JP4776963B2 - Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus having a contactless wireless communication unit.

  In recent years, when performing automatic ticket gate processing using a commuter pass composed of an IC card or the like and ID card entry / exit processing, there is a wireless system that communicates between a card and a gate by a non-contact short-range wireless method. Proposed.

  In the wireless system, power is supplied to a device (target) called a device (initiator) that starts communication by electromagnetic induction of a power carrier wave. That is, in the above example, power is supplied from the gate side to the card having no power source by electromagnetic induction. When the card is held over the gate, power is excited in the card and the card becomes operational.

  Usually, applications and operation modes are determined for each IC card. For example, in the case of automatic ticket gate processing, there is a dedicated IC card issued by a railway company, and the IC card operates only as a commuter pass. In general, an automatic ticket gate serves as an initiator, and an IC card commuter pass operates only as a target.

  Similarly, in the case of entry / exit processing, there is a dedicated IC card issued as a personal ID, and the IC card operates only as an entrance / exit entrance card. In this case, the IC card operates only as a target.

Furthermore, in recent years, an environment in which electronic money can be charged to an IC card using a reader / writer connected to a personal computer or the like has been established. In this case, the IC card operates only as a target.
Japanese Patent No. 3457225

  However, in the above example, since the combination of the IC card and the gate (reader) for realizing a certain function is uniquely determined, in the above example, the IC card commuter pass is used as it is as an entrance card for entry and exit. I can't do it.

  Further, when communicating between persons who normally operate as targets, such as communication between IC cards, it is necessary to switch the startup mode in the IC card.

  However, for this purpose, it is necessary to reset the EEPROM of the card by a reader / writer before use.

An object of the present invention is to easily switch operations in a wireless communication apparatus having a non-contact wireless communication unit .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention
In a wireless communication device having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
Detecting means for detecting the proximity of another wireless communication device ;
And a control unit to realize different depending on whether the detection operation by the detection means, in which the provided.

According to the present invention,
Different devices can be activated by overlapping multiple devices and holding them simultaneously. For example, when two devices are stacked, it can be activated with the upper card as an initiator and the lower card as a target. In addition, when transferring points and deposit amounts between devices, it is possible to distinguish between a transfer source and a transfer destination.

  When three devices are stacked, different modes can be activated only for the top device. For example, when a plurality of card-like devices are in the case, only the top device can be made effective.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples.

(First embodiment)
In this embodiment, an example in which electronic money is transferred from the IC card 1 to the IC card 3 in the form of FIG. 4 is applied.

  The technique of the present invention is applied to, for example, an IC card 1 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the IC card 1 includes an antenna circuit 101, a rectifier circuit 102, a power supply circuit 103, a modem circuit 104, a CPU 105, a nonvolatile memory 106, a RAM (Randam Access Memory) 107, a magnetic switch 108, a magnetic member 109, A control bus 110 and a magnetic shield 111 are provided. With these configurations, the IC card 1 realizes NFC (Near Field Communication) communication, which is a non-contact wireless communication method.

  Next, each means provided in the IC card 1 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the antenna circuit 101 includes a resonance circuit in which a coil L and a capacitor C are connected in parallel. The antenna circuit 101 receives a radio wave transmitted from the reader / writer 2 and transmits data to the reader / writer 2 side by electromagnetic coupling. Send. The coil L is generally constituted by a spiral print pattern.

The AC voltage generated in the antenna circuit 101 by electromagnetic induction is converted into a DC voltage by the rectifier circuit 102 and stored. A supercapacitor is generally used as the power storage means. Furthermore, stabilization is performed by the power supply circuit 103. The modem unit 104 detects an envelope of the carrier (radio wave) excited by the antenna circuit 101 and outputs the data superimposed on the carrier envelope to the CPU 105. For transmission data output from the CPU 105,
Load modulation is applied so that the data becomes “1” → high impedance and the data “0” → low impedance. Data transmission is realized by returning the carrier received from the reader / writer 2 and switching the load according to the data value at this time.

  The CPU 105 controls each part of the IC card. The IC card application program and the program defining NFC operation are stored in the nonvolatile memory 106 as firmware. A RAM 107 provides a work area for the CPU 105. The magnetic switch 108 opens and closes the contact depending on the presence or absence of the magnetic force lines. The magnetic member 109 is magnetized and emits lines of magnetic force. For example, a permanent magnet. As shown in FIG. 4, the magnetic switch 108 is disposed in the vicinity of the front surface of the IC card 1, and the magnetic member 109 is disposed in the vicinity of the back surface at substantially the same position. The magnetic shield 111 is a shield for separating the magnetic switch 109 so that the magnetic switch 108 does not respond to the magnetic field lines of the magnetic member 109, and is generally realized by a metal thin film. The nonvolatile memory 106, the RAM 107, and the magnetic switch 108 are connected to the CPU 105 through the control bus 110.

  The IC card 3 includes units 301 to 311 similar to the units 101 to 111 included in the IC card 1 described above. Illustration and detailed description are omitted.

  The technique of the present invention is applied to a reader / writer 2 as shown in FIG. 3, for example. As shown in FIG. 3, the reader / writer 2 includes an antenna circuit 201, a carrier generation circuit 202, a power supply circuit 203, a modulation / demodulation circuit 204, a CPU 205, a nonvolatile memory 206, a RAM 207, and a control bus 210. With these configurations, the reader / writer 2 realizes NFC (Near Field Communication) communication which is a non-contact wireless communication method.

  Next, each means provided in the reader / writer 2 will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the antenna circuit 201 includes a resonance circuit in which a coil L and a capacitor C are connected in parallel. The antenna circuit 201 transmits radio waves to the IC card 1 and receives data from the IC card 1 by electromagnetic coupling. The coil L is generally constituted by a spiral print pattern.

The power supply circuit 203 supplies power to each unit of the reader / writer 2. The carrier generation circuit 202 generates a carrier for supplying power to the IC card 1 and for data transmission / reception with the IC card 1. The modem unit 204 performs transmission data output from the CPU 205 with respect to the transmission data.
Data '1' = maximum amplitude, data '0' = minimum amplitude, maximum amplitude: minimum amplitude = 10: 9
Is applied to the generated carrier. In addition, by receiving the reflected wave of the carrier generated and transmitted by itself and detecting a change in impedance, data is demodulated and output to the CPU 205.

  The CPU 205 controls each part of the reader / writer. An application program as a reader / writer and a program defining NFC operation are stored in the nonvolatile memory 206 as firmware. A RAM 207 provides a work area for the CPU 205. The nonvolatile memory 206 and the RAM 207 are connected to the CPU 205 via the control bus 210. In addition to normal NFC operation, the reader / writer 2 has a mode in which only the carrier is transmitted without performing data communication with the IC card.

  Next, the flow of the operation will be described according to the flowchart of FIG.

  Here, regarding the NFC operation, the side that starts communication is defined as an initiator, and the destination side is defined as a target.

  First, as shown in FIG. 4, the IC card 1 and the IC card 3 are stacked (S801). Then, the magnetic switch 308 of the IC card 3 and the magnetic member 109 of the IC card 1 face each other, and the magnetic switch 308 of the IC card 3 senses the magnetic member 109 of the IC card 1 and closes the contact (ON). The magnetic switch 108 of the IC card 1 opens (OFF) the contact because there is no magnetism (S802).

  Next, the reader / writer 2 is set to the carrier transmission mode (S803). A 13.56 MHz carrier is generated from the carrier generation circuit 202 of the reader / writer 2 and sent out from the antenna circuit 201. Here, when the two cards are stacked and held over the reader / writer 2 (S804), a carrier is input to each card, and an AC voltage is generated in each of the antenna circuits 101 and 301 by electromagnetic induction. The generated AC voltage is converted into a DC voltage by the rectifier circuits 102 and 302, further stored, and stabilized by the power supply circuits 103 and 303 to be supplied to each part of the IC card (S805).

  When power is supplied to the card, the magnetic switch 308 with the contact ON in the IC card 3 outputs “L”. The output is input to the CPU 305 via the control bus 310.

  In the IC card 1, the magnetic switch 108 with the contact OFF outputs “H”. The output is input to the CPU 105 via the control bus 110 (S806).

  Here, the function shown in the table of FIG. 7 is activated by a value input to each CPU (S807). This table is stored in the non-volatile memories 106 and 306, and can be set in advance by a reader / writer or the like.

  That is, the IC card 1 is an initiator and a data movement source. The IC card 3 is a data transfer destination at the target.

  The CPU 105 to which “H” is input controls each unit to operate the IC card 1 as an initiator, and starts an application program for transferring electronic money information of the IC card (S808).

  First, a carrier stop command is transmitted to the reader / writer 2 (S809). This command is transmitted by the modulation / demodulation circuit 104 by load modulation that changes the impedance to the carrier from the reader / writer 2. The reader / writer 2 that has received this command stops carrier transmission. After the carrier is stopped, the IC card 1 continues to operate with the power stored in S805 (S810).

  Subsequently, the CPU 105 reads out electronic money information stored in the nonvolatile memory 106 and inputs it to the modem circuit 104 (S811). This information is amplitude-modulated by the modulation / demodulation circuit 104 using a carrier from a carrier generation circuit (not shown) and then transmitted from the antenna circuit 101 to the IC card 3 (S812).

  The CPU 305 to which “L” is input controls each unit to operate with the IC card 3 as a target. Also, an application program for moving the electronic money information of the IC card is activated (S813).

  When a carrier is transmitted from the IC card 1, an AC voltage is generated in the antenna circuit 301 by electromagnetic induction, and this AC voltage is converted into a DC voltage by the rectifier circuit 302 and further stored, and stabilized by the power circuit 303. And supplied to each part of the IC card. The AC voltage is further input to the modulation / demodulation circuit 304 to perform data demodulation, and the demodulated electronic money information is input to the CPU 305 (S814). The CPU 305 stores this information in the nonvolatile memory 306 (S815).

  When this information is stored, a storage completion notification signal is transmitted to the IC card 1 (S816). This notification signal is transmitted as follows. That is, the carrier received from the IC card 1 is load-modulated by the modulation / demodulation circuit 304 according to the transmission data, and is returned to the IC card 1. In the IC card 1, this signal is demodulated by the modem circuit 104 and input to the CPU 105 (S817). When the CPU 105 receives this signal and the storage of the electronic money information in the IC card 3 is completed, the CPU 105 erases the electronic money information from the nonvolatile memory 106 (S818).

  As described above, the transfer of the electronic money information from the IC card 1 to the IC card 3 is completed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to an IC card. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the present invention has the same effect when applied to a mobile phone or a digital camera with a built-in NFC function.

  In the above-described embodiment, the reader / writer is used as the carrier sending means. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as it is a device capable of generating a carrier. For example, a mobile phone with a built-in NFC function or a digital camera may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, two IC cards are stacked, but the same effect can be obtained by stacking three or more IC cards. In this case, the magnetic switch of the top IC card outputs “H”, and the magnetic switches of the other IC cards output “L”. Therefore, only the top card can have a different function from other cards. For example, when applied to a shopping card, the top card becomes a point distribution source, and the point of the card can be copied to another card of the partner.

  Note that with the recent progress of nanotechnology, magnetic switches and permanent magnets can be built in IC cards as micromachines. In addition, electrical contacts such as switches and magnetic shields can be composed of metal thin films. These metal thin films can be manufactured by a printing technique used for IC card manufacturing.

(Second Embodiment)
In the present embodiment, an example in which only the IC card 1 is validated when the IC card 1 and the IC card 3 are stacked is applied.

  The technology of the present invention is applied to, for example, an IC card 1 as shown in FIG.

  In the figure, reference numerals 101 to 107 and 110 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  112 is a proximity switch. As an example of the proximity switch, there is a photosensor including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. FIG. 8 is a detailed view of the photosensor. When the object approaches, the light from the light emitting unit is reflected, and the reflected wave enters the light receiving unit. The proximity of the object is detected by detecting the reflected wave. An LED (Light Emitting Diode) is generally used as the light emitting unit, and a phototransistor or a PIN diode is generally used as the light receiving unit.

  The IC card 3 includes units 301 to 307, 310, and 312 similar to the units 101 to 107, 110, and 112 included in the IC card 1. Illustration and detailed description are omitted.

  Next, the flow of operations will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In this embodiment, the reader / writer 2 performs data communication with the IC card as usual.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, the IC card 1 and the IC card 3 are stacked (S901). The reader / writer 2 constantly sends out a carrier according to a normal NFC operation.

  In this state, when two cards are held over the reader / writer 2 (S902), a carrier is input to each card, and an AC voltage is generated in each antenna circuit 101, 301 by electromagnetic induction. The generated AC voltage is converted into a DC voltage by the rectifier circuits 102 and 302 and further stored, and stabilized by the power supply circuits 103 and 303 and supplied to each part of the IC card (S903).

  When power is supplied to the card, the IC card 3 emits light from the light emitting unit of the proximity sensor 312 and the reflected wave reflected by the IC card 1 enters the light receiving unit. Then, the light receiving element is turned “ON”, and the level “L” is output. The output is input to the CPU 305 via the control bus 310 (S904). In the IC card 1, light is transmitted from the light emitting unit of the proximity sensor 112, but since there is no object that reflects the light, the reflected wave does not enter the light receiving unit, and the element of the light receiving unit is “OFF”. Level “H” is output. The output is input to the CPU 105 via the control bus 110.

  Then, as in the first embodiment, the function shown in the table of FIG. 7 is activated by the value input to each CPU (S905). That is, the IC card 1 becomes valid (S906) and the IC card 3 becomes invalid (S907).

  As described above, only the IC card on the upper side can be validated.

  In this embodiment, the same effect can be obtained by stacking three or more IC cards. In this case, only the top IC card can be validated.

  For example, when it is applied to an IC card commuter pass, if there are a plurality of commuter passes in the card holder, if the card in the regular section is placed at the top, it can pass through the gate just by holding it over the ticket gate.

  Note that a small-sized photosensor that can be built into an IC card can be manufactured with recent progress in semiconductor processes.

Configuration diagram of an IC card to which the present invention is applied Configuration diagram of an IC card to which the present invention is applied Configuration diagram of a reader / writer to which the present invention is applied The figure for description of the IC card in Example 1 The figure for description of the IC card in Example 2 Detailed diagram of antenna circuit Illustration for explaining the embodiment Illustration for explaining the embodiment Flow chart of operation of embodiment Flow chart of operation of embodiment

Explanation of symbols

2 Reader / Writer 3 IC card 101, 201, 301 Antenna circuit 102, 302 Rectifier circuit 103, 203, 303 Power supply circuit 104, 204, 304 Modulation / demodulation circuit 105, 205, 305 CPU
106,206,306 Nonvolatile memory 107,207,307 RAM
108, 308 Magnetic switch 109, 309 Magnetic member 110, 210, 310 Control bus 111, 311 Magnetic shield 112, 312 Proximity sensor 202 Carrier generation circuit

Claims (6)

A wireless communication device in the form of a card having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
A magnetic member disposed on one side of the card for causing the other wireless communication device to detect magnetism;
A detecting unit disposed on the other side of the card and detecting the proximity of another wireless communication device when magnetism is detected by a magnetic member included in the other wireless communication device ;
And a control unit that realizes different operations depending on the presence or absence of detection by the detection unit. A wireless communication device having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
Detecting means for detecting proximity of other wireless communication devices;
A wireless communication apparatus comprising: control means for controlling whether to become an initiator that activates communication or a target that receives an incoming call from the initiator, depending on whether or not the detection means detects. A wireless communication device having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
Detecting means for detecting the proximity of another wireless communication device;
Control means for controlling whether to be a data movement source or a data movement destination depending on the presence or absence of detection by the detection means;
A wireless communication apparatus comprising: A wireless communication device having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
Detecting means for detecting the proximity of another wireless communication device;
Control means for controlling whether to enable or disable the function of the wireless communication device as an IC card, depending on the presence or absence of detection by the detection means;
A wireless communication apparatus comprising: A wireless communication device in the form of a card having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
Detection means for detecting the proximity of another wireless communication device in the form of a card,
Control means for realizing different operations depending on the presence or absence of detection by the detection means,
The detection means is means for detecting another wireless communication device arranged to overlap the wireless communication device,
The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control so as to perform an operation different from that of another wireless communication apparatus arranged in an overlapping manner. A wireless communication device having a non-contact type wireless communication unit,
Detecting means for detecting the proximity of another wireless communication device;
Control means for realizing different operations depending on the presence or absence of detection by the detection means,
The detection means is means for detecting another wireless communication device arranged to overlap the wireless communication device,
A wireless communication device characterized in that when a plurality of wireless communication devices are arranged in a stacked manner, only a specific wireless communication device performs different operations.

Images