JP2002330145A - Non-contact type information communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of data collection with a non-contact type information communication system 1 provided with a non-contact type information communication body 4, some readers R1-Rn, C1-Cn and A1-An reading information by performing non-contact communication with a non-contact type information communication body present in the communication available area and an information collection device 1 gathering information read from the non-contact type information communication body present in the communication available area of each reader by sending reading orders to these readers. SOLUTION: An information collection device is provided with a program 11 with a control task performing processing which generates a communication task receiving information read from the non-contact type information communication body present in the communication available area of each reader by sending the reading orders to some readers at the same time to collect information by performing the generated communication task.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to non-contact information in which an information collection device transmits a read command to a plurality of readers and collects information read from a non-contact information communication body by each reader. The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly, to a non-contact information communication system for improving the efficiency of such information collection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an IC card formed by embedding a microcomputer chip and a memory chip on a card substrate having a size similar to that of a credit card or the like has been put to practical use in various fields such as finance, distribution, transportation, and medicine. Is planned. In an IC card system using such an IC card, for example, power is transmitted from a reader / writer device (R / W) to the IC card, and a control code is transmitted between the reader / writer device and the IC card. Information such as data and data is communicated. In power transmission and information communication between a reader / writer device and an IC card, a non-contact method using electromagnetic coupling or the like is employed in addition to a contact method in which terminals are brought into contact with each other.

A non-contact type IC card (non-contact type IC card) has, for example, an antenna for communicating with a reader / writer device in a non-contact manner, and also has a fixed-capacity memory therein. The power is received by an electromagnetic wave output from an antenna provided in the reader / writer device, and various processes such as reading and writing of contents stored in a memory are executed by using the received power as operating power. On the other hand, in the reader / writer device, power is supplied to the non-contact type IC card by electromagnetic waves output from the antenna to make the non-contact type IC card operable, and the non-contact type IC card is operated by non-contact communication. It reads out the contents stored in the memory of the card, rewrites the contents stored in the memory, writes new information in the memory, and the like.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an article management system using a non-contact type IC card. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an embodiment according to the present invention in an embodiment to be described later. Here, for convenience of explanation, a system using a non-contact type IC card will be described with reference to FIG. An example is shown below. For this reason, the matters described in the conventional example with reference to the drawing are not always applied to the embodiment according to the present invention.

The article management system shown in FIG. 1 includes a server device 1 having a reader / writer control program 11,
A storage device 2 that can be accessed by the server device 1, a plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, a network 3 connecting the server device 1 and the plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, and each reader / writer device R1 , The same number of cables C1 to Cn as the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn connected to Rn, and the same number of shelf-type antennas A1 to An as the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn connected to the cables C1 to Cn. A contact type IC card 4 and a book 5 to which the non-contact type IC card 4 is attached are provided.

Here, in the example of FIG. 1, it is assumed that n is a natural number of 2 or more, and the total number of reader / writers R1 to Rn, the total number of cables C1 to Cn,
It is assumed that the total number of An is equal to n. Further, in the example of FIG. 1, the book 5 is shown as an article to be managed using the non-contact type IC card 4, but as such an article, various things such as a file storing the book are used. May be used. Although only one set of the article (book) 5 to which the non-contact type IC card 4 is attached is shown in FIG. 1, the non-contact IC card is attached to the article management system shown in FIG. A plurality of sets of articles such as books are provided.

[0007] As described above, shelf antennas A1 to An are connected to the plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, respectively, via the cables C1 to Cn. Each of the shelf-type antennas A1 to An is provided with an antenna function on a shelf for storing, for example, the book 5 and the like, and differs from each other in a predetermined area as a range for managing the presence state of the book 5 and the like. It is installed in a position.

Further, the book 5 or the like to which the non-contact type IC card 4 is attached is arranged at any place (position) in an area predetermined as a management range. Then, any of the shelf antennas A1 to A
n shelves. The book 5 and the like can be moved to another shelf or the like by the user (person).

Next, an example of an operation performed in the article management system shown in FIG. The non-contact type IC card 4 affixed to the book 5 or the like has, for example, an antenna for performing non-contact communication with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn and has a memory therein, and the memory includes Is information (I) for identifying each non-contact type IC card 4.
C card identification information) is stored. The non-contact type IC card 4 includes, for example, reader / writer devices R1 to R
n, the received power is used as the operating power, and the reader / writer devices R1 to R1 are used.
Communicate information without contact with Rn.

When each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn receives the read command transmitted from the server device 1, the shelf type antennas A1 to An connected via cables C1 to Cn.
The non-contact type IC card 4 supplies power to the non-contact type IC card 4 existing in the communicable area by electromagnetic waves in a non-contact manner, and communicates information with the non-contact type IC card 4 in a non-contact manner. 4 reads (receives) the identification information stored in the memory of the server 4 and transmits the read information to the server device 1 via the network 3.

The server device 1 is composed of, for example, an information terminal device such as a computer, and is connected to each of a plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn via a network 3. R
n is controlled and managed. Specifically, the server device 1 transmits a read command to each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, and responds to the read command to transmit each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn.
Non-contact IC existing in its communicable area by 1 to Rn
The information is read from the card 4 and the read information is received from each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn via the network 3. The server device 1 stores information received from each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn in the storage device 2 and saves the information.

In the article management system shown in FIG. 1, information for identifying each non-contact type IC card 4 (IC card identification information) is stored in the memory of each non-contact type IC card 4 as described above. And the respective reader / writers R1 to Rn are stored in the memories of the respective reader / writers R1 to Rn.
To Rn (reader / writer identification information) are stored.

Each of the reader / writers R1 to Rn exchanges the reader / writer identification information of each of the reader / writers R1 to Rn with the IC card identification information read from the non-contact type IC card 4 in the communicable area. Transmission to the server device 1 as a set is performed. In this case, in the server device 1, based on the reader / writer identification information and the IC card identification information received from each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, the non-contact type IC card 4 having any of the IC card identification information is assigned to any of the reader / writers. Devices R1 to Rn
Can be grasped in the communicable area of the shelf-type antennas A1 to An corresponding to, and thereby the location of the article such as the book 5 to be managed can be recognized.

The server device 1 includes, for example, a program (reader / writer control program) 11 for controlling the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn by a CPU (Central Processes).
singUnit) to collect information from the non-contact type IC card 4 as described above, and by repeating such processing operations, the presence of the non-contact type IC card 4 The location information, that is, the location information of the book 5 or the like is constantly updated.

Here, the reader / writer control program 11
Is software operated in the server device 1,
It communicates with any of the reader / writers R1 to Rn distributed on the network 3 and communicates with the reader / writer R
1 to Rn to read information from the non-contact type IC card 4, receive the read results from the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, and hold the read results in the storage device 2.
A process of grasping the location of each non-contact type IC card 4, that is, the location of each book 5 is realized.

[0016]

However, in the conventional article management system, the server device 1 transmits a read command to each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn,
The operation of collecting information read from the non-contact type IC card 4 existing in the communicable area of each reader / writer device R1 to Rn by communication via the network 3 has been performed. It takes time, and there is a problem that such information collection cannot be performed efficiently. Further, such a problem is caused, for example, by a reader / writer device R provided in the system.
When the number n of 1 to Rn increases, it becomes very remarkable.

FIG. 5 shows the processing time when the server device 1 communicates with ten reader / writer devices in order and collects information read from the non-contact type IC card by each reader / writer device. An example of a simple flow is shown, and the horizontal axis shows time. The ten reader / writer devices are indicated as R / W1 to R / W10, respectively. As shown in the figure, conventionally, assuming that i = 1 to 10, the server 1 communicates with the i-th reader / writer (R / Wi) from time T (i−1) to time T (i). Communication is performed for each reader / writer device (R / W1 to R / W10),
To complete communication with all of the reader / writer devices (R / W1 to R / W10) for one cycle, ΔT (10) −
It took a lot of time such as T (0)｝. In addition,
In this example, in order to simplify the explanation, the time required for communication between the server device 1 and each reader / writer device ΔT (i) −
T (i-1)} are assumed to be the same.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and an information collecting apparatus such as a server apparatus transmits a reading command to a plurality of reading apparatuses such as reader / writer apparatuses to read each command. It is an object of the present invention to provide a non-contact information communication system capable of improving the efficiency of information collection when collecting information read from a non-contact information communication body such as a non-contact IC card by a reader. I do.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above object, a non-contact information communication system according to the present invention comprises a non-contact information communication device and a non-contact information communication device existing in a communicable area. A plurality of readers that communicate by contact and read information from the non-contact information communication body; and a non-contact information communication that transmits a read command to the plurality of readers and exists in a communicable area of each reader. An information collecting device for collecting information read from the body by each of the reading devices is provided, and the information is collected as follows. That is,
In the information collecting device, a reading command is simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of reading devices by a control task of a program provided in the information collecting device, and the non-contact information communication body existing in the communicable area of each reading device transmits the reading command. A process for generating a communication task for receiving the information read by each reading device is executed, and the information read by each reading device is collected by executing the generated communication task.

Therefore, the information collection device simultaneously communicates with the plurality of reading devices and collects the information read from the non-contact information communication body by the plurality of reading devices. Compared with the case where information is collected for each reading device (for example, reader / writer device), the time required for such information collection can be reduced, and such information collection can be made more efficient. .

Here, as the non-contact type information communication body, for example, a non-contact type information communication body that communicates information with a reading device in a non-contact manner is used. As an example, a non-contact type IC card is used. In addition, the present invention is not limited to a card-shaped one such as a non-contact type IC card, and various shapes such as a tag-shaped one may be used as a non-contact type information communication body.

Further, as the reading device, for example, a non-contact type information communication unit which communicates information in a non-contact type with a non-contact type information communication unit existing in a non-contactly communicable region (communicable region). For example, a reader / writer device having a reading function and a writing function is used. Various information may be used as the information read from the non-contact information communication body by the reading device. For example, information for identifying the non-contact information communication body is used.

Further, the plurality of reading devices may be various numbers. Various methods may be used for non-contact communication. For example, an electromagnetic wave is wirelessly transmitted from a reading device to a non-contact type information communication body, and the non-contact type information communication body transmits the electromagnetic wave. And a method of returning information to the reading device using the method described above.

Various signals may be used as a reading command transmitted from the information collecting device to the reading device. For example, when the reading device receives a reading command transmitted from the information collecting device, the reading device reads information from the non-contact information communication body existing in the communicable area, and transmits the read information to the information collecting device. In the communication between the information collecting device and the reading device, for example, wired communication may be used, and for example, wireless communication may be used.

A communication task for simultaneously transmitting a transmission command to a plurality of readers and receiving information read by the respective readers from a non-contact type information communication body existing in the communicable area of each reader. For example, a task that is generated as needed and discarded after the end of the communication task can be used, and a control task that generates such a communication task is, for example, a resident task. Can be used.

In the case where a reading command is transmitted to a plurality of reading devices at the same time to cause each of the reading devices to read information from a non-contact information communication body, the plurality of reading devices include:
Various numbers may be used, and, for example, a larger number can improve the efficiency of information collection. It should be noted that it is considered that the efficiency of information collection can be maximized when information is collected by simultaneously transmitting a reading command to all the reading devices provided in the system. In the case where two or more readers interfere with each other in non-contact communication with a contact-type information communication body, mutual interference occurs to prevent such interference from occurring. It is preferable that a combination of the reading devices that simultaneously transmit the reading commands is set in such a manner that the reading commands are not simultaneously transmitted to the reading devices.

The term “simultaneous” in the present invention means that, for example, when there is a communication procedure in which a plurality of communication tasks are sequentially executed, the communication tasks are performed in the same communication task. Therefore, the transmission timing of the read command transmitted from the information collecting device to each of the reading devices does not necessarily need to be exactly the same in terms of time. For example, there may be a time lag in the timing of transmitting a read command or the timing of collecting (receiving) information from each reading device.

Various programs may be used as a program having a control task for executing processing for generating a communication task. Also, in the present invention, a feature has been described in which information is collected by generating and executing a communication task that simultaneously controls a plurality of reading devices and collects information simultaneously by the plurality of reading devices. Along with such a communication task, the information collection device sends a read command to a single reader to read information read by the reader from a non-contact type information communication body located in a communicable area of the reader. Communication tasks such as receiving may be used together.

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an article management system using a non-contact type IC card as an example of a non-contact type information communication system according to the present invention. The article management system shown in FIG. As described in the conventional example, the server device 1 including the reader / writer control program 11, the storage device 2 accessible by the server device 1, the plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn,
A network 3 for connecting the server device 1 to the plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn;
The same number of cables C1 to Cn as the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn connected to Rn, and the same number of shelf-type antennas A1 to An as the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn connected to each of the cables C1 to Cn. A type IC card 4 and a book 5 to which the non-contact type IC card 4 is attached are provided.

In the following, a detailed description of the same configuration and operation as described in the above-mentioned conventional example will be omitted, and the characteristic portion of the article management system of this example will be described in detail. In this example, the reader / writer control program 11 provided in the server device 1 is defined as a control task and the reader / writer devices R1 to R1.
It is divided into a communication task with Rn. In FIG.
FIG. 3 shows an example of a task configuration of the reader / writer control program 11 of the present embodiment.
Consists of a resident control task 12 and communication tasks T1, T2,... Which can be dynamically created and discarded.

The control task 12 is a task for controlling the operation of the entire program (reader / writer control program 11). More specifically, the control task 12 controls the user interface,
It controls the execution of the communication tasks T1, T2,... And manages and provides read data. Each communication task T1, T2, ...
Communicates with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn and transmits information received from the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn to the control task 1.
2, the communication with the designated reader / writer devices R1 to Rn and the information received from the designated reader / writer devices R1 to Rn (the data read from the non-contact type IC card 4). ) Transfer.

In this example, each communication task T1, T2,.
Is generated by the control task 12 when communicating with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, and is discarded by the control task 12 when the communication is completed. As described above, in this example, the communication tasks T1, T2,... Can be generated or discarded as necessary. Using such a configuration, communication with the plurality of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn can be performed simultaneously. Has been realized.

In the present embodiment, the server device 1 is provided with a schedule table that defines the communication order with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn. FIG. 3 shows an example of the setting contents of the schedule table of this example. In the vertical column of the table shown in FIG. 3, "time tables" from "1" to "5" are shown. The column of "" shows "setting of reader / writer to communicate" from "" to "". Here, the order in which communication is performed is set in the “time table”, and the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn that perform communication simultaneously are set in “setting of reader / writers to communicate”.

More specifically, FIG.
An example of the setting contents of the schedule table when the total number n of .about.Rn is 10 is shown, and each of ten reader / writer devices is shown as R / W1 to R / W10. In the setting contents shown in the figure, four reader / writer devices (R / W
1, R / W2, R / W3, R / W4), and two reader / writer devices (R / W5, R / W6) are set in the “second” “timetable 2”. One reader / writer device (R / W7) is set in the “3” th “timetable 3”, and three reader / writer devices are set in the “4th” “timetable 4”. (R / W8, R / W9, R / W10) are set, and 0 reader / writer devices are set in the “5th” “timetable 5”.

The reader / writer control program 11 repeatedly performs communication with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn in accordance with the communication order set in such a schedule table. Specifically, according to the setting contents shown in the figure, the reader / writer control program 11 executes “time table 1”,
"Time table 2", "Time table 3", "Time table 4", "Time table 1", "Time table 2", and so on. The communication processing up to “time table 4” is repeated.

As the communication processing in each cycle, the reader / writer control program 11 firstly reads the four reader / writer devices (R / R
W1, R / W2, R / W3, and R / W4) at the same time, and simultaneously performs communication processing with these four reader / writers to collect information.
When both of the reader / writers are completed, the two reader / writers (R / W5, R / W
At the same time, a reading instruction is transmitted to the above 6), and communication processing with these two reader / writer devices is performed at the same time to collect information. When both the communication processing are completed, the information is registered in the “time table 3”. A read command is transmitted to one of the reader / writer devices (R / W7), communication processing with the reader / writer device is performed, information is collected, and when the communication process with the one reader / writer device is completed, “time” is next displayed. The three reader / writer devices (R / W8, R
/ W9, R / W10) at the same time, and simultaneously performs communication processing with these three reader / writers to collect information.

In general, when two or more reader / writer devices whose antennas are arranged relatively close to each other simultaneously attempt to read information from a non-contact type IC card existing in each communicable area in a non-contact manner, However, there is a problem that the electromagnetic waves output from the antenna of the reader / writer device interfere with each other and the information reading operation cannot be performed normally.

In order to cope with such a problem, in this embodiment, a combination of two or more reader / writer devices which are expected to cause interference with each other is checked in advance, and the reader / writer devices which cause interference with each other are individually checked. Set to communicate with timetables of different numbers. Further, in this example, the reader / writer control program 11 performs communication processing relating to the next time table after completing communication with all reader / writer devices set in the time table of each number, so that a different number Is controlled so that the communication processing with the reader / writer device set in the time table is not executed at the same time. With such a configuration and operation, in this example, it is possible to prevent the above-described interference between the reader / writer devices and to guarantee that normal communication processing is performed.

Note that, taking the setting contents of the schedule table shown in FIG. 3 as an example, the combination (R / W) of the reader / writer set in the time table of the same number is used.
1, R / W2, R / W3, R / W4), (R / W5, R
/ W6), (R / W7), (R / W8, R / W9, R /
W10) is a combination in which no interference occurs between two or more reader / writer devices.

FIG. 4 shows that the server device 1 communicates with ten reader / writer devices and reads from the non-contact type IC card 4 using the communication procedure based on the setting contents of the schedule table shown in FIG. An example of a temporal flow of processing when collecting the collected information is shown, and the horizontal axis represents time. The ten reader / writer devices are indicated as R / W1 to R / W10, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 4, in this example, the server device 1 executes the communication task T1, for example, to execute the first to fourth reader / writer devices (R / W1, R / W1, R / W1, R / W1).
W2, R / W3, and R / W4) are communicated during the time period from time T (0) to time T (1), and the fifth and sixth reader / writer devices ( R / W5, R / W6) are performed during the time period from time T (1) to time T (2), and the communication task 3 is executed to communicate with the seventh reader / writer (R / W7). Is performed in the time period from the time T (2) to the time T (3), and the communication task 4 is executed.
Reader / writer devices (R / W8, R / W9, R / W
The communication with 10) is performed in the time period from time T (3) to time T (4). In this case, it takes only {T (4) -T (0)} to complete the communication with all the ten reader / writer devices (R / W1 to R / W10) for one cycle. As compared with the conventional case shown in FIG. 5, the time required for information collection can be reduced.
In this example, for the sake of simplicity, the time {T (j) -T (j-1)} required for communication with the reader / writer according to the time table of each number is assumed to be the same, Here, j = 1 to 4.

As described above, in the article management system of this embodiment, it is possible to communicate with a plurality of sets of the non-contact type IC card 4 for exchanging information with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn attached to the book 5 or the like. A plurality of sets of reader / writer devices R1 to Rn, cables C1 to Cn, and shelf antennas A1 to An for exchanging information with the noncontact type IC card 4 existing in the area, and non-contact by each reader / writer device R1 to Rn. A server device 1 that receives information read from the type IC card 4 via the network 3 and stores it in the storage device 2, and controls the reader / writer control program 11 provided in the server device 1 to control the entire program The task 12 communicates with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn to read information read from the non-contact type IC card 4 into the control task 1.
, And a schedule table that can define the communication order with the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn in the memory of the server device 1. In such a configuration, the server device 1 has a plurality of server devices. And collects information from the non-contact type IC card 4 at the same time.

Therefore, in the article management system of the present embodiment, since the server device 1 performs communication processing with a plurality of reader / writer devices simultaneously, the server device 1 includes a plurality of reader / writer devices provided in the system. R1-R
n to communicate with all of the plurality of reader / writer devices R1.
To Rn can collect information from the non-contact type IC card 4 existing in the communicable area as a whole, and the time required for such information collection can be reduced by a plurality of reader / writers provided in the system. The apparatus R1 to Rn can be shortened as a whole.

Further, in the article management system of this embodiment, a schedule table is provided in which reader / writer devices causing interference with each other are assigned to time tables of different numbers, and communication processing relating to the time tables of each number is simultaneously executed by the server device 1. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of interference between the reader / writer devices and to normally collect information from the non-contact type IC card 4.

Note that n reader / writer devices R1 to Rn
Is installed in the system, and there is no influence of interference between the n reader / writers R1 to Rn, the server device 1 transmits the n reader / writers R1 to Rn.
By adopting a configuration in which communication is performed simultaneously with all of 1 to Rn, the processing time required for information collection is reduced to 1 / n compared to the case where information is collected for each reader / writer device as in the related art. Can be

Here, in this example, the non-contact type IC card 4
Constitutes a non-contact information communication body according to the present invention. Further, in this example, the non-contact type IC card 4 which communicates with the non-contact type IC card 4 existing in the communicable area using the shelf-type antennas A1 to An connected via the cables C1 to Cn is used. A plurality of readers referred to in the present invention is constituted by a plurality of reader / writers R1 to Rn for reading information from a computer.

In this example, the reader / writer control program 11 is executed by a CPU or the like, and a read command is transmitted to a plurality of reader / writers R1 to Rn, and the communicable area of each reader / writer R1 to Rn is transmitted. From the non-contact type IC card 4 to the respective reader / writer devices R1 to Rn.
The information collecting device according to the present invention is constituted by the server device 1 that collects the information read by the server.

In this example, the program referred to in the present invention is constituted by the reader / writer control program 11 having the control task 12, and the control task 12 executes processing for generating the communication tasks T1, T2,. I do. Also, in this example, some of the communication tasks T1, T2,... Generated by the control task 12 transmit a read command to a plurality of reader / writers at the same time and send them to the communicable areas of the respective reader / writers. And a communication task for executing a process of receiving information read by the respective reader / writer devices from the existing non-contact type IC card 4. Then, in this example, the information read by each of the reader / writer devices R1 to Rn is collected by executing the generated communication tasks T1, T2,.

Here, the configuration of the non-contact type information communication system, the information collecting device, the reading device, and the non-contact type information communication body according to the present invention are not necessarily limited to those described above, and various configurations are possible. May be used. For example, a non-contact information communication body having a power supply such as a battery inside may be used.

The fields of application of the present invention are not necessarily limited to those described above, and the present invention can be applied to various fields. For example, in this example, the case where the present invention is applied to a system for managing the location of an article using a non-contact type information communication body is shown.
For example, the present invention can be applied to various systems such as a system for collecting information stored in a memory of a non-contact information communication body carried by a user (person) or the like.

The various processes performed in the non-contact information communication system, the information collecting device, the reading device, and the non-contact information communication device include, for example, a processor and a ROM in a hardware resource including a memory and the like.
A configuration controlled by executing a control program stored in the CPU may be used, or for example, some or all of the functional units for performing the various processes may be configured as independent hardware circuits. It is possible. Further, the present invention can be understood as a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a CD-ROM storing the above-mentioned control program or the program (the program itself). By causing the processor to execute the processing according to the present invention, the processing according to the present invention can be performed.

[0052]

As described above, according to the non-contact type information communication system according to the present invention, the non-contact type information communication unit communicates with the non-contact type information communication unit existing in the communicable area in a non-contact manner. A plurality of reading devices for reading information from the non-contact information communication body, and transmitting a read command to the plurality of reading devices to read the information from the non-contact information communication body existing in the communicable area of each reading device. An information collection device that collects information read by the reading device is provided, and a reading task is simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of reading devices by a control task of a program provided in the information collection device so that each reading device can communicate. A process for generating a communication task for receiving information read by each of the reading devices from a non-contact type information communication body existing in the area is executed, and by executing the generated communication task, each reading is performed. Since the information read by the apparatus is collected, the time required for such information collection can be reduced as compared with the conventional case where information is collected for each reading apparatus one by one. Thus, such information collection can be made more efficient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an article management system using a non-contact type IC card.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a task configuration of a reader / writer control program according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of setting contents of a schedule table according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a time chart illustrating an example of a temporal flow of processing when a server device according to an embodiment of the present invention communicates with ten reader / writer devices.

FIG. 5 is a time chart illustrating an example of a temporal flow of processing when a server device according to a conventional example communicates with ten reader / writer devices.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Server device, 2. Storage device, 3. Network, 4. Contactless IC card, 5. Book, 1
1. Reader / writer control program, R1 to Rn
Reader / writer device, C1-Cn cable, A1-
An ... shelf type antenna, 12 ... control task, T1
T4 ... communication task,

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C005 MB03 MB06 NA08 SA21 TA22 5B058 CA17 KA40 5K012 AB03 AB05 AB18 AC08 AC10 AE13 BA03 5K032 AA01 BA02 CC01 CC10 DA01 DA11 DA21

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A non-contact information communication body, and a plurality of reading devices that communicate with the non-contact information communication body in a communicable area in a non-contact manner and read information from the non-contact information communication body.
An information collection device that transmits a read command to these plurality of reading devices and collects information read by each of the reading devices from a non-contact information communication body existing in a communicable area of each of the reading devices. A contact-type information communication system, wherein the information collection device transmits a reading command to a plurality of reading devices simultaneously and transmits the reading command from the non-contact type information communication device existing in the communicable area of each reading device to each of the reading devices. A program having a control task for executing a process of generating a communication task for receiving the read information is provided, and the information read by each reading device is collected by executing the generated communication task. Non-contact information communication system.