JP5880091B2 - Reader / writer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technical field of a reader / writer that performs wireless communication with an IC chip.

  Conventionally, portable terminals (hereinafter referred to as “F-chip-equipped terminals”) equipped with IC chips (hereinafter referred to as “F-chips”) employing FeliCa (registered trademark), which is a short-range wireless communication standard, have been known. For example, it is used for services such as Osaifu-Keitai (registered trademark). On the other hand, in recent years, portable terminals (hereinafter referred to as “N-chip”) using an IC chip (hereinafter referred to as “N-chip”) adopting NFC (Near Field Communication) approved as an international standard “ISO / IEC 18092” for short-range wireless communication. (Referred to as Patent Document 1). Both FeliCa (registered trademark) and NFC can use a card emulation mode, a reader / writer mode, and a peer-to-peer mode.

  In the current service regarding F-chip-equipped terminals, the card emulation mode is adopted for the F-chip. In this card emulation mode, for example, when the F chip detects polling periodically transmitted from a reader / writer installed in a store or the like, a response to the polling is transmitted to the reader / writer. As a result, the reader / writer transmits a predetermined command to the discovered F chip, so that the F chip-equipped terminal performs an operation corresponding to the command, for example, access to a predetermined information providing site (site access).

  On the other hand, in the current service related to N-chip-equipped terminals, the N-chip adopts the reader / writer mode. In this reader / writer mode, for example, the N chip periodically sends polling so as to receive a response from an IC tag embedded in, for example, a smart poster installed in a store or the like (find an IC tag). It has become. As a result, the N chip-mounted terminal transmits a read command to the IC tag, acquires information from the IC tag, and performs a predetermined operation, for example, access to a predetermined information providing site.

JP 2007-183780 A

  By the way, in order to provide the same site access service to both the F-chip-equipped terminal and the N-chip-equipped terminal, the reader / writer for the F-chip-equipped terminal and the IC tag for the N-chip-equipped terminal are the same. It is necessary to install in the place. However, in this case, the polling sent from the reader / writer for the F-chip-equipped terminal and the polling sent from the N-chip installed in the N-chip-equipped terminal collide with each other. There is a problem that an N-chip-equipped terminal becomes inoperable.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems and the like. Even when the reader / writer and the IC tag are installed in the same place, polling sent from the reader / writer and N chip An object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer that can reduce the collision (collision) with polling transmitted from the network.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention described in claim 1 is a reader / writer including an IC tag, and the IC tag is provided between a memory for storing predetermined data and the first IC chip. When a first antenna for performing wireless communication and polling that is repeatedly transmitted by radio from the first IC chip at a first polling interval are received via the first antenna, a response to the polling is received. Response means for wirelessly transmitting to the first IC chip via the first antenna, and a command wirelessly transmitted from the first IC chip in response to the response wirelessly transmitted by the response means, When the data is received via the first antenna, the data stored in the memory is wirelessly transmitted to the first IC chip via the first antenna. Data reader, and the reader / writer performs polling at a second polling interval longer than the first polling interval and a second antenna for performing wireless communication with the second IC chip. A polling unit that repeatedly transmits wirelessly via the second antenna, and a response to polling wirelessly transmitted by the polling unit are received in advance from the second IC chip via the second antenna. Command transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting the received command to the second IC chip via the second antenna.

The invention according to claim 2 is a reader / writer including an IC tag, wherein the IC tag is a first for performing wireless communication between a memory storing predetermined data and a first IC chip. And when a polling wirelessly transmitted from the first IC chip repeatedly at a first polling interval is received via the first antenna, a response to the polling is received via the first antenna. Response means for wireless transmission to the first IC chip, and a command wirelessly transmitted from the first IC chip in response to the response wirelessly transmitted by the response means via the first antenna And data transmission means for wirelessly transmitting data stored in the memory to the first IC chip via the first antenna. The reader / writer performs polling at a second antenna for performing wireless communication with the second IC chip and at a second polling interval of 200 msec or longer, which is longer than the first polling interval. A polling unit that repeatedly transmits wirelessly via an antenna, and a command that is set in advance when a response to the polling wirelessly transmitted by the polling unit is received from the second IC chip via the second antenna. Command transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting to the second IC chip via the second antenna .

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the reader / writer according to the first or second aspect, the first antenna and the second antenna are linear antennas composed of conductors, and are wirelessly communicated. In order to prevent the magnetic field generated in one of the antennas from affecting the other antenna, the antennas are arranged such that the distance between the antennas is a predetermined distance or more when there are parallel portions in the shape of the two antennas. It is characterized by.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the reader / writer according to any one of the first to third aspects, the predetermined data is a URL of a predetermined Web site accessible by a Web browser. To do.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the reader / writer according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the preset command is a command for causing a web browser to access a predetermined website. And

  According to the present invention, even when the reader / writer and the IC tag are installed at the same place, the polling sent from the reader / writer collides with the polling sent from the first IC chip. Can be reduced.

It is a figure showing an example of outline composition of information service system S concerning this embodiment. (A) is a figure which shows the example of a schematic structure of the reader / writer RW, (B) is a figure which shows an example of the arrangement | positioning relationship of the antenna 11 and the antenna 21 seen from the upper part of the reader / writer RW. It is a sequence diagram which shows the operation example of the information provision system S which concerns on this embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an embodiment when the present invention is applied to an information providing system.

[1. Configuration and function of information providing system S]
First, with reference to FIG. 1 etc., the structure and function of the information provision system S which concern on this embodiment are demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of an information providing system S according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system S includes a reader / writer RW having an IC tag Tag, an F chip-equipped terminal TF, an N chip-equipped terminal TN, and an information providing server SA. Each of the F-chip-equipped terminal TF and the N-chip-equipped terminal TN can access an information providing site (an example of a predetermined website accessible by a web browser) that provides information on the network NW. The information providing server SA is a server installed for operating the information providing site. The network NW is constructed by the Internet, a dedicated communication line (for example, a CATV (Community Antenna Television) line), a mobile communication network (including a base station, etc.), a gateway, and the like.

  In the example of FIG. 1, the reader / writer RW, the F chip-equipped terminal TF, and the N chip-equipped terminal TN are shown one by one for convenience of explanation, but the reader / writer RW is provided by a product or service. Are installed in many places (for example, inside and outside a store, inside a campaign venue, inside a station, etc.), and there are many F-chip-equipped terminals TF and N-chip-equipped terminals TN for each user.

  FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration example of the reader / writer RW. As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the light emitted from the light emitting diode (LED) 22 is not blocked on the outside upper part of the housing K of the reader / writer RW (for example, installed inside the housing K). An IC tag Tag (NFC-compliant NDEF tag) is attached at a position different from the installation position of the light emitting diode 22 (a position different from the above). The IC tag Tag includes an antenna 11 (an example of a first antenna) and an IC (integrated circuit) chip 12 (an example of a response unit and a data transmission unit). The antenna 11 is a linear loop antenna composed of a conductor, and is used to perform wireless communication with an N chip (an example of a first IC chip) mounted on an N chip mounting terminal TN. The IC chip 12 is equipped with a memory that stores data in an NFC data exchange format (NDEF). In the memory of the IC chip 12, the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the information providing site is stored in advance. The IC chip 12 is repeatedly wirelessly transmitted from the N chip mounted on the N chip mounted terminal TN at a first polling interval I1 (for example, wireless transmission using a radio wave of 13.56 MHz, transmission complying with the NFC reader / writer mode). When a polling (inquiry) is received via the antenna 11, a response (response) to the polling is wirelessly transmitted to the N chip via the antenna 11. When the IC chip 12 receives a tag reading command wirelessly transmitted from the N chip via the antenna 11 in response to the wirelessly transmitted response, the IC chip 12 stores the data stored in the memory (the information providing site to be accessed). URL) is wirelessly transmitted to the N chip via the antenna 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the reader / writer RW includes an antenna 21 (an example of a second antenna), a light emitting diode 22, and a control unit 23 (an example of a polling unit and a command transmission unit). The element is installed on a substrate B provided inside the housing K, for example. The antenna 21 is a linear loop antenna composed of a conductor, and is used for wireless communication with an F chip (an example of a second IC chip) mounted on the F chip mounting terminal TF. FIG. 2B is a diagram (a diagram viewed from above the housing K) showing an example of an arrangement relationship between the antenna 11 and the antenna 21 as viewed from above the reader / writer RW. As shown in FIG. 2B, the antenna 11 and the antenna 21 have parallel portions in the shape of the two antennas 11 and 21, so that the magnetic field generated in one antenna by wireless communication does not affect the other antenna. In this case, the antennas 11 and 21 are arranged such that the distance D between them is a predetermined distance (for example, 5 mm) or more. In other words, the conductor of the antenna 11 and the conductor of the antenna 21 are arranged so as not to run in parallel when viewed from above the housing K. As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the light emitting diode 22 is formed on, for example, the outer upper portion of the housing K so that the user can visually recognize the light emitted from the light emitting diode 22 from the outer upper portion of the housing K of the reader / writer RW. It is provided at four corner positions. The control unit 23 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. The URL of the information providing site is stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory. Then, the control unit 23 repeats the wireless transmission through the antenna 21 at the second polling interval I2 longer than the first polling interval I1 (for example, wireless transmission using a radio wave of 13.56 MHz, and FeliCa card emulation mode). Compliant transmission). The second polling interval I2 is set in advance on the reader / writer RW installer side. The second polling interval I2 is sufficient so as not to collide with polling transmitted from N chips. For example, the second polling interval I2 is desirably 200 msec or longer. When the control unit 23 receives a response to the wirelessly transmitted polling from the F chip mounted on the F chip mounted terminal TF via the antenna 21, the control unit 23 sets a predetermined browser activation command (predetermined Web to the Web browser). An example of a command for accessing the site) and the URL of the information providing site to be accessed are wirelessly transmitted to the F chip via the antenna 21.

  The F chip mounting terminal TF is mounted with an F chip adopting a card emulation mode. On the other hand, the N chip mounting terminal TN is mounted with an N chip adopting a reader / writer mode. Each of the F-chip-equipped terminal TF and the N-chip-equipped terminal TN includes an antenna, a speaker, a microphone, an operation key, a display, an electronic circuit board (mounted with a CPU, RAM, ROM, nonvolatile memory, etc.) and the like. Such as a smartphone. The ROM or nonvolatile memory of the F chip-equipped terminal TF and the N chip-equipped terminal TN stores an OS (Operating System), middleware, a Web browser program, an application program, and the like executed by the CPU, respectively. . The CPU of the F-chip-equipped terminal TF exchanges information with the F-chip by executing middleware. Similarly, the CPU of the N chip mounting terminal TN exchanges information with the N chip by executing the middleware. Further, the CPUs of the F chip mounting terminal TF and the N chip mounting terminal TN each function as a Web browser by executing a Web browser program.

[2. Operation of information providing system S]
Next, the operation of the information providing system S will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation example of the information providing system S according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 23 of the reader / writer RW searches for the F chip by periodically sending polling at a polling interval I2. On the other hand, the N chip of the N chip mounting terminal TN searches for the IC tag Tag by periodically sending polling at the polling interval I1. When the N chip-equipped terminal TN is brought within, for example, several centimeters of the IC tag Tag, a part of the polling transmitted from the N chip collides with the polling transmitted from the reader / writer RW. Since <polling interval I2 ”, the other part does not collide. When polling that has not collided is received by the IC chip 12 of the IC tag Tag (step S1), the IC chip 12 wirelessly transmits a response to the received polling to the N chip (step S2). When the response from the IC tag Tag is received by the N chip, the N chip mounting terminal TN finds the IC tag Tag, and in response to this, the tag read command is wirelessly transmitted to the IC tag Tag through the N chip. Transmit (step S3). Then, when the tag read command is received by the IC chip 12 of the IC tag Tag, the IC chip 12 sets the access destination URL (URL of the information providing site) stored in the memory to N according to the received tag read command. Wirelessly transmit to the chip (step S4). Thus, when the access destination URL from the IC tag Tag is received by the N chip, the N chip-equipped terminal TN activates the Web browser (step S5), and proceeds to the information providing server SA (information providing site) according to the access destination URL. By accessing and transmitting a request (step S6), content information such as advertisement information is acquired (step S7) and displayed.

  On the other hand, when the F-chip-equipped terminal TF is brought closer to the reader / writer RW, for example, within a few centimeters, the polling sent from the reader / writer RW is received by the F-chip of the F-chip-equipped terminal TF (step S8). A response to the received polling is wirelessly transmitted to the reader / writer RW (step S9). When the response from the F chip is received by the reader / writer RW, the control unit 23 of the reader / writer RW finds the F chip, and in response to this, the browser activation command and the access destination URL (information providing site) ) Is wirelessly transmitted to the F chip (step S10). Thus, when the browser activation command and the access destination URL from the reader / writer RW are received by the F chip, the F chip-equipped terminal TF activates the Web browser (step S11), and the information providing server SA (information Content information such as advertisement information is acquired by accessing the providing site and transmitting a request (step S12), and this is displayed.

  As described above, according to the above embodiment, the IC tag Tag is attached to the reader / writer RW, and the polling polling interval I2 for searching for the F chip by the reader / writer RW is set to the N chip-equipped terminal. Since it is configured to be set longer than the polling polling interval I1 for searching the IC tag Tag by the N chip of TN, or the polling polling interval I2 for searching the F chip by the reader / writer RW is mounted on the N chip. Since the polling is performed with a sufficient interval so as not to collide with the polling for searching for the IC tag Tag by the N chip of the terminal TN, the reader / writer RW and the IC tag Tag are installed in the same place. Even if there is polling sent from the reader / writer RW and N chips? And polling sent can be reduced that the collision (that is, the period of the polling from the reader writer RW is not delivered, polling from N chip is valid). Therefore, it is possible to provide a site access service to both the F chip-equipped terminal and the N chip-equipped terminal. This can also reduce the cost of developing a new reader / writer for the F chip-equipped terminal. In addition, the reader / writer RW for the F chip can be provided with an IC tag Tag for providing information to the N chip. It becomes possible to correspond to any of the chip-mounted terminals. Further, since the antenna 11 of the IC tag Tag and the antenna 21 of the reader / writer RW are installed so as not to overlap each other, the radio wave characteristics can be prevented as much as possible. As a result, the reader / writer RW It is possible to further reduce the collision between the polling transmitted from the N and the polling transmitted from the N chip. In the above embodiment, the FeliCa (registered trademark) technology is applied. However, for example, the MIFARE (R) Ultralite technology may be applied.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Antenna 12 IC chip Tag IC tag 21 Antenna 22 Light emitting diode 23 Control part RW Reader / writer TF F chip mounting terminal TN N chip mounting terminal SA Information providing server S Information providing system

Claims (5)

A reader / writer equipped with an IC tag,
The IC tag is
A memory for storing predetermined data;
A first antenna for performing wireless communication with the first IC chip;
When polling transmitted repeatedly from the first IC chip at the first polling interval is received via the first antenna, a response to the polling is received via the first antenna. Response means for wireless transmission to the IC chip;
When the command wirelessly transmitted from the first IC chip is received via the first antenna in response to the response wirelessly transmitted by the response means, the data stored in the memory is stored in the first Data transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting to the first IC chip via an antenna;
With
The reader / writer is
A second antenna for performing wireless communication with the second IC chip;
Polling means for repeatedly transmitting wirelessly polling via the second antenna at a second polling interval longer than the first polling interval;
When a response to polling wirelessly transmitted by the polling means is received from the second IC chip via the second antenna, a preset command is sent via the second antenna to the second Command transmission means for wireless transmission to the IC chip;
A reader / writer characterized by comprising: A reader / writer equipped with an IC tag,
The IC tag is
A memory for storing predetermined data;
A first antenna for performing wireless communication with the first IC chip;
When polling transmitted repeatedly from the first IC chip at the first polling interval is received via the first antenna, a response to the polling is received via the first antenna. Response means for wireless transmission to the IC chip;
When the command wirelessly transmitted from the first IC chip is received via the first antenna in response to the response wirelessly transmitted by the response means, the data stored in the memory is stored in the first Data transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting to the first IC chip via an antenna;
With
The reader / writer is
A second antenna for performing wireless communication with the second IC chip;
Polling means for repeatedly wirelessly transmitting polling via the second antenna at a second polling interval of 200 msec or longer, which is longer than the first polling interval;
When a response to polling wirelessly transmitted by the polling means is received from the second IC chip via the second antenna, a preset command is sent via the second antenna to the second Command transmission means for wireless transmission to the IC chip;
A reader / writer characterized by comprising:   The first antenna and the second antenna are linear antennas composed of conductors, and the two antennas are arranged so that a magnetic field generated in one of the antennas by wireless communication does not affect the other antenna. 3. The reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein when there are parallel portions in the shape of the antenna, the distance between the antennas is arranged to be separated from each other by a predetermined distance or more.   The reader / writer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined data is a URL of a predetermined Web site accessible by a Web browser.   The reader / writer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the preset command is a command that causes a Web browser to access a predetermined Web site.