JP2002183676A - Information reader - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reading means for a subminiature transponder, having a microscopic antenna on an on-chip. SOLUTION: A resonance circuit composed of a microscopic coil and a capacitor is arranged on the tip of a coaxial cable inserted into a shaft part of a pen type reader or the tip of the antenna of a cellular phone, and the tip is brought near to the microscopic transponder to read information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for reading data without contact.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Small non-contact transponders, which are superior in shielding and read a large amount of data at a higher speed than barcodes with high security, are used in more than 1 trillion units per year for advanced logistics and forgery prevention. It is expected to expand and is expected to spread rapidly in conjunction with Internet technology.

As a small transponder for non-contact reading, a small semiconductor device having an on-chip antenna as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-193849 has been proposed. However, there is no example proposed for reading information from such a minute chip.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention proposes an apparatus for efficiently reading information from a small non-contact recognition transponder. In addition, since it is extremely important that simplicity is achieved, we propose measures for that.

[0005]

A first means for solving the above-mentioned problem is to provide a small-sized coil and capacitor resonator at the tip of a coaxial cable in order to read data of a small non-contact recognition transponder. A pen-type reader is provided, wherein the tip is brought close to the transponder to read data and the coaxial cable is built in.

[0006] A second means for solving the above problems is as follows.
In order to read the data of a small non-contact recognition transponder, a small coil and a capacitor resonator are provided at the tip of the coaxial cable, and the tip is brought close to the transponder to read the data, and the coaxial cable is read. A pen-type reader is provided which has a built-in cable and a circuit for converting data from the transponder into a digital signal and transmitting it to another computer.

[0007] A third means for solving the above problems is:
In order to read data of a small non-contact recognition transponder, a small coil and a capacitor resonator are provided at the tip of a mobile phone antenna, and the tip is brought close to the transponder to read data. That is, a telephone-type reading device.

[0008] A fourth means for solving the above problem is as follows.
When reading data of a small non-contact recognition transponder, simultaneously read the encryption code to check for data errors, and perform the decryption of the encryption processing in the input / output program of the connected higher-level computer, A reading device is characterized by responding at high speed.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing an embodiment of the present invention. The interrogator 11 is connected to the computer 12 by a connection cable 18. The interrogator 11 has a coaxial cable connector 13 from which the coaxial cable 1 is connected.
4 is connected, and the coaxial cable thereof is connected to the pen type reader 15. The coaxial cable 14 passes through a pen-type reader, and an antenna head 16 is provided at the end of the coaxial cable so that data from the small transponder 17 can be read. The interrogator 11 replaces the analog signal received via the coaxial cable 14 with a digital signal, and supplies a carrier, a clock signal, and a command signal to the transponder 17.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a small transponder 17 used in carrying out the present invention. The transponder 17 has a built-in semiconductor chip, on which an on-chip coil 21 and an on-chip capacitor 22 are integrated. A resonance circuit is formed by the inductance of the coil 21 and the capacitance of the capacitor 22, so that it is possible to externally supply energy to the circuit formed on the semiconductor chip and transmit and receive signals.

By using a carrier having a short wavelength, the time constant of the resonance circuit can be reduced, and the values of the coil and the capacitor can be reduced. Also, by reducing the power consumption of the semiconductor circuit,
It is possible to increase the communication distance.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the antenna head 16 attached to the tip of the coaxial cable in the embodiment of the present invention.
, A parallel or series resonant circuit is formed.
The antenna head 16 emits electromagnetic wave energy close to the above-mentioned small transponder, and serves as a leading device for starting a small transponder and transmitting / receiving signals. The shape and configuration of the antenna head differ depending on the circuit configuration of the micro-transponder and the frequency of the carrier wave. In this case, the case of microwave is shown. When sending at a low frequency by static electricity, an electrostatic couple plate may be used.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention. A high-frequency analog circuit 41 is provided in the interrogator 11, and an analog signal from the circuit 41 is converted into a digital signal by a digital conversion circuit. The above signal is input to the transmission / reception circuit 43 provided on the computer 12 via the connection cable 18. The computer 12 has an input / output control program 44 for processing digital signals from the interrogator. Depending on the command, the encryption processing program 45 directly performs the encryption processing after receiving the data, and performs a system response at high speed. If a mismatch occurs due to the encryption process, the computer performs an operation such as causing the interrogator to retry reading.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
The antenna head 16 is located at the tip of the antenna 51 of the mobile phone 53, and converts energy from the mobile phone into transmission / reception energy to the transponder. The mobile phone 53 has a display device 52 and buttons 54, and can specify processing of the mobile phone. For example, it is possible to switch between a mode indicating normal use and a mode indicating reading from the transponder. Since mobile phones always have the advantage of being owned by individuals and have a built-in high-frequency circuit,
The function can be shared, and the function as a reading device of a microtransponder can be achieved economically and conveniently.

[0015]

According to the present invention, a simple and easy method has been proposed for reading a small non-contact recognition transponder which is expected to be applied to a wide range of applications such as physical distribution, and an economical and highly convenient method has become possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a transponder according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an antenna head according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a mobile phone according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 interrogator, 12 computer, 13 coaxial cable connector, 14 coaxial cable, 15 pen type reader, 16 antenna head, 17 small transponder, 18 connection cable, 21 on-chip coil, 2
2 ... On-chip capacitor, 31 ... Small coil, 32 ...
Small capacitors, 41 high-frequency analog circuits, 42 digital conversion circuits, 43 transmission / reception circuits, 44 input / output control programs, 45 encryption processing programs, 51 antennas, 52 display devices, 53 mobile phones, 54 buttons .

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04B 5/02 H04B 5/02

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An antenna head comprising a grippable shaft member, a coaxial cable passing through the axis of the shaft member, and a resonator formed by a capacitor and a coil provided at the tip of the coaxial cable. An information reading device for reading data by bringing the antenna head close to a transponder. 2. A coaxial cable having a resonator comprising a small coil and a capacitor at the end thereof, reading the data by bringing the end portion close to a transponder, converting the data from the transponder into a digital signal, and transmitting the data to another computer. A pen-type information reading device comprising a circuit for transmitting. 3. An information reading apparatus, comprising: a mobile phone-type mobile phone that includes a resonator made of a small coil and a capacitor at the tip of an antenna of a mobile phone and reads data by bringing the tip of the antenna close to a transponder. 4. When reading data from a small contactless recognition transponder, simultaneously read an encryption code for checking data errors and execute the decryption processing in an input / output program of a connected host computer. The information reading device according to claim 1, wherein the information reading device performs a reading operation.