Patent ID: 11951945
Assignee: ENTERPRISE ELECTRONIC LLC
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A near-field communication (NFC) entry device for remote keyless entry (RKE) into a passenger compartment of a vehicle having a body, an RKE control unit, a door providing ingress to the passenger compartment, and a door actuator configured to unlock and lock the door, the NFC entry device comprising:
a housing defining a cavity and configured to mount to the body of the vehicle; and
a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) enclosed within the cavity, comprising:
a radio frequency (RF) transmitter chipset having an RF antenna coupled thereto;
an inductor coil;
an NFC receiver integrated circuit (IC) coupled to the inductor coil, and including a steering diode and a voltage regulator;
a capacitor coupled to the NFC receiver IC; and
a microcontroller connected to the NFC receiver IC and the capacitor, wherein the NFC entry device is configured to passively harvest energy from an NFC-enabled mobile device in proximity to the NFC entry device, via the inductor coil by operation of the microcontroller, store the energy in the capacitor, and to thereafter selectively use the energy stored in the capacitor to communicate an access control signal to the RKE control unit via the RF antenna and thereby activate the door actuator.