US Patent 7843347 Near-field and far-field antenna-assembly and devices having same

Systems, methods, and devices wirelessly communicate in a near-field region and a far-field region. A device may include a near-field antenna and a far-field antenna. The device may be configured to selectively operate in a near-field mode, employing the near-field antenna, and/or in a far-field mode, employing the far-field antenna, and/or in a joint mode, employing both the near-field antenna and the far-field antenna separately or concurrently. One type of device may be a wireless communications data-reader device configured for both near-field and far-field communications. Another type of device may be a wireless communications data-provider device configured for both near-field and far-field communications.