1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to near field communications (NFC), and more specifically to operating and/or controlling a NFC capable device by touching, or being sufficiently proximate, to its antenna.
2. Related Art
Near field communication (NFC) devices are being integrated into communication devices, such as mobile devices to provide an example, to facilitate the use of these communication devices in conducting daily transactions. For example, instead of carrying numerous credit cards, the credit information provided by these credit cards could be stored onto a NFC device. The NFC device is simply tapped to a credit card terminal to relay the credit information to it to complete a transaction. As another example, a ticketing writing system, such as those used in bus and train terminals, may simply write ticket fare information onto the NFC device instead of providing a ticket to a passenger. The passenger simply taps the NFC device to a reader to ride the bus or the train without the use of a paper ticket.
Generally, NFC requires that NFC devices to be present within a relatively small distance from one another so that their corresponding magnetic fields can exchange information. Typically, a first NFC device transmits or generates a magnetic field modulated with the information, such as the credit information or the ticket fare information. This magnetic field inductively couples the information onto a second NFC device that is proximate to the first NFC device. The second NFC device may respond to the first NFC device by inductively coupling its corresponding information onto the first NFC device.
Operation of the first and the second NFC devices in the manner as described above discharges its internal batteries. Under certain circumstances, a NFC device may have to derive power from the magnetic field of another NFC device when its internal batteries become too depleted. However, this magnetic field cannot provide adequate power for a user interface of the NFC device. For example, this magnetic field cannot provide adequate power to operate a touch-screen of a communication device into which a NFC is incorporated. Consequently, the operator of the communication device will no longer be able to operate and/or control the NFC device to conduct daily transactions unless its internal batteries are recharged.
Thus, there is a need for a way operate and/or control a NFC device when its internal batteries are so depleted that they cannot provide adequate power for operating a user interface. Further aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number.