APPARATUS FOR MANAGING A RESOURCE AND METHOD

THEREOF

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an interface between elements contained in a device, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for managing resources of elements contained in a device. Background Art

[2] Recently, a Near Field Communication (NFC) concept as a substitute for wired communication or infrared communication has been introduced to the market. As a result, high-speed data communication can be achieved among a plurality of electronic devices using a radio frequency instead of a physical cable. In addition, data communication is wirelessly achieved among a plurality of electronic appliances, such that there is no need to connect a cable to any devices (for example, a digital camera, a printer, and the like). Based on the above-mentioned radio frequency (RF) communication, not only text data but also voice data can be communicated among a plurality of electronic devices. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[3] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for managing resources and a method thereof that substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

[4] It is necessary to firstly carry out a specific command or a specific element among individual elements contained in a device. For this purpose, resources included in any associated elements need to be managed to process a specific command or a specific element.

[5] An object of the present invention is to provide a method for managing resources of elements contained in a device to guarantee stable resources for a time-sensitive element and a command, such that it can guarantee stable and accurate data communication. Technical Solution

[6] The object of the present invention can be achieved by providing a method of managing a resource of a receiver in a sender, the method including transmitting a first command indicating reservation of the resource of the receiver, the first command including at least one of connection resource information, reserved resource type information and resource amount information, and receiving a first event being responded to the command from the receiver, the first event notifying achievement of the first command.

[7] In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of managing a resource in a receiver, the method including receiving a first command indicating reservation of the resource, the first command including at least one of connection resource information, reserved resource type information and resource amount information, reserving the resource based on the first command, and transmitting a first event notifying achievement of the first command.

[8] In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for managing a resource, the apparatus including a controller configured to control to transmit a first command indicating reservation of the resource, the first command including at least one of connection resource information, reserved resource type information and resource amount information, and configured to control to receive a first event being responded to the command, the first event notifying achievement of the first command.

[9] In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for managing a resource, the apparatus including a controller configured to control to receive a first command indicating reservation of the resource, the first command including at least one of connection resource information, reserved resource type information and resource amount information, configured to control to reserve the resource based on the first command, and configured to control to transmit a first event notifying achievement of the first command.

Advantageous Effects

[10] The present invention manages resources of elements contained in a device, such that it can guarantee stable resources for a time-sensitive element and a command, such that it can guarantee stable and accurate data communication. Brief Description of Drawings

[11] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constituted a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[12] In the drawings :

[13] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system according to the present invention.

[14] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a controller contained in a system according to the present invention.

[15] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a command, an event, and a data message according to the present invention. [16] FIG. 4 illustrates a resource reservation process according to the present invention.

[17] FIG. 5 illustrates formats of a resource reservation command and an event according to the present invention.

[18] FIG. 6 illustrates connection resource parameters according to the present invention.

[19] FIG. 7 illustrates parameters of a resource type according to the present invention.

[20] FIG. 8 illustrates parameters of a resource amount according to the present invention.

[21] FIG. 9 illustrates a resource release process according to the present invention.

[22] FIG. 10 illustrates parameters of a resource release command and a resource release event according to the present invention.

[23] FIG. 11 illustrates events of a resource exhaustion process and parameters of the events according to the present invention. Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

[24] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

[25] The following detailed description includes specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. Prior to describing the present invention, it should be noted that most terms disclosed in the present invention correspond to general terms well known in the art, but some terms have been selected by the applicant as necessary and details thereof will hereinafter be disclosed in the following description of the present invention. Therefore, it is preferable that the terms defined by the applicant be understood on the basis of their meanings in the present invention.

[26] Also, wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

[27] Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the annexed drawings in order to provide those skilled in the art with a thorough understanding of the present invention.

[28] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall system according to the present invention.

[29] For convenience of description and better understanding of the present invention, although the present invention uses a Near Field Communication (NFC) environment, which is a short-range wireless connectivity technology that enables simple and safe two-way interactions between electronic devices, as an exemplary communication environment, the scope or spirit of the present invention is not limited thereto and the present invention can be applied to other communication environments as necessary.

[30] As shown in FIG. 1, an overall system for use in a Near Field Communication (NFC) environment may include an NFC device 10 and an external source 20.

[31] The NFC device 10 may include a host 100 for controlling a controller 200 and

Secure Elements (SEs) 301, 302 and 303, and the controller 200 for controlling communication between the NFC device 10 and the external source 20 under the NFC environment. The external source 20 communicates with the NFC device 10 through the controller 200 contained in the NFC device 10 under the NFC environment, and may include a reader for a transportation card or an access control system, a tag of a smart poster, etc.

[32] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a controller 200 according to the present invention.

[33] Referring to FIG. 2, the controller 200 may include an interface 201, a message manager 202, a buffer 203, a processor 204, and an antenna 205.

[34] The interface 201 is defined as a logical and physical connection path among the host

100, the SEs 301, 302 and 303, and the controller 200. Particularly, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the interface 201 may be used as a connection path between the host 100 and the controller 200 under the NFC environment, and may be defined as an NFC Host Controller Interface (NCI).

[35] In the meantime, the interface 201 may be implemented in different ways according to whether one host 100 is connected to the controller 200 (i.e., a single-host architecture) or other constituent components including any secure element (SE) in addition to the host 100 are connected to the controller 200 (i.e., a multi-host architecture). Although the NCI scope does not change, the NCI needs to support additional features in a multi-host architecture, compared to the single-host architecture. Therefore, the required NCI functionality is different in a single-host or multi-host environment. While the interface 201 is included in the controller 200 in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it may be incorporated into the host 100 or into both the controller 200 and the host 100.

[36] The interface 201 sends signals received from the host 100 to individual constituent components of the controller 200, or sends signals processed by the constituent components to the host 100. In more detail, the interface 201 receives a command from the host 100, sends the command to the message manager 202, receives a response for the command from the message manager 202, and sends the response to the host 100. In the present invention, a concept including the command and the response is defined as a message. Specifically, the present invention will disclose a message flow in the scope of the NFC Host Controller Interface (NCI) used as the interface 201.

[37] The message manager 202 receives a command from the interface 201 and generates a response message to the command. The response message may include an initial response indicating an acknowledgement message corresponding to the command originated from a host 100, and a subsequent response transmitted after the initial response such that it is used as one of a plurality of responses corresponding to the command. The controller 200 receives the command according to the embodiment of the present invention. In contrast, it is also obvious to those skilled in the art that the controller 200 generates a command and transmits the command to the host 100, and the host 100 generates a response to the command.

[38] In addition, multiple responses corresponding to the command may be generated together with an identifier for identifying a transmission entity of such responses. The identifier generated from the message manager 202 may be equal to an identifier for identifying the command generated from the host 100.

[39] Further, multiple responses corresponding to the command may be generated together with an identifier for identifying a transmission entity of such responses. The identifier generated from the message manager 202 may be equal to an identifier for identifying the command generated from the host 100.

[40] Besides, upon receiving a get command and a set command from the host 100, the message manager 202 generates a get command response to the get command and a set command response to the set command. The get command response is generated in response to a get command including a parameter identifier for retrieving a parameter value of the controller 200, and the get command response has a retrieved value corresponding to the parameter. The set command response is generated in response to a set command including a parameter identifier for setting a parameter of the controller 200 to a target value.

[41] The buffer 203 stores a command generated from the host 100 and a response generated from the message manager 202, and transmits the command and the response to the processor 204. The buffer 203 may be used as a temporary storage unit while the controller 200 performs a given process. In addition, the buffer 203 may also be used to disperse the work load of the processor 204.

[42] The processor 204 executes the command received from the buffer 203. The message manager 202 monitors the execution status of the processor 204, and generates the aforementioned initial response or subsequent response (i.e., an event) according to the execution status.

[43] The antenna 205 is used as an interface between the controller 200 and the external source 20 for Near Field Communication (NFC), and is used for transmission and/or reception of a radio frequency (RF) signal.

[44] According to the present invention, a data flow between a sender and a receiver may be classified into a command flow, an event flow, and a data message flow. Hereinafter, types of the above-mentioned data flows for use in the system will be described with reference to FIG. 3. [45] FIG. 3 shows flows of a command, events, and data messages between the host 100 and the controller 200 according to the present invention.

[46] It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the sender may be the host 100 and the controller 200, and the receiver may also be the host 100 and the controller 200. For convenience of description and better understanding of the present invention, the following description assumes that an entity of the command is the host 100.

[47] A command generated from the sender may command the receiver to carry out a specific action instructed by the command itself. The command may be answered with at least one event. Referring to an upper part of FIG. 3, when the host 100 transmits the command to the controller 200, the controller 200 transmits a first event (Event 1) and a second event (Event 2) as responses to the command. The first event (Event 1) indicates acknowledgement of reception of the command, and the second event (Event 2) is a final response indicating the completion of an operation for processing the command in the direction from the controller 200 to the host 100. After the first event (Event 1) has occurred, the second event (Event 2) is generated as one of a plurality of subsequent responses corresponding to the command. In FIG. 3, Event 1 may be implemented as mandatory and Event 2 may be implemented as optional, however, it may be possible implementing Event 1 as optional and Event 2 as mandatory. In other words, the first event (Event 1) and the second event (Event 2) may be implemented as mandatory or optional responses to the command. In this case, it is necessary to define the relationship between the command and the Event 1 or 2 used as a response to this command. This relationship is referred to as a transaction.

[48] The transaction is started with a command and is ended when this command is completed, and the concept of the transaction is applicable to commands and events having the parameter transaction identifier. At least one event corresponding to the response of a command may have the same transaction identifier in connection with the command to which the event belongs.

[49] The transaction identifier value may not be reused as long as the transaction is not complete. In other words, if the sender transmits a command, all events and commands associated with the transmitted command have the same transaction identifier value until the action based on the above-mentioned command is completed.

[50] Referring to a lower part of FIG. 3, a data message can be sent from the host 100 to the controller 200 or vice versa. The sender (i.e., the host 100 of a data message) may not require an acknowledgement from the receiver (i.e., the controller 200).

[51] In the meantime, the importance of the resource manage process may be increased in the NFC environment, because limited resources must be effectively distributed to necessary targets. The resource management process may be classified into three processes, i.e., a resource reservation process, a resource release process, and a resource exhaustion process. The above-mentioned classification and denomination are disclosed only for illustrative purposes, and the scope or spirit of the present invention is not limited thereto. Although the resource management process may be carried out by the host 100 or the controller 200 (i.e., an entity of the resource management process may be the host 100 or the controller 200), the following description assumes that the host 100 is set to a sender as the entity of the resource management process. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that the controller 200 may also be set to the sender as the entity of the resource management process.

[52] Resource reservation is a process which resources are set aside, from the pool of resources for particular applications, devices, etc. Resource reservation may be widely used for guaranteeing Quality of Service (QoS) for many applications which are sensitive to delay.

[53] If resources have been allocated, and it is realized later that the resources are not going to be used, DH will have the capability to release the resources. DH will send the resource release message to NFCC, and NFCC will process the message and release the resources. For the NFC system, it is important that the DH has the capability to perform resource reservation on the NFCC, so that it can utilize it later for time- sensitive applications. To achieve the same, DH must be aware of the resources available on the NFCC.

[54] Resource exhaustion is a process for indicating a status of resources reserved by a sender (e.g., Device Host (DH)). In this process, status information of the resources exclusively obtained by the device host (DH) is acquired periodically or at intervals of a predetermined time, such that the necessity of using additional resource reservation can be confirmed.

[55] The resource management process will hereinafter be described with reference to the annexed drawings.

[56] FIG. 4 illustrates a resource reservation process according to the present invention.

[57] Referring to FIG. 4, a sender (e.g., a host) transmits a command, which indicates a reservation command about either a specific element contained in the controller 200 or resources of the controller 200, to a receiver (e.g., a controller) at step SlO.

[58] When the controller 200 receives the command, it reserves a corresponding element and a corresponding amount according to the received command at step S20. Thereafter, the result of the above step S20 is transmitted as an event to the host 100 at step S30.

[59] FIG. 5 illustrates formats of a resource reservation command and an event according to the present invention.

[60] Referring to FIG. 5, the resource reservation command and the event may include pa- rameters of a transaction identifier, a connection resource, a resource type, and a resource amount. If the number of elements to be reserved in the controller 200 by the host 100 is a plural number, the number of parameters of the resource type and the resource amount may also be a plural number. The parameter of the transaction identifier may indicate the source of a corresponding command as previously stated in FIG. 3. Although the command and the event have the same parameters in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various parameters can also be applied to the present invention. In FIG. 5, the event may report the result of a process corresponding to the command.

[61] For example, if the resource amount requested by the host 100 is not enough to be reserved in the controller 200, the event "Resource Amount" performs reservation within an available range and reports a corresponding amount for the reserved result. Alternatively, if the resource amount requested by the host 100 is not enough to be reserved in the controller 200, the event "Resource Amount" may report a rejection of such reservation.

[62] Individual parameters of the resource reservation command the event will hereinafter be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8.

[63] FIG. 6 illustrates parameters of a connection resource according to the present invention.

[64] In order to transmit a data message, a connection open stage for transmitting the data message must be firstly carried out between the host 100 and the controller 200. For example, if the connection open command is transferred from the host 100 to the controller 200, the controller 200 may perform assignment of a corresponding connection identifier as a connection open event. The data message transmission can be carried out after the connection identifier has been assigned.

[65] Referring to FIG. 6, the connection resource parameter may indicate the number of reserved connections between the host 100 and the controller 200, each reserved connection being used to transmit the data message. That is, the number of connections capable of transmitting the data message is guaranteed to prevent another element such as an SE from exclusively using the connections, so that priority may be assigned to transmission of an associated data message.

[66] FIG. 7 illustrates parameters of a resource type according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the host 100 may establish a resource reservation for a specific element contained in the controller 200. In this case, the element of the controller 200 may be set to a buffer 203 or a processor 204, etc. For example, if the resource type parameter is set to "0x00", the processor 204 is reserved. And, if the resource type parameter is set to "0x01", the buffer 203 are reserved.

[67] FIG. 8 illustrates parameters of a resource amount according to the present invention. If the resource type of FIG. 7 is decided, the resource amount parameter of FIG. 8 establishes a percentage of a resource amount of the decided element. Although this amount percentage is exemplarily set to a relative value in the embodiment of the present invention, it may also be set to an absolute value of resources needed to be reserved.

[68] FIG. 9 illustrates a resource release process according to the present invention.

[69] There arises an unexpected situation in which resources reserved by the resource reservation process of FIG. 4 will become useless at a later time. In this case, the host 100 may transmit a command for releasing the reserved resources to the controller 200 at step SlOO. Based on the received command, the controller 200 may release either a corresponding connection or any associated element contained in the controller at step S200. If the release process is completed, the controller 200 transmits an event for instructing the command completion to the host 100 at step S300.

[70] Parameters for the resource release command and event will hereinafter be described with reference to FIG. 10.

[71] FIG. 10 illustrates parameters of a resource release command and a resource release event according to the present invention.

[72] Referring to FIG. 10, parameters of the resource release command may include a transaction identifier, a connection release, and a resource type. The resource release event may include parameters of a transaction identifier and a status.

[73] The transaction identifier parameter is the same as described above. A transaction identifier originated from one command has the same value until this command is completed. Therefore, in FIG. 7, the transaction identifier value of the resource release command is determined to be equal to that of the resource release event. The connection release parameter corresponds to each connection reserve parameter of the resource reservation command and event. In other words, after the sender (e.g., host) reserves a connection for transmission and reception of the data message, if the reserved connection becomes useless at a later time, it may be possible to release resources by the connection release parameter. For example, if the connection release parameter is set to " 1111111 Ib", all the pre-reserved connection resources may be released. However, there is no influence upon a currently-used connection. In addition, if the connection release parameter is set to "00000000b", the reserved connection resources may be maintained without any change.

[74] The parameter of the resource type may release elements of the receiver (e.g., controller) reserved by the resource reservation process. For example, if the resource type is set to "0x00", a processor corresponding to "0x00" may be released in the receiver.

[75] In the meantime, in order to check the processed result of the command, the receiver transmits an event corresponding to the command of the sender. As previously stated above, the transaction identifier of the event has the same value as in the command. The status parameter of the resource release event may indicate the completion of a corresponding command process, or may indicate an unavailable status of the corresponding command process. Further, the status parameter may indicate another status in which only some parts of the command have been processed.

[76] FIG. 11 illustrates events of a resource exhaustion process and parameters of the events according to the present invention.

[77] As previously stated above, the resource exhaustion process may indicate a current usage percentage of resources reserved by the resource reservation process. For example, when the reserved resources are fully used (i.e., reserved resources of 100% are used), the reserve resource event may be transmitted. In this case, a corresponding element having been fully used may be established by the resource type parameter. Further, if resources are used by a predetermined usage percentage (e.g., 80% or 90%), the above-mentioned event may be transmitted. Status information related to a current usage percentage of all elements associated with the resource reservation process may also be provided (not shown in FIG. 11). On the other hand, the event may be transmitted at intervals of a specific period prescribed in the controller 200. This event may also be transmitted whenever an element of a corresponding type is fully used by 100%. This event is an independent event unconcerned with the command, and is different from the event corresponding to the response to the command of FIG. 3 in terms of a transaction identifier (Transaction ID) and the like.

[78] While the exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above in the context of the controller 200 being a command receiver, they are also applicable to the case where the controller 200 generates a command and transmits the command with parameters to the host 100.

[79] While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. Mode for the Invention

[80] Various embodiments have been described in the best mode for carrying out the invention. Industrial Applicability

[81] As apparent from the above description, the present invention manages resources of elements contained in a device, such that it can guarantee stable resources for a time- sensitive element and a command, such that it can guarantee stable and accurate data communication.