Patent ID: 8282009

Claim:
A mobile electronic device, comprising: a battery; a radio frequency communication chip (RF chip) configured within the mobile electronic device as a first integrated circuit (IC) to wirelessly communicate an RF signal with a terminal, wherein the first IC comprises an analog interface connected to an antenna to facilitate the wireless communication of the RF signal; a smart card configured within the mobile electronic device as a second IC separately powered from the first IC to communicate data signals with the terminal, wherein the smart card is connected to the RF chip, such that the data are communicated via the analog interface and the antenna to the terminal; a controller configured to control a selective and separate supply of power from the battery to the RF chip and the smart card in accordance with a detected level of residual battery power; and a switching circuit disposed between the battery and each one of the RF chip and smart card, and including a first switch that cuts off supply of power to the RF chip responsive to comparison of the detected level to a first level threshold, and a second switch that cuts off supply of power to the smart card responsive to comparison of the detected level to a second level threshold that is different than the first level threshold, wherein the controller includes a residual battery power detector configured to detect the level of residual battery power and provide first and second switching signals respectively to the first and second switches to control the selective enabling of the supply of battery power to the RF chip and the smart card.