Magnetic communication method, device and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a method of magnetic communication that does not use induction. For example, a transmitter device can generate a magnetic field in a controlled direction and rotate the magnetic field around one or more axes. As such, the angle at which the transmitter device rotates the magnetic field can be used as a variable based on which data to be sent to a receiver device is encoded, and the receiver device is capable of sensing the direction of the magnetic field along two or more axes. In addition, in order to achieve higher data rates, multiple rotation angles can be used to encode data sent from the transmitter device to the receiver device, which can further improve security because it may become more difficult to read or generate a modulated magnetic field from a location at any significant distance from the transmitter device and the receiver device.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a Chinese patent application with an application date of June 30, 2017, application number 201780046694.4 (PCT / US2017 / 040421), and invention name “Magnetic Communication Method”. Technical Field

[0002] Various aspects and embodiments described herein generally relate to proximity-based magnetic communication methods and systems. Background Art

[0003] Systems that enable communication between devices in close proximity using modulated magnetic fields already exist, particularly radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC). Existing systems tend to use magnetic induction to send signals from a transmitter device to a receiver device. The fact that the transmitter device and the receiver device must generally be in close proximity (e.g., typically within 10 centimeters of each other) is particularly relevant for use in situations where the enhanced security achieved by the transmitter device and the receiver device having to be in near physical contact, and / or the user convenience achieved by having the ability to perform "tap to connect" or "tap to select" and / or other appropriate proximity-dependent functions, is utilized. One specific application that magnetic communication-based systems often employ is to communicate out-of-band (OOB) data between two devices in a secure manner, which can be used to authenticate the devices before proceeding with pairing using another wireless technology such as Bluetooth. OOB authentication data is typically small and well suited to low data rate communication mechanisms. The necessity of having the two devices in close physical proximity, in addition to helping to ensure that a connection is only made with the intended device, also provides useful protection against intruder attacks, such as man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks and passive eavesdropping.

[0004] However, existing magnetic communication-based systems (e.g., RFID and NFC) are plagued by various problems and defects. For example, existing magnetic communication systems typically require magnetic loop antennas, which are large and bulky components for portable products that are typically small in size. In addition, due to magnetic induction, it is difficult to protect the receiver device from the current generated by the wireless charging system, which may be challenging to create a design that allows magnetic communication components to coexist with other technologies in a particular product. In addition, the magnetic loop antenna used to implement magnetic communication may cause undesirable effects on other wireless technologies used in the product (e.g., through shielding effects, capacitive coupling, induction of undesired signals into other circuits, etc.). Existing systems may also be susceptible to malicious devices designed to use higher than normal transmission power, directional antennas, sensitive receivers, etc. to provide the ability to passively or actively communicate with a target over an extended distance, thereby compromising security goals associated with requiring communication devices to be in close proximity to each other. Summary of the invention

[0005] The following is a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects and / or embodiments disclosed herein. As such, the following summary of the invention should not be considered an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects and / or embodiments, nor should the following summary of the invention be considered to identify key or important elements related to all contemplated aspects and / or embodiments or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect and / or embodiment. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following summary of the invention is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects and / or embodiments related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the specific embodiments given below.

[0006] According to various aspects, a magnetic communication method described herein can enable communication between two devices via a magnetic field without using induction, thereby avoiding the need for a magnetic loop antenna in a receiver device. As such, the magnetic communication method described herein can enable proximity-based security, "tap" use cases (i.e., use cases initiated via a simple action of touching two devices together), and / or any other appropriate use cases that may require and / or benefit from bringing two communicating devices into close proximity. In addition, the magnetic communication method described herein can at least partially overlap with use cases supported via radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC), whereby the magnetic communication method described herein can provide an underlying transmission mechanism to support applications based on RFID, NFC, and / or other appropriate proximity-based technologies at higher levels in the protocol stack. For example, according to various aspects, the magnetic communication method described herein can be implemented between a receiver device and a transmitter device, wherein the transmitter device can have the ability to generate a magnetic field in a controlled direction, and the receiver device can include a magnetic sensor capable of sensing the direction of the magnetic field experienced at the receiver device along at least two axes. Specifically, the magnetic sensor may include any (multiple) appropriate components (e.g., Hall effect magnetometers) capable of reporting directions associated with the sensed magnetic field along two or more orthogonal axes. Accordingly, when the transmitter device is placed in close proximity to the receiver device, the magnetic field generated at the transmitter device will be significantly stronger than the earth's magnetic field at that location. Assuming that the direction of the magnetic field generated at the transmitter device has changed, the magnetic sensor in the receiver device can sense the new direction and report the angle to an application on the receiver device. Therefore, the direction (e.g., angle) associated with the magnetic field can represent a variable based on which data can be encoded at the transmitter device and decoded at the receiver device, thereby enabling the receiver device to receive data from the transmitter device.

[0007] According to various aspects, a method for sending data using magnetic communication may therefore include: generating one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to a receiver device at a transmitter device; generating a magnetic field at the transmitter device; and rotating the magnetic field around one or more axes to encode the one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to the receiver device. For example, in various embodiments, the one or more communication symbols may include one or more binary data bits. In an exemplary encoding scheme, the magnetic field may be rotated around a first axis by a first angle to encode a binary digit 0, and the magnetic field may be rotated around the first axis by a second angle to encode a binary digit 1. Alternatively and / or in addition, the one or more communication symbols may each represent multiple data bits, in which case the magnetic field may be rotated around the first axis by a first angle and further rotated around the second axis by a second angle to represent each communication symbol, or the magnetic field may be rotated in a two-dimensional plane (i.e., around an axis) by different angles of different magnitudes to represent each communication symbol, or other suitable encoding schemes may be used. In addition, in various embodiments, timing information for recovering the data represented in the one or more communication symbols may be encoded into the one or more communication symbols so that the magnetic communication between the transmitter device and the receiver device is substantially asynchronous. In various embodiments, the transmitter device may include a magnetic field source, wherein the power supply may be configured to drive the magnetic field source and cause the magnetic field source to rotate the magnetic field. In an alternative, the magnetic field source may include a permanent magnet configured to generate a persistent magnetic field, and one or more mechanical components coupled to the permanent magnet may be configured to rotate the permanent magnet to rotate the persistent magnetic field.

[0008] According to various aspects, a transmitter device may include a magnetic field source and a processor, wherein the magnetic field source is configured to generate a magnetic field, and the processor is configured to generate one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to a receiver device and rotate the magnetic field about one or more axes to encode the one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to the receiver device.

[0009] According to various aspects, an apparatus may include: means for generating one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to a receiver device; means for generating a magnetic field; and means for rotating the magnetic field about one or more axes to encode the one or more communication symbols.

[0010] According to various aspects, a computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions that may be configured to cause a transmitter device to: generate one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to a receiver device, generate a magnetic field, and rotate the magnetic field about one or more axes to encode the one or more communication symbols representing data to be sent to the receiver device.

[0011] According to various aspects, a method for receiving data using magnetic communication may include: sensing, at a receiver device, a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device; detecting one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device based on one or more changes in the sensed direction associated with the magnetic field vector; and decoding, at the receiver device, one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the one or more decoded communication symbols represent data received from a transmitter device configured to affect the magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device.

[0012] According to various aspects, a receiver device may include: a magnetic sensor configured to sense a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device and detect one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device based on one or more changes in the sensed direction associated with the magnetic field vector; and a processor configured to decode one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the one or more decoded communication symbols represent data received from a transmitter device configured to affect the magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device.

[0013] According to various aspects, a device may include: a unit for sensing a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the device; a unit for detecting one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the device based on one or more changes in the sensed direction associated with the magnetic field vector; and a unit for decoding one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the one or more decoded communication symbols represent data received from a transmitter device configured to affect the magnetic field vector experienced at the device.

[0014] According to various aspects, a computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions that may be configured to cause a receiver device to: sense a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device; detect one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device based on one or more changes in the sensed direction associated with the magnetic field vector; and decode one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the one or more decoded communication symbols represent data received from a transmitter device configured to affect the magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device.

[0015] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects and embodiments disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] A more complete appreciation of the various aspects and embodiments described herein, together with many of the attendant advantages thereof, will be readily obtained as the same will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are presented for purposes of illustration only and not limitation, wherein:

[0017] Figure 1

[0013] Example systems enabling magnetic communication between a transmitter device and a receiver device in accordance with various aspects are shown.

[0018] Figure 2 Exemplary features associated with a magnetic field having a direction that can be controlled at a transmitter device and sensed at a receiver device along two or more orthogonal axes are shown in accordance with various aspects.

[0019] Figure 3

[0013] Another example system enabling magnetic communication between a transmitter device and a receiver device in accordance with various aspects is shown.

[0020] Figure 4 Exemplary magnetic communication methods that may be performed at a transmitter device in accordance with various aspects are shown.

[0021] Figure 5

[0013] Example magnetic communication methods that may be performed at a receiver device in accordance with various aspects are shown.

[0022] Figure 6 An exemplary processing device is shown that can advantageously implement various aspects described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Various aspects and embodiments are disclosed by the following description and related drawings to show specific examples related to exemplary aspects and embodiments. For those skilled in the relevant art, after reading this disclosure, alternative aspects and embodiments will be apparent and can be constructed and practiced without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure. In addition, well-known elements will no longer be described in detail, or well-known elements may be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the aspects and embodiments disclosed herein difficult to understand.

[0024] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be considered preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Similarly, the term "embodiment" does not require that all embodiments include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0025] The terms used herein describe only specific embodiments and should not be considered to limit any embodiment disclosed herein. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "said" are intended to also include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood by those skilled in the art that the terms "include", "comprising" used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups thereof.

[0026] In addition, various aspects and / or embodiments may be described in the order of actions to be performed by, for example, a unit of a computing device. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, these sequences of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable medium having a corresponding set of computer instructions stored thereon, which, when executed, cause the associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the subject matter claimed for protection. In addition, for each of the aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured as..." and / or other structural components configured to perform the described actions.

[0027] As used herein, the term "transmitter device" may refer to any suitable device having the ability to generate a magnetic field in a controlled direction, and the term "receiver device" may refer to any suitable device having the ability to sense the direction associated with the magnetic field experienced at the receiver device. Specifically, the magnetic field can be represented as a vector having a direction and an amplitude, wherein the magnetic communication method described herein can be performed between a transmitter device capable of controlling the direction of the generated magnetic field and a receiver device capable of sensing the direction associated with the magnetic field (experienced at the receiver device). Accordingly, in various embodiments, the terms "transmitter device" and "receiver device" used herein may refer to any suitable device having the capabilities mentioned above, which may include any or all of a cellular phone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a palmtop computer, a wireless email receiver and a cellular phone receiver, a cellular phone enabled with multimedia Internet, and a similar personal electronic device including a programmable processor, a memory and appropriate magnetic communication components (e.g., a magnetic field source, a magnetometer, etc.). As used herein, the term "device" and its variants can be used interchangeably to refer to an electronic device including one or more magnetic communication components, one or more transceivers (which can be wired or wireless), and a processor configured with software instructions to participate in the exemplary system described herein and perform one or more exemplary methods described herein. In addition, in various use cases, a device capable of generating a magnetic field in a controlled direction and also sensing a direction associated with a magnetic field experienced at the device can operate as a transmitter device described herein, as a receiver device described herein, or as both. Various exemplary devices will be described in more detail below, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects and embodiments described herein are exemplary only, and the principles described herein can be widely applied to other appropriate systems and methods.

[0028] According to various aspects, Figure 1An exemplary system 100 is shown in which a transmitter device 110 and a receiver device 120 can communicate according to a magnetic communication method. In particular, as described in further detail herein, magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 can be performed without using induction, thereby avoiding the necessity of having a magnetic loop antenna in the receiver device 120. As such, the magnetic communication described herein can enable the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 to implement proximity-based security, "tap" use cases (i.e., use cases initiated via the simple act of touching the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 together), and / or any other suitable use cases that may require and / or benefit from having the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 in close proximity while communicating with each other. In addition, the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 can at least partially overlap with the use cases that can be supported via radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC), whereby the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 can provide an underlying transmission mechanism to support RFID and NFC-based applications. As such, the magnetic communication described herein can effectively replace RFID and NFC transmissions and thereby enable applications that implement magnetic communication without using RFID or NFC radio technology (including some applications that currently use RFID and / or NFC). In addition, the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 can supplement and / or support applications via Bluetooth, wireless local area network (WLAN), and / or other appropriate technologies (e.g., to securely transmit out-of-band (OOB) data that can be used to establish a wireless connection using such transmissions).

[0029] According to various aspects, the receiver device 120 may include a magnetic sensor 124 capable of sensing a direction associated with the magnetic field 106 in a space including two or more orthogonal axes (e.g., a plane with two orthogonal axes and / or a three-dimensional space with three orthogonal axes). Specifically, the magnetic sensor 124 may include any suitable component capable of reporting the direction associated with the sensed magnetic field 106 along two or more orthogonal axes (e.g., a plurality of Hall effect magnetometers, one for each axis, although the plurality of Hall effect magnetometers may be physically integrated into the magnetic sensor 124 as a single package). The transmitter device 110 may also include a magnetic field source 114 having the ability to generate and rotate the magnetic field 106 in a controlled direction. For example, in various embodiments, the transmitter device 110 may control the direction of the magnetic field 106 by supplying controlled amounts of current to two or more orthogonal solenoids in varying proportions ( Figure 1106). However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the direction of the magnetic field 106 can be appropriately controlled in other ways. In various embodiments, the magnetic field source 114 can include a magnetic transmitter and / or any other suitable component(s) having the ability to generate and rotate the magnetic field 106. For example, in various embodiments, the magnetic field source 114 can be an open-loop transformer configured to emit a magnetic field while acting as a transformer. In another example, the magnetic field source 114 can be a permanent magnet (e.g., a rare earth magnet) that establishes a persistent magnetic field. In other examples, the magnetic field source 114 can include any suitable device(s) and / or component(s) having the ability to generate and rotate the magnetic field 106 in a controlled direction, including device(s) and / or component(s) used in induction motors, wireless charging devices, etc., as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0030] Accordingly, in various embodiments, the transmitter device 110 may include or be coupled to a power source 112, which may drive a magnetic field source 114 at the transmitter device 110 and thereby cause the magnetic field source 114 to generate a magnetic field 106 (e.g., in a controlled direction based on appropriate instructions from an application, a processor, etc.). When the transmitter device 110 is placed in close proximity to the receiver device 120, such that the distance 102 separating the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 is sufficiently small, the magnetic field 106 generated at the transmitter device 110 may be significantly stronger than the earth's magnetic field at that location. Accordingly, assuming that the magnetic field 106 changes direction (e.g., because the magnetic field source 114 rotates the magnetic field 106 by a certain angle), the magnetic sensor 124 at the receiver device 120 may detect the change in direction and generate an output 122 to report the angle to an application on the receiver device 120. As such, magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 may generally use the direction (e.g., angle) associated with the magnetic field 106 as a variable for encoding / decoding, thereby providing a mechanism by which the receiver device 120 can receive data from the transmitter device 110.

[0031] According to various aspects, Figure 2 Exemplary features associated with magnetic field 106 are shown to further explain how transmitter device 110 can generate and rotate magnetic field 106 to encode data sent to receiver device 120, and also enable receiver device 120 to decode data from transmitter device 110. Specifically, as described above, magnetic sensor 124 at receiver device 120 can be configured to sense directions associated with magnetic field 106 along two or more orthogonal axes, and detect the angle of rotation of magnetic field 106. In this context, Figure 2An exemplary magnetic field 106 is shown, which may be generated or otherwise represented in a coordinate space having an x-axis, a y-axis, and a z-axis. However, one skilled in the art will recognize that the magnetic field 106 may be appropriately generated or represented in a two-dimensional space (i.e., a plane) having two axes to implement use cases based on rotation about one axis. Figure 2 In the example shown, the magnetic field 106 can be a vector in a coordinate space having a horizontal component corresponding to a value associated with the magnetic field 106 projected onto a horizontal plane, as defined according to the x-axis and y-axis in the example shown. Accordingly, the deflection angle can represent the angle at which the horizontal component deviates from the y-axis. In addition, the magnetic field 106 can have a vertical component corresponding to a value associated with the magnetic field 106 projected onto the z-axis, and the tilt angle can represent the angle at which the magnetic field 106 deviates from the horizontal plane.

[0032] In the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120, one or more angles may be used as variables on the basis of which data transmitted from the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 is encoded (e.g., deflection angle, tilt angle, etc.). Specifically, the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 may use a simple differential encoding scheme so that the transmitter device 110 may rotate the magnetic field 106 to represent one or more bits per symbol. For example, in one embodiment, the transmitter device 110 may rotate the magnetic field 106 clockwise by a predetermined angle (e.g., ninety degrees) to represent a binary number one (1), and may rotate the magnetic field 106 counterclockwise by a predetermined angle (e.g., negative ninety degrees) to represent a binary number zero (0). However, those skilled in the art will recognize that other appropriate encoding schemes may be appropriately adopted (e.g., the magnetic field 106 may be rotated counterclockwise to represent a binary number 1, and the magnetic field 106 may be rotated clockwise to represent a binary number 0, the rotation angle may be varied according to a known pattern, etc.). In any case, the simple differential encoding scheme can advantageously eliminate the need to establish a fixed reference position between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120, thereby enabling the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 to be maintained in any orientation relative to each other. In addition, to enable use cases with higher data rates, the magnetic communication method can use constellation codes or other appropriate techniques to encode data transmitted between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120. For example, in various embodiments, the constellation code can use more rotation angles to encode more than one bit per symbol (e.g., based on different angular magnitudes of rotation around a single axis, so that multiple bits can be encoded even if the angle is modulated and sensed only in a single plane). In addition, in various embodiments, the constellation code scheme can be extended to include the z-axis to define a three-dimensional constellation code. In this sense, the additional information encoded into each symbol can improve security because the modulation required to generate or read the magnetic field 106 from any significant distance can become more difficult.

[0033] In addition, the magnetic communication method can be asynchronous because no external clock signal is required. Instead, the timing required to recover data from the communication symbol can be encoded into the communication symbol, which can achieve a variable bit rate. However, the minimum angle that can be reliably resolved and the rate at which a new communication symbol can be received will depend on the capabilities associated with the receiver device 120 and any other magnetic interference that may or may not exist in the environment, so they can represent key factors in determining the highest data rate that can be achieved. However, since the magnetic field 106 has an intensity that follows the inverse cubic law relative to the distance, it will generally have a significantly greater impact on the receiver device 120 relative to a more distant source of magnetic interference when the transmitter device 110 is located in close proximity to the receiver device 120.

[0034] According to various aspects, using an angle at which magnetic field 106 is varied or otherwise rotated in order to communicate data from transmitter device 110 to receiver device 120 may be advantageous in the sense that it may be difficult to generate a signal at receiver device 120 if transmitter device 110 is any significant distance away. Specifically, it may be difficult to generate magnetic field 106 at receiver device 120 that is any significant distance away because the angle at which magnetic field 106 is rotated (which is used to encode data communicated from transmitter device 110 to receiver device 120) must be approximately centered about 120. While an intruder could theoretically use a large physical device surrounding receiver device 120 (e.g., some inductive loops laid out around an entire building or perhaps a system with several coordinated point sources) to rotate the angle around receiver device 120, such an installation may be impractical and difficult to deploy on a concealed basis. Furthermore, unlike electromagnetic waves, the magnetic field 106 has a strength (flux density) that follows an inverse cubic law with respect to distance, whereby it becomes increasingly difficult to generate the magnetic field 106 at greater distances. Accordingly, the magnetic communication methods described herein can inherently provide robust security because physical proximity is required to achieve magnetic communication between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120.

[0035] Thus, according to various aspects, the magnetic communication methods described herein may have various applications and / or be appropriately applied to various devices having appropriate magnetic components. For example, in various embodiments, the magnetic communication methods may be used in a wireless charging system, whereby a transmitter may be added to a charger device, and the transmitter may be arranged to use charging magnetic components and drive circuits at negligible cost increase. In another exemplary application, the magnetic communication method may be used to communicate out-of-band (OOB) data between a transmitter device 110 and a receiver device 120 to enable authentication before continuing to communicate using another technology such as Bluetooth. In another possible embodiment, as described above, the magnetic field source 114 may be a permanent magnet (e.g., a magnet made of a rare earth metal or other suitable ferromagnetic material) that generates a persistent magnetic field without the need for a power source 112. In such an embodiment, the energy required to rotate the permanent magnet and thereby modulate the angle associated with the magnetic field 106 may be obtained from a human user (e.g., via a dial with a spring return) and / or may be obtained by other suitable mechanical units. Furthermore, although the above description explains the magnetic communication method in terms of a unidirectional data transfer from the transmitter device 110 to the receiver device 120, those skilled in the art will recognize that a bidirectional data transfer may be appropriately implemented assuming that the receiver device 120 also has appropriate magnetic field generating components. In this case, the roles between the transmitter device 110 and the receiver device 120 may simply be reversed, wherein a collision avoidance protocol may be implemented to ensure that both devices 110 and 120 do not excite the local magnetic component substantially simultaneously.

[0036] According to various aspects, Figure 3 Another exemplary system 300 is shown that can implement magnetic communication between a transmitter device 310 and a receiver device 320. For example, Figure 1Similar to the illustrated system 100, magnetic communication between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 may be performed without the use of induction, thereby avoiding the necessity of providing a magnetic loop antenna at the receiver device 320. In addition, as mentioned above, the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 may overlap at least partially with use cases that can be supported via radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communication (NFC), whereby the magnetic communication between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 may provide an underlying transmission mechanism to support RFID and NFC-based applications. As such, the magnetic communication described herein may effectively replace RFID and NFC transmissions, and thereby enable applications that implement magnetic communication without the use of RFID or NFC radio technology (including some applications that currently use RFID and / or NFC). In addition, as described herein, magnetic communication between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 can be supplemented and / or supported by applications via Bluetooth, wireless local area network (WLAN), and / or other suitable technologies (e.g., to securely transmit out-of-band (OOB) data that can be used to establish a wireless connection using such transmission). Accordingly, in various embodiments, a communication channel 308 can be formed between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320, wherein the communication channel 308 can be an RFID channel, an NFC channel, a Bluetooth channel, a WLAN channel, and / or any other suitable channel through which data can be transferred between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320. In various embodiments, the communication channel 308 can be separate from the magnetic field 306 used to transfer data from the transmitter device 310 to the receiver device 320, or the communication channel 308 can be alternatively combined with the magnetic field 306 or otherwise associated with the magnetic field 306. As such, in various embodiments, transmitter device 310 and receiver device 320 may optionally include wireless antennas 317, 327 (e.g., to enable communication via NFC, Bluetooth, WLAN, etc.), although wireless antennas 317, 327 may not be required to perform the magnetic communication methods described herein.

[0037] In various embodiments, Figure 3 The illustrated system 300 may also further implement unidirectional data transfer from the transmitter device 310 to the receiver device 320 and / or bidirectional data transfer between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320. In the latter case, the transmitter device 310 may further include components similar to those present in the receiver device 320, and vice versa, whereby the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 may reverse the roles of transmitting or receiving data, and a collision avoidance protocol may be implemented to ensure that both devices 310, 320 do not excite the local magnetic component substantially at the same time.

[0038] According to various aspects, the transmitter device 310 may include a magnetic field source 314 that is capable of generating a magnetic field 306 and rotating the magnetic field 306 by electrical and / or magnetic means. For example, in various embodiments, the magnetic field source 314 may be coupled to a rotation means 315 (e.g., a motor, an actuator, one or more springs, and / or any other suitable means that can induce rotation in the magnetic field 306 generated by the magnetic field source 314), which can rotate the magnetic field 306 in a controlled direction or otherwise modulate the magnetic field 306. As such, in various embodiments, the rotation means 315 may optionally include or be coupled to a power source 318 that can drive the rotation means 315 and thereby cause the magnetic field source 314 to generate the magnetic field 306 in a controlled direction (e.g., based on appropriate instructions from the differential encoder 313, as discussed in more detail below). Alternatively, as described above, the magnetic field source 314 may be a permanent magnet (e.g., a magnet made of a rare earth metal or other suitable ferromagnetic material) that generates a persistent magnetic field. As such, the power source 318 may be optional, as the energy 319 required to rotate the permanent magnet and thereby modulate the angle associated with the magnetic field 306 may be obtained from a human user via the rotation unit 315. In this sense, the rotation unit 315 may include a dial with a spring return and / or other suitable mechanical unit from which the energy 319 to drive the rotation unit 315 may be obtained. In yet another alternative, in embodiments where the magnetic field source 314 controls the direction of the magnetic field 306 by using an arrangement of two or more orthogonal solenoids, the transmitter device 310 may not require the rotation unit 315, as the transmitter device 310 may instead rotate the magnetic field 306 by supplying controlled amounts of current to the two or more orthogonal solenoids in varying proportions.

[0039] According to various aspects, when the transmitter device 310 is placed in close proximity to the receiver device 320, the magnetic field 306 generated at the transmitter device 310 can be significantly stronger than the Earth's magnetic field at that location. Accordingly, if the magnetic field 306 changes direction, the magnetic sensor 324 at the receiver device 320 can detect the change in direction and generate an output that reports the angle to the application 321 on the receiver device 320. As such, magnetic communication between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 can generally use the direction (e.g., angle) associated with the magnetic field 306 as a variable to be encoded / decoded according to, and thereby provide a mechanism by which the receiver device 320 can receive data from the transmitter device 310. For example, according to various aspects, the magnetic communication methods described herein generally enable an application 311 at the transmitter device 310 to transfer data to an application 321 at the receiver device 320 (when the applications 311, 321 are implementing the magnetic communication method to perform a two-way data transfer, and vice versa).

[0040] As such, in various embodiments, data to be transmitted to the receiver device 320 may be provided from the application 311 to the differential encoder 313 at the transmitter device 310, wherein the differential encoder 313 may encode the data to be transmitted to the receiver device 320 according to one or more rotation angles associated with the magnetic field 306. In one embodiment, the differential encoder 313 may use a simple encoding scheme whereby the magnetic field 306 is rotated by a certain angle to represent one or more bits per symbol, wherein the angle may be fixed or predetermined, may vary according to a particular pattern or algorithm, etc. For example, one encoding scheme may rotate the magnetic field 306 clockwise by a first angle (e.g., ninety degrees) to represent a binary digit one (1), and may rotate the magnetic field 306 counterclockwise by a second angle (e.g., negative ninety degrees) to represent a binary digit zero (0). As such, to encode a four-bit data word including the sequence “0110” according to the exemplary encoding scheme described above, the differential encoder 313 may generate a symbol, instruction, or other appropriate information to rotate the magnetic field 306 counterclockwise (0), then clockwise (1), then clockwise (1), and finally counterclockwise (0) to represent the data word to be sent to the receiver device 320. In a similar aspect, the magnetic sensor 324 at the receiver device 320 may detect the magnetic field 306 and the rotation associated therewith and generate an appropriate output to the differential decoder 323. Accordingly, based on the magnetic sensor 324 sensing the initial direction associated with the magnetic field 306 rotating successively counterclockwise, clockwise, clockwise, and counterclockwise, the differential decoder 323 may decode the “0110” data word and provide the decoded data word to the application 321 at the receiver device 320.

[0041] According to various embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the above encoding schemes are intended to be illustrative only, and other suitable encoding schemes may be appropriately employed. In any case, since the simple differential encoding scheme employs a rotation angle to encode the binary data bits, the simple differential encoding scheme may advantageously eliminate the necessity of establishing a fixed reference position between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320. In this sense, the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 may be maintained in any orientation relative to each other. However, in order to implement use cases with higher data rates, constellation codes or other suitable techniques may be used to encode data transmitted between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320. For example, in various embodiments, the constellation code may employ more rotation angles to encode more than one bit per symbol, and the constellation code scheme may be extended to include a z-axis to define a three-dimensional constellation code. In this sense, the additional information encoded into each symbol may improve security because the modulation required to generate or read the magnetic field 306 from any significant distance may become more difficult. Furthermore, magnetic communications between the transmitter device 310 and the receiver device 320 may be asynchronous (e.g., without the need for an external clock signal) because the timing required to recover data from the communication symbols may be encoded into the communication symbols, thereby achieving a variable bit rate. However, the minimum angle that can be reliably resolved and the rate at which new communication symbols can be received will depend on the capabilities associated with the receiver device 320 and any other magnetic interference that may or may not be present in the environment, which factors in turn represent key factors in determining the highest data rate that can be achieved. However, due at least in part to the inverse cubic law, when the transmitter device 310 is located in close proximity to the receiver device 320, the transmitter device 310 will generally have a significantly greater impact on the receiver device 320 relative to more distant sources of magnetic interference.

[0042] According to various aspects, Figure 4 It is shown that the transmitter device (eg Figure 1 The transmitter device 110 shown, Figure 3 310, etc.) shown in the figure. In various embodiments, the transmitter device may generally include a magnetic field source capable of generating a magnetic field in a controlled direction and an appropriate unit for modulating the direction associated with the magnetic field. In this sense, the transmitter device may rotate the magnetic field around one or more axes so that one or more angles of rotation of the magnetic field may be used to encode data to be sent from the transmitter device to the receiver device.

[0043] Accordingly, at block 405, an application at a transmitter device may generate out-of-band (OOB) data to be sent to a receiver device. For example, the OOB data may include one or more binary data words, which may be encoded according to a simple differential encoding scheme, whereby a magnetic field generated at the transmitter device is rotated by a first angle to encode a binary digit one (1), and the magnetic field is rotated in the other direction by a second angle or according to another suitable scheme to encode a binary digit zero (0). Alternatively, the OOB data may include more than one bit per symbol to achieve a higher data rate, which may be achieved, for example, using a constellation code and more than one rotation angle (e.g., four data bits may be sent in each symbol to obtain a bit rate four times the symbol rate). In any case, at block 410, an appropriate symbol sequence for encoding the OOB data bit(s) may be determined, which may depend on the particular data rate and the bits per symbol to be encoded. For example, in one embodiment, the minimum angle that can be reliably resolved at a receiver device, the rate at which new communication symbols can be received at the receiver device, any other magnetic interference that may or may not be present in the environment, and / or other appropriate factors may be relevant to determining the maximum data rate that can be achieved, and therefore, the appropriate symbol sequence for encoding the OOB data bits.

[0044] In various embodiments, at block 415, the transmitter device may generate a magnetic field in a controlled direction, wherein the magnetic field generated at the transmitter device may be detected by the receiver device when the transmitter device is placed sufficiently close to the receiver device. As described above, the scheme for encoding the OOB data bits to be transmitted from the transmitter device to the receiver device may depend on the rotation of the magnetic field generated at the transmitter device. The transmitter device and the receiver device may thus be maintained in any orientation relative to each other without requiring any fixed reference position, whereby the initial magnetic field generated at block 415 may instead provide a reference position, and subsequent rotations in the magnetic field from that position may be used to encode / decode the data. In addition, in various embodiments, a known preamble sequence or header may be added to the data to assist the receiver device in dynamically determining the reference position. As such, in various embodiments, at block 420, the transmitter device may modulate the magnetic field vector (e.g., a direction associated with the magnetic field), wherein the magnetic field vector may be modulated according to the symbol sequence determined in block 410 (i.e., the transmitter device may rotate the magnetic field around one or more axes by one or more appropriate angles to represent each symbol in the symbol sequence). In various embodiments, the data sent from the transmitter device to the receiver device may then be used to implement various applications (eg, authentication, file transfer, etc.).

[0045] According to various aspects, Figure 5 It is shown that the receiver device (e.g. Figure 1 The receiver device 120 shown, Figure 3 320, etc.) shown in the figure. For example, in various embodiments, the receiver device may generally include a magnetic sensor capable of sensing a direction associated with a magnetic field. Accordingly, when a transmitter device having the ability to generate a magnetic field and rotate the magnetic field is placed sufficiently close to the receiver device, the magnetic field generated at the transmitter device may be substantially stronger than the earth's magnetic field at that location. As such, at block 505, the receiver device may sense a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device and affected by the magnetic field generated at the transmitter device. In addition, at block 510, the receiver device may then detect one or more changes in the direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the receiver device and affected by the transmitter device that rotates the magnetic field generated thereby. Specifically, the transmitter device may rotate the magnetic field around one or more axes by one or more angles to encode data to be sent to the receiver device. In various embodiments, at block 515, the receiver device may therefore decode out-of-band (OOB) data sent from the transmitter device according to the one or more angles of magnetic field rotation and the sequence in which the rotation occurs. In various embodiments, at block 520, the decoded OOB data may then be provided to an appropriate consuming application on the receiver device (eg, an authentication application that uses the OOB data as a shared secret, a file transfer application, etc.).

[0046] According to various aspects, Figure 6 An exemplary processing device 600 is shown that can advantageously implement various aspects described herein. In various embodiments, the processing device 600 can be configured as a wireless device. The processing device 600 can include or otherwise implement the above-referenced Figures 1 to 5One or more aspects discussed in more detail, according to which the processing device 600 may include at least one or more magnetic communication components 660 that can be used to perform the (multiple) magnetic communication methods described in more detail above. For example, in various embodiments, the processing device 600 can be configured as the transmitter device 110, 310 described in more detail above, in which case the one or more magnetic communication components 660 can include at least a magnetic field source capable of generating and rotating a magnetic field in a controlled direction. In addition, when configured as a transmitter device 110, 310, the processing device 600 can optionally couple the one or more magnetic communication components 660 to a power supply 644, which can be used to drive the one or more magnetic communication components 660 and thereby modulate the magnetic field generated thereby. Alternatively, the one or more magnetic communication components 660 may include a permanent magnet that does not require a power supply, in which case the one or more magnetic communication components 660 can be coupled to a mechanical rotation unit 646, from which the mechanical rotation unit 646 obtains the energy required to rotate the permanent magnet and thereby modulate the angle associated with the magnetic field generated by the one or more magnetic communication components 660. Furthermore, in various embodiments, the processing device 600 may be configured as a receiver device 120, 320 as described in more detail above, in which case the one or more magnetic communication components 660 may include at least a magnetic sensor capable of sensing the direction of a magnetic field in a coordinate space including two or more orthogonal axes. Furthermore, in various embodiments, the processing device 600 may be configured as both a transmitter device 110, 310 and a receiver device 120, 320, in which case the processing device 600 may utilize active components and functions to implement functions and components associated with the transmitter device 110, 310 and the receiver device 120, 320 depending on whether the processing device 600 is currently playing the role of a transmitter or a receiver (e.g., in an application that employs a magnetic communication method to perform bidirectional data transfer).

[0047] According to various embodiments, Figure 6 As shown, the processing device 600 may include a processor 610, which may be, for example, a digital signal processor (DSP) or any general purpose processor or central processing unit (CPU) known in the art. The processor 610 may be communicatively coupled to a memory system 650, which may be configured to store instructions, data, and / or other appropriate information associated with one or more applications that may be executed on the processor 610 and implement the magnetic communication method described herein. According to various embodiments, Figure 6 Also shown, the processing device 600 may include a display controller 626 coupled to the processor 610 and a display 628. The processing device 600 may also include a coder / decoder (CODEC) 634 (e.g., an audio and / or voice CODEC) coupled to the processor 610. Figure 6Other components such as a wireless controller 640 (e.g., a modem) are also shown. In various embodiments, a speaker 636 and a microphone 638 can be coupled to the CODEC 634. In addition, according to various embodiments, the wireless controller 640 can be coupled to a wireless antenna 642, such as Figure 6 shown.

[0048] According to various aspects, the processor 610, display controller 626, memory system 650, CODEC 634, wireless controller 640, and / or magnetic communication component 660 may be included or otherwise provided in a system-in-package or system-on-chip device 622. In various embodiments, an input device 630 may be coupled to the system-on-chip device 622. In addition, as Figure 6 As shown, the display 628, input device 630, speaker 636, microphone 638, wireless antenna 642, and power supply 644 can be located outside the system-on-chip device 622. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the display 628, input device 630, speaker 636, microphone 638, wireless antenna 642, and / or power supply 644 can be coupled to components associated with the system-on-chip device 622 (e.g., via an interface or controller). In addition, although Figure 6 The processing device 600 is shown as a wireless device, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the processor 610, memory system 650, magnetic communication component 660, etc. can also be integrated into a set-top box, music player, video player, entertainment unit, navigation device, personal data assistant (PDA), fixed location data unit, computer, laptop, tablet computer, communication device, mobile phone, electronic lock, Internet of Things (IoT) device, or other similar device.

[0049] Those skilled in the art will recognize that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof may be used to represent the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. mentioned throughout the above description.

[0050] In addition, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate the interchangeability of hardware and software, the above generally describes it in terms of the functionality of various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the various aspects and embodiments described herein.

[0051] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate logic or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, and / or any other such configuration).

[0052] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may be present in RAM, flash memory, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium known in the art. An exemplary non-transitory computer-readable medium may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the non-transitory computer-readable medium and write information to it. In an alternative, the non-transitory computer-readable medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the non-transitory computer-readable medium may be present in an ASIC. The ASIC may be present in an IoT device. In an alternative, the processor and the non-transitory computer-readable medium may be discrete components in a user terminal.

[0053] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described herein can be implemented as hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented as software, the function can be stored as one or more instructions or codes on a non-transient computer-readable medium or sent via a non-transient computer-readable storage medium. Computer-readable media may include storage media and / or communication media, including any non-transient media that can facilitate the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or may be used to carry or store any other medium with an expected program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and that can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves, then coaxial cable, optical cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves are all included in the definition of medium. The terms disk and disc, which are used interchangeably herein, include CDs, laser discs, optical discs, DVDs, floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, which typically reproduce data magnetically and / or optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0054] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects and embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, based on the various illustrative aspects and embodiments described herein, those skilled in the art will recognize that the functions, steps and / or actions in any method described above and / or listed in any method claim attached hereto do not have to be performed in any particular order. In addition, to the extent any element is described above or listed in the appended claims in singular form, those skilled in the art will recognize that the singular form also contemplates the plural unless it is explicitly stated that it is limited to the singular form.

Claims

1. A method for sending data using magnetic communication, comprising: generating, at a transmitter device, one or more communication symbols representing data to be transmitted to a receiver device; generating a magnetic field at said transmitter device; rotating the magnetic field about one or more axes without induction to encode the one or more communication symbols representing the data to be transmitted to the receiver device; sensing, at the transmitter device, a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device; detecting, at the transmitter device, one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device based on the sensed one or more changes in direction associated with the magnetic field vector without using induction; and decoding, at the transmitter device, one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the decoded one or more communication symbols represent data received from a receiver device configured to influence the magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device, A collision avoidance protocol is implemented between the transmitter device and the receiver device to ensure that the transmitter device and the receiver device do not simultaneously excite local magnetic components.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more communication symbols include one or more binary data bits.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: Rotating the magnetic field about the one or more axes to encode the one or more communication symbols representing the data to be transmitted to the receiver device comprises: Rotating the magnetic field about a first axis by a first angle to encode a binary digit 0; and The magnetic field is rotated about the first axis by a second angle to encode a binary digit "1".

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more communication symbols each represent a plurality of data bits.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The magnetic field is rotated at least about a first axis by a first angle, and the magnetic field is also rotated about a second axis by a second angle to represent each communication symbol.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The magnetic field is rotated within a two-dimensional plane by at least a first angle having a first magnitude and a second angle having a second magnitude to represent each communication symbol.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Timing information used to recover the data represented in the one or more communication symbols is encoded within the one or more communication symbols such that the magnetic communication between the transmitter device and the receiver device is substantially asynchronous.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The transmitter arrangement comprises a magnetic field source configured to generate the magnetic field.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The transmitter device also includes a power source configured to drive the magnetic field source and cause the magnetic field source to rotate the magnetic field.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The magnetic field source includes a permanent magnet configured to generate a persistent magnetic field and one or more mechanical components coupled to the permanent magnet, the one or more mechanical components configured to cause the permanent magnet to rotate so that the persistent magnetic field rotates.

11. A transmitter device, comprising: a magnetic field source configured to generate a magnetic field; a processor configured to generate one or more communication symbols representing data to be transmitted to a receiver device and to rotate the magnetic field about one or more axes without induction to encode the one or more communication symbols representing the data to be transmitted to the receiver device; a magnetic sensor configured to sense a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device and to detect one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device without using induction based on one or more changes in the sensed direction associated with the magnetic field vector; as well as a processor configured to decode one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the decoded one or more communication symbols represent data received from a receiver device configured to affect the magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device, A collision avoidance protocol is implemented between the transmitter device and the receiver device to ensure that the transmitter device and the receiver device do not simultaneously excite local magnetic components.

12. The transmitter device according to claim 11, wherein: The one or more communication symbols include one or more binary data bits.

13. The transmitter device according to claim 12, wherein: The processor is further configured to: Rotating the magnetic field around a first axis by a first angle to encode a binary digit 0; as well as The magnetic field is rotated about the first axis by a second angle to encode a binary digit "1".

14. The transmitter device according to claim 11, wherein: The one or more communication symbols each represent a plurality of data bits.

15. The transmitter device according to claim 14, wherein: The processor is further configured to rotate the magnetic field about one or more axes by a plurality of different angles to represent each communication symbol.

16. The transmitter device according to claim 11, wherein: The processor is further configured to encode within the one or more communication symbols timing information used to recover the data represented in the one or more communication symbols such that the data is delivered to the receiver device in a substantially asynchronous manner.

17. The transmitter device according to claim 11, further comprising: A power source is configured to drive the magnetic field source and cause the magnetic field to rotate according to instructions from the processor.

18. The transmitter device according to claim 11, wherein: The magnetic field source comprises a permanent magnet, and the transmitter device further comprises one or more mechanical components coupled to the permanent magnet, the one or more mechanical components being arranged to rotate the permanent magnet when energy is applied to the one or more mechanical components to cause the magnetic field to rotate.

19. A communication device comprising: means for generating one or more communication symbols representing data to be transmitted to a receiver device; a unit for generating a magnetic field; means for rotating the magnetic field about one or more axes to encode the one or more communication symbols without using induction; means for sensing a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the device; means for detecting one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the device without using induction based on one or more sensed changes in direction associated with the magnetic field vector; as well as means for decoding one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the decoded one or more communication symbols represent data received from a receiver device configured to affect the magnetic field vector experienced at the device, Therein, a collision avoidance protocol is implemented between the device and the receiver arrangement to ensure that the device and the receiver arrangement do not simultaneously excite local magnetic components.

20. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions, wherein the stored computer-executable instructions are configured to cause a transmitter device to: generating one or more communication symbols, the one or more communication symbols representing data to be transmitted to a receiver device; Generate a magnetic field; rotating the magnetic field about one or more axes without induction to encode the one or more communication symbols representing the data to be transmitted to the receiver device; sensing a direction associated with a magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device; detecting, without induction, one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device based on the sensed one or more changes in direction associated with the magnetic field vector; and decoding one or more communication symbols based on the one or more rotations of the magnetic field vector, wherein the decoded one or more communication symbols represent data received from a receiver device configured to influence the magnetic field vector experienced at the transmitter device, A collision avoidance protocol is implemented between the transmitter device and the receiver device to ensure that the transmitter device and the receiver device do not simultaneously excite local magnetic components.

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