JPS58154082A - Card device incorporating microcomputer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a solid discrimination device having high secrecy, by obtaining a DC power source and a clock signal with the energy of an oscillation energy field formed in a space by a high frequency electromagnetic field or a ultrasonic wave and then actuating a data processing circuit. CONSTITUTION:When a card device 2 accesses a field 1 of oscillation energy (high frequency electromagnetic field of ultrasonic wave) which is previously formed in a space, the oscillation energy is absorbed by a wave receiver 3. The energy of the receiver 3 is converted into a DC by a rectifying circuit 4 to be used as a DC power source and at the same time frequence divided or multiplied by a frequency converting circuit 5 to be turned into a clock signal of a data processing circuit 6. An input code like a data, an instruction, etc. supplied from an external input/output device is fed to the circuit 6 via an input coupler 7 to be processed in accordance with a program procedure which is set previously and transmitted to the external input/output device via an output coupler 8.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention is a microcomputer that eliminates the need to install a power source such as a battery, and eliminates the need for liquid contact with a conductor such as a metal piece to exchange data with external input/output equipment. It relates to cash cards, credit cards, ■D (identification proof) cards, etc., which are equipped with memory, etc.

There are almost no conventional German devices in existence, and the magnetic card method is the most widely used for cash cards, etc., but with this method, the magnetic tape that is the memory part is exposed, so there is a risk of scratches. Disadvantages include that it is easy to get dirty and gets dirty, and that the memory content may disappear or change in quality when it comes close to a ferromagnetic material such as a speaker. Another drawback was that the magnetic card itself had no ability to process the stored contents.

Furthermore, because the structure is simple and the contents are easy to read, it is difficult to keep the contents secret, and it is easy to copy.

In addition, as something somewhat similar to the device of this invention, there is a so-called "
There are "IC cards,""data memory carts," and "cards with built-in converters," all of which have built-in microcontrollers and memory, and use metal contact pieces to transfer data to and from external input/output devices. This is an epoch-making card that attempts to increase the storage capacity from several times to several tens of times that of a magnetic card, while also giving the card itself the ability to process data.

However, since this method transfers data with external input/output devices and supplies power by contacting multiple exposed metal pieces, there is a risk of poor contact due to wear, corrosion, dirt, etc. of the metal pieces. There is a risk of electrostatic damage to the internal elements due to contact with the human body, such as hands and fingers, and at the same time, there is a possibility that the contents of the memory can be directly accessed from this metal piece, so there is concern about maintaining the confidentiality of the stored contents. Therefore, there was a risk that the data could be falsified and used fraudulently, causing severe damage to the cash payer. In addition, some devices are operated with paper batteries attached, and in this case, it is necessary to always pay attention to the handling and battery consumption, which is cumbersome and uneconomical.

This invention was devised to improve these drawbacks, and involves creating a field of vibrational energy due to high-frequency electromagnetic fields or ultrasonic waves in space, absorbing and rectifying the energy in that field, and using it as a DC power source. This battery eliminates the need for a power supply contact piece, and also eliminates the need for a clock signal oscillation element by generating a clock signal using the frequency of the alternating current component of the vibrational energy field.

1. For example, if data and commands are exchanged with external equipment via a coupler such as an antenna or a coil, the coupler can be structured so that it does not necessarily need to be exposed to the outside. Most problems such as poor contact, electrostatic damage caused by the human body, and unauthorized use can be avoided.

:・1: FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the microcomputer-embedded card device of the present invention, which includes an antenna that receives energy from a vibration energy field (1) such as a high-frequency electromagnetic field or ultrasonic waves. a rectifier circuit (4) that rectifies the received energy into DC power, and a frequency conversion circuit (5) that divides the AC component of the received energy. , a data processing circuit (6) consisting of a microcomputer, memory, etc., an input coupler (7) that receives input codes such as data and command tables from external input/output devices, and processing results of input data and memory contents. , an output coupler (8) that outputs codes such as instructions from the data processing circuit (6) to external input/output equipment. The device according to the invention (2
) gets close enough, the energy of the field (1) is absorbed by a receiver (5) such as an antenna, coil, or sound receiver.
The rectifier circuit (4) converts it to DC power, and the frequency converter circuit (4) converts it to DC power.
5), is supplied as power to drive a data processing circuit (6) consisting of a microcomputer, memory, etc., and other circuits.

On the other hand, the alternating current component of the energy of the field (1) received by the receiver (3) is sent to the data processing circuit (6) as a clock signal, either directly at its frequency or by being divided or multiplied by the frequency conversion circuit (5). lead as.

Input codes such as data and commands from external input/output devices are input to the data processing circuit (6) via the manual coupler (7), and are processed according to the program procedure set in advance in the data processing circuit (6). The input code is processed and the contents of the memory record are transformed or appended. Then, the output of the data processing circuit (6), that is, the processing result of the input data, the stored contents of the memory, or the code such as an instruction, is selected to the external input/output device via the output coupler (8).

Next, specific examples of the circuits of each part of the device according to the present invention will be explained.

The receiver (3) includes an antenna, a coil, etc. when absorbing the energy of the high-frequency electromagnetic field (1), and
When absorbing ultrasonic field (1) energy, a sound receiver such as a microphone is used, and its output is transmitted, for example, to diodes (9, 10) and capacitors (11) as shown in Figure 2.
, 12) Therefore, the voltage is doubled and rectified to make it direct current, and if necessary, the voltage is adjusted using a constant voltage circuit (16) consisting of a resistor (1), a constant voltage diode (14), and a capacitor (15), a 5-terminal slave regulator, etc. After stabilizing, supply to other circuits.

For example, if a branching device is used in the frequency conversion circuit (5), it is possible to very easily step down the input frequency to generate a clock signal and apply it to a data processing circuit (6) such as a microcomputer. can. Of course, depending on the case, it is not necessary to perform frequency conversion such as multiplication or down-conversion.

The data processing circuit (6) is generally a FIOM or RAM.
-5, C, and a microcomputer section that controls the memory, but in the device according to the present invention, for convenience, the number of input and output couplers (7,) 8) The smaller the number, the more convenient it is to make it compact, so the input/output data is often a one-hint partial sequence signal.In this case, the microcomputer On the input side of the data processing circuit (6), there is a series and parallel interface (a + path (i7),
By configuring the output side to exchange data with external input/output equipment via a parallel/serial interface circuit (18), the microcontroller itself can input/output 4-bit or 8-bit parallel data. Therefore, data processing speed is improved by 10 grams or more.

In addition, as a means to reduce the number of input or output couplers (7, 8), there is a method of using one coupler on the input and output sides in a time-divided manner by electronic switching. The number can be halved, and if one hit serial signal is to be exchanged, one coupler can be placed next to the other.

For the input or output couplers (7, 8), it is relatively simple to use a coil to send and receive data through electromagnetic coupling, as shown in Figure 4. Differentiated pulses such as input data appear in the optical coupler (7) as shown in Figure 5, so processing such as amplification and waveform shaping is performed using the differentiated pulses and the input circuit (19). The input pulse waveform is restored as shown in FIG. 6 and applied to the data processing circuit (6). When transmitting data from the data processing circuit (6) to the output coupler (8), if the driving ability of the data processing circuit (6) is low, the driving circuit (2o) is changed as shown in Fig. 4. All you have to do is set it up.

The shape of the device according to the present invention does not necessarily have to be in the shape of a card such as a business card, but can be any shape such as circular, cylindrical, triangular, cubic, etc. depending on the purpose of use.

Since the card device according to the present invention is constructed as described above, it has various features as listed below.

(1) Since no batteries are required, there is no need to always pay attention to the timing of battery replacement, the hassle of changing batteries, the expense of battery replacement, and mechanically there is no need for a battery holder or contact piece. It is economical.

(2) Data input/output can be performed via a coupler such as a coil, so there is no risk of damage to internal elements due to poor contact or static electricity, greatly improving both mechanical and electrical reliability. and can be used permanently.

Since there is no need to unroll the pieces, and the position and arrangement of the coupler are unknown from the outside, it is almost impossible to read or tamper with the contents of the memory, and the confidentiality of the contents of the memory is maintained. Extremely high.

1< (4) Transferring and receiving power and data Since no poisonous contact pieces are used, the entire device is enclosed in a case and can be operated in special gases, underwater, or in high-humidity environments. Therefore, it is extremely useful.

Additionally, since this type of device is often carried around in a pocket or the like, moisture such as human sweat can enter the device and cause the internal circuit to malfunction. Therefore, such defects can be avoided.

(5) Since the clock signal of the data processing carp circuit (6) is generated based on the frequency of field (1), the frequency of field (1) has extremely stable and highly accurate characteristics such as a crystal oscillator. If it is, the clock signal will be of the same high quality.Also, an expensive crystal resonator, which has a large volume and is weak against vibration, can be used as the clock signal generating element.
It is no longer necessary to mount it on all card devices, which is economical and improves mechanical reliability, making it possible to make the device smaller and lighter. In addition, external input/output devices are
Since the frequency that is the source of this clock signal can be directly obtained from the generator in 1), synchronization with the card device side can be easily achieved when exchanging data.
First of all, a large number of fields can be considered, such as passports, health insurance cards, hospital records, automatic telephone bill payment cards, product identification cards, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a microcomputer-embedded card device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a specific example of a rectifier circuit, and Fig. 3 is an interface for serial/parallel conversion of data. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of another embodiment using another data input section and output section. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another embodiment using a data input combiner (
7), FIG. 6 is an output waveform diagram of the data input circuit (19). 1 Vibration energy field due to high frequency electromagnetic field or ultrasonic wave 2 Card device 6 Rectifier 4 Rectifier circuit 5, frequency conversion circuit 6 Data processing circuit Z Input coupler...1, 8 Output coupler 1st item 2nd 4th snoring,,I''-1-

Claims (1)

[Claims] A receiver that receives the energy of the vibrational energy field formed in space, a rectifier circuit that obtains DC power from the energy received by the receiver, and a rectifier that converts the frequency of the AC component of the received energy. A data processing circuit consisting of a microcomputer, memory, etc., used as a clock signal, or a frequency signal with the frequency converted, and codes such as data and instructions are exchanged between the data processing circuit and external input/output equipment. 1. A microcomputer-embedded card, comprising one or more couplers having one or both functions of input and output, and driving the data processing circuit with DC power obtained from the rectifier circuit. Device.