KR101531909B1 - A low power dualband active RFID tag - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a low power dual band active electronic tag. The low power dual band active electronic tag according to the present invention relates to an electronic tag comprising; a first antenna which receives a signal of a first frequency band from an active electronic tag identification device; and a second antenna which transmits and receives a signal of a second frequency band. The low power dual band active electronic tag comprises; a wake-up signal generating unit capable of generating induced electromotive force which is induced from the signal of the first frequency band as a wake-up signal; and a micro control unit (MCU) which converts an electronic tag from a sleep mode to a wake-up mode if the wake-up signal is generated and transmits and receives the signal of the second frequency band through the second antenna. The MCU determines whether to convert the signal of the second frequency band from the wake-up mode to the sleep mode or not. The signal of the second frequency is in the sleep mode if communications with the active electronic tag identification device is not needed. The signal of the second frequency is converted into the wake-up mode if the communications are needed. Therefore, a battery of an active electronic tag can be used for a long time because low power standby is possible.

Description

A low power dual band active RFID tag < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to a low-power dual-band active electronic tag, and more particularly, to a low-power dual-band active electronic tag capable of reducing power consumption.

The RFID stores predetermined tag information including an identification information ID in an RFID tag, and allows a predetermined RFID reader to read the tag information through an antenna and transmit the tag information to a predetermined information system based on information communication technology and / A system and / or a system for reading and processing the tag information in cooperation with each other and providing a predetermined supplementary service, and is classified into a passive type RFID tag and an active type RFID tag depending on whether the battery is embedded or not.

Here, the passive electronic tag is an electronic tag without a battery, and includes a transponder for transmitting a predetermined response signal corresponding to the signal in response to a predetermined signal provided from a predetermined terminal device via a radio frequency signal, And performs the function. Such passive electronic tags are advantageous in that they are made of only a predetermined electronic circuit for performing functions of an antenna and a transponder, and are relatively inexpensive to manufacture. However, when it is necessary to enhance security in a security system for managing access to people or objects, I have a problem that I did not.

The active electronic tag is an electronic tag having a built-in battery, and has a function of transmitting a predetermined signal to the outside by its own battery in addition to the transponder function of the passive electronic tag. As a result, the active electronic tag is advantageously used in an RFID system having a hierarchical structure or in a USN (Ubiquitous Sensor Network) system to enhance security in the security system described above. However, The problem of losing the function of the active electronic tag is included.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a wakeup mode is switched from a sleep mode to a wakeup mode through a signal of a first frequency band received from an RFID reader, a signal of a second frequency band is received, Low-power dual-band active electronic tags.

One aspect of the present invention is a low-power dual-band active electronic tag connected to a first antenna for receiving a signal of a first frequency band from a RFID reader and a second antenna for transmitting and receiving signals of a second frequency band, A wake-up signal generator for generating an induced electromotive force derived from a signal in a first frequency band as a wake-up signal; and a wake-up signal generator for switching the electronic tag from a sleep mode to a wake-up mode when the wake- And transmitting the signal of the second frequency band through the second antenna, and determining whether to switch from the wakeup mode to the sleep mode based on the signal of the second frequency band.

Meanwhile, the signal of the second frequency band includes a scan signal for transmitting system identification information for identifying the system to which the RFID tag belongs, and the scan signal may be periodically transmitted.

Further, the MCU can maintain the wake-up mode if the system to which the RFID tag identified through the system identification information belongs is a system to which the RFID should respond.

In addition, the MCU can switch from the wake-up mode to the sleep mode if the system to which the RFID tag identified through the system identification information belongs is not a system to which the RFID should respond.

Further, the wake-up signal generator may convert the induced electromotive force into a single pulse signal of a predetermined level and generate the wake-up signal as the wake-up signal.

According to an aspect of the present invention, when communication with the RFID reader is not required, the RFID tag is in a sleep mode, and when communication is required, the RFID tag is switched to a wakeup mode, have.

Further, it is determined whether to maintain the wake-up mode or the sleep mode again based on the scan signal periodically received after switching to the wake-up mode, thereby maintaining the wake-up mode when continuous communication with the RFID reader is required The wake-up delay time required for switching from the sleep mode to the wake-up mode can be reduced.

1 is a diagram illustrating an electronic tag recognition system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram showing an actual use example of the electronic tag recognition system shown in FIG.
3 is a diagram showing a flow of an actual use example of the electronic tag recognition system shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a low-power dual-band active type electronic tag and an active type electronic tag recognition device in the electronic tag recognition system shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific circuit configuration of the low-power dual-band active type electronic tag shown in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operational flow of the low-power dual-band active type electronic tag shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numerals are used to denote like elements in the drawings, even if they are shown in different drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating an electronic tag recognition system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electronic tag recognition system according to the present embodiment includes a server 100, an electronic tag recognition apparatus 200, and an electronic tag 300.

The server 100 receives the information of the electronic tag read by the electronic tag recognizing apparatus 200. [ The server 100 may be a general server that provides predetermined information in response to a client connection request, and may be connected to the RFID reader 200 through a communication network to control each configuration. At this time, the communication network is a high speed backbone network of a communication network capable of a large-capacity, long-distance voice / data service, for example, can be a general Internet network. In addition, the communication network is a next generation wired network for providing high-speed multimedia service based on ALL-IP (ALL Internet Protocol), and mediates the transmission and reception of signals and data between the systems.

The electronic tag recognizing apparatus 200 reads predetermined information stored in the electronic tag 300 within a predetermined distance and transmits the read information to the server 100 so that the electronic tag 300 and the server 100 It acts as an intermediary.

The RFID reader 200 according to the present embodiment includes a first antenna 210 for transmitting signals of a first frequency band and a second antenna 220 for transmitting and receiving signals of a second frequency band.

On the other hand, the first frequency band may be about 900 MHz and the second frequency band may be about 400 MHz, but is not limited thereto.

In particular, the RFID reader 200 according to the present embodiment may be configured to perform a first mode of transmitting only a scan signal of the first frequency band to the RFID 300 and a second mode of transmitting a first scan of the first frequency band to the RFID 300 And a second mode for transmitting the second scan signal of the second frequency band after a predetermined time after transmitting the signal. The operation in the first mode or the second mode can be determined according to the security rule at the location where the RFID reader 200 is installed. For example, when the security of the location where the RFID reader 200 is installed is relatively low The RFID reader 200 operates in the first mode, and if the security degree is relatively high, the RFID reader 200 can be set to operate in the second mode.

The electronic tag 300 includes a first antenna 310 for transmitting and receiving signals in a first frequency band, a second antenna 320 for transmitting and receiving signals in a second frequency band, a passive electronic tag And an active electronic tag 340 connected to the first antenna 310 and the second antenna 320.

Particularly, the active RFID 340 according to the present embodiment is a low-power dual-band active RFID tag, which is in a sleep mode that does not consume battery power, Wake-up mode in which the battery power is consumed in the sleep mode using the induced electromotive force of the battery. In addition, the active electronic tag 330 in the wakeup mode transmits / receives a signal in the second frequency band and determines whether to maintain the wakeup mode based on the signal in the second frequency band. The configuration and operation principle of the electronic tag and the electronic tag recognition apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6. Fig.

Hereinafter, an application example to the security system based on the electronic tag recognition system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG.

2, when a user desires to access the A area (high security area) and the B area (low security area), the user is connected to the security management server 100 through a communication network, The electronic tag 300 should be placed close to the electronic tag recognizing apparatus 200 managed by the electronic tag reader / writer 100.

Meanwhile, the security management server 100 may be provided at a position adjacent to the A and B areas, which are the security areas, and may be installed in the security area 100 based on the data of the electronic tag 300 read out from the RFID reader 200, And to approve the security. That is, the security management server 100 judges who is entering the area A and the area B, and determines that the current situation is abnormal if the current accessing person is different from the accessing person previously stored in the security management server 100.

In addition, the RFID reader 200 is installed at one side of a door, and controls devices such as opening / closing a door or operating an alarm, etc. in response to a security approval from the security management server.

In addition, the RFID tag 300 is an RFID tag inserted in an object such as a pass, ID, employee ID, etc. storing a part of the identity and personal information of a visitor, and includes an ID such as an ID or a resident registration number can do.

The security for the A area is performed through the security management server 100, the RFID reader 200, the passive RFID 330, and the active RFID 340.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 3, first, the RFID reader transmits a first scan signal of a first frequency band in order to recognize the existence of an RFID proximate to a predetermined range.

The first scan signal is recognized in the passive electronic tag of the electronic tag, and the passive electronic tag transmits the identification information such as its own ID to the RFID reader in response thereto.

Meanwhile, the induced electromotive force due to the first scan signal is used to generate a wake-up signal in the active electronic tag of the electronic tag, and the active electronic tag switches from the sleep mode to the wake-up mode to start the activation.

In addition, the electronic tag recognizing apparatus that has transmitted the first scan signal transmits the second scan signal of the second frequency band after a predetermined time. The predetermined time is a time when the active electronic tag considers the switching time to the wake-up mode.

The second scan signal is a signal for initiating signal transmission / reception between the electronic tag recognition device and the active electronic tag. The second scan signal includes a synchronization signal for synchronizing time synchronization between the electronic tag recognition device and the active electronic tag, And a system identification information signal for identifying the system.

Here, the synchronization signal includes a preamble of at least 20 bytes and an end of frame (EOF) indicating the end of the preamble. As a result, the active electronic tag synchronizes with the electronic tag recognizing device on the basis of the preamble and the EOF in the synchronization signal.

Also, the system identification information signal may be a signal transmitted after the synchronization signal, and may be in the form of a system ID, through which the active RFID reader can know whether the RFID reader is a system to which the RFID reader should respond.

The active electronic tag recognizing the second scan signal confirms the system identification information signal included in the second scan signal and determines whether the system is a system to which the active electronic tag recognizes the response. If it is determined that the active electronic tag is a system to which the active electronic tag should respond based on the system identification information signal, the active electronic tag transmits security information including its identification information to the electronic tag recognizing device in response to the security information request of the electronic tag recognizing device do. At this time, the active electronic tag can calculate a time slot required for time division communication using a predetermined random seed, and transmit the security information in a predetermined time slot.

Also, if it is determined that the active electronic tag is not a system to which the active electronic tag should respond based on the system identification information, the active electronic tag immediately switches from the wakeup mode to the sleep mode.

The electronic tag recognizing apparatus having transmitted the security information requests security authentication to the security management server. In response to this, the security management server approves the security, and the control of the door and the alarm on the area A through the electronic tag recognizing apparatus is started.

That is, the RFID reader 200 on the A region transmits the first scan signal in the first frequency band and then transmits the second scan signal in the second frequency band after a predetermined time. In addition, the passive RFID 330 transmits its identification information in response to the first scan signal, the active RFID 340 switches to the wakeup mode using the first scan signal, And transmits security information including its identification information in response to the signal. Accordingly, the security for the area A can realize enhanced security by double security that activates both the passive RFID 330 and the active RFID 340.

Meanwhile, security for the B area is performed through the security management server 100, the RFID reader 200, and the passive RFID 330 among the RFID tags.

That is, the RFID reader 200 on the B region is set to transmit only the first scan signal in the first frequency band, the passive RFID 330 recognizes the first scan signal, . Therefore, the security for the B area is made only by the identification information of the simple passive electronic tag 330.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a concrete configuration of an active electronic tag and an electronic tag recognizing apparatus in the electronic tag recognition system shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

Referring to FIG. 4, the RFID reader 200 according to the present embodiment includes a first communication unit 240 connected to a first antenna 210 for transmitting a first frequency band signal, A second communication unit 250 connected to a second antenna 220 for transmitting and receiving signals in a second frequency band, an MCU 230 for controlling the first communication unit 240 and the second communication unit 250.

Particularly, the MCU 230 of the RFID reader 200 is provided with a first mode for transmitting only the scan signal of the first frequency band to the RFID tag and a second mode for transmitting the first scan signal of the first frequency band after a predetermined time And a second mode for transmitting a second scan signal in a second frequency band. The operation of the first mode or the second mode may be preset according to the installation point of the RFID reader 200. [

On the other hand, the first frequency band may be about 900 MHz and the second frequency band may be about 400 MHz, but is not limited thereto.

The electronic tag 300 according to the present embodiment includes a passive electronic tag 330 connected to the first antenna 310 and a low power dual band active electronic tag 330 connected to the first antenna 310 and the second antenna 320. [ (340).

First, the passive electronic tag 330 periodically receives a first scan signal of the first frequency band from the RFID reader 200 through the first communication unit 331, Through the first communication unit 331 as a signal in the first frequency band.

The active electronic tag 340 includes a wake-up signal generator 341, a battery 342, a memory 343, an MCU 344, and a second communication unit 345.

The wake-up signal generator 341 is connected to the first antenna 310 and generates an induced electromotive force derived from the first scan signal as a wake-up signal, and transmits the wake-up signal to the MCU 344. The wake-up signal is a signal for switching the active electronic tag 340 in a sleep mode that does not consume battery power to a wake-up mode for consuming battery power.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the wake-up signal generating unit 341 includes a capacitor C, a diode D, a plurality of resistors R1, R2, and R3, and a transistor T. The wake-up signal generating unit 341 generates the induced electromotive force in the first antenna 310 constituted by the inductor L as the wake-up signal W, which is a single pulse signal of a predetermined level.

The MCU 344 is connected to the wake-up signal generator 341, the battery 342, the memory 343 and the communication unit 345 to control the overall operation of the active electronic tag 340.

More specifically, the MCU 344 according to the present embodiment includes a mode switching unit 344a for switching from a sleep mode to a wake-up mode upon receiving a wake-up signal from the wake-up signal generating unit 341. [

When the mode switching unit 344a switches to the wake-up mode, the MCU 344 controls the second communication unit 345 to transmit and receive signals of the second frequency band. The MCU 344 controls the predetermined information stored in the memory 343 to be transmitted as a signal of the second frequency band and processes the signal of the second frequency band that is received.

At this time, the received signal of the second frequency band includes a second scan signal periodically received from the RFID reader 200. The second scan signal is a synchronous signal for synchronizing time synchronization between the RFID reader 200 and the active RFID 340 and a system to which the RFID reader 200 receiving the second scan signal belongs And may include a system identification information signal for identification.

In addition, the mode switching unit 344a according to the present embodiment determines whether to switch back from the wake-up mode to the sleep mode based on the received second scan signal.

More specifically, the mode switching unit 344a determines the system to which the RFID reader 200 belongs based on the system identification information signal of the second scan signal. If the determined system is a system to which the system responds, And the active electronic tag 340 is not required to be driven, so that the wakeup mode is switched to the sleep mode again.

When the wake-up mode is maintained by the mode switching unit 344a, the MCU 344 transmits the security information including the identification information of the active electronic tag 340 stored in the memory 343 to the signal of the second frequency band And controls the RFID reader 200 to continuously receive the signal of the second frequency band.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation sequence of the low-power dual-band active type electronic tag shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 6, the low-power dual-band active type RFID tag according to the present embodiment first generates a wake-up signal from a first scan signal for recognizing an adjacent RFID tag. When the wake-up signal is generated (410), the wake-up mode is switched to a wake-up mode in which the battery power is consumed and the second frequency band signal is transmitted and received in a sleep mode in which battery power is not consumed.

Further, the low-power dual-band active electronic tag in the wake-up mode periodically receives the second scan signal of the second frequency band from the electronic tag recognizing device for starting operation as the active electronic tag (430). The second scan signal includes the system identification information of the electronic tag recognizing device so that the active electronic tag can determine whether or not to respond to the electronic tag recognizing device.

Also, the low power dual band active electronic tag determines whether the system is a system to which it should respond based on the system identification information included in the second scan signal (440).

At this time, if it is determined that the system is to respond (440), the wake-up mode is maintained to communicate predetermined information with the signal of the second frequency band to the RFID reader, 2 scan signal is received (451). If it is determined that the system is not responding (440), the system is switched to the sleep mode again to stop the consumption of battery power (452).

According to an aspect of the present invention, when communication with the RFID reader is not required, the RFID tag is in a sleep mode, and when communication is required, the RFID tag can be switched to a wakeup mode, have.

In addition, it is determined whether to maintain the wake-up mode or to switch to the sleep mode again based on the scan signal periodically received after switching to the wake-up mode, and when the continuous communication with the RFID reader is required, the mode is switched to the sleep mode There is an advantage that the wake-up delay time required for switching from the sleep mode to the wake-up mode can be reduced by maintaining the wake-up mode instead of switching to the wake-up mode again.

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various other modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, Are all within the scope of the appended claims.

100: Server
200: Electronic tag recognition device
300: Electronic tag
330: passive electronic tag
340: active electronic tag

Claims (5)

1. A low-power dual-band active electronic tag connected to a first antenna for receiving a signal of a first frequency band from an electronic tag recognizer and a second antenna for transmitting and receiving signals of a second frequency band,
A wake-up signal generator for generating an induced electromotive force derived from the signal of the first frequency band as a wake-up signal; And
When the wake-up signal is generated, switching the electronic tag from a sleep mode to a wake-up mode, transmitting and receiving a signal of the second frequency band through the second antenna,
Wherein the signal of the second frequency band includes a scan signal for transmitting system identification information for identifying the system to which the RFID tag belongs, and wherein in the wakeup mode, Wherein the microcontroller determines whether to switch to < RTI ID = 0.0 > a < / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the scan signal is transmitted periodically. 3. The method of claim 2,
The MCU includes:
Wherein the wake-up mode is maintained if the system in which the RFID tag identified through the system identification information is a system to which the RFID tag should respond. The method of claim 3,
The MCU includes:
Wherein the system belonging to the RFID tag identified through the system identification information switches from the wakeup mode to the sleep mode if the RFID tag is not a system to which the RFID tag should respond. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wake-
And converts the induced electromotive force into a single pulse signal of a predetermined level and generates it as the wake-up signal.

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