JP2000172795A - Reader/writer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To insure communication quality when a reader/writer communicates information with a mobile information communication body such as an IC card through an antenna. SOLUTION: The loop antenna 2 of this reader/writer consists of plural antenna parts A and B, and the antenna parts A and B are arranged while the plane where the part A (part constituted of a coil plane surrounded with points (a), (b), (c) and (d)) exists is made to cross orthogonally the plane where the part B (part constituted of a coil plane surrounded with points (a), (b), (e) and (f)) exists to form space in which communication with an ID card is performed between the parts A and B. The reader/writer generates magnetic flux from each of the parts A and B by causing a high frequency current i1 flow into the loop antenna 2 and performs communication with the IC card in the space by means of the synthesis of the magnetic flux from the part A and the magnetic flux from the part B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a reader / writer for communicating information with a mobile information communication device such as an IC card using an antenna, and more particularly to a high quality information communication with a mobile information communication device. And a reader / writer that ensures that

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an IC card constructed by embedding a microcomputer chip and a memory chip on a card substrate of the same size as a credit card or the like has been put to practical use in various fields such as finance, distribution, transportation, and medicine. Is planned. In an IC card system using such an IC card, for example, power is transmitted from a reader / writer to the IC card, and information such as a control code and data is communicated between the reader / writer and the IC card.
In power transmission and information communication between a reader / writer and an IC card, in addition to a contact method in which terminals are brought into contact with each other, a non-contact method in which electromagnetic coupling or the like is used is also employed.

In an IC card system employing such a non-contact method, for example, a reader / writer and an IC card are provided with a loop antenna composed of a coil wound in a square or a circle, and a loop antenna is provided between the two loop antennas. Power transmission and information communication are performed using the electromagnetic coupling. As shown in FIG. 9, as the loop antenna 32 provided in the reader / writer 31, generally, a coil having a shape wound in the same plane and stacked in the same winding direction is used.
Also, a loop antenna 34 provided in the IC card 33
However, generally, a coil having a shape wound in the same plane and having the same winding direction is used. It should be noted that, for convenience of explanation, FIG.
The Z coordinate axis is shown.

For power transmission and information communication from the reader / writer 31 to the IC card 33, for example, the reader / writer applies a high-frequency current i3 to the coil of its own loop antenna 32 to generate a magnetic flux φ5 in the coil, and the generated magnetic flux Loop antenna 34 of IC card 33 due to the induced electromagnetic induction
This is performed by inducing a voltage in the coils of the first and second coils. In this case, the IC card 33 uses its own loop antenna 34.
Changes in the magnetic flux φ5 passing through the coil of the reader / writer 3
Receiving the power transmitted from 1 and the reader / writer 3
1 is received. Information communication from the IC card 33 to the reader / writer 31 is performed in the same manner as described above.

In the above-described power transmission and information communication, as the amount of magnetic flux φ5 generated from the loop antenna 32 of the reader / writer 31 penetrates vertically through the coil surface of the loop antenna 34 of the IC card 33, the reader / writer 31 IC
Power transmission and information communication to the card 33 are performed efficiently,
The same applies to information communication from the IC card 33 to the reader / writer 31. For this reason, for example, the coil surface of the loop antenna 34 provided on the IC card 33 is connected to the loop antenna 3 provided on the reader / writer 31.
When the IC card 33 is held over the reader / writer 31 or the like so as to be parallel to the coil surface of
The efficiency of power transmission and information communication between the 33 is the best.

[0006]

However, in the configuration of the antenna of the reader / writer as described above, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, the coil surface of the loop antenna 34 provided in the IC card 33 is connected to the reader / writer 31. The IC card 33 is connected to the reader / writer 31 so that the IC card 33 has a positional relationship perpendicular to the coil surface of the loop antenna 32 provided in the IC card.
Is held over, for example, the reader / writer 3
Since the amount of magnetic flux φ5 generated from the first loop antenna 32 penetrates through the coil surface of the loop antenna 34 provided in the IC card 33, it is almost zero or very small. There was a problem that the quality of information communication deteriorated.

FIG. 10 is a side view (side view parallel to the XZ plane) of the loop antenna 32 and the IC card 33 of the reader / writer 31 shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a side view (side view in a plane parallel to the YZ plane) of the loop antenna 32 and the IC card 33 of the reader / writer 31 shown in FIG. 9 as viewed in the X-axis direction. When the coil surface of the loop antenna 34 provided on the IC card 33 is held vertically with respect to the coil surface of the loop antenna 32 provided on the reader / writer 31, for example,
The amount of magnetic flux φ5 generated from the first loop antenna 32 penetrates through the loop antenna 34 of the IC card 33 is almost zero or very small, and the quality of information communication between the reader / writer 31 and the IC card 33 deteriorates. Would.

Further, as shown in the above-mentioned conventional example, in a configuration in which power is transmitted between the reader / writer 31 and the IC card 33 in a non-contact manner, the loop antenna 32,
If the IC card 33 is held over the reader / writer 31 or the like so that the IC card 34 is in a vertical positional relationship, the efficiency of power transmission from the reader / writer 31 to the IC card 33 deteriorates. 33, the amount of power received. For this reason, the IC card 33 cannot function because it cannot secure sufficient operation power.
3, the quality of information communication between the reader / writer 31 and the IC card 33 is degraded due to the decrease in the amount of power received.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem. When information is communicated with a mobile information communication body such as an IC card using an antenna, the mobile information communication body and the mobile information communication body are used. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reader / writer that can guarantee that high-quality information communication is performed between the reader and the writer.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, in a reader / writer according to the present invention, an antenna for communicating information with a mobile information communication body comprises a plurality of antenna units, The antenna section is disposed by intersecting the plane in which the antenna exists with the plane in which the other antenna section exists, and a space for communicating with the mobile information communication body is formed between these antenna sections.

Therefore, even if, for example, an antenna having directivity such as a loop antenna is used as an antenna of a reader / writer, since each antenna section is arranged in a different direction, for example, one antenna is disposed in the space. Even if the mobile information communicator is held over a positional relationship such that information communication is not performed between the antenna unit and the mobile information communicator, the other antenna unit and the mobile information It is possible to ensure that high-quality information communication is performed with the communication body. By combining the effects of the information communication between each antenna unit and the mobile information communication body, the reader / writer can be obtained. It can be ensured that high quality information communication is performed between the mobile information communication body and the mobile information communication body.

[0012] The mobile information communication body referred to in the present invention includes:
In addition to the IC card described above, for example, a tag attached to a product or an article, a delivery destination plate attached to parcels of parcel delivery service, and the like are also included. The mobile information communication bodies to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to those described above. In the present invention, various mobile information communication bodies that communicate information with a reader / writer in a non-contact manner are provided. Can be used.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is particularly effective when applied to, for example, a reader / writer having an antenna having directivity. In this example, a case where a loop antenna is provided in the reader / writer as such an antenna is shown. .
Also, this example shows a case where an IC card is used as a mobile information communication body, and shows a case where power transmission and information communication are performed by electromagnetic coupling using a loop antenna between the IC card and a reader / writer. .

FIG. 1 shows an example of the appearance and internal antenna arrangement of a reader / writer 1 according to the present invention. This reader / writer 1 transmits power and transmits information to and from an IC card (not shown). Is provided in a three-dimensional shape as shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the loop antenna 2 having such a shape. The loop antenna 2 is formed by twisting a part of the coil and winding it around the other part. In addition to the inversion, one of the antenna units A thus generated (points “a”, “
b "," c "and" d "), the other antenna portion B
The two antenna units A and B are arranged such that the coil surface (the portion composed of the coil surface surrounded by points “a”, “b”, “e”, and “f” in FIG. 2) is substantially perpendicular. Are bent. It should be noted that the drawing shows XYZ coordinate axes which are orthogonal coordinate axes for convenience of explanation.

Further, in this embodiment, the area of the coil surface forming one antenna section A of the loop antenna 2 is equal to the area of the coil surface forming the other antenna section B, that is, the loop antenna 2 Twisting is performed so that 2 is divided into two equal parts. In this example, it is assumed that the loop antenna 2 shown in FIG. 2 is provided at the antenna position shown inside the reader / writer 1 in FIG.

As described above, in the reader / writer 1 of the present embodiment,
A plurality of antenna coil surfaces for communicating information with the IC card are provided, and the antenna coils are arranged so that each antenna coil surface intersects another antenna coil surface. Further, in the reader / writer 1 of this example, as shown in FIG. 1, a space for communicating with the IC card is formed between the antenna coil surfaces.

The reader / writer 1 includes, as an example, the loop antenna 2 described above, a circuit for receiving electric power (not shown), and a control transmission / reception unit that functions and controls these units. An external information processing device having a function of processing information, for example, is connected to the reader / writer 1 via an interface.

The control transmission / reception section of the reader / writer 1 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer having a memory storing a control program and a CPU for executing the program, and a transmission / reception circuit. The information is converted into a high-frequency current and transmitted from the loop antenna 2, and information received from the information processing device via the interface is converted into a form suitable for wireless communication and transmitted from the loop antenna 2. It has a function of demodulating received information and transmitting it to an information processing device via an interface.

With the above configuration, the reader / writer 1 of this embodiment
In this embodiment, power is transmitted to the IC card using the loop antenna 2 and information is communicated with the IC card using the loop antenna 2. In the information processing apparatus described above, for example, finance received from the reader / writer 1,
Processing of data such as distribution, transportation, and medical care is performed.

As an example, the IC card includes a loop antenna for performing power transmission and information communication with the reader / writer 1, a memory for reading and writing data of finance, distribution, transportation, medical care, and the like, and each of these means. And a control transmission / reception unit that controls the function of the control unit.

The control transmission / reception unit of the IC card includes, for example, a microcomputer and a transmission / reception circuit having a memory storing a control program and a CPU for executing the program, and detects a change in magnetic flux received by the loop antenna. Such as converting power to power, converting information such as data read from the memory into a form suitable for wireless communication, and transmitting the information from the loop antenna, and demodulating information received by the loop antenna and writing the information to the memory. Has a function.

With the configuration described above, the IC card of the present embodiment receives power transmitted from the reader / writer 1 and uses the received power as operating power to communicate information with the reader / writer 1. Do.

Next, power transmission and information communication between the reader / writer 1 and the IC card will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a side view (a side view in a plane parallel to the YZ plane) of the loop antenna 2 shown in FIG. 2 from the X-axis direction.
An example of the magnetic flux generated from is shown. This magnetic flux is generated when a high-frequency current i1 flows from one coil end of the loop antenna 2 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the present embodiment, since the two coil surfaces constituting the loop antenna 2 are disposed so as to be substantially perpendicular to each other, the magnetic flux φ1 generated from one of the coil surfaces A And the magnetic flux φ2 generated from the other coil surface B are substantially perpendicular to each other.
In this example, in each of the coil surfaces A and B, due to the magnetic fluxes φ1 and φ2 generated from the coil surfaces A and B, power transmission and information are performed between the coil surfaces A and B and the IC card 3 existing at a distance of, for example, about 0 to 20 cm from the coil surface of the coil. In this example, the length of the coil surface A in the Y-axis direction (point “
The length of the coil surface B in the Z-axis direction (the length between points "a" and "f") is about 20 cm. .

FIGS. 4 and 5 show that, in the state of the magnetic flux shown in FIG. 3, for example, the coil surface of the loop antenna 4 provided in the IC card 3 becomes substantially perpendicular to one coil surface A, and The case where the IC card 3 is held over the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1 in a positional relationship in which the other coil surface B is substantially parallel to the coil surface is shown. In these figures, the reader / writer 1 and the IC
As a preferable mode of power transmission and information communication performed with the card 3, a case where the IC card 3 is held over the space which is a communication area formed in the reader / writer is shown. In this example, the loop antenna 4 provided in the IC card 3 is assumed to be composed of a coil wound in a square shape or a circular shape with the same winding direction in the same plane. Unlike 2, it shall not be twisted.

FIG. 4 shows only the magnetic flux φ1 generated from one of the antenna units A constituting the loop antenna 2 as the magnetic flux generated from the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1. When the loop antenna 4 of the IC card 3 is held over the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1 in the positional relationship as shown, the magnetic flux φ1 generated from the one antenna unit A is provided in the IC card 3. Since the amount penetrating through the coil surface of the loop antenna 4 is small, power transmission and information communication between the antenna unit A and the IC card 3 are substantially not performed.

However, in the above positional relationship, I
When the loop antenna 4 of the C card 3 is held over the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1, the other side of the loop antenna 2 constituting the loop antenna 2 as the magnetic flux generated from the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1 is shown in FIG. In order to show only the magnetic flux φ2 generated from the antenna section B, the magnetic flux φ2 generated from the other antenna section B penetrates the coil surface of the loop antenna 4 provided in the IC card 3 in a sufficient amount, It is possible to ensure that efficient power transmission and high-quality information communication are performed between the antenna unit B and the IC card 3.

Also, for example, in the state of the magnetic flux shown in FIG. 3, the coil surface of the loop antenna 4 provided on the IC card 3 is opposite to the one of the coil surface of the reader / writer 1 in the state of the magnetic flux shown in FIG. When the IC card 3 is held over the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1 in a positional relationship of being substantially parallel to A and substantially perpendicular to the other coil surface B, B and the IC card 3, substantially no power transmission or information communication is performed, but efficient power transmission or high quality information between the one coil surface A and the IC card 3. Communication can be ensured.

In the above description, the coil surface of the loop antenna 4 provided on the IC card 3 is one of the coil surfaces A constituting the loop antenna 2 provided on the reader / writer 1.
Alternatively, the case where the IC card 3 is held in parallel with the other coil surface B is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to such a case. For example, the IC card 3 is held in various directions in the communication area of the reader / writer 1. The magnetic flux φ generated from each of the coil surfaces A and B constituting the loop antenna 2 of the reader / writer 1
The reader / writer 1 and the IC with the magnetic flux that combines φ1 and φ2
Efficient power transmission and high quality information communication with the card 3 can be performed.

The IC card 3 can sufficiently receive power required for operation from the reader / writer 1 in various positional relations with the reader / writer 1 as described above.
According to the reciprocity theorem, the information communication from the IC card 3 to the reader / writer 1
As in the case of information communication to the card 3, high quality information communication can be performed.

As described above, in the reader / writer 1 of this embodiment, for example, the I / O
Even if the loop antenna 4 of the C card 3 is held in various directions, supply sufficient operating power to the IC card 3 and perform high quality information communication by efficient power transmission. Accordingly, for example, even when the user holds the IC card 3 in various directions without being particularly aware of the direction in which the IC card 3 is held over the reader / writer 1, the IC card 3 and the reader / writer 1 It is possible to ensure that efficient power transmission and high-quality information communication are performed between them.

Here, as the form of the space formed between the antenna portions constituting the antenna of the reader / writer, the form shown in FIG. 1 is not necessarily used. The above-described space may be formed in any form as long as information communication (in this example, power transmission and information communication) can be performed with the IC card. For example, in the form shown in FIG.
I between the antenna units constituting one loop antenna 12
A mode in which a space for communicating with the C card is formed can also be used.

As the configuration of the loop antenna provided in the reader / writer, the configuration shown in FIG. 2 is not necessarily used. For example, the configuration shown in FIG. 7 can be used. FIG. 7 shows another configuration example of the loop antenna 21 provided in the reader / writer.
The loop antenna 21 differs from the loop antenna 2 shown in FIG. 2 in that a part of the coil is not twisted and, for example, one coil surface C (FIG. At 7, points "g", "h", "i", "j"
, The other coil surface D (points “g”, “h”, “
loop antenna 21 such that the portion composed of the coil surface surrounded by k "and" m ") is substantially perpendicular.
Is bent. It should be noted that the drawing shows XYZ coordinate axes which are orthogonal coordinate axes for convenience of explanation.

In such a configuration of the loop antenna 21, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, when a high-frequency current i2 flows from one coil end of the loop antenna 21 to the other coil end, one of the antennas A state is realized in which the magnetic flux φ3 generated from the part C and the magnetic flux φ4 generated from the other antenna part D are substantially perpendicular to each other. For this reason, for example, in the communication area between the two antenna units C and D, I
Even when the loop antenna of the C card is held over the loop antenna 21 of the reader / writer in various directions, it is possible to transmit and supply sufficient operating power from the reader / writer to the IC card by efficient power transmission. Thus, high quality information communication can be performed between the reader / writer and the IC card.

Further, in the above, an example has been shown in which the plurality of coil surfaces constituting the loop antenna of the reader / writer are integrally constituted by one coil as a whole. For example, the loop shown in FIG. It is also possible to use an embodiment in which the coil surface A and the coil surface B constituting the antenna 2 are formed of different coils. In such an embodiment, for example, the coil of one antenna unit and the coil of the other antenna unit may be used. When the same high-frequency current flows simultaneously, power transmission and information communication can be performed with the IC card by combining magnetic fluxes generated from both antenna units. Note that, for example, the antenna units composed of different coils may be arranged apart from each other.

Further, in the above, as a preferred embodiment,
Although the plane in which one of the coil planes constituting the loop antenna of the reader / writer exists and the plane in which the other coil plane exists are substantially orthogonal to each other, the angle at which these planes intersect is not necessarily a right angle. For example, an arbitrary angle may be set according to, for example, the directivity of each antenna unit, the state of use of the system, and the like. Also, the loop antenna of the reader / writer does not necessarily need to be configured with two coil surfaces as described above. For example, even if the loop antenna is configured with three or more coil surfaces, High-quality information communication can be performed with the IC card in the space formed therebetween.

The configuration of the antenna provided in the reader / writer is not limited to the above-described embodiment.
Any configuration may be used as long as the antenna is composed of a plurality of coil surfaces and a configuration in which the plane on which each coil plane exists intersects with the plane on which the other coil planes are arranged is used. The size of the antenna is not limited to that described in the above embodiment, and the antenna may be configured in any size.

Here, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the same antenna is used for the power transmission antenna for transmitting power and the information communication antenna for communicating information in the reader / writer has been described. The present invention is naturally applied to a mode in which an antenna for information and an antenna for information communication are provided as separate antennas, and also, for example, a mode in which an antenna for information transmission and an antenna for information reception are provided as separate antennas. be able to.

In the above description, a configuration in which power is transmitted from a reader / writer to an IC card in a contactless manner has been described.
For example, in a configuration in which a power supply or a battery for supplying operating power to an IC card is built in, it is not necessary to supply power from the reader / writer to the IC card in a non-contact manner. It is not necessary to provide a functional unit for performing power transmission processing.

In the reader / writer described in the above embodiment, the CPU executes a control program in a hardware resource including a processor such as a CPU, a memory, and the like, whereby the information communication processing and the like shown in the above embodiment are performed. However, in the present invention, each functional means for executing such processing may be configured as, for example, an independent hardware circuit.

Further, in the reader / writer shown in the above embodiment, the reader / writer is connected to an external information processing device, and the reader / writer processes data and the like received from the IC card by the information processing device. A configuration in which the information processing function of the processing device and the reader / writer are integrated may be used. When a configuration in which the reader / writer and the information processing function are integrated as described above is used, an external information processing device does not necessarily need to be connected to the reader / writer.

In the above embodiment, the case where an IC card is used as the mobile information communication body has been described.
Any mobile information communication body may be used as long as it performs information communication with the reader / writer in a non-contact manner. Also, as the configuration of the mobile information communication body, any configuration may be used as long as information can be communicated with the reader / writer in a non-contact manner.

[0044]

As described above, according to the reader / writer of the present invention, an antenna for communicating information with a mobile information communication body such as an IC card is composed of a plurality of coil surfaces, and each of the coil surfaces is provided with an antenna. Intersected the plane where the other coil planes exist, and formed a space for communicating with the mobile information communication body between these coil faces.For example, various types of mobile information communication bodies were used in the space. Even when the mobile information communication body is held in the direction, it is possible to ensure that high-quality information communication is performed between any one of the antenna units and the mobile information communication body. Even when the mobile information communication body is held in various directions without being particularly aware of the direction in which the body is held over the reader / writer, good quality can be obtained between the mobile information communication body and the reader / writer. It is possible to ensure that you do the broadcast.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the appearance of a reader / writer and an internal antenna arrangement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an antenna of a reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a magnetic flux generated from an antenna of a reader / writer.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining power transmission and information communication between a reader / writer and an IC card.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating power transmission and information communication between a reader / writer and an IC card.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the appearance of the reader / writer and the internal antenna arrangement.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the antenna of the reader / writer.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another configuration example of the antenna of the reader / writer.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an antenna of a reader / writer according to a conventional example.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating power transmission and information communication between a reader / writer and an IC card according to a conventional example.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining power transmission and information communication between a reader / writer and an IC card according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 11, reader interrogator, 2, 12, 21 loop antenna, 3 IC card, 4 loop antenna, i1, i2 high frequency current, A, B, C, D
Antenna part, φ1, φ2, φ3, φ4 ... magnetic flux,

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor: Manabu Nakamura 3-14-20 Higashinakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo Kokusai Denki Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B035 AA00 BB09 CA23 5B058 CA17 KA02 KA24

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A reader / writer for communicating information with a mobile information communication body using an antenna, wherein the antenna is composed of a plurality of antenna units, and another antenna unit occupies a plane on which each antenna unit exists. A reader / writer, wherein an antenna unit is arranged so as to intersect with an existing plane, and a space for communicating with the mobile information communication body is formed between the antenna units.