Patent Publication Number: US-10791205-B2

Title: Portable communication devices with accessory functions and related methods

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/812,508, filed Nov. 14, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/273,346 filed Sep. 22, 2016 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,854,075 on Dec. 26, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/041,622, filed Feb. 11, 2016 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,641,656 on May 2, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/457,735, filed Aug. 12, 2014 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,277,037 on Mar. 1, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/922,988, filed Jun. 20, 2013 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,838,167 on Sep. 16, 2014, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/272,708, filed Oct. 13, 2011 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,494,585 on Jul. 3, 2013, the disclosures of each of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The field of the disclosure relates generally to portable communication devices and related methods, and more particularly, to portable communication device with modules providing one or more accessory functions. 
     Recently, portable and ultra-portable communication devices, such as smartphones, cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., have grown in use and popularity among a variety of different types of users. As the market has progressed, more and more functionality has been incorporated into portable communication devices. More generally, as the number of different types of portable communication devices increases, the functionality included therein, as well as the demand for added functionality, also increases. Manufacturers of portable communication devices have responded to the increased demand for functionality by incorporating some additional functionality and opening the relevant operating systems to permit third parties to develop additional functionality. 
     As the functionality of the portable communication devices increases through effort of manufacturers and/or third parties, the amount and/or type of data accessed, received by and/or transmitted from such devices has also increased. With the increased access to data and the open operating systems provided by manufacturers, security policies are often implemented at the portable communication devices to limit exposure of data accessed by the portable communication device. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION 
     In one aspect, a portable communication device for use in supporting voice and/or data communication is provided. The portable communication device includes a housing, an interface connector disposed at the housing. The interface connector is configured to couple to an accessory module configured to provide at least one accessory function. The example portable communication device also includes a processor disposed at least partially within the housing. The processor is coupled to the interface connector and is configured to determine whether a coupled accessory module is an approved module for use with the portable communication device, based on an identity of the accessory module, if the accessory module is an approved module, enable power at the interface connector such that communication between the portable communication device and the accessory module is permitted, determine that the accessory module includes at least one module battery, receive, from a user, a selection of one of a battery of the portable communication device and the at least one module battery, and power the portable communication device based on the selection. 
     In another aspect, a method for providing at least one accessory function to a portable communication device is provided. The portable communication device includes a housing, a back panel, a processor, and an interface connector. The method includes coupling an accessory module to the housing in place of the back panel such that a module connector of the accessory module is coupled to the interface connector of the portable communication device, determining whether the accessory module is an approved module for use with the portable communication device, based on an identity of the accessory module, if the accessory module is an approved module, enabling power at the interface connector such that communication between the portable communication device and the accessory module is permitted, determining that the accessory module includes at least one module battery, receiving, from a user, a selection of one of a battery of the portable communication device and the at least one module battery and powering the portable communication device based on the selection. 
     In yet another embodiment, a portable communication device for use in supporting voice and/or data communication is provided. The portable communication device includes a housing, an interface connector disposed at the housing. The interface connector is configured to couple to an accessory module configured to provide at least one accessory function. The example portable communication device also includes a processor disposed at least partially within the housing. The processor is coupled to the interface connector and is configured to determine that a coupled accessory module includes at least one module battery, receive, from a user, a selection of one of a battery of the portable communication device and the at least one module battery, and power the portable communication device based on the selection. 
     The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed can be achieved independently in various embodiments or may be combined in yet other embodiments, further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a portable communication device according to one example embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a back perspective view of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 4A-F  illustrate a sliding engagement of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1  with a module. 
         FIG. 5  is a back view of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1 , with the back panel omitted. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1 , with a module coupled thereto. 
         FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of an exemplary interface connector. 
         FIG. 8  is a back perspective view of the interface connector of  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a partially exploded view of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 10  is a sectional view of a partially disassembled back of the portable communication device of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The subject matter described herein relates generally to appending one or more accessory functions to a portable communication device by coupling a module to the portable communication device through an interface connector. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate an exemplary portable communication device  10 . In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  is provided for supporting voice communication with another device, such as another portable communication device. Moreover, portable communication device  10  may include a variety of other functionalities, including network access, SMS messaging, hosting of one or more applications, data processing, encryption, and/or other functions, etc. In this exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  is a smartphone, configured to communicate through one or more cellular networks. 
     As shown, portable communication device  10  includes a housing  12  and multiple presentation devices  14  disposed at least partially within housing  12 . Presentation device  14  outputs information such as, but not limited to, data related to operation of portable communication device  10 , commands, requested data, messages, one or more input devices (such as, a virtual keyboard), and/or any other type of data to a user. In several examples, presentation device  14  may include, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode (LED) display, a light-emitting diode (LED), a camera flash, an organic LED (OLED) display, and/or an “electronic ink” display. In some embodiments, multiple presentation devices  14  may be included to present data to a user visually and/or audibly. In this exemplary embodiment, presentation device  14  includes an audio output for use in voice communication. 
     In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  further includes multiple input devices  16  disposed at least partially within housing  12 . Each input device  16  may be configured to receive selections, requests, commands, information, data, and/or any other type of inputs, according to one or more of the methods and/or processes described herein. Input devices  16  may include, for example, buttons, a keyboard, a microphone, a vibrator, a pointing device, a stylus, a touch sensitive panel (e.g., a touch pad or a touch screen), a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a digital compass, a position detector, a camera, a second camera, and/or an audio input interface. In the exemplary embodiment, a single component, such as a touch screen  18 , functions as both presentation device  14  and input device  16 . 
     In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  includes back panel  20 , which is engaged to housing  12 . Back panel  20  defines a cross-section substantially consistent with housing  12 , thereby forming a substantially integral unit with housing  12  when coupled thereto. Back panel  20  is removable from the back side of portable communication device  10  to provide access to one or more aspects of portable communication device  10 , including an interface connector discussed below. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of portable communication device  10 . In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  includes a memory  22  and a processor  24  coupled to memory  22  for executing programmed instructions. Processor  24  may include one or more processing units (e.g., in a multi-core configuration). Portable communication device  10  is programmable to perform one or more operations described herein by programming memory  22  and/or processor  24 . For example, processor  24  may be programmed by encoding an operation as executable instructions and providing the executable instructions in memory device  22 . 
     Processor  24  may include, but is not limited to, a general purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processor, an open media application platform (OMAP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic circuit (PLC), and/or any other circuit or processor capable of executing the functions described herein. The methods described herein may be encoded as executable instructions embodied in a computer-readable medium including, without limitation, a storage device and/or a memory device. Such instructions, when executed by processor  24 , cause processor  24  to perform at least a portion of the functions described herein. The above examples are exemplary only, and thus are not intended to limit in any way the definition and/or meaning of the term processor. 
     As shown, processor  24  includes a number of communication interfaces, such as universal serial bus (USB) interface, display serial interface (DSI), an HDQ interface (master/slave), a serial peripheral interface bus (SPI) interface, an I 2 C bus, a universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) interface, a micro-USB interface, an HDMI interface, and several general purpose input/outputs (GPIOs). In the exemplary embodiment, USB interface from processor  24  utilizes a USC physical layer circuit (PHY IC) controller  54  to provide a full USB interface to USB 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 or other versions of USB compliant modules. Additionally, DSI interface is compliant with MIPI DSI 1.0 standard or other standards of display communication protocols. It should be appreciated that the number, the type and/or the standard of communication interfaces provided from processor  24  may be different in other portable communication device embodiments. 
     Memory  22 , as described herein, is one or more devices that enable information such as executable instructions and/or other data to be stored and retrieved. Memory  22  may include one or more computer-readable media, such as, without limitation, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), a solid state disk, and/or a hard disk. Memory  22  may be configured to store, without limitation, executable instructions, operating systems, applications, resources, installation scripts and/or any other type of data suitable for use with the methods and systems described herein. 
     Instructions for operating systems and applications are located in a functional form on non-transitory memory  22  for execution by processor  24  to perform one or more of the processes described herein. These instructions in the different embodiments may be embodied on different physical or tangible computer-readable media, such as memory  22  or another memory, such as a computer-readable media  26 , which may include, without limitation, a flash drive, thumb drive, etc. Further, instructions are located in a functional form on non-transitory computer-readable media  26 , which may include, without limitation, smart-media (SM) memory, compact flash (CF) memory, secure digital (SD) memory, memory stick (MS) memory, multimedia card (MMC) memory, and micro-drive memory, etc. Computer-readable media  26  is selectively insertable and/or removable from portable communication device  10  to permit access and/or execution by processor  24 . In some embodiments, computer-readable media  26  is not removable. 
     Further, as shown, portable communication device  10  includes an interface connector  28  coupled to processor  24 . In the exemplary embodiment, interface connector  28  provides a single, dedicated connector for providing communication between processor  24  and a module coupled to interface connector  28 . Through interface connector  28 , a module  100  may access one or more of the communication interfaces provided by processor  24  to communicate with processor  24  through different communication protocols, such as, for example, USB, DSI, I 2 C, SPI, UART, etc. 
     Additionally, through interface connector  28 , processor  24  provides HDQ (master/slave) interface for detection, interrogation, and authentication of the module. More specifically, in the exemplary embodiment, HDQ interface provides a single-wire protocol for communication between the HDQ master processor  24  and a HDQ slave device, such as module  100 . Further, processor  24  provides a device power connection to module  100 , which processor  24  utilizes to detect whether or not module  100  includes one or more batteries. Moreover, interface connector  28  provides access to multiple GPIOs from processor  24 , which may be programmed by processor  24  to perform one or more processes depending on the type of module coupled thereto. For example, one of the GPIOs provides a detect connection, such that processor  24  is able to detect coupling of module  100  to interface connector  28 . In the exemplary embodiment, interface connector  28  provides numerous communication channels between processor  24  and a module coupled to interface connector  28  to support a variety of communication protocols, alone or simultaneously. As should be apparent, however, interface connector  28  may provide one or more different communication channels between processor  24  and various other modules in other portable communication device embodiments. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 3 , portable communication device  10  includes a GPS component  30 , which is configured to provide location data to processor  24 . The location data permits processor  24  to determine the location of portable communication device  10  and/or provide functionality dependent on the location of portable communication device  10 , such as, for example, navigation functionality. Moreover, portable communication device  10  includes a crypto-processor  32 , which is configured to encrypt at least a portion of data accessed by processor  24  for communication to/from portable communication device  10  and/or storage therein. Accordingly, some data may be segregated from other applications and/or operations of the portable communication device  10 , and kept at a higher level of security than such applications/operations. In this particular embodiment, GPS component  30  and crypto-processor  32  are disposed within housing  12 , such that when back panel  20  is removed, GPS component  30  and crypto-processor  32  remain within housing  12  and coupled to processor  24 . 
     In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  further includes a cellular controller  31  coupled to processor  24 . Cellular controller  31  permits portable communication device  10  to communicate with a cellular network (not shown) to provide voice and/or data communication with the cellular network. In this example, portable communication device  10  includes two subscriber identity module (SIM) card sockets  33 A and  33 B coupled to cellular controller  31 . In this manner, portable communication device  10  is capable of receiving two SIM cards associated with two different cellular accounts, selectable by a user of portable communication device  10 . Specifically, in one example, portable communication device  10  is configured to access a personal cellular account and a business cellular account, allowing user to select therebetween to separate personal and business usage. It should be appreciated that a different number of SIM card sockets may be included in other embodiments. 
     Further, portable communication device  10  includes a USB controller  35  coupled to processor  24 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , USB controller  35  is accessible through connector  37 , which is separate from interface connector  28 . In this manner, one or more different devices may communicate with portable communication device  10 , but not coupled to housing  12  consistent with module  100 . Similarly, in the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  further includes a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) controller  2  coupled to processor  24  and accessible through a connector  41 , separate from interface connector  28 . In at least one embodiment, connectors  37  and/or  41  may provide micro-USB and/or micro-HDMI connections to portable communication device  10 . 
     Additionally, or alternatively, portable communication device  10  may include one or more of a Bluetooth controller, a ZigBee controller, a Wi-Fi controller, etc. to provide one or more wireless communication channel separate from interface connector  28 . While GPS component  30 , crypto processor  32  and cellular controller  31  are provided at least partially in hardware, it should be further appreciated that one or more components integrated into portable communication device  10  may be provided through software and/or firmware associated with processor  24 . In one example, processor  24  provides an air interface firewall, configured to analyze low-level air interface protocols of portable communication device  10  and permit or deny network transmissions based on approved network identities and characteristics. In this example, air interface protocol data from cellular controller  31  containing cellular network identities and characteristics is provided to processor  24  and analyzed by processor  24  to determine if portable communication device  10  should be permitted to conduct network transmissions via cellular networks identified by cellular controller  31 . In this example, the level of analysis provided adds network security to portable communication device  10  by having processor  24  further authenticate the network connections of cellular controller  31  beyond using standard cellular network protocol authentication mechanisms of cellular controller  31  by themselves. It should be noted that other air interface components of portable communication device  10 , such as, for example a Bluetooth controller, Wi-Fi controller, etc., may also be monitored by the air interface firewall. 
     It should be appreciated that other portable communication device embodiments may includes more or fewer components integrated with or external to processor  24  and usable separate from interface connector  28 . Further, it should be appreciated that one or more components included in portable communication device  10  may interact with module  100  to provide a particular function. Still further, one or more components included in portable communication device  10  may be disabled, permitting processor  24  to utilize similar components within module  100 . 
     In the exemplary embodiment, through interface connector  28 , portable communication device  10  is configured to communicate with multiple different types of modules  100 . Each different one of modules  100  generally provide accessory functionality to portable communication device  10 , through addition of processing, memory, communication, and/or power functionality. In the exemplary embodiment, portable communication device  10  may provide accessory functionality through multiple different communication channels. Specifically, processor  24  and interface connector  28  provide several communication interfaces, from which module  100  is permitted to select. While exemplary module  100  utilizes each of the communication interfaces from processor  24 , it should be appreciated that a module consistent with the present disclosure may utilize less than all communication interfaces available from processor  24 . For example, a Pico projector module  100  may utilize only a display interface and/or a USB interface, along with the detect and/or the HDQ interfaces. 
     Modules  100  may be designed and/or provided to select among several communication protocols available from portable communication device  10 . Accordingly, modules  100  may communicate with processor  24  according to a preferred communication protocol, such as USB, SPI, I 2 C, UART, etc., based on an efficient communication channel between module  100  and processor  24 , and not based on conforming module  100  to a single communication protocol available for known devices. In this manner, portable communication device  10  provides a substantially universal embodiment, by inclusion of interface connector  28 . 
     It should be appreciated that various different types of modules  100  may be used with the portable communication device  10 . For example, module  100  may include, without limitation, additional displays (e.g., large touch screens, pico projectors, etc.), sensors (e.g., health, nuclear, chemical, biological, etc.), radios (e.g., cellular radio, satellite radio, military radio, etc.), external power sources (e.g., extended batteries, solar power, chemical power, biological power, etc.), readers (e.g., biometrics, barcodes, radio frequency identifications (RFIDs), smart cards, etc.), enhanced positioning hardware (e.g., enhanced GPS, inertial navigation systems, etc.), auxiliary processors/memory and an encryption module (e.g., used with crypto processor  32  or in place of crypto processor  32 , etc.) to provide one or more accessory functions. It should be appreciated that the modules listed herein are exemplary and not intended to limit the type and/or accessory function(s) provided by module  100 . 
     During operation, when a module is coupled to portable communication device  10 , processor  24  detects the presence of the module through a detection connection of interface connector  28 , as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The detection connection may pull, for example, an input of processor  24  to a logically high or low state to indicate a module is coupled thereto. In at least one other embodiment, processor  24  may detect module  100  through use of one or more mechanical devices, such as a contact switch. When module  100  is detected, processor  24  interrogates module  100  for the module&#39;s identity to determine if module  100  is an approved module. Specifically, in the exemplary embodiment, the identity of module  100  includes a numerical and/or alpha-numerical code, indicating manufacturer of module  100 , a type of module  100 , the unique serial number for module  100 , and communication interfaces utilized by module  100 . It should be understood that different information may be conveyed by the identity of a module suitable to couple to portable communication device  10 . 
     In the exemplary embodiments, various different types of modules along the lines of module  100  may be used with portable communication device  10 . In various embodiments, portable communication device  10  may restrict the modules usable therewith, by permitting only vendor approved modules to be utilized with portable communication device  10 . As such, portable communication device  10  may include, stored in memory  22  and/or stored remotely and accessible by portable communication device  10  (e.g., via a wireless network, etc.), a list of identifies of modules approved for use with portable communication device  10 . Based on the list of identifies and the identity of module  100 , processor  24  is able to authenticate module  100 . If module  100  is not approved, portable communication device  10  may halt and/or limit further communication with module  100 . 
     Conversely, if module  100  is approved, processor  24  is configured to communicate with module  100 . More specifically, by knowing the identity of the module, processor  24  is able to determine one or more communication protocols usable with the module. In one example, upon identifying the module as enhanced sized touch screen display (as compared to touch screen  18 ), processor  24  enables DSI, SPI, I 2 C, GPIOs and/or power interfaces to enable module  100  to communicate therewith. In other examples, different modules  100  may dictate one or more different communication protocols, which are each supported by portable communication device  10 . 
     Upon establishing one or more communication channels therebetween, portable communication device  10  and module  100  communicate as necessary to permit processor  24  to utilize the accessory function provided by module  100 . Communication channels therebetween are established by powering components associated with interface connector  28 . For example, processor  24  is configured to disable power associated with USB communication channel, when USB communication channel is not selected for communication with module  100 . Such disabled power may include, for example, powering down USB controller  54  associated with the USB interface. 
     Additionally, processor  24  may selectively enable one type of communication protocol over another communication protocol, using a shared communication channel. Specifically, as shown in  FIG. 3 , SPI communication and UART communication at least partially share a communication channel from processor  24 . When module  100  is detected and one of these communication protocols is required, processor  24  alternately selects between SPI communication and UART communication as necessary to communicate with module  100 . In the exemplary embodiment, a switch  52  is provided and controlled by a GPIO of processor  24  to selectively provide one of the SPI and UART communication interfaces. Switch  52  is a single-pull-double-throw (SPDT) switch in this particular example. In the exemplary embodiment, SPI and UART interfaces are suitable to be alternately provided because each provides the same logic level with the same number of inputs/outputs. In various embodiments, other communication interfaces and/or protocols may share one or more communication channels between processor  24  and module  100 , potentially dependent on the similarities among the communication interfaces and/or protocols. 
     In the exemplary embodiment, when module  100  is detected, processor  24  determines if module  100  includes a module battery  102  through the device power connection. In various embodiments, portable communication device  10  includes a battery  38  to power processor  24  and/or other components of portable communication device  10 . Module battery  102  may be utilized to supplement power to portable communication device  10 . Specifically, in the exemplary embodiment, when portable communication device  10  detects module  100 , processor  24  determines if module  100  includes module battery  102 . If not, processor  24  controls switch  40  to provide power to and/or charge module  100 . In this example, switch  40  includes a SPDT switch. In contrast, if module battery  102  is detected, processor  24  toggles switch  40  to power and/or charge portable communication device  10  from module battery  102 . In this manner, the life of battery  38  and/or battery  102  may be extended, through bi-directional charging between batter  38  and battery  102 . In other embodiments, processor  24  may continue to power portable communication device  10  from battery  38 , even when module battery  102  is detected. 
     Further, when module battery  102  is detected, processor  24  may provide a section for presentation to a user, such that the user is permitted to select one of batteries  38  and  102  to power portable communication device  10  through an input to input device  16 . Additionally, or alternatively, the user may select a direction of charge to determine which of batteries  28  and  102  is charged from the other. In at least on embodiment, battery  38  may be charged from module battery  102  of module  100 . Further, when portable communication device  10  is powered from module battery  102 , processor  24  may utilize an eject sequence to ensure power is uninterrupted to portable communication device  10  when module  100  in removed. In such an embodiment, processor  24  may provide an eject sequence to presentation device  14  to solicit user inputs to engage battery  38 , prior to ejecting module  100 . 
     Further, processor  24  is configured to manage power at said interface connector to permit hot-swap of module  100 . More specifically, in the exemplary embodiment, at least one of the GPIOs of processor  24  is coupled to a module insertion connection of interface connector  28  and configured as to provide an interrupt to processor  24 , when module  100  is coupled to interface connector  28 . In response, processor  24  interrogates module  100  via the HDQ interface to read the identification of module  100  and determine if module  100  is an approved module. If module  100  is approved, processor enables communication interface(s) and/or power at interface connector  28  to permit and/or initiate communication between portable communication device  10  and module  100 . 
     Additionally, in the exemplary embodiment, processor  24 , through interface connector  28 , provides a clock (CLK) connection  58  to module  100 . CLK connection  58  may be used by module  100  to synchronize communication and/or data transfer between processor  24  and module  100 . Specifically, for example, CLK connection  58  may be understood by module  100  to indicate the time and/or size of data to be transmitted to processor  24 . Likewise, processor  24  utilizes CLK connection  58  to determine what type of data it is receiving from module  100 . It should be appreciated that portable communication device  10  and/or module  100  may include various other methods for synchronizing data transfer therebetween. In the exemplary embodiment, CLK connection  58  includes a buffer  56  configured to enable or disable the CLK signal output to interface connector  28 . 
     It should be understood that module  100  may include a variety of different form-factors and couple to housing  12  in a variety of manners. In the exemplary embodiment, module  100  is coupled to portable communication device  10  in place of back panel  20 . In this manner (as shown in  FIG. 6 ), the cross-section of module  100  is substantially consistent with the cross-section of housing  12 , thereby providing module  100  within substantially the same form-factor as portable communication device  10  and forming a substantially integral unit with housing  12  when coupled thereto. Other configurations (e.g., shapes, sizes, cross-sectional areas, etc.) of modules  100  may be included in other portable communication device embodiments. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates removal of back panel  20  and addition of module  100 . Specifically, from the assembled portable communication device  10  ( FIG. 4A ), latching mechanisms  34  on either side of housing  12  are depressed to disengage latching mechanisms  34  from back panel  20 . Back panel  20  then is slid relative to housing  12  ( FIG. 4B ) to disengage mounting tabs  36  of back panel  20  from corresponding parts of housing  12  and latching mechanisms  34 . Once disengaged, back panel  20  is separated from housing  12  ( FIG. 4C ). Accordingly, the sequence from  FIG. 4A  to  FIG. 4C  provides a portable communication device  10  with the back panel  20  removed, as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In order to couple module  100  to housing  12 , module  100  is disposed proximate to housing  12  ( FIG. 4D ) and brought into contact with housing  12  ( FIG. 4E ) to engage mounting tabs  26  with complementary structures of housing  12 . When in contact with housing  12 , as shown in  FIG. 4E , mounting tabs  36  of module  100  are aligned with corresponding features of housing  12  and latching mechanisms  34 . Upon sliding movement of module  100 , relative to housing  12 , latching mechanisms  34  engage mounting tabs  36  to retain module  100  relative to housing  12  ( FIG. 4F ). Further detail of the engagement between housing  12  and module  100  is described below with reference to  FIGS. 6-7 . 
     Furthermore, while sliding engagement of module  100  and housing  12  is shown in  FIGS. 4A-F  is provided for purposes of illustration, it should be appreciated that various different types of engagement between module  100  and housing  12  may be utilized in other portable communication device embodiments. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates portable communication device  10  with back panel  20  removed, but no module  100  added. As shown, in the exemplary embodiment, interface connector  28  is accessible from the back side of housing  12 . Accordingly, the sliding engagement of module  100  and housing  12 , described with reference to  FIG. 4 , provides engagement of interface connector  28  with a mating connector of module  100 . In this manner, module  100  electrically couples with processor  24 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . In the exemplary embodiment, interface connector  28  is structured to provide a high mating cycle connector, which permits modules  100  to be repeatedly coupled and decoupled from interface connector  28  without substantially degrading the connection therebetween. Specifically, for example, interface connector  28  includes pins tapered at its tip and provides right-angle actuation to mate complimentary module connector  29 , as shown in  FIGS. 7-8 . Further, interface connector  28  is through-hole mounted to a printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown) within housing  12 . It should be appreciated that various types of connectors and/or manners of mounting may be employed to structure interface connector  28  for a high mating life cycle. 
     With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , portable communication device  10  includes latching mechanisms  34  disposed on opposite sides of housing  12 . Referring to  FIG. 10 , each latching mechanism  34  is biased toward an outer edge of housing  12 , by a biasing member  42 . In the exemplary embodiment, biasing member  42  is a spring extending about a portion of latching mechanism  34 . 
     When module  100  is slid relative to housing  12 , mounting tabs  36  move along a first surface  44  of a protuberance  48  of latching mechanism  34 . Simultaneously, a mating connector of module  100  initially engages interface connector  28 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , a void  50  exists above interface connector  28 , which permits complimentary module connector  29  of module  100  to be positioned proximate to interface connector  28  for sliding engagement therewith. Referring to  FIG. 10 , when the mounting tab  36  is past first surface  44 , biasing member  42  biases latching member  34  towards the outer edge of housing  12 , thereby causing mounting tab  36  to come to rest in recess  46  of latching mechanism  34 . At this point, interface connector  28  is fully engaged in the mating connector of module  100 , to provide communication therebetween. When disposed in recess  46 , protuberance  48  defining first surface  44  retains the mounting tab  36  (shown in  FIG. 9 ) and prevents sliding movement of module  100  relative to housing  12 . 
     To remove module  100 , each latching mechanism  34  is depressed inward, against the force of biasing member  42  to permit mounting tabs  36  to slide past protuberance  48 , along first surface  44  of protuberance  48 . Module  100  may then be sufficiently slid, as shown in  FIG. 4 , to disengage mounting tabs  36  and position the mating connector thereof within void  50 , such that module  100  may be removed from housing  12  and interface connector  28 . Other mounting tabs  36  of module  100  and/or housing  12  are structured to inhibit other relative movement between module  100  and housing  12 . As should be apparent, other manners of engaging and/or releasably engaging module  100  and housing  12  to connect module  100  and interface connector  28  may be employed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In at least one example embodiment, module  100  may be snap engaged with housing  12  to provide such a connection. 
     In one embodiment, technical effects of the methods, systems, and computer-readable media described herein include at least one of: (a) detecting the presence of a module coupled to the interface connector of the portable communication device, (b) identifying the module, and (c) selecting one of a plurality of communication protocols supported by the portable communication device to communicate through the interface connector with the module, based on the identity of the module. 
     One or more aspects of the present disclosure transform a general-purpose computing device into a special-purpose computing device when configured to execute the instructions described herein. 
     As used herein, an element or step recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural elements or steps unless such exclusion is explicitly recited. Furthermore, references to “one embodiment” of the present invention or the “exemplary embodiment” are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional embodiments that also incorporate the recited features. 
     This written description uses examples to disclose various embodiments, which include the best mode, to enable any person skilled in the art to practice those embodiments, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.