit 112 , the first connection will also be invalidated. Therefore, the processing unit 128 can avoid invalid data transmission through step S230.

When the processing unit 128 determines that the first wireless connection WL1 is invalid, the processing unit 128 may execute step S240 to store the pairing data of the electronic device 130 in the storage unit 126 of the extension device 120, and when the first wireless connection WL1 becomes valid , transmit the pairing data to the host device 110 through the first wireless connection WL1. In other words, before the first wireless connection WL1 becomes valid again, the extension device 120 can temporarily store the pairing data in its storage unit 126 .

On the other hand, when the processing unit 128 determines that the first wireless connection WL1 is valid, the processing unit 128 may execute step S250 to control the first communication unit 122 to transmit pairing data to the host device 110 through the first wireless connection WL1 to pair the host device 110 and electronic device 130 . It should be noted that, in addition to transmitting the pairing data through the first wireless connection WL1, the first communication unit 122 of the extension device 120 can also transmit the software configuration file associated with the extension device 120 itself through the first wireless connection WL1. (software profile). For example, when the host device 110 is a computer and the extension device 120 is a mouse, in addition to transmitting the pairing data through the first wireless connection WL1, the extension device 120 can also correspondingly connect the mouse when the user moves the mouse. The own moving situation is transmitted to the computer through the first wireless connection WL1, so that the computer can respond to the user's behavior and perform operations such as moving the cursor.

In this way, when the mobility of the host device 110 and the electronic device 130 itself is low, the user can still use the extension device 120 as a pairing medium between the host device 110 and the electronic device 130 . For example, when the host device 110 is a personal computer and the electronic device 130 is a notebook computer, the user only needs to pair with the host device 110 through the extension device 120 , and then use the easier-to-move extension device 120 (such as wireless mouse) to replace the host device 110 with the electronic device 130 for pairing.

In addition, when the extension device 120 is a device that uses its near field communication function less often, the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention can also increase the usage frequency of the near field communication function of the extension device 120 and the first communication unit. For example, when the extension device 120 is a mouse, after it is paired with the host device 110 (such as a computer), its NFC function may never be used again. However, through the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the NFC function of the extension device 120 can be used for other purposes, not just for pairing with the host device 110 .

In addition, in other embodiments, the designer can further set a pairing switch on the extension device 120, and the extension device 120 can determine whether the first wireless connection WL1 is invalid according to the on or off state of the pairing switch. , whether it can be paired with other devices (for example, the electronic device 130 ). In this embodiment, when the user switches the pairing switch to on, it means that the user allows the extension device 120 to be paired with other devices. And when the user switches the pairing switch to the off state, it means that even if the first wireless connection WL1 is invalid, the extension device 120 cannot be paired with other devices. Detailed instructions are provided below.

FIG. 2B is a flow chart of a method for extending near field communication according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method shown in FIG. 2B can be executed by the extension device 120 in FIG. 1 , and the steps of the method in this embodiment will be described below in conjunction with each device and unit in FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, details of steps S210-S250 may refer to the relevant description in the embodiment of FIG. 2A , and details are not repeated here.

The difference from FIG. 2A is that when the processing unit 128 determines that the wireless connection is invalid, the processing unit 128 may proceed to step S260 to determine whether the pairing switch of the extension device 120 is on. If not, the processing unit 128 may perform step S240 similar to that shown in FIG. 2A .

However, when the processing unit 128 determines that the pairing switch is on, the processing unit 128 may execute step S270 to control the first near field communication unit 124 to establish a wireless communication protocol based on the pairing data with the electronic device 130 through the near field communication function. A second wireless connection (such as a Bluetooth connection). In other words, when the first wireless connection WL1 is disabled and the pairing switch is turned on, the user moves the extension device 120 to a distance sufficient to trigger the near field communication function with the electronic device 130 (for example, 20 cm ), the extension device 120 will automatically perform the pairing operation with the electronic device 130 as taught above. That is to say, at this time, the extension device 120 is no longer the medium for pairing operation between the host device 110 and the electronic device 130, but will directly pair with the electronic device 130 to establish the second wireless connection (such as a Bluetooth connection). ).

Although it has been taught in the previous embodiments that the extension device 120 can transmit pairing data and its own software configuration files (such as the movement of the mouse) through the first wireless connection WL1, in other embodiments, the host device 110 and the extension device 120 Other communication units can be additionally configured to establish other connections between the host device 110 and the extension device 120 , so as to separate the transmission paths of the pairing data and the software configuration files.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a host device and an extension device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the extension device 320 includes all the components of the extension device 120 in FIG. 1 , and also includes a third communication unit 322 connected to the processing unit 128 . Similarly, the host device 310 includes a fourth communication unit 312 connected to the processing unit 116 in addition to all components of the host device 110 in FIG. 1 .

Similar to the content taught in the previous embodiments, the first near field communication unit 124 can be paired with the second near field communication unit 114 to establish a first wireless connection WL1 between the first communication unit 122 and the second communication unit 112 . At the same time, the third communication unit 322 and the fourth communication unit 312 can also establish a third wireless connection WL3 through the pairing operation performed by the first near field communication unit 124 and the second near field communication unit 114 . In this way, the pairing data and software configuration files can be transmitted between the host device 310 and the extension device 320 through the first wireless connection WL1 and the third wireless connection WL3 , thereby separating the transmission paths of the two types of data.

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a host device and an extension device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The difference from FIG. 3A is that the third communication unit 322 of this embodiment is not connected to the processing unit 128 , but is connected to the first near field communication unit 124 . In this embodiment, the host device 310 and the extension device 320 can still transmit pairing data and software configuration files respectively through the first wireless connection WL1 and the third wireless connection WL3, thereby separating the transmission paths of the two types of data.

In summary, the extension device and its near-field communication extension method provided by the embodiments of the present invention can establish a first wireless connection (such as a Bluetooth connection) with the host device through a pairing operation, and then communicate with the host device through its first near-field communication unit. The electronic device establishes a connection to obtain pairing data from the electronic device for the host device to pair with the electronic device. Then, the extension device can transmit the pairing data to the host device through the first wireless connection previously established with the host device. In other words, the extension device can replace the host device to perform the near field communication function with the electronic device, so that the host device can pair with the electronic device according to the pairing data transmitted by the extension device. In this way, when the mobility of the host device and the electronic device itself is low, the user can still use the extension device as a pairing medium between the host device and the electronic device.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than limiting them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: It is still possible to modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present invention. scope.

Claims (4)

1. a kind of near-field communication extension method, it is characterised in that suitable for including one first near field communication unit, one first communication unit One extension apparatus of member, methods described includes：

First near field communication unit is controlled to pass through one second near field communication unit of a near field communication (NFC) function and a host apparatus A matching operation is carried out, between one second communication unit of the host apparatus and first communication unit of the extension apparatus Set up one first wireless online based on a wireless communication protocol；

Judge whether to receive the paired data from an electronic installation by the near field communication (NFC) function；

If so, judging whether first wireless online is effective；And

If so, controlling first communication unit to transmit the paired data to the host apparatus by first wireless online；

Wherein, after judging the whether effective step of first wireless online, in addition to：

When first wireless online is invalid, whether the semiconductor switch for judging the extension apparatus are an opening；

If so, controlling first near field communication unit to be built by the near field communication (NFC) function with the electronic installation according to the paired data Be based on one second wireless online of the wireless communication protocol.

2. according to the method described in claim 1, it is characterised in that judging whether the semiconductor switch of the extension apparatus are this After the step of opening, in addition to：

When the semiconductor switch are not the opening, the paired data for storing the electronic installation is deposited in the one of the extension apparatus In storage unit, and when first wireless online is changed into effective, first communication unit is controlled to be passed by first wireless online The defeated paired data is to the host apparatus.

3. a kind of extension apparatus, it is characterised in that including：

One mono- Mo Block, one first near field communication unit one the by a near field communication (NFC) function and a host apparatus is controlled with what Two near field communication units carry out a matching operation, with the one the of one second communication unit of the host apparatus and the extension apparatus One first wireless online based on a wireless communication protocol is set up between one communication unit；

One Er Mo Block, judge whether first near field communication unit is received by the near field communication (NFC) function with what and come from an electronics One paired data of device；

One San Mo Block, if so, judging whether first wireless online is effective with what；

One Si Mo Block, if so, controlling first communication unit to transmit the paired data extremely by first wireless online with what The host apparatus；

One Wu Mo Block, when first wireless online for it is invalid when, with what judge the extension apparatus a semiconductor switch whether be One opening；And

One Liu Mo Block, if so, controlling first near field communication unit to pass through the near field communication (NFC) function and the electronic installation with what One second wireless online based on the wireless communication protocol is set up according to the paired data.

4. extension apparatus according to claim 3, it is characterised in that also include：

One Qi Mo Block, when the semiconductor switch are not the opening, stored with what the paired data of the electronic installation in In one memory cell of the extension apparatus, and when first wireless online is changed into effective, first communication unit is controlled to pass through First wireless online transmits the paired data to the host apparatus.