NFC Router Application List Caching for Secure Element Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
NFC routers in mobile devices are unable to determine the list of applications stored on multiple secure elements, making it difficult to route messages effectively to the appropriate secure element for transactions, especially in scenarios with multiple secure elements capable of handling the same transaction.
Innovation Solution
The NFC router emulates an RF card emulation transaction to verify the presence of NFC transaction applications on multiple secure elements, generates a global list of available applications, and routes new messages based on this list, allowing the NFC terminal to select the appropriate application for transactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the NFC router interrogates all secure elements to obtain application lists, then complete information about available applications is obtained, but the process takes too much time and is not permitted in real-time transaction scenarios
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by storing application list information from secure elements in advance. The NFC router maintains a cache of application lists that were previously obtained, allowing it to quickly retrieve and present available applications without performing time-consuming real-time interrogation of all secure elements during actual transactions.
2Ease of operation
If the NFC router is unaware of applications stored on secure elements, then the system structure remains simple, but message routing to the correct secure element cannot be performed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (application list cache/memory) that stores information about applications stored on secure elements. This intermediary allows the NFC router to become aware of available applications and perform intelligent message routing without requiring complex real-time communication with all secure elements, thus enabling routing capability while managing system complexity.
3Reliability
If multiple secure elements are used to handle transactions, then transaction capability and redundancy are improved, but the difficulty of selecting the appropriate application increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the NFC router retrieves application list information from cached data, analyzes the available applications across multiple secure elements, and uses this information to intelligently select the most appropriate application for the current transaction. This feedback loop enables automated selection based on transaction type, application availability, and priority, reducing the difficulty of application selection while maintaining multiple secure elements for reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention concerns a method involving: emulating, by an NFC (near field communication) router (202) of an NFC device (102) in response to a command from a processing device (206) of the NFC device, an RF card emulation transaction comprising transmitting by the NFC router a command to first and second secure elements (210, 212) of the NFC device to verify the presence of NFC transaction applications in the first and second secure elements; receiving, by the NFC router (202), responses from the first and second secure elements (210, 212) indicating the NFC transaction applications stored by the first and second secure elements; and receiving, by the NFC router (202), a new RF message from an NFC terminal (106) relating to an NFC transaction and routing the new RF message to the first or second secure element based on the responses.