JP2002373058A - Information storage device, communication equipment, communicating method and communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information storage device, a communication equipment, a communicating method and a communication system which increase the storable amount of information and also can improve the communication quality when a plurality of communication equipments simultaneously access the same radio tag. SOLUTION: This information storage device performs information transmission C1 and C2 with radio tag read/write communication equipment 1 to 3 about stored information, respectively installs a plurality of radio tags 4-1 to 4-N in the neighborhood regardless of sequence and direction to install, constructs a logical radio tag group 4, stores prescribed information in the radio tag group as a whole, enables information writing/reading to/from the radio tag group 4 and therefore, can increase the amount of storable information by performing reading/writing to/from the radio tag group 4 even with respect to information having capacity that surpasses the storage capacity of one of radio tags 4-1 to 4-N.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information storage device, a communication device, a communication method, and a communication system for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication between the information storage device and another communication device. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, an information storage unit having a small storage capacity is provided.
There is a wireless tag that transmits predetermined information by performing wireless communication with another communication device. This wireless tag has a large storage capacity of several kilobytes even if it is large, and can hold only a very limited amount of information.

[0003] The wireless tag has been used for limited applications such as article identification for attaching the article to the article to identify the article.

There has also been a technique in which a wireless tag reading / writing device simultaneously identifies a plurality of wireless tags. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-120443 discloses a clearing system in a cafeteria.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional wireless tag has a disadvantage that only very limited information can be held.

In addition, the above-described conventional wireless tag has a disadvantage that it is used for limited applications.

[0007] Further, in the technology in which the above-mentioned wireless tag reading / writing device simultaneously identifies a plurality of wireless tags,
It is assumed that only one communication device accesses each wireless tag at the same time.In a system where multiple communication devices read one wireless tag, it is difficult to communicate with the wireless tag due to radio wave interference. There was an inconvenience of becoming.

According to the present invention, when a wireless tag is used as a storage medium, only a very limited amount of information can be stored due to a small storage capacity, but the amount of information that can be stored to store current advanced information is stored. The challenge is to increase

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the error occurrence rate in a situation where a plurality of wireless tag reading / writing devices simultaneously access the same wireless tag.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to increase the amount of information that can be stored and improve the quality of communication when a plurality of communication devices simultaneously access the same wireless tag. It is an object to provide a storage device, a communication device, a communication method, and a communication system.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An information storage device according to the present invention is an information storage device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with another communication device for stored information. Alternatively, a plurality of distributed storage units are installed in the vicinity regardless of the direction, and a group forming unit configured to form a logical group by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units, and a storage unit that stores predetermined information in the entire group. , It is possible to write or read information to or from a group.

Further, the communication device of the present invention is a communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with the information storage device with respect to stored information. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit to the group of distributed storage units of the information storage device to be configured, the group number and the Recognition means for recognizing the number indicating the relative position of the information, division means for dividing the information to be written into optimal units, and writing the information to each of the distributed storage units. Is intended and a non-writing means.

Further, the communication device of the present invention is a communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with the information storage device with respect to stored information. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When the information stored in each distributed storage unit is read from the group of distributed storage units of the information storage device, the group number and the relative number within the group are set for each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity. Recognition means for recognizing a number indicating a position, organizing means for organizing the order of information to be read, and reading means for reading information from individual distributed storage units. It is as it has.

Further, the communication device of the present invention is a communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with the information storage device with respect to stored information. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit from a plurality of communication devices to a group of distributed storage units of the information storage device at the same time or reading the information from the plurality of communication devices, Or first detection means for detecting a failure or no response from the information storage device in response to a read request;
A reduction means for reducing the size of write or read information when a response fails or no response, a retry means for executing write or read again, and whether the write or read request succeeds or the number of requests is a predetermined upper limit value Second detecting means for detecting that
The execution is repeated by the retry means until the success of the request or the upper limit of the number of requests is detected by the detecting means.

Further, according to the communication method of the present invention, in a communication method for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with an information storage device with respect to stored information, each of the communication methods can be arranged in the vicinity of the information regardless of the installation order or direction. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit to the group of distributed storage units of the information storage device to be configured, the group number and the A recognition step for recognizing a number indicating the relative position of the information; a dividing step for dividing the information to be written into an optimal unit; In which and a write step of writing the multicast.

In the communication system of the present invention, in a communication system in which predetermined information is transmitted by performing wireless communication between an information storage device and another communication device with respect to stored information, an installation order or a direction is set. A plurality of distributed storage units are installed in the vicinity of each other, and a group configuration unit configured to form a logical group by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units, and a storage unit that stores predetermined information in the entire group, An information storage device that enables writing or reading of information to and from a group of distributed storage units that enable writing or reading of information to and from a group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of the unit, a group number for each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity,
A communication device including a recognition unit for recognizing a number indicating a relative position in a group, a division unit for dividing information to be written into optimal units, and a writing unit for writing information to individual distributed storage units It is.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the following operations are performed. In the information storage device of the present invention, a plurality of distributed storage units having a small storage capacity are installed and a logical group is formed, so that information having an information amount exceeding the storage capacity of one distributed storage unit can be stored. To

In the information storage device, a group number, which is an identifier of the group, and a number indicating the position of the distributed storage unit within the group are recorded in a specific position of each distributed storage unit in order to form a logical group. Give.

In the communication device, in order to reduce the number of times of access to the information storage device, the leading distributed storage unit stores the maximum capacity of each distributed storage unit as group management information. The number of the distributed storage unit and the block number indicating the final position of the information that is present are assigned.

Further, in the communication device, when writing or reading access to the information storage device, the order of writing or reading is maintained by using the group number and the position number of the distributed storage unit of the information storage device. I do.

In a communication device, when a communication device that reads / writes to a plurality of information storage devices accesses the same information storage device at the same time, an error occurs due to a collision, and the data is read when a request is retried. By temporarily reducing the information size or the write information size, the probability of a request collision with another communication device is reduced.

Further, in the communication device, at the time of retrying a request, the time interval until the retry is changed at random, thereby reducing the probability of a request collision with another communication device.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail. The information storage device applied to the present embodiment uses a plurality of distributed storage units having a small storage capacity, and performs grouping to logically increase the capacity so that a large amount of information can be written. The communication apparatus applied to the above-described embodiment performs transmission / reception control so as to reduce request collision when a plurality of communication apparatuses simultaneously access a plurality of grouped distributed storage units.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an installation mode of a wireless tag serving as an information storage device applied to the present embodiment and an access mode of a reading / writing device.

In FIG. 1, a wireless tag group 4 for storing information is composed of a plurality of wireless tags 4-1 to 4-N (N is an arbitrary number).
The devices B indicated by 3 and the device C indicated by 3 are all read / write devices that attempt to write data C1 or read data C2 to the wireless tag group 4.

At this time, in the wireless tag group 4,
The order and direction in which the plurality of wireless tags 4-1 to 4-N (N is an arbitrary number) are not specified. A plurality of wireless tags 4-1 to 4-N (N is an arbitrary number) form one wireless tag group 4 and have a function of retaining meaningful information in the entire wireless tag group 4.

For example, an HTML (Hyper Text) having a data amount that is insufficient with the capacity of one tag.
Markup Language), and storing a JavaScript file, which is a script language for describing simple logic in an HTML file, in a wireless tag group. Another wireless tag group may exist near this wireless tag group. On the other hand, there are a plurality of read / write devices for wireless tags, and any device reads or writes to a wireless tag group at any time.

FIG. 2 shows information to be added for grouping wireless tags. Wireless tag group 2 shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 1 corresponds to the wireless tag group 4 shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, each wireless tag 21-1, 21-2,.
-N header portions 21-1-1, 21-2-1 ... 21
-N-1 and information 21-1-4, 21-1-4 ... 21
-A group number 21-1- at a specific position between N-4
2, 21-2-2... 21-N-2 and tag number 21-
Write 1-3, 21-2-3... 21-N-3.
Group numbers 21-1-2, 21-2-2 ... 21-
N-2 is a head tag number (for example, “1”) 21-1-
3 is the same as the ID for identifying the wireless tag 21-1.
2-2 ... 21-N-2 is avoided from overlapping with another wireless tag group. The last wireless tag 21-N has a tag number (for example, “0”) indicating the end of the group.
1-N-3 is set.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a signal transmission / reception method between a wireless tag and a wireless tag reading / writing device for forming a wireless tag group by adding the information shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, at the time T1, the wireless tag reading / writing device 31 transmits the peripheral wireless tags 32-1, 32-2,.
Inquire about the identifier and capacity of 32-N and other attributes of each wireless tag. Wireless tags 32-1, 32-2,..., 32-2 that have received the inquiry at time T1
N responds at T2 with the identifier, capacity, and other attributes.

At time T3, the wireless tag reading / writing device 31 determines the grouping order and the group number by group number selection and capacity calculation based on the information received at time T2.

At time T4, T6, and T8, the wireless tag reading / writing device 31
-1, 32-2... 32-N is transmitted with information necessary for grouping.

At the time points T5, T7, and T9, the individual wireless tags 32-1, 32-2,..., 32-N write the group number and the tag number, respectively, and respond to the wireless tag reading / writing device 31. Reply.

Finally, at time T10, the wireless tag reading / writing device 31 writes a management area for indicating the capacity of the group and the position of the held data in the leading wireless tag 32-1. At time T11, the leading wireless tag 32-1 is the wireless tag reading / writing device 31.
Reply back to.

FIG. 4 shows an image of the group management area of the head tag. In FIG. 4, the header section 41-1, the group number 41-2,
Between the tag number 41-3 and the information 41-6, the maximum capacity 41-4 of each wireless tag in the group and the last position 41-5 used are stored. This area is 1
By performing the reading twice, the reading / writing device can omit the step of reading the status of all the wireless tags every time the access is performed.

FIG. 5 shows an operation 51 of the read / write device at the time of data writing and an operation 52 of each wireless tag accompanying this operation. In FIG. 5, when the read / write device generates write data in step S1,
In step S2, the group information management area of the head tag is read.

On the tag side, in step R-1, in response to a read request, in step R-2, only in the case of a request for its own tag, the held data is read in step R-3. In step 4, a read response is made, and the process ends in step R-5.

Here, in step R-2, whether or not the request is for the own tag is determined based on whether or not the group number and the tag number in the request match.

In step S3, the read / write device checks the response result and the read group management information area. In step S4, the read / write device determines whether or not writable. If writable, in step S5,
Divide the data to be written.

Next, in step S6, the tag number, write position, and write size are calculated, and the write position and size are specified. In step S7, writing is requested to the target tag.

On the tag side, in step W-1, in response to a write request, in step W-2, only in the case of a request for its own tag, the held data is written in step W-3. A write response is made in step 4, and the process ends in step W-5.

Here, in step W-2, whether or not the request is for the own tag is determined based on whether or not the group number and the tag number in the request match, as in step R-2 described above.

In step S8, the result of writing is checked. In step S9, it is determined whether or not the writing is normal.
In step S10, when there is no remaining data, the reading / writing device determines that writing of all data has been completed.

In step S11, a group information write request is made to write to the first tag in order to update the group management area. In step S12, the write result is checked. In step S13, the write is normal. It is determined whether or not step S9 and step S9
If the writing is not normal in step S13, step S14
To perform error processing, and terminate the processing.

FIG. 6 shows an operation 61 of the reading / writing device at the time of data reading and an operation 62 of each wireless tag accompanying this operation. In step S21, when the data read event occurs, the read / write device
In step S22, the information management area of the head tag group is read.

On the tag side, in step R-11, in response to a read request, in step R-12, only in the case of a request for its own tag, the held data is read in step R-13. A read response is made at 14, and the process ends at step R-15.

Here, in step R-12, it is determined whether or not the request is for the own tag based on whether or not the group number and the tag number in the request match.

In step S23, the read / write device checks the response result and the read group management information area. In step S24, the read / write device determines whether or not the data can be read.
In step 5, the tag number, read position, and read size are calculated, and in step S26, the target tag is requested to read the held data.

The operation on the tag side is the same as the operation for reading the group information management area of the head tag.

In step S27, the reading / writing device reads each tag until all the data has been read normally, checks the reading result, and determines in step S28 whether the reading is normal. When the remaining data is exhausted in step S29, the reading / writing device determines that reading of all data has been completed.

In step S30, after reading of all data is completed, processing for combining the divided data is performed. If reading is not normal in steps S24 and S28, error processing is performed in step S31. The process ends.

FIG. 7 shows an image of data division at the time of writing and data combination at the time of reading. In FIG.
At the time of writing, the individual tags 72-1, 72-2, 72-
It is necessary to divide the data 71 to be written in order to write to 3-72-N-1, 72-N. 72-1, 72-2, 72-3 to 72-N-1, 72
Write in order from -N.

At the time of reading, tag numbers 1, 2,.
3... N-1, N small tags 72-1, 72-2,
The read data 73 is obtained by combining the data in order from 72-3 to 72-N-1, 72-N.

As described above, the tag numbers 1, 2, 3,.
As long as the order of the divided data is assured, the write request S7 shown in FIG. 5 and the read request S26 shown in FIG.
It is not necessary to transmit in the order of 2, 3,..., N−1, N.

FIG. 8 shows an image of an error occurring due to simultaneous access. In FIG. 8, a plurality of read / write devices (A) 81 and devices (B) 82 transmit a request A-1 and a request B-1
Is issued, the radio tag 83 generates an error 84 because radio waves from both the device (A) 81 and the device (B) 82 interfere with each other.
-1 cannot be recognized correctly.

The request A from the single device (A) 81
If the response A-2 from the wireless tag 83 after the wireless tag 83 performs the normal reception 85 with respect to the request B-2 at the same time as the request B-2 from the other device (B) 82, interference occurs. , An error 86 is generated, so that the requesting device (A) 81 cannot correctly recognize the response A-2 from the wireless tag 83.

In order to avoid such errors as much as possible,
An error avoidance method by reducing the request size shown in FIG.
The method of changing the retry timing shown in FIG. 10 is used. First, an error avoidance method by reducing the request size in FIG. 9 will be described. In FIG. 9, the device (A) 91 that has sensed that the request A-1 has failed due to the non-response of the wireless tag 93 receives the next retry read request A-
Decrease the size of 2. Since the read size is small, the response message A-2 from the wireless tag 93 is shortened, and the normal reception 96 reduces the probability that the timing of the retry request B-2 of the device (B) 92 overlaps with the timing.

Also, at the time of writing, the message itself of the retry request A-2 and the retry request B-2 becomes short, so that the response message A-2 from the wireless tag 93 and the retry request B-2 of the device (B) 92 The same effect can be obtained because the probability that the timing overlaps with the timing decreases.

As a method for reducing the read / write size, one of the following two formulas is used. First, the first method will be described. The read / write size requested this time is Lnow, the read / write size requested last time is Lpre, the fixed value of 1 or less is k, the minimum value of the read / write size is Lmin, and Lnow is calculated by the following equation (1).

[0059]

## EQU1 ## Lnow = Lpre × k

However, this calculation result is Lnow <Lm
In the case of in, the following equation 2 is used.

[0061]

## EQU2 ## Lnow = Lmin

Next, the second method will be described. The read / write size requested this time is Lnow, the read / write size requested last time is Lpre, the number of retries is n, the minimum value of the read / write size is Lmin, and Lnow is calculated by the following equation (3).

[0063]

Lnow = Lpre × (1 / n)

However, the result of this calculation is Lnow <Lm
In the case of in, the following equation 4 is used.

[0065]

## EQU4 ## Lnow = Lmin

Next, a method of changing the retry timing in FIG. 10 will be described. In FIG. 10, the request A-1 is changed to the request B
The device (A) 101, which has sensed that the error 104 has occurred due to the interference with -1 and has failed, calculates the retry interval and sets the time until the next retry request A-2. As shown at 105, it is assumed that the retry interval changes every time. Accordingly, there is no interference with the retry request A-2 from the device (A) 101, so that the wireless tag 103 can perform normal reception 107.

Similarly, since the request B-1 is not responded by the wireless tag 103 and the error 104 occurs due to the interference with the request A-1, the apparatus (B) 102 also calculates the retry interval after the failure of the request B-1. The time until the next retry request B-2 is set. As shown at 106, the retry interval changes every time. Thereby, the device (B) 10
Since there is no interference with the retry request B-2 from the wireless tag 103, the wireless tag 103 can perform normal reception 109.

The retry interval is calculated based on, for example, a pure ALOHA random access method applied to the satellite communication packet method. In FIG. 11, the above-mentioned "method of avoiding errors by reducing the request size"
The operation at the time of wireless tag access of the reading / writing device having “the method of changing the retry timing” will be described.

In FIG. 11, when an access for reading or writing to a specific wireless tag occurs in step S41, first, in step S42,
The requested size for accessing the wireless tag is held, and in step S43, the access position in the wireless tag and the size to be accessed are calculated.

In step S44, a "retry counter" for holding the number of retries and a "completion size" for holding a size for which access has been normally completed are initialized.

In step S45, the number of retries is counted up. If the number of retries exceeds the upper limit in step S46, error processing is performed in step S54.

If the access is possible without exceeding the upper limit of the retry at step S46, at step S47,
Send a read or write request to the wireless tag.

In step S48, the response result is checked. If the response result is no response or abnormal in step S49, the read / write size is reduced in step S52, and the next retry time is calculated. In step S53, the retry time is calculated, and the retry time is superimposed (weighted), and then the retry processing and determination in steps S45 to S49 are performed.

If the response result from the wireless tag is normal in step S49, the completion size is counted up in step S50. In step S51, reading / reading for the initially requested size is performed due to the size reduction during retry.
If the write has not been completed, subsequent data must be read or written. For this purpose, the processing and determination of steps S43 to S51 are repeated until the access for the originally requested is completed.

Finally, in step S51, if the read / write of the initial requested size has been completed due to the size reduction at the time of retry, in step S55 the "access result" for determining whether the access has succeeded or failed. "
Is set, and the process ends in step S56.

Note that this series of operations is the same as the processing of steps S6 to S9 in the write operation of FIG.
And step S25 in the reading operation of FIG.
Step S28 is a detailed one.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a block diagram of a wireless tag reading / writing device. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 121 denotes a software application for controlling the entire apparatus. Reference numeral 122 denotes a block that controls access at the time of reading or writing described above. According to the instructions of this block, the transmission control unit 123 and the reception control unit 124 perform command transmission to the wireless tag and reception of a response from the wireless tag. Do. 125 is
RF (Radio Freq) as a radio frequency processing unit
(energy) section, and has functions such as modulation and demodulation. 126
Is an antenna.

In the above-described embodiment, the transmission unit applied to the transmission control unit 123 of the read / write device shown in FIG. The signal is converted into a communication protocol signal between the wireless tag and the read / write device, and the signal is converted to a radio frequency processing unit RF125.
This is a signal processing unit that transmits data to

The receiving section applied to the receiving control section 124 converts a communication protocol signal between the wireless tag and the read / write device received from the radio frequency processing section RF125 into a response signal, and performs access control. A signal processing unit for transmitting to the unit 122;

The communication protocol transmitting / receiving section between the wireless tag and the read / write device includes an antenna 126 for receiving and transmitting the wireless transmission signal shown in FIG.
SK (Amplitude Shift Keyin)
g), FSK (Frequency Shift Ke)
ing), PSK (Phase Shift Key)
ing) and a radio frequency processing unit RF125 that performs radio frequency signal processing on a radio transmission signal by a modulation / demodulation method represented by OOK (On Off Keying).

In the above-described embodiment, transmission between the wireless tag reading / writing device and the wireless tag is
An example in which wireless transmission is performed by a specific method has been described.
3 standards or ISO / IEC15693 standards, and others,
Bluetooth standard, wireless IEEE1394
The present invention may be applied to a case where wireless transmission of the IEEE 802.11b standard is performed.

According to the above-described embodiment, even information having a capacity exceeding the storage capacity of one wireless tag can be added to the group of the wireless tag distributed storage sections only by adding the wireless tag having the distributed storage section. Writing or reading can be performed on the memory.

Further, by grouping the distributed storage units of the wireless tags, it is possible to simultaneously access the wireless tags from a plurality of wireless tag reading / writing devices.

Further, by making the interval of the retry request random, it is possible to reduce the probability of an error occurring due to simultaneous access to the wireless tag from a plurality of wireless tag reading / writing devices.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the wireless tag is applied to the information storage device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, hard disks distributed on a network are connected so as to be regarded as one drive. It may be applied to the case.

In the above description, an example has been shown in which the probability of re-collision is reduced by making the retry interval random. However, if the wireless tag is accessed at a random retry interval, the access is limited to pureALOHA. It is not something that can be done.

[0087]

According to the information storage device of the present invention, in the information storage device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with another communication device with respect to stored information, the information storage device is related to the installation order or direction. A plurality of distributed storage units are installed in the vicinity of each other, and a group forming unit that configures a logical group by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units, and a storage unit that stores predetermined information in the entire group are provided. Information can be written or read out, so that even with information having a storage capacity exceeding the storage capacity of one distributed storage unit, writing or reading is performed on a group of distributed storage units simply by adding the distributed storage unit. This has the effect of increasing the amount of information that can be stored.

Further, in the information storage device of the present invention, in the above, each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity
Since a group number and a numbering means for giving a number indicating a relative position within the group, and a connecting means for logically connecting a plurality of distributed storage units are provided, by configuring a logical group, This has the effect of increasing the amount of information that can be stored in logically linked groups of the distributed storage unit.

Further, the communication device of the present invention is a communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with the information storage device with respect to stored information, regardless of the installation order or direction. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit to the group of distributed storage units of the information storage device to be configured, the group number and the Recognition means for recognizing the number indicating the relative position of the information, division means for dividing the information to be written into optimal units, and writing of the information to the individual distributed storage units. Since and a writing means for writing,
When storing information having a capacity exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit, the information is divided into optimal units for each group of the distributed storage unit, thereby increasing the amount of information that can be stored and writing the information. Is achieved.

Further, the communication device of the present invention is a communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with the information storage device with respect to stored information. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When the information stored in each distributed storage unit is read from the group of distributed storage units of the information storage device, the group number and the relative number within the group are set for each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity. Recognition means for recognizing a number indicating a position, arranging means for arranging the order of information to be read, and reading means for reading information stored in individual distributed storage units. Means for reading the information stored in each distributed storage unit, by maintaining the order of the information to be read for each group of the distributed storage unit, it is possible to read the appropriate information properly. This has the effect that it can be performed.

Further, the communication apparatus of the present invention is a communication apparatus for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with the information storage apparatus regarding stored information. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit from a plurality of communication devices to a group of the distributed storage units of the information storage unit at the same time or reading information from the plurality of communication devices, Or first detection means for detecting a failure or no response from the information storage device in response to a read request;
A reduction means for reducing the size of write or read information when a response fails or no response, a retry means for executing write or read again, and whether the write or read request succeeds or the number of requests is a predetermined upper limit value Second detecting means for detecting that
The execution is repeated by the retry means until the request succeeds or the upper limit of the number of requests is detected by the detection means, so that the distributed storage units with the information storage device are grouped,
This has the effect of enabling simultaneous access to the information storage device from a plurality of tag reading / writing communication devices.

Further, in the communication apparatus of the present invention, when the size of the write or read information is reduced by the reduction means, a value obtained by multiplying the size at the time of the previous request by a fixed value of 1 or less is used. Since the size is reduced, the read size of the information is small, the response message from the information storage device is shortened, and the probability of the timing overlapping with the retry request of another communication device is reduced, so that normal reception can be performed. .

Further, in the communication apparatus of the present invention, when the size of the write or read information is reduced by the reduction means, the size is reduced to 1 / n (n is the number of re-executions) of the previous request. Since the size of the information read is small in proportion to the number of re-executions, the response message from the information storage device becomes shorter, and the probability that the timing of retry requests from other communication devices overlaps with the timing is further reduced. It has the effect that it can be done.

Further, in the communication device of the present invention, when the retry means re-executes writing or reading, when the first detecting means detects a response failure or no response, the retry means Since the re-execution interval is made random and the execution is repeated by the retry means until the request success or the upper limit of the number of requests is detected by the second detection means, a plurality of read / write operations can be performed by making the retry request intervals random. Access to the information storage device from the communication device for the purpose of the present invention has an effect that the probability of occurrence of errors can be reduced.

Further, according to the communication method of the present invention, in a communication method for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with an information storage device for stored information, each of the communication methods can be arranged in the vicinity of each other regardless of the installation order or direction. A plurality of distributed storage units are provided, and a logical group is formed by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units. By storing predetermined information in the entire group, information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit to the group of distributed storage units of the information storage device to be configured, the group number and the A recognition step for recognizing a number indicating the relative position of the information; a dividing step for dividing the information to be written into an optimal unit; Since the information includes a writing step of writing information, when storing information having a storage capacity that exceeds the storage capacity of the individual distributed storage units, by dividing the information into optimal units for each group of the distributed storage units, There is an effect that a process for writing information by increasing the amount of information that can be stored can be performed.

Further, the communication system of the present invention is a communication system in which predetermined information is transmitted by performing wireless communication between an information storage device and another communication device with respect to stored information. A plurality of distributed storage units are installed in the vicinity of each other, and a group configuration unit configured to form a logical group by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units, and a storage unit that stores predetermined information in the entire group, An information storage device that enables writing or reading of information to and from a group of distributed storage units that enable writing or reading of information to and from a group. When writing information that exceeds the storage capacity of a group, the group number and the group A communication device having a recognition unit for recognizing a number indicating a target position, a division unit for dividing information to be written into an optimum unit, and a writing unit for writing information in each distributed storage unit. Even with information having a storage capacity larger than the storage capacity of the storage unit, the amount of information that can be stored can be increased by simply writing or reading a group of the distributed storage unit simply by adding the distributed storage unit. When storing information having a capacity exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit, the information is divided into optimal units for each group of the distributed storage unit, thereby increasing the amount of information that can be stored and writing the information. Is achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of installation and access mode of a wireless tag applied to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of assigning a wireless tag group number and a tag number.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a signal sequence for grouping.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a group management area of a head tag.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example at the time of data writing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example when reading data.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an image of division at the time of writing and a joining order at the time of reading.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an image of an error occurring due to simultaneous access.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an image of error avoidance due to reduction in read data size.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an image of error avoidance due to a change in a retry interval.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of a read / write device when a tag is accessed.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a block configuration of a read / write device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1-3 wireless tag reading / writing device, 4 wireless tag groups, 4-1 through 4-N wireless tags, 21
... Wireless tag group, 21-1 ... Wireless tag 1 (head), 21-2 ... Wireless tag 2, 21-N ... Wireless tag N (last), 21-1-1 ... Header part, 21- 1-2
... Group number, 21-1-3 ... Tag number, 21-
1-4: Information, 21-2-1: Header section, 21-2
-2: Group number, 21-2-3: Tag number, 2
1-2-4: information, 21-N-1: header section, 21
-N-2: Group number, 21-N-3: Tag number, 21-N-4: Information, 31: Wireless tag reading / writing device, 32-1 ... Wire tag 1, 32-2 …
... Wireless tag 2, 32-N ... Wireless tag N, 41 ... Wireless tag 1 (head), 41-1 ... Header part, 41-2 ...
Group number, 41-3 ... tag number, 41-4 ... maximum block number holding area of each tag, 41-5 ... data end tag number end block number, 41-6 ... information, 51
... operation of the read / write device, 52 ... operation of the wireless tag, 61 ... operation of the read / write device, 62
…… Wireless tag operation, 71 …… Write data, 72−
1-72-N: Tag numbers 1-N, 73: Read data, 81: Device A, 82: Device B, 83: Wireless tag, 84: Error due to interference, 85: Normal reception,
86: Error due to interference, 91: Device A, 92:
Device B, 93: Wireless tag, 94: Error due to interference, 95: Normal reception, 96: Normal reception, 97: Normal reception, 98: Normal reception, 101: Device A, 102
... Device B, 103 ... Wireless tag, 104 ... Error due to interference, 105 ... Retry interval fluctuates every time, 106
... The retry interval fluctuates every time, 107.
08: normal reception, 109: normal reception, 121: device control application, 122: access control right, 123: transmission control unit, 124: reception control unit, 1
26 radio frequency processing unit (RF unit), 126 antenna

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An information storage device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with another communication device with respect to stored information, wherein a plurality of distributed storage units are provided near each other regardless of an installation order or a direction. And a group forming unit that forms a logical group by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units; and a storage unit that stores predetermined information in the entire group, and writes or reads information to or from the group. An information storage device characterized in that the information storage device is enabled. 2. The information storage device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity are provided with a group number and a number indicating a relative position in the group. An information storage device comprising: a connection unit that logically connects the plurality of distributed storage units. 3. A communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with an information storage device with respect to stored information, wherein a plurality of distributed storage units are installed near each other regardless of the installation order or direction. A plurality of arbitrary distributed storage units forming a logical group, and by storing predetermined information in the entire group, the information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit to the group of distributed storage units of the storage device, a group number for each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity, Recognition means for recognizing numbers indicating relative positions, division means for dividing information to be written into optimal units, and writing of information to individual distributed storage units Communication apparatus comprising: a writing means for writing. 4. A communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with an information storage device with respect to stored information, wherein a plurality of distributed storage units are installed near each other irrespective of the installation order or direction. A plurality of arbitrary distributed storage units forming a logical group, and by storing predetermined information in the entire group, the information can be written to or read from the group. When the information stored in each distributed storage unit is read from the group of the distributed storage units of the storage device, the group number and the relative position within the group for each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity are read. Recognizing means for recognizing a number indicating the order, organizing means for organizing the order of information to be read, and reading means for reading information from individual distributed storage units Communication device comprising: a. 5. A communication device for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication with an information storage device with respect to stored information, wherein a plurality of distributed storage units are installed near each other regardless of the installation order or direction. A plurality of arbitrary distributed storage units forming a logical group, and by storing predetermined information in the entire group, the information can be written to or read from the group. When simultaneously writing or reading information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit from the plurality of communication devices to the group of the distributed storage units of the storage device, a write request from the plurality of communication devices, or First detecting means for detecting a failure or no response from the information storage device in response to a read request; A no-response means for reducing the size of the write or read information; a retry means for executing the write or read again; and A communication apparatus, wherein the second detection means detects that the request has been reached, and the execution is repeated by the retry means until the second detection means detects the success of the request or the upper limit of the number of requests. 6. The communication device according to claim 5, wherein when the size of the write or read information is reduced by the reduction means, a value obtained by multiplying the size at the time of the previous request by a fixed value of 1 or less is used. A communication device characterized in that it is reduced in size. 7. The communication device according to claim 5, wherein when the size of the write or read information is reduced by the reduction means, 1 / n of the last request.
(N is the number of re-executions). 8. The communication device according to claim 5, wherein, when the retry of the writing or reading is performed by the retry unit, a failure or no response is detected by the first detection unit. A communication apparatus wherein the interval of the re-execution by the retry means is randomized, and the execution is repeated by the retry means until the second detection means detects the success of the request or the upper limit of the number of times of the request. 9. A communication method for transmitting predetermined information by wirelessly communicating stored information with an information storage device, wherein a plurality of distributed storage units are installed near each other regardless of the installation order or direction. A plurality of arbitrary distributed storage units forming a logical group, and by storing predetermined information in the entire group, the information can be written to or read from the group. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity of each distributed storage unit to the group of distributed storage units of the storage device, a group number for each of the plurality of distributed storage units installed in the vicinity, A recognition step of recognizing a number indicating a relative position; a division step of dividing information to be written into optimal units; Communication method characterized by comprising a write step of writing the multicast. 10. A communication system for transmitting predetermined information by performing wireless communication between an information storage device and another communication device with respect to stored information. A distributed storage unit is provided, comprising: a group configuration unit configured to form a logical group by an arbitrary plurality of distributed storage units; and a storage unit configured to store predetermined information in the entire group. An information storage device that enables writing or reading of data; and an individual storage device that is capable of writing or reading information to and from the distributed storage unit. When writing information exceeding the storage capacity, the group number and the relative A communication device having a recognition unit for recognizing a number indicating a location, a division unit for dividing information to be written into optimal units, and a writing unit for writing information to individual distributed storage units. system.