Abstract:
A method for activating a user interface of a mobile terminal or device having an ISO14443 smart card attached in a ISO7816 reader, where the mobile device monitors the state of the inactive ISO7816 interface, the ISO14443 smart card changes the state of one or more of the ISO7816 contacts when it needs user interaction during contactless communication, and when a state change occurs that did not originate in the mobile device, an interrupt is generated that communicates to the mobile device that smart card requires its services.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of Invention 
   The present invention relates to a wireless terminal or phone; and more particularly relates to a wireless terminal having a smart card. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Smart cards (SC) with an International Standardization Organization (ISO) 14443 contactless interface are deployed in the field and are being used in numerous applications ranging from public transport ticketing to access control and further to payment schemes. 
   Many applications require the loading of a value or other similar information on the smart card. This is normally done with SC readers installed on public locations like, in the case of a public transport smart card, subway stations. In those cases the smart card typically incorporates a galvanic ISO7816 interface in addition to a contactless one. This galvanic ISO7816 interface is used when the smart card is inserted into the reader/loader device. 
   Mobile phones utilize many kinds of smart cards, the most well-known being the subscriber identity module (SIM) card used in the GSM system (i.e. global system for mobile communications). The GSM SIM card has an ISO7816 interface that allows the SIM card to communicate with the mobile phone. The addition of an antenna and support of the ISO14443 interface make it possible to use the SIM card resident in the phone in the same applications where contactless smart cards are used. Furthermore, when the SIM card is in the ISO7816 reader in the phone, the phone can have additional functionality that adds value for the card user, like user interface to applications (ticketing, access control etc) on the SIM card. 
   When the SIM card is not being actively used in the phone, it is typically powered off. Also, when it is being used, the communication in the ISO7816 interface is always initiated by the ISO14443 reader. However, it may be necessary in many applications to activate the phone user interface when the card comes into the proximity of a ISO14443 reader. Such cases might be for instance the use of a high-value ticket, or executing a payment transaction that goes over a certain value. 
   In these cases the card might require, for instance, the user to enter a PIN code to authorize the transaction. But if the phone is idle, the smart card has no means to communicate its needs to the user since it is communicating through the ISO14443 interface and it cannot initiate communication over the ISO7816 interface. 
   One known approach to this problem respects the master/slave relation between the card reader, the mobile terminal, and the smart card, as the slave. In this approach, the smart card indicates in status bytes sent in a response to a command that it has additional information, not related to the executed command, for the mobile terminal to retrieve. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   In its broadest sense, the present invention provides a new and unique method and apparatus for establishing an interaction between a mobile terminal and a smart card arranged therein. The invention features the smart card providing an interaction command signal to the mobile terminal to initiate the interaction. The interaction command signal may include a change in the state of one or more contacts between the mobile terminal and the smart card. The smart card provides the interaction command signal during a contactless connection with another device. The one or more contacts are a part of a galvanic connection. The mobile terminal has a media control unit module that responds to the interaction command signal, generates an interrupt signal to establish the interaction, activates an interface with the smart card and runs a query to find out what services the smart card requires. The smart card has an interaction command module for changing the state of the one or more contacts to initiate the interaction between the mobile terminal and the smart card. 
   In one particular embodiment, when an ISO14443 smart card needs user interaction during contactless communication, it indicates this by changing the state of one or more of its ISO7816 contacts. The mobile terminal monitors the state of the contact, filtering out the state changes that happen when an ISO7816 interface is active. When a state change occurs that did not originate in the mobile terminal, the interrupt is generated to communicate to the mobile terminal that SC requires its services. The mobile terminal then activates the ISO7816 interface and runs the query to find out what services the smart card needs. 
   One advantage of the present invention is that the smart card can initiate communications whenever needed compared to the known smart card which only could give an indication in conjunction with execution of a command from the smart card reader. The interaction is established between the mobile terminal and the smart card without having to respect the normal master slave relationship between the mobile terminal and the smart card. 
   The invention may be used in GSM or 3G Mes mobile telecommunication systems. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The drawing, not drawn to scale, includes the following Figures: 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram of a system having a mobile terminal and a smart card according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of a media control unit module and the smart card shown in  FIG. 1  according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram of the mobile terminal shown in  FIG. 1  according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram of the smart card shown in  FIG. 1  according to the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
   FIG.  1 : The Basic Invention 
     FIG. 1  shows a system generally indicated as  10  having a mobile terminal  12  with a smart card  14  arranged therein. According to the present invention, the smart card  14  provides an interaction command signal to the mobile terminal  12  to initiate an interaction between the mobile terminal  12  and the smart card  14 . The mobile terminal  12  and the smart card  14  are coupled together by a galvanic connection  16  having one or more contacts. The interaction command signal contains information about a change in the state of one or more contacts of the galvanic connection  16 . The smart card  14  has an antenna  14   a  and an interaction command module  14   b , which changes the state of the one or more contacts to initiate the interaction between the mobile terminal  12  and the smart card  14 , and provides the interaction command signal during a contactless connection generally indicated as  18  with another device, such as a contactless reader  20 . The antenna  14   a  may be either built-in or connected to it through some contacts, possibly using the contacts in a ISO7816 interface. In operation, the mobile terminal  12  responds to the interaction command signal, generates an interrupt signal to establish the interaction, activates an interface with the smart card  14  and runs a query to find out what services the smart card  14  requires. In one typical embodiment, the smart card  14  would communicate with the mobile terminal  12  through a galvanic ISO7816 interface and with a ISO14443 contactless reader through an ISO14443 antenna. 
   FIG.  2 : The Media Control Unit Module  12   j    
     FIG. 2  shows a media control unit module generally indicated as  12   j  having a media control unit (MCU)  32 , a smart card sensor  34  and a smart card interface  36 . The smart card sensor  34  responds to the interaction command signal along line  30   a  from the smart card  14 , and provides a media control unit interrupt signal along a media control unit interrupt line to the media control unit  32 . The media control unit  32  provides a media control unit query signal along line  30   c  through the smart card interface  36  to find out what services the smart card  14  requires. The smart card interface  36  is an SC interface chip that is used to communicate with the smart card  14  through the ISO7816 galvanic interface. The smart card interface  36  consists of a number of contacts, one or more of which is monitored by the smart card sensor  34 . This monitoring is active when the smart card interface  36  indicates through the SC active indicator signal along line  30   d  that the smart card  14  is not active. If activity is detected in one of the monitored contacts, the smart card sensor  34  will generate the interrupt to the media control unit  32  or to a media control unit controller (not shown). In effect, the media control unit module  12   j  monitors the state of the one or more contacts and filters out state changes that happen when the interface between the mobile terminal  12  and the smart card  14  is active. 
   FIG.  3 : The Mobile Terminal  12   
     FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of the mobile terminal  12  shown in  FIG. 1 , and includes a signal processor  12   a  connected to a radio access network module  12   b  (connected to an antenna  12   c ), a display module  12   d , an audio module  12   e , a microphone  12   f , a read only memory  12   g  (ROM or EPROM), a keyboard module  12   h  and a random access memory  12   i  (RAM). The signal processor  12   a  controls the basic operation of wireless terminal  12 , the operation of which is known in the art. Moreover, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular kind or type of the aforementioned elements  12   a ,  12   b , . . . ,  12   i . For example, the scope of the invention is intended to include the radio access network module  12   b  being either an antenna module, a radio frequency (RF) module, a radio modem or the like. The wireless terminal  12  may also include many other circuit elements known in the art which are not shown or described herein. 
   In the media control unit module  12   j , the media control unit  32  controls interface functions between the mobile terminal  12  and the smart card  14 . The media control unit  32  may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In a typical software implementation, the media control unit  32  would be a microprocessor-based architecture having a microprocessor, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), input/output devices and control, data and address buses connecting the same. A person skilled in the art of programming, especially programming of wireless terminals, would be able to program such a microprocessor-based implementation to perform the functionality described herein without undue experimentation. 
   The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific kind of mobile terminal or device, and many different mobile terminals or device, including laptop or notebook computers, are envisioned that may contain the fundamental features of the present invention described herein. 
   FIG.  4 : Smart Card Interaction Command Module  14   b    
     FIG. 4  shows the smart card  14  having a smart card control processor  40 , a galvanic connection module  42 , a contactless connection module  44  and the interaction command module  14   b . The smart card control processor  40  controls the basic operation of smart card  14 , the operation of which is known in the art. Moreover, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any particular kind or type of the aforementioned elements  40 ,  42 ,  44 . The smart card  14  may also include many other circuit elements or modules known in the art which are not shown or described herein. In the smart card  14 , the interaction command module  14   b  controls interface functions between the mobile terminal  12  and the smart card  14 . The interaction command module  14   b  may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof. In a typical software implementation, the interaction command module  14   b  may be a microprocessor-based architecture having a microprocessor, a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), input/output devices and control, data and address buses connecting the same. A person skilled in the art of programming would be able to program such a microprocessor-based implementation to perform the functionality described herein without undue experimentation. The scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to any specific kind of smart card, and many different smart cards or SIM cards are envisioned that may contain the fundamental features of the present invention described herein. 
   Implementation Considerations 
   The implementation of the invention would require certain criterion to be considered which may not be used in a typical mobile terminal. For example, embodiments are envisioned in which an interface clock in the smart card would be running in order to operate any signals on the interface. During normal operation, the smart card clock is typically turned off in the terminal in order to save power. Due to architectural issues inside the mobile terminal, the power consumption will increase significantly if the smart card clock is kept on all the time. Alternatively, embodiments are also envisioned in which the feature of the present invention is expected to work without the interface clock, in this case an internal oscillator on the smart card could be used, which may cause interference problems. 
   SCOPE OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, the invention comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth. 
   It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.