Sony's US Patent Application 20170063431: Configuration of Data and Power Transfer in Near Field Communications

Paragraph 5 of the application states:



In one aspect of this disclosure, there is provided a method for configuring wireless power and data transfer between consumer electronic (CE) devices. The method comprises identifying a plurality of antenna systems including at least a first antenna system and a second antenna system, wherein at least the first antenna system is cooperated with a first CE device and the second antenna system is cooperated with a separate second CE device, wherein each of the plurality of antenna systems comprises a power transfer antenna and one or more communications antennas, wherein the power transfer antennas is configured to enable wireless electrical power transfer between the power transfer antenna and at least one other power transfer antenna of another one of the plurality of antenna systems, and wherein each of the one or more communications antennas is configured to enable wirelessly transmitting and receiving communications with at least one further communications antenna. The method further comprises providing a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to illustrate each of the identified antenna systems and communicational relationships between each of the identified antenna systems, and wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to enable a user to interact with the graphical user interface. The method comprises receiving, through the graphical user interface, user instructions corresponding to at least two of the identified antenna systems, wherein the user instructions include wireless coupling configurations dictating how at least one of the identified antenna systems is to wirelessly transfer power to at least one other of the identified antenna systems or how at least one of the identified antenna systems is to wirelessly transfer data to at least one other of the identified antenna systems. The method comprises generating configuration instructions in accordance with the wireless coupling configurations and causing communication of the configuration instructions to selected CE devices to direct each of the identified antenna systems to be configured in accordance with the configuration instructions.




The first claim of the published application:



A method for configuring wireless power and data transfer between consumer electronic (CE) devices, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of antenna systems including at least a first antenna system and a second antenna system, wherein at least the first antenna system is cooperated with a first CE device and the second antenna system is cooperated with a separate second CE device, wherein each of the plurality of antenna systems comprises a power transfer antenna and one or more communications antennas, wherein the power transfer antennas is configured to enable wireless electrical power transfer between the power transfer antenna and at least one other power transfer antenna of another one of the plurality of antenna systems; and wherein each of the one or more communications antennas is configured to enable wirelessly transmitting and receiving communications with at least one further communications antenna; providing a graphical user interface, wherein the graphical user interface is configured to illustrate each of the identified antenna systems and communicational relationships between each of the identified antenna systems, wherein the graphical user interface is further configured to enable a user to interact with the graphical user interface; receiving, through the graphical user interface, user instructions corresponding to at least two of the identified antenna systems, wherein the user instructions include wireless coupling configurations dictating how at least one of the identified antenna systems is to wirelessly transfer power to at least one other of the identified antenna systems or how at least one of the identified antenna systems is to wirelessly transfer data to at least one other of the identified antenna systems; generating configuration instructions in accordance with the wireless coupling configurations; and causing communication of the configuration instructions to selected CE devices to direct each of the identified antenna systems to be configured in accordance with the configuration instructions.