System, terminal, and method for providing a service using near field communication

A terminal includes a data receiving unit to receive data from a first target terminal via near field communication (NFC); and a data processing unit to process service information from the data received from the data receiving unit. A method includes establishing a connection via NFC; receiving data via NFC; determining if a service is provided from the data; if a service is provided, determining if a service usage history information update is set; and if a service usage history information update is set, updating the service information of the provided service; and if the service usage history update is not set, initializing the service information. A system includes a terminal with NFC capability; a first target terminal with NFC capability, wherein the first target terminal provides the service.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from and the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0094151, filed on Sep. 19, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a system, terminal and method for providing a service from a service provider using near field communication.

2. Discussion of the Background

A Near field communication (NFC) module may be provided along with a mobile terminal. NFC allows for information to be transmitted from a mobile terminal to a NFC target, thus allowing communication between the mobile terminal and the target.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2009-0120283, entitled “Shop Management Platform and Providing Method for Shop Management Service”, discloses a method for accessing a mobile terminal of a user via short-range wireless communication and transmitting payment approval information to the mobile terminal by using card information obtained from a payment card, searching mobile terminals located within a certain area using short-range wireless communication, and transmitting push contents such as sales promotion information, coupon information, and survey data to the searched mobile terminals.

This method may provide product payment information and a sales promotion list to NFC targets via short-range wireless communication. However, many servers may be used to provide service to the various NFC targets, and thus, it may be difficult to provide an integrated service for products and payments.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a system, terminal and method for providing a service from a service provider. Specifically, the system, terminal, and method may be implemented in either a provider of a service or a receiver of a service. The service may be provided by multiple terminals, and sourced by one server.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a terminal, including: a data receiving unit to receive data from a first target terminal via near field communication (NFC); and a data processing unit to process service information from the data received from the data receiving unit, wherein if the NFC unit communicates with the first target terminal, the data processing unit updates the service information.

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for communicating data via near field communication (NFC), including: establishing a connection via NFC; receiving data via NFC; determining if a service is provided from the data; if a service is provided, determining if a service usage history information update is set; if a service usage history information update is set, updating the service information of the provided service; and if the service usage history information update is not set, initializing the service information

An exemplary embodiment of the present invention discloses a system to provide a service from a service provider, the system comprising: a terminal with near field communication (NFC) capability; a first target terminal with NFC capability, wherein the first target terminal provides the service, wherein the terminal communicates with the first target terminal via NFC, and receives the service from the first target terminal via NFC, and updates a service information associated with the service.

It is to be understood that both the forgoing general descriptions and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth therein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the terms a, an, etc. does not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denotes the presence of at least one of the referenced item. The use of the terms “first”, “second”, and the like does not imply any particular order, but they are included to identify individual elements. Moreover, the use of the terms first, second, etc. does not denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, or “includes” and/or “including” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

It will be understood that for the purposes of this disclosure, “at least one of X, Y, and Z” can be construed as X only, Y only, Z only, or any combination of two or more items X, Y, and Z (e.g., XYZ, XYY, YZ, ZZ).

FIG. 1is a schematic view illustrating a data communication system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring toFIG. 1, a data communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a near field communication (NFC) terminal10and various NFC target terminals20,30and40.

The NFC terminal10includes an NFC module to facilitate NFC with another NFC capable terminal.

The NFC target terminals20,30and40may provide services and data transmission to the NFC terminal10, and other NFC capable devices, via NFC. The NFC target terminals20,30and40may act as a service provider. For example, the NFC target terminals20,30and40may accept payment using NFC, and be installed at an entry of a subway, accept payment at an exit of a parking lot, or the like. The NFC target terminals20,30, and40may be situated at various locations, such as at an apartment complex, a department store, or any area or location where a service is provided and a payment is attached with the service.

The NFC terminal10exchanges prototype service-associated information through communication protocols between the NFC terminal10and each NFC target terminal20,30and40, thus allowing for the integration and management of a history of interaction without the use of a separate server.

There may be several service providers. However, in the case where a service provider provides its service through various NFC target terminals, such as NFC target terminals20,30and40, and NFC terminal10uses the service, the history of the service may be updated at the NFC terminal10, with service-associated information being stored along with the history.

FIG. 2is a schematic view illustrating a NFC terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring toFIG. 2, the NFC terminal10includes a data receiving unit12, a data processing unit14, a data storing unit16, a service status processing unit18, and a data transmitting unit19.

The data receiving unit12receives data from various NFC target terminals via NFC. The data receiving unit12exchanges information with a first NFC target terminal, and receives a first data item (“first data”), and exchanges information with a second NFC target terminal, and receives a second data item (“second data”). The first data and second data each contain information including terminal ID information and service-associated information of the source NFC target terminal.

The data processing unit14processes the first data input to the data receiving unit12and may update the first data based on the second data. This updating may occur later, for example, after the NFC terminal10interacts with the second NFC target terminal, thereby generating the second data. The data processing unit14analyzes a list of provided services (including information such as a product list) in the received data to check available services, and processes available service information.

The data storing unit16stores the first data and also stores any updates to the first data based on the second data.

The service status processing unit18manages the service status information and useable time of the updated first data.

The service status processing unit18analyzes the service status information and the service time management information associated with available service information processed by the data processing unit14, and processes the available service or services, and the service useable time.

The data transmitting unit19transmits the data processed by the data processing unit14to an NFC target terminal.

FIG. 3is a diagram illustrating service information according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The NFC terminal and the NFC target terminal exchange service-associated information300. The service-associated information300includes ‘Cmd (301)’ (a region storing commands for processing, such as reading and writing), ‘Flag (303)’ (an authority status), ‘Device ID (305)’ (inherent IDs of the NFC terminal and the NFC target terminal), ‘Service List (307)’ (service and product lists provided by the service provider through the NFC target terminal), and ‘Service Status (309)’ (service availability of the service provider and service useable time).

FIG. 4is a flowchart illustrating a method for communicating data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, the NFC terminal and the NFC target terminal connect to each other via NFC (401). If connection is made via NFC, the NFC target terminal transmits an ID of a service provider and its ID to the NFC terminal, and the NFC terminal transmits its ID information to the NFC target terminal.

The NFC terminal and the NFC target terminal respectively receive data and parse and analyze the data (403). The NFC target terminal transmits a service item list to the NFC terminal.

The NFC terminal determines whether there is service associated with the transmitted or received data (405).

If it is determined that there is a service to be provided (405), a request to a user is made whether to update service usage history information (408). An update of the service usage history information refers to the NFC terminal and a plurality of NFC target terminals that may provide a service via NFC, with each service use reflecting or causing an update to the service-associated information.

If service usage history information is updated (409), a determination is made as to whether there is another service to be provided (412). If yes, the process returns to Operation403to receive and parse data. If no, the process is completed.

In the case where a user selects not to update the service usage history information in Operation408, the service-associated information is initialized (411), and the process proceeds to Operation412. Thus, in this case, service information may not be updated based on a combination of current service information with previous service information.

Initializing service information or service-associated information may refer to resetting or not updating the service information based on previously stored service information.

FIG. 5is a diagram illustrating a method for communicating data according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The NFC target terminals20,30and40are terminals that provide a service of a service provider. For example, each NFC target terminal20,30and40may provide a service via the NFC terminal10to users in a single location, such as a department store.

Specifically, the NFC target terminal B30may be a terminal located at the entrance of a department store, the NFC target terminal A20may be a payment terminal at a shop in the department store, and the NFC target terminal C40may be a specific service providing terminal located in the department store.

If a user of the NFC terminal10enters a department store and approaches the NFC target terminal B30, the NFC target terminal B30and the NFC terminal10may connect to each other via NFC.

The NFC target terminal B30requests inherent information of the NFC terminal10(502), the NFC terminal10generates its inherent information (503), and the NFC terminal10transmits its inherent information, such as an ID of the terminal, to the NFC target terminal B30(504).

The NFC target terminal B30receives the inherent information of the NFC terminal10, stores the inherent information of the NFC terminal10in the server (505), and transmits the service-associated information to the NFC terminal10(506). The NFC terminal10receives the service-associated information, accepts service, and may incorporate information to update the service-associated information in the NFC terminal10(507).

The user entering the department store may buy an object at the store. The NFC terminal A20may be a payment terminal of the store. If a user of NFC terminal10approaches an NFC target terminal A20and connects via NFC, a request to make payment (509) may be transmitted from NFC terminal10to NFC target terminal A20.

The NFC target terminal A20receives the request for payment, and collects service information, such as product information, price, additional services, or the like, that may be applicable to the current transaction (510), and transmits the service information to the NFC terminal10(511).

The NFC terminal10updates the service information (512), and transmits the updated service information to the NFC target terminal A20(513). The NFC target terminal A20receives the updated service information, and updates relevant information of the NFC terminal (514).

The NFC terminal10updates the service-associated information stored therein by reflecting the payment result.

While shopping in the department store, the user may accept a specific service by using the NFC terminal10. The NFC target terminal C40may be prepared in advance in the department store.

If the user of the NFC terminal10approaches the NFC target terminal C40, the two terminals connect to each other by NFC. The NFC target terminal C40transmits a NFC service list currently available to the NFC terminal10, so the NFC terminal10may check whether or not to use service (516).

The NFC terminal10receiving the NFC service list compares the received service list with the service list, which may be previously stored in the NFC terminal10, and thus may extract useable services (517), or requests a specific service to the NFC target terminal C40(518). The NFC target terminal C40prepares verification of the corresponding service (519), and requests service-associated information required for verification to the NFC terminal10(520).

The NFC terminal10retrieves service information in the terminal (521), and transmits the service-associated information to the NFC target terminal C40(522). The NFC target terminal C40verifies the service or services that may be provided based on the transmitted service-associated information (523), and provides service information to the NFC terminal (524).

The NFC terminal10initializes the received service information in its terminal (525), and transmits the service information to the NFC target terminal C40(526). The NFC target terminal C40receives the initialized service information, and stores this information (527).

Thus, based on above, the NFC terminal10may dynamically update its service information and interactions based on its service information without an intervening server to perform this task, and therefore service provided from a plurality of NFC target terminal may be accessed and used.

In particular, this disclosure may be used in a parking environment. A user of the NFC terminal10may interact with NFC target terminals20,30and40installed at various locations of a parking structure. The NFC target terminal B30is a terminal installed at the entrance of a parking lot, the NFC target terminal C40is a terminal installed at the exit of the parking lot, and the NFC target terminal A20is a payment terminal installed at another location of the parking lot.

If the user of NFC terminal10is in the parking lot and approaches the NFC target terminal B30, the NFC terminal10combines inherent information associated with the terminal (e.g., phone number, IMEI, or the like) and situation information (e.g., current weather, current time, current location, or the like) and transmits the information to the NFC target terminal B30via NFC.

The NFC target terminal B30stores the information of the NFC terminal10, and provides the user with a product list, a service list, basic service, or the like. The NFC target terminal B30may provide current time information and its terminal information to the NFC terminal10so that the information may be used as an evidence for service when the NFC terminal10approaches another target terminal. For example, if the NFC terminal10pays at NFC target terminal B30, and the NFC terminal10approaches another target terminal at another exit, the NFC terminal10has a record of making a payment.

For example, if a user of NFC terminal10approaches NFC target terminal A20, and the user buys an object being sold at the location where NFC target terminal A20is located, and attempts to pay via NFC, the NFC target terminal A20checks information of the object to be bought, and checks services (e.g., a parking ticket, a discount ticket, or the like) according to the corresponding item, and provides the service to NFC terminal10. The NFC terminal10receives the service, and updates service information via NFC.

The user passes through the NFC target terminal C40at the exit of the parking lot. The user may pay a parking-related fee when passing through the NFC target terminal C40. At this time, the user may exit free of charge by submitting a free parking ticket received at the shop, which may have been received earlier via NFC target terminal B30or NFC target terminal A20.

Thus, where NFC terminal10and the NFC target terminal C40connect to each other via NFC, the NFC target terminal C40may ascertain from previous interactions that the NFC terminal10has already paid for parking, or has a voucher showing that it has done so. Thus, status information may be dynamically updated during the previous interactions with other target terminals, so that other NFC target terminals may access this updated service information list.

The NFC terminal10transmits an updated service list which may contain a service list, evidencing that the parking ticket has been paid or vouched for.

If this verification is completed, the NFC target terminal C40provides free parking, and transmits information (a purchased product list, arrival time, parking termination time, or the like) of the user to the server so that the information may be stored in the server.

When the user visits the department store again, the server may analyze shopping patterns of the user based on the transmitted information to provide customized service, or may provide a benefit, such as discount or the like to the user according to the service usage result of the user.

Thus, information exchange between NFC terminals may be realized, and security may be provided by using the above disclosed techniques. In addition, the present disclosure is not limited to the case where one NFC terminal connects to another NFC terminal, but it may provide various kinds of service under various situations where a NFC terminal may exchange data with a plurality of NFC target terminals connected at one time.

Thus, data shared between a single service via multiple NFC terminals may be integrally managed without any servers, since prototype service-associated information is updated and exchanged through communication protocols among a NFC terminal and a plurality of NFC target terminals.

In addition, by using the above, additional services corresponding to the existing service used of the NFC terminal may be provided and generated, which allows an integrated service to be provided to the NFC terminal.