NFC Controller SWP Interface Arbitration for Multiple Secure Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Single Wire Protocol (SWP) standards only allow communication between one contactless element, such as an NFC controller, and one secure element, making it challenging to manage information exchange between multiple auxiliary elements in a mobile phone, which increases design complexity and limits application separation.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a single SWP interface to connect multiple secure elements to an NFC controller, where only one secure element is active at a time, allowing others to listen and activate based on specific frames, with firmware adaptation to manage multiple SWP interfaces efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple secure elements are connected to a NFC controller using separate interfaces (SWP interface and NFC-WI), then communication with multiple auxiliary elements is enabled, but the design complexity of the NFC controller increases due to managing additional interfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple secure element connections into a single SWP interface by implementing a master arbitration mechanism. The master SWP interface manages multiple slave secure elements through a unified protocol, eliminating the need for separate NFC-WI interface and reducing interface management complexity while maintaining the ability to communicate with multiple secure elements simultaneously
2Adaptability or versatility
If two SWP interfaces are provided in the NFC controller, then communication with multiple SWP-based secure elements is enabled, but the design complexity increases due to managing additional interface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes a single SWP interface universal by implementing arbitration logic that allows one master SWP interface to serve multiple slave secure elements. The interface can dynamically switch between different secure elements based on arbitration outcomes, providing multi-functionality without requiring multiple physical interfaces, thus reducing design complexity while maintaining versatility
3Device complexity
If only one secure element is connected to the NFC controller via SWP interface, then the interface management is simple, but the capability to support multiple auxiliary elements from different issuers is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication capability at the logical level while maintaining physical interface simplicity. Multiple secure elements are connected to a single SWP interface, and the master arbitration mechanism segments the time-multiplexed access to each secure element. This allows simple interface management at the physical layer while providing extensive support for multiple applications from different issuers through logical segmentation
Data Source
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AI summary
The device comprises a contactless element (ME) and a set of at least two auxiliary elements (SEi), each auxiliary element including a slave SWP interface (SLINTi) connected to a same master SWP interface (MINT) of said contactless element (ME) through a SWP link (LK) and management means (MMG, AMGi) configured for activating at once only one slave SWP interface on said SWP link.