Integral communication device and control method thereof
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsHak Hoon Song, Sang Geun Hwang, Kyeong Jun Kim, Jeng Nam Lee
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Abstract
An integral communication device and method for controlling the integral communication device are provided for expanding the communication capability of a mobile terminal. An integral communication device of the present invention includes a plurality of communication modules that operate with different communication standards, a connector having terminals for electrical connection to a mobile terminal, a switch for switching the terminals of the connector between the communication modules, and a device controller for controlling the switch to establish electric links to the communication modules individually.
Claims18
An external integral communication device, the device comprising:
- a plurality of communication modules that operate with different communication standards;
- a connector comprising electric connection terminals for providing electrical connection between the external integral communication device and a mobile terminal;
- a switch for selectively activating electrical connections between the communication modules and the electric connection terminals of the connector;
- and
- a device controller configured to control the switch to establish electric links from the electric connection terminals to at least one of the communication modules, to exchange signals with the mobile terminal through at least one signal terminal and supply a power received from the mobile terminal through a power terminal to the at least one of the communication modules,
- wherein the terminals for electrical connection comprise:
- at least one signal terminal for establishing a signal link with the mobile terminal;
- the power terminal for supplying the received power to the switch, the device controller, and the at least one of the communication modules selectively when the electric links are established to the at least one of the communication modules;
- and
- a ground terminal for grounding the integral communication device.
A method for controlling an external integral communication device, comprising multiple communication modules, the method comprising:
- establishing an electrical connection between the external integral communication device and a mobile terminal using a connector of the external integral communication device, wherein the connector comprises a connection for a signal line, a power line and a ground line;
- controlling a switch of the external integral communication device to supply a power received from the mobile terminal through the power line to a selected at least one communication module;
- establishing at least one signal line and at least one power line between a primary communication module selected from the multiple communication modules, selectively set as a default communication module among communication modules in the external integral communication device, and the mobile terminal;
- and
- selectively, establishing another power line between a secondary communication module selected from the multiple communication modules except for the primary communication module and the mobile terminal for supplying power from the mobile terminal to the secondary communication module according to signals exchanged between a controller of the switch and the mobile terminal with a supplying of power to the primary communication module.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.