Connector
AssigneeNXP B.V.
InventorsCicero Silveira VAUCHER, Raf Lodewijk Jan ROOVERS
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for non-galvanic connection between two electrical circuits is described. A base-unit has an RF power source, a data link and an authentication controller. A contactless unit for communication with a base unit has an RF power receiver, a data link and an authentication controller. The base unit and contactless unit can form a non-galvanic connection to replace conventional connectors, for example in a USB wired bus connection.
Claims16
A base-unit for non-galvanic coupling to a contactless-unit, the base-unit comprising:
- an antenna coupled to an RF power source,
- at least one data-link,
- an authentication controller coupled to the at least one data-link, and
- a data interface for coupling at least one of a data source and data sink to the base unit, the data interface being coupled to the at least one data-link wherein
- the base-unit is operable to
- transmit and/or receive payload data via the data interface,
- wirelessly transmit RF power from the RF power source to a contactless-unit in physical proximity to the base-unit,
- transmit and/or receive authentication data via the at least one data-link to authenticate a non-galvanic connection to a contactless-unit only when the contactless-unit is in physical proximity to the base-unit, and
- transmit and/or receive payload data via the at least one data link following the authentication of the non-galvanic connection to a contactless unit.
A contactless-unit for non-galvanic coupling to a base-unit, the contactless-unit comprising:
- an antenna coupled to an RF power receiver,
- at least one data-link, and
- an authentication controller coupled to the at least one data-link,
- a data interface for coupling at least one of a data source and data sink to the contactless unit, the data interface being coupled to the at least one data-link, wherein the contactless-unit is operable to
- transmit and/or receive payload data via the data interface,
- receive RF power provided from a base-unit only when the base-unit is in physical proximity to the contactless-unit,
- convert the received RF power to supply power to circuits in the contactless-unit,
- transmit and/or receive authentication data via the at least one data-link to authenticate a non-galvanic connection to a base-unit only when a base-unit is in physical proximity to the contactless-unit, and
- transmit and/or receive payload data via the at least one data link following the authentication of the non-galvanic connection to a base unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.