Abstract:
The invention presents a battery pack for a portable device in near field communication having an integrated circuit chip for performing contactless communication, an antenna connected to the integrated circuit chip for transmitting signals between the integrated circuit chip and a remote transceiver, a power source for providing power to the portable device and the integrated circuit chip, and at least one first card holder connected to the integrated circuit chip for removably receiving at least one first integrated circuit card.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a battery pack, and more particularly, to a battery pack with functions of near field communication for use in a portable device. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Integrated Circuit Card (IC card) plays a very important role in modern life. Various IC cards are introduced to meet extensive consumer demands in hope of bringing a quicker, more convenient and secured consuming environment for consumers. IC cards have a size approximately 25 mm in length and 15 mm in width which is easy to carry. It includes a microchip for storing several tens of bytes to several tens of kilobytes of data. Since IC cards have the functions of storing data and even executing application programs, IC cards are extensively used in many areas, such as identification cards, credit cards, electronic wallets, membership cards, access cards, digital authentication cards, health care cards, telephone cards, etc. In general, an IC card is much more secured than a traditional magnetic card. 
         [0003]    Near field communication is a short-range high frequency wireless communication technology which enables the exchange of data between devices over about a decimeter distance. The technology is a simple extension of the ISO 14443 proximity-card standard (contactless card, RFID) that combines the interface of a smart card and a reader into a single device. The applications, such as a transaction done by a magnetic prepaid card interacting with a remote card reader when a user passes gate of train station, are wildly seen. The functions of near field communication are easily performed by an antenna connected with an IC card (hereafter, smart card that is not applied in near field communication is used to distinguish from the IC cards). Such simple but convenient structures are embedded into many devices, for example, PDAs, mobile phones, etc., to provide multiple functions. However, most of current devices can not accommodate these smart cards, and new devices with smart cards are usually expensive so that they can not bring the benefits to users in a short time. 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,136 discloses a combination of battery pack and low profile antenna arrangement in conjunction with a two-way portable transceiver. However, no smart cards are used to provide contactless transaction and data collection from a remote transceiver. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,894 discloses a power-source battery unit with a card mounting part to be attached detachably to a mobile phone. An IC card can be inserted into the mounting part to provide extra functions in the IC. It is shown in  FIG. 1 . Although the IC card functions when the battery is stowed to the mobile phone, the &#39;894 patent is only limited to some mobile phones with same size of battery. 
         [0006]      FIG. 2  shows an invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,940. It is regarding a contactless transaction card which is detachably connectable to an antenna. The &#39;940 patent uses a simple structure on a cover of a mobile phone to provide contactless transaction. However, without power supply from the housing, the design can not act as a stand alone card reader for requesting the information in a remote tag. It also has the disadvantage as &#39;894 patent that the cover is only used for some models of mobile phones. 
         [0007]    Please refer to  FIG. 3 . U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,199 presents a dual universal integrated circuit cards (UICC) system for a portable device. It also provides functions of near field communication. Although it is a new concept for application of near field communication, it is not applied to a battery pack. 
         [0008]    This invention provides a suitable solution to the problems mentioned above. Since rechargeable batteries have several industrial standards, a small modification to each model of batteries causes the functions of near field communication to prevail in most portable devices. This invention uses a battery pack to have functions of near field communication for smart cards. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    This paragraph extracts and compiles some features of the present invention; other features will be disclosed in the follow-up paragraph. It is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, and this paragraph also is considered to refer. 
         [0010]    In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a battery pack for a portable device in near field communication comprises an integrated circuit chip for performing contactless communication, an antenna connected to the integrated circuit chip for transmitting signals between the integrated circuit chip and a remote transceiver, a power source for providing power to the portable device and the integrated circuit chip, and at least one first card holder connected to the integrated circuit chip for removably receiving at least one first integrated circuit card (IC card). 
         [0011]    Preferably, the integrated circuit chip comprises an information inquiring unit for requesting the remote transceiver to send information therein via the antenna to the first IC card and a communicating unit for communication between the antenna and the first IC card. 
         [0012]    Preferably, the battery pack comprises a switch linked to the antenna, the integrated circuit chip and the first card holder, for either electrical conduction between the antenna and the integrated circuit chip or electrical conduction between the antenna and the first IC card. 
         [0013]    Preferably, the portable device is a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA). 
         [0014]    Preferably, the first card holder is electrically coupled to a second card holder in the portable device for removably receiving a second IC card. 
         [0015]    Preferably, the battery pack further comprises a dual card controller linked to the first IC card for controlling on/off status of the first IC card to provide dual card function. 
         [0016]    Preferably, the second IC card is a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) card, a removable user identity module (R-UIM) card, an Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia services identity module (ISIM) card or a smart card. 
         [0017]    Preferably, the first IC card is a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) card, a removable user identity module (R-UIM) card, an Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia services identity module (ISIM) card or a smart card. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0018]    The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  illustrates a conventional power-source battery unit with a card mounting part; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  illustrates a conventional contactless transaction card structure; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  illustrates a conventional dual universal integrated circuit cards (UICC) system; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  illustrates a first embodiment of a battery pack for a portable device in near field communication for use in a mobile phone according to the invention; and 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  illustrates a second embodiment of a battery pack for a portable device in near field communication according to the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following description of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed. 
         [0025]    Please refer to  FIG. 4 . It illustrates a first embodiment of a battery pack  40  with functions of near field communication for use in a mobile phone  41 . The battery pack  40  comprises an antenna  401 , a near-field-communication integrated chip (NFC IC)  402 , two IC card holders  403  and a rechargeable lithium ion battery module  404 . The antenna  401  is provided outside of the battery pack  40  and wiredly connected to the NFC IC  402  to transmit RF signals to a remote card reader  42  or a remote tag  43 . The antenna  401  also receives RF signals from the remote card reader  42  or the remote tag  43  and transmits the relevant information to the NFC IC  402 . The rechargeable lithium ion battery module  404  is linked to the NFC IC  402  to provide power to the NFC IC  402 . The rechargeable lithium ion battery module  404  supplies power to the mobile phone  41  as well. The IC card holders  403  are electrically connected to the NFC IC  402 . The IC card holders  403  accommodate two IC cards, i.e., a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card  405  and a magnetic prepaid card  406 . Here the magnetic prepaid card  406  is for contactless transaction in a supermarket. The battery pack  40  is stowed in a battery holder  411  in the mobile phone  41  so that the power can be provided to the mobile phone  41  via a connector (at the back side of battery pack  40 , not shown). Meanwhile, a dual card controller  407  links to the SIM card  405  in the IC card holders  403 . The dual card controller  407  is further linked to another SIM card  413  in the mobile phone and provides access to other mobile phone number in the SIM card  405  than the one in the SIM card  413 . The user of the mobile phone  41  can use two mobile phone numbers with only one mobile phone. The user can also check the data stored in the SIM card  405  in the IC card holder  403  via a human-machine interface, for example, a LCD panel  412  on the mobile phone. 
         [0026]    The NFC IC  402  has information inquiring unit  4021  and communicating unit  4022 . The information inquiring unit  4021  requests the remote card reader  42  or the remote tag  43  to send the relevant information via the antenna  401  to the magnetic prepaid card  406 . The communicating unit  4022  keeps communication between the antenna  401  and the magnetic prepaid card  406 . 
         [0027]    On the other hand, the remote card reader  42  keeps sending RF inquiry signals to the NFC IC  402  via the antenna  401  to ask for information, such as user name and balanced credit, in the magnetic prepaid card  406 . The NFC IC  402  replies the inquiry and sends the information via the antenna  401 . The NFC IC  402  also sends RF inquiry signals to inquire information, such as price and date of manufacturing, in the remote tag  43  and gets the corresponding information. 
         [0028]    In the first embodiment, the antenna  401  is assembled outside of the battery pack  41 . Alternatively, the antenna  401  can be provided within the battery pack  41 . The battery module  404  is not limited to lithium ion batteries. It can be any rechargeable batteries, such as nickel mental hydride batteries. Of course, with different wireless network systems, the SIM card  405  can be replaced with USIM for WCDMA, RUIM for CDMA2000, PIM for PHS, and any smart card for transaction. Besides, the battery pack  41  has functions of near field communication even if the battery pack  41  is not connected with the mobile phone  41 . As long as the power is sufficient to drive the antenna  401  and the NFC IC  402 , the near field communication works. 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , a second embodiment shows a design for users to use near field communication without power source from a battery module. In the second embodiment, a battery pack  50  comprises an antenna  501 , a near-field-communication integrated chip (NFC IC)  502 , two IC card holders  503 , a rechargeable lithium ion battery module  504  and a switch  507 . The antenna  501  is assembled outside of the battery pack  50  and wiredly connected to the switch  507 . The switch  507  is used for selecting different electrical conduction paths and is in turn linked to the NFC IC  502  and the IC card holders  503 . If the electrical conduction between the antenna  501  and the NFC IC  502  is on, the antenna  501  transmits RF signals from the NFC IC  502  to a remote card reader  52  or a remote tag  53 , receives RF signals from the remote card reader  52  or the remote tag  53  and transmits the relevant information to the NFC IC  502 . The rechargeable lithium ion battery module  504  is linked to the NFC IC  502  to provide power to the NFC IC  502 . The rechargeable lithium ion battery module  504  supplies power to the mobile phone  51  as well. The IC card holder  503  is electrically connected to the NFC IC  502 . The IC card holders  503  accommodate two IC cards, i.e., a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card  505  and a magnetic prepaid card  506 . Here the magnetic prepaid card  506  is for contactless transaction in a supermarket. The switch  507  is connected with the magnetic prepaid card  506  via contacts C 4  and C 8  (standard) of the magnetic prepaid card  506  through the IC card holders  503 . The switch  507  is not connected to the SIM card  505 . The battery pack  50  is stowed in a battery holder  511  in the mobile phone  51  so that the power can be provided to the mobile phone  51  via a connector (at the back side of battery pack  50 , not shown). Meanwhile, a dual card controller  508  links to the SIM card  505  in the IC card holders  503 . The dual card controller  508  is further linked to a SIM card  513  in the mobile phone and provides access to other mobile phone number in the SIM card  505  than the one in the SIM card  513 . The user of the mobile phone can use two mobile phone numbers with only one device. The user can also check the data stored in the SIM card in the IC card holder  503  via the interface, for example, a LCD panel  512  on the mobile phone. 
         [0030]    The NFC IC  502  has information inquiring unit  5021  and communicating unit  5022 . The information inquiring unit  5021  requests the remote card reader  52  or the remote tag  53  to send the relevant information via the antenna  501  to the magnetic prepaid card  506 . The communicating unit  5022  keeps communication between the antenna  501  and the magnetic prepaid card  506 . 
         [0031]    The remote card reader  52  keeps sending the RF inquiry signals to the NFC IC  502  via the antenna  501  to ask for information, such as user name and balanced credit, in the magnetic prepaid card  506 . The NFC IC  502  replies the inquiry. The NFC IC  502  also sends RF inquiry signals via the antenna  501  to request information, such as price and date of manufacturing, in the remote tag  53  and gets the corresponding information. When the electrical conduction between the antenna  501  and the IC card holder  503  is on by the switch  507 , the RF inquiry signals from the antenna  501  bypass the NFC IC  502  and are transmitted to the magnetic prepaid card  506 . The magnetic prepaid card  506  will reply the request from the remote card reader  52  via the antenna  501 . The battery pack  50  under this situation is not able to send RF signals via the antenna  501  to request the information in the remote tag  53 . 
         [0032]    In this embodiment, the antenna  501  is assembled out side of the battery pack  50 . Alternatively, the antenna  501  can be provided within the battery pack  50 . The battery module  504  is not limited to lithium ion batteries. It can be any rechargeable batteries, such as nickel mental hydride batteries. Of course, with different wireless network systems, the SIM card  505  will be replaced with USIM for WCDMA, RUIM for CDMA2000, PIM for PHS, and any smart card for transaction. 
         [0033]    While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which are accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.