Dynamic function loading

Abstract

A device (16) for processing a near field communication type application, the device (16) comprising: a host controller circuit (14) for processing a device application using the near field communication type application and processing a host driver (6), the host driver (6) communicating with a first transmission module (17) of the host controller circuit (14) based on a first interface protocol (NCI); an NFC controller circuit (15) processing the contactless interface (5) of the near field communication type and comprising a controller soft driver (19) interfacing with the first transmission module (17) on the basis of a second interface protocol, in which the NFC controller circuit (15) comprises a reserved memory area (22) for temporarily storing and processing a software stack and is configured to process a trigger function (23), the trigger function (23) observes at least one trigger event and initiates downloading of the software stack linked to the trigger event from the host controller circuit (14) into the reserved storage area (22) via a second interface protocol, and the NFC controller circuit (15) is configured to process the software stack stored in the reserved storage area (22) in response to the trigger event.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for processing near field communication type applications, the device comprising: a host controller circuit, which processes a device application using the near field communication type application and processes a host driver that communicates with a first transmission module of the host controller circuit based on a first interface protocol; an NFC controller circuit, which processes a near field communication type contactless interface and comprises a controller soft driver that interfaces with the first transmission module based on a second interface protocol. Background Art

[0002] Document EP 3 160 165 B1 discloses such a device as a mobile phone with near field communication (NFC) functionality. NFC technology is developed by an industry consortium called NFC Forum (http: / / www.nfc-forum.ofg) and is derived from RFID technology. NFC components can operate in "reader" mode, "card emulation" mode and "device" mode standardized by ISO 18.092. The NFC component transmits a magnetic field through its near field communication contactless interface, sends data by modulating the amplitude of the magnetic field, and receives data by load modulation and inductive coupling. In emulation mode, such as described in EP 1 327 222, the NFC component operates passively like a transponder, dialogues with another reader, and is seen as an RFID chip by the other reader.

[0003] The device disclosed in EP 3 160 165 B1 includes a host controller circuit or mobile phone processor, which handles all device applications related to the normal telephone functions of a smart phone. For example, these applications can make calls, send text messages or search the Internet. In order to add near field communication functions to the mobile phone, a separate integrated circuit called an NFC controller circuit is added to the mobile phone. The NFC Forum specification "NFC Controller Interface (NCI)" defines an interface protocol for implementing communication between a host controller circuit and an NFC controller circuit. The host controller circuit uses a software stack called a host driver to implement the NCI interface, which communicates with a software stack called a controller driver processed in the NFC controller circuit based on the NCI interface.

[0004] Disclosed in EP 3 160 165 B1 and in Figure 1 and Figure 2The device shown in FIG. 1 comprises a host controller circuit 1 and an NFC controller circuit 2 of a mobile phone 3 having a "splitstack" NFC architecture. The mobile phone 3 comprises various prior art modules processed by a device host 4, which implements normal phone functions, such as being able to make calls, send text messages, or search the Internet. The device host 4 of the host controller circuit 1 is the main processor of the mobile phone 3, which is responsible for all these tasks and interfaces with other integrated circuits in the mobile phone 3 to implement these functions.

[0005] The NFC controller circuit 2 is one of these other integrated circuits that implements the near field communication functionality. The NFC controller circuit 2 is connected to an RFID antenna (not shown in the figure) and carries a contactless interface 5 to communicate with other NFC-enabled devices. The wireless NFC contactless interface protocol is standardized in ISO 18.092, ISO14.443, ISO15.693, NFC Forum specifications and EMVCo and must be processed within specified time frames. Time-critical or mission-performance-critical tasks include:

[0006] 1. Delay time / guard time, which means transmitting data neither too early nor too late.

[0007] 2.EMVCo timing, used to reset the operation field.

[0008] 3.NFC active mode anti-collision.

[0009] 4. Timing used to extend the waiting time.

[0010] 5. Electromagnetic interference processing (EMD).

[0011] The NFC controller circuit 2 handles time-critical or performance-critical tasks to implement such NFC contactless interface protocol, which helps to reduce the latency requirements of the host controller circuit 1 .

[0012] The host controller circuit 1 implements the NCI interface using a software stack named host driver 6, which communicates with a software stack (NCI-FW(stack)) named controller driver 7 based on the NCI interface. The controller driver 7, as part of a first transmission module 8, processes and implements the NCI interface. The controller driver 7 or the transmission module 8 handles all non-time-critical and / or memory-consuming tasks of the near field communication application of the mobile phone 3. Typical near field communication applications are, for example, card emulation applications or point of sale applications.

[0013] The first transmission module 8 also includes a host soft driver 9, which communicates with a controller driver or NFC controller soft driver 10 based on a second interface protocol. The NFC controller circuit 2 also includes a second transmission module 11, which handles all time-critical tasks of near field communication type applications towards the near field communication type contactless interface 5. In addition to this, the second transmission module 11 can also handle repetitive tasks or tasks that affect the overall throughput time. Figure 2 As shown, the NFC controller circuit 2 further includes a logical link layer 12 for interfacing with the smart card 13 over a contact interface 28 via a single-wire protocol.

[0014] like Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, the "split-stack" NFC architecture of the host controller circuit 1 and the NFC controller circuit 2 makes the second transmission module 11 only a relatively small software stack that must be processed by the NFC controller circuit 2 to implement time-critical tasks or performance-critical tasks to realize the near field communication application. All other non-time-critical tasks and memory or data-consuming tasks of the near field communication application are processed in the first transmission module 8 by the host controller 1 with high processing power, sufficient storage space and easy linking with other functions of the mobile phone 3. Due to this "split-stack" NFC architecture, the software stack that must be processed by the NFC controller 2 based on the standard NFC architecture of the prior art is moved to the host controller 1, which makes firmware updates easier.

[0015] A disadvantage of the standard NFC architecture, and even of the improved "split-stack" NFC architecture disclosed in EP 3 160 165 B1, is the limited memory space in the NFC controller circuit 2 compared to the host controller circuit 1, which limits the possibility to enable a large number of new payment applications, e.g. from different credit card companies.

[0016] Prior art documents US2019 / 0258472A1 and US2014 / 0130151A1 disclose devices for processing near field communication type applications, which include a host controller circuit and an NFC controller circuit, and disclose how to handle firmware updates of the NFC controller circuit's firmware initiated by the host controller circuit. Summary of the invention

[0017] The object of the present invention is to provide a device and a chipset as well as a method for handling near field communication type applications by improving the use of limited memory space in an NFC controller circuit.

[0018] This object is achieved by a device according to claim 1 and a chipset according to claim 9 and a method according to claim 10. The NFC controller circuit of the claimed device comprises a trigger function which is constructed to observe the occurrence of a specific trigger event. The occurrence of a trigger event causes the NFC controller circuit to take an action, which depends on the trigger event that occurred. For example, the action can be to calibrate a sensor or to measure interference in an RF field. The action must be completed by processing of a specific software stack that implements the action. Upon the occurrence of one of these trigger events, the NFC controller circuit sends a function request to the host controller circuit to download the software stack to the NFC controller circuit, which, if processed by the NFC controller circuit, enables the desired action to be implemented. A specific storage area in the NFC controller circuit is reserved for such a temporarily loaded software stack. After processing the software stack to implement the desired action, the temporarily loaded software stack may be overwritten by the next software stack after the next trigger event occurs.

[0019] The claimed device enables the advantage of reducing the memory requirements for normal processing in the NFC controller circuit, thereby freeing up memory space for additional functions. For a triggering event like detection of a new smart card connected to the contact interface of the NFC controller circuit, the relevant SWP processor software stack of the newly detected smart card is downloaded from a library of SWP processor software stacks for various different smart cards stored in the large memory of the host controller circuit. This enables data exchange between other NFC-enabled devices via the contactless interface 5 and smart cards connected via the contact interface to be flexibly implemented with less memory requirements in the NFC controller circuit.

[0020] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various embodiments may be combined. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 and Figure 2 A "split-stack" NFC architecture in a device according to the prior art is shown.

[0022] Figure 3 A device according to an embodiment of the invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Figure 1 and Figure 2 Shown is a host controller circuit 1 and an NFC controller circuit 2 of a "split-stack" NFC architecture of a prior art mobile phone as described above. Figure 3The host controller circuit 14 and NFC controller circuit 15 of a mobile phone 16 having a further improved "split stack" NFC architecture according to the present invention are shown. Those blocks of the mobile phone 16 that are identical to the blocks in the prior art mobile phone 3 are labeled with the same reference numerals in the figure. The mobile phone 16 includes various prior art modules that are processed by the device host 4, which processor implements normal phone functions, such as being able to make calls, send text messages, or search the Internet. The device host 4 of the host controller circuit 14 is the main processor of the mobile phone 16, which is responsible for all these tasks and interfaces with other integrated circuits of the mobile phone 16 to implement these functions.

[0024] The NFC controller circuit 15 is one of these other integrated circuits and is used to implement near field communication functions. The NFC controller circuit 15 is connected to the RFID antenna (not shown in the figure) and carries the contactless interface 5 to communicate with other NFC-enabled devices. The wireless NFC contactless interface protocol is standardized in ISO 18.092, ISO14.443, ISO15.693, NFC Forum specifications and EMVCo, and must be processed within specified time frames. Time-critical tasks or performance-critical tasks include:

[0025] 1. Delay time / guard time, which means transmitting data neither too early nor too late.

[0026] 2.EMVCo timing, used to reset the operation field.

[0027] 3.NFC active mode anti-collision.

[0028] 4. Timing used to extend the waiting time.

[0029] 5. Electromagnetic interference processing (EMD).

[0030] The NFC controller circuit 15 handles time-critical or performance-critical tasks to implement such NFC contactless interface protocol, which helps to reduce latency requirements of the host controller circuit 14 .

[0031] The host controller circuit 14 implements the NCI interface using a software stack named host driver 6, which communicates with a software stack (NCI-FW(Stack)) named controller driver 7 based on the NCI interface. The controller driver 7, as part of the first transmission module 17, processes and implements the NCI interface. The controller driver 7 or the first transmission module 17 handles all non-time-critical and / or memory-consuming tasks of the near field communication application of the mobile phone 16. Typical near field communication applications are, for example, card emulation applications or point of sale applications.

[0032] The first transmission module 17 also includes a host soft driver 18, which communicates with a controller driver or NFC controller soft driver 19 based on a second interface protocol. The NFC controller circuit 15 also includes a second transmission module 20, which handles all time-critical tasks of near field communication type applications towards the near field communication type contactless interface 5. Among other things, the second transmission module 20 handles repetitive tasks or tasks that affect the overall throughput time, as will be explained below. Figure 3 As shown, the NFC controller circuit 15 also includes a logical link layer 12 for interfacing with the smart card 13 via a single-wire protocol.

[0033] like Figure 3 As shown, the "split-stack" NFC architecture of the host controller circuit 14 and the NFC controller circuit 15 makes the second transmission module 20 only a relatively small software stack that must be processed by the NFC controller circuit 15 to implement time-critical tasks or performance-critical tasks to implement near field communication applications. All other non-time-critical tasks and memory or data-consuming tasks of the near field communication application are processed within the first transmission module 17 by the host controller 14 with high processing power, sufficient storage space and other functions that are easy to link to the mobile phone 16. Due to this "split-stack" NFC architecture, the software stack that must be processed by the NFC controller circuit 15 based on the existing technical standard NFC architecture is moved to the host controller 14, which makes firmware updates easier.

[0034] The first transmission module 17 of the host controller 14 according to the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a storage area 21 for storing a library of different software stacks, each software stack being linked to a triggering event, which software stack is not processed on the host controller 14 but can be requested by the NFC controller circuit 15. The first transmission module 17 is constructed to receive a function request from the NFC controller soft driver 19 via the second interface protocol, the function request indicating a specific software stack linked to one of several possible triggering events of the NFC controller circuit 15. Upon receiving such a function request, the first transmission module 17 is constructed to transmit the requested software stack to the NFC controller soft driver 19 via the second interface protocol to be processed by the NFC controller circuit 15.

[0035] The NFC controller circuit 15 also includes a reserved storage area 22 for temporarily storing and processing software stacks. The reserved storage area 22 means that the storage area is not used for other normal software stacks processed by the second transmission module 20, but is reserved for the software stack downloaded from the host controller circuit 14. The NFC controller circuit 15 also includes a trigger function module 23 for implementing a trigger function of observing at least one trigger event. When one of the observed trigger events is detected, the trigger function module 23 starts downloading the software stack from the storage area 21 in the first transmission module 17 linked to the trigger event from the host controller circuit 14 to the reserved storage area 22 via the second interface protocol. The download of the software stack is initiated via the second interface protocol by a function request, which includes information about the trigger event. After the complete software stack is downloaded to the reserved storage area 22, the second transmission module 20 of the NFC controller circuit 15 is constructed to process the software stack stored in the reserved storage area 22 in response to the trigger event.

[0036] The NFC controller circuit 15 also includes a sensor and / or a trigger register and is constructed to observe a specific measurement value of the sensor and / or a specific data content in the trigger register as a trigger event. In a first use case of the mobile phone 16, the sensor is implemented as a temperature sensor 24 to sense the temperature of the NFC controller circuit 15. If a specific high temperature, such as 60 degrees Celsius, is reached, there is a risk that some modules within the NFC controller circuit 15 or some modules of the mobile phone 16 interfaced with the NFC controller circuit 15 will not work as specified and need to be recalibrated. If this specific high temperature is measured with the temperature sensor 24, the relevant trigger event number is triggered. The trigger function processed by the trigger function module 23 is constructed to trigger the download of the calibration software stack linked to the trigger event number in the storage area 21 into the reserved storage area 22. After the calibration software stack has been stored in the reserved storage area 22, the second transmission module 20 can start processing the calibration software stack at any time to calibrate the temperature-sensitive modules within the NFC controller circuit 15 and / or calibrate the temperature-sensitive modules interfaced with the NFC controller circuit 15. After the calibration for this high temperature has been processed, all modules work as specified again, and when the next trigger event occurs, the calibration software stack stored in the reserved memory area 22 may be overwritten by the next temporarily stored software stack.

[0037] In a second use case of the mobile phone 16, the sensor is implemented as an error rate observation sensor 25 for observing the error rate of data received via the contactless interface 5. The trigger function module 23 implementing the trigger function is constructed to trigger the downloading of a threshold software stack for processing by the NFC controller circuit 15 to calibrate the threshold of the contactless interface 5 of the NFC controller circuit 15. Such a threshold of the contactless interface 5 may include a threshold of an element of a matching circuit for matching the impedance of the NFC controller circuit 15 at the output connected to the impedance of the RFID antenna, thereby achieving resonance. After the calibration of the threshold is processed, the error rate of the data received via the contactless interface 5 will be improved, and when the next trigger event occurs, the threshold software stack stored in the reserved storage area 22 may be overwritten by the next temporarily stored software stack.

[0038] In a third use case of the mobile phone 16, the sensor is implemented as a boot rate observation sensor 26 for observing the number of power-on boots of the NFC controller circuit 15. The trigger function module 23 implementing the trigger function is constructed to trigger the downloading of a measurement software stack for processing by the NFC controller circuit 15 to measure the disturbance and / or quality of the data received via the contactless interface 5 and calibrate the RF parameters of the contactless interface 5 of the NFC controller circuit 15. For the initial boot, a Q factor measurement can be performed. The result can be used to adjust the initial RF gain parameter. When the capacitors and resistors age over time and therefore the values ​​change, a re-measurement of the Q factor can be initialized, for example, every 50 or 100 boots, which can start a trigger event again to measure the relevant RF parameters again through Q factor measurement. After the RF parameters have been measured and relevant actions have been taken to improve the measured RF parameters, the measurement software stack stored in the reserved storage area 22 may be overwritten by the next temporarily stored software stack when the next trigger event occurs. The RF channel estimation can be processed to determine the chip detection threshold to minimize false alarms.

[0039] In a fourth use case of the mobile phone 16, the trigger function is constructed to observe a trigger register 27 for detecting a SWP SIM card, which indicates that a new SWP SIM card connected at the contact interface 28 is detected. The trigger function module 23 is constructed to trigger the download of a SWP processor software stack for processing by the NFC controller circuit 15 to communicate with and process data from the SWP SIM card via the contact interface 28. After the SWP SIM card is removed from the contact interface 28, the measurement software stack stored in the reserved memory area 22 may be overwritten by the next temporarily stored software stack when the next trigger event occurs.

[0040] In a fifth use case of the mobile phone 16, the trigger function is constructed to detect a specific bank card in the RFID field of the contactless interface 5. For some bank cards, some RF parameters of the contactless interface 5 need to be changed. In the case of detecting such a specific bank card, the trigger function module 23 is constructed to trigger the download of a software stack to be processed by the NFC controller circuit 15 to change these RF parameters of the contactless interface 5 so as to enable full functional communication with the specific bank card through the contactless interface 5. After the specific bank card has been removed from the contactless interface 5, the software stack stored in the reserved storage area 22 will be changed back to the RF parameters of the contactless interface 5, and when the next trigger event occurs, the software may be overwritten by the next temporarily stored software stack.

[0041] The above four use cases of the mobile phone 16 according to an embodiment of the present invention only provide an indication of how a large number of other similar use cases can be implemented. An advantage of all these use cases is that the NFC controller circuit 15 does not need to permanently store the different software stacks stored in the memory area 21 of the host controller circuit 14, because they are only temporarily downloaded via the second transmission interface when needed.

Claims

1. A device (16) for processing near field communication type applications, the device (16) comprising: a host controller circuit (14) that processes a device application using a near field communication type application and processes a host driver (6) that communicates with a first transmission module (17) of the host controller circuit (14) based on a first interface protocol (NCI); An NFC controller circuit (15) that processes a near field communication type contactless interface (5) and includes a controller soft driver (19) that interfaces with the first transmission module (17) based on a second interface protocol, Features The NFC controller circuit (15) comprises a reserved memory area (22) for temporarily storing and processing a software stack, and is configured to process a trigger function (23) which observes at least one trigger event and initiates downloading of a software stack linked to the trigger event from the host controller circuit (14) to the reserved memory area (22) via the second interface protocol, and the NFC controller circuit (15) is configured to process the software stack stored in the reserved memory area (22) in response to the trigger event.

2. The device (16) according to claim 1, wherein the NFC controller circuit (15) comprises a sensor (24, 25, 26) and / or a trigger register (27), and wherein the trigger function (23) is constructed to observe specific measurement values ​​of the sensor (24, 25, 26) and / or specific data content in the trigger register (27) as a trigger event.

3. The device (16) according to claim 2, wherein the sensor is implemented as a temperature sensor (24) for sensing the temperature of the NFC controller circuit (15), and wherein the trigger function (23) is constructed to trigger downloading of a calibration software stack to be processed by the NFC controller circuit (15) for calibrating temperature sensitive modules within the NFC controller circuit (15) and / or calibrating temperature sensitive modules interfaced with the NFC controller circuit (15).

4. The device (16) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the sensor is implemented as an error rate observation sensor (25) for observing an error rate of data received via the contactless interface (5), and wherein the trigger function (23) is constructed to trigger downloading of a threshold software stack to be processed by the NFC controller circuit (15) to calibrate the threshold of the contactless interface (5) of the NFC control circuit (15).

5. The device (16) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the sensor is implemented as a power-on rate observer sensor (26) for observing the number of power-on times of the NFC controller circuit (15), and wherein the trigger function (23) is constructed to trigger the downloading of a measurement software stack to be processed by the NFC control circuit (23) to measure disturbances and / or quality of data received via the contactless interface (5) and to calibrate RF parameters of the contactless interface (5) of the NFC control circuit (15).

6. The device (16) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the trigger function (23) is constructed to observe a SWP SIM card detection trigger register (27), the SWP SIM card detection trigger register (27) indicating the detection of a SWP SIM card connected to the contact interface (28), and is constructed to trigger the downloading of a SWP processor software stack to be processed by the NFC controller circuit (15) to communicate with the SWP SIM card and process data from the SWP SIM card.

7. The device (16) according to any of the above claims, wherein the host controller circuit (14) includes a memory area (21) for storing a software stack and is configured to receive a function request from the NFC controller circuit (15), the function request indicating a specific software stack linked to a triggering event, and the host control circuit (14) is configured to send the requested software stack stored in the memory area (21) via a second interface protocol to be stored in the reserved memory area (22) and processed by the NFC controller circuit (15).

8. The device (16) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the first interface protocol is the "NFC Controller Interface (NCI)" specified in the NFC Forum specification.

9. A chipset for a device (16) for processing near field communication type applications, characterized in that The chipset comprises a host controller circuit (14) and an NFC controller circuit (15) of a device (16) as claimed in claims 1 to 8.

10. A method for processing a near field communication type application using a device (16), the device (16) comprising a host controller circuit (14) for processing a device application using the near field communication type application and an NFC controller circuit (15) for processing a near field communication type contactless interface (5), wherein the following steps are processed in the NFC controller circuit (15): processing a trigger function (23) using the NFC controller circuit (15), the trigger function observing at least one trigger event and initiating downloading of a software stack linked to the trigger event from the host controller circuit (14) to a reserved memory area (22) of the NFC controller circuit (15); Processing the software stack stored in the reserved memory area (22) in response to the occurrence of the triggering event.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the processing comprises the following steps: · Processing the "NFC Controller Interface (NCI)" specified in the NFC Forum specification as a first interface protocol for communication between a host driver (6) of the host controller circuit (14) and a first transmission module (17) of the host controller circuit (14).

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