JP2003216898A - Non-contact reader writer and non-contact read/write system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the power consumption of a non-contact reader writer and a read/write system which communicate with a non-contact information recording carrier by using an electromagnetic wave and to prevent the non- contact information carrier from excessively generating heat. <P>SOLUTION: The non-contact reader writer and read/write system which supply electric power to the non-contact information recording carrier and equipped with an electric power supply stop part which stops supplying electric power after supplying the electric power for a specified time. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a contactless reader / writer and a read / write system for reading / writing an information record carrier in a contactless manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since a non-contact information recording carrier is superior in wear resistance to a magnetic information recording carrier or a print information recording carrier, it is used as a replacement for the magnetic information recording carrier or the printing information recording carrier, for example, a regular carrier. It is used as a ticket at the ticket gates of stations, and is also used to manage goods in place of bar codes at logistics sites.

In many cases, the non-contact information recording carrier does not have a built-in electric power source, but receives electric power by electromagnetic waves from the reader / writer and transmits / receives data. That is, the electric power required for the operation of the contactless information record carrier is obtained by the electric power carrier which is an electromagnetic wave transmitted from the transmission unit of the reader / writer.
Transmission from the reader / writer to the non-contact information recording carrier is performed by superimposing transmission data on the power carrier, and reception from the non-contact information recording carrier is performed by receiving electromagnetic waves emitted by the non-contact information recording carrier as an electric signal with a receiving antenna. It is performed by converting to and demodulating.

Therefore, the reader / writer which supplies electric power to the non-contact information record carrier is required to continuously supply electric power to the non-contact information record carrier during the period when the non-contact information record carrier may be accessed. Becomes Usually, a large amount of power is required to supply an electric power carrier to the non-contact information recording carrier, so that the power consumption of the non-contact reader / writer, particularly the non-contact reader / writer that operates by a battery, becomes a problem.

As a method for solving the above problems, for example,
There is a method of supplying a power carrier after detecting that the contactless information record carrier is in the vicinity, or a read / write system that supplies power to the contactless information record carrier only when the host application is running. It has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-163524).

[0006]

However, in the conventional contactless reader / writer and read / write system described above,
In the state where the non-contact information record carrier is in the vicinity and the power is supplied to the non-contact information record carrier, for example, when the application of the host has somehow made data communication with the non-contact information record carrier, If the communication with the host is interrupted, or if the application waits for selection such as key input by the host operator and is left for a long time, the power is still supplied to the non-contact information record carrier, and the reader / writer Power consumption becomes a problem.

Further, if power is continuously supplied to the non-contact information carrier, the non-contact information carrier may generate heat, which may cause malfunction of the non-contact information carrier or deformation of the surface material of the non-contact information carrier. . In particular, in order to make the non-contact reader / writer a weak radio station, the shape of the non-contact reader / writer is an insertion type provided with an insertion port for the non-contact information carrier, and when a portion other than the insertion port is shielded by a metal object, It may occur remarkably.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and in a non-contact reader / writer and a read / write system which communicate with a non-contact information recording carrier using electromagnetic waves, the power consumption is reduced and the non-contact information carrier The purpose is to prevent excessive heat generation.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first contactless reader / writer of the present invention is a contactless reader / writer for supplying electric power to an information recording carrier,
It is provided with a power supply stopping unit that stops power supply after supplying power for a predetermined time.

The second non-contact reader / writer of the present invention is
In addition to the first contactless reader / writer, the time for supplying electric power to the information record carrier can be set.

Further, in the third non-contact read / write system of the present invention, the non-contact reader / writer for supplying electric power to the information recording carrier and the non-contact reader / writer for setting the time for supplying electric power to the non-contact reader / writer are set. It consists of a host that commands the writer.

A fourth contactless reader / writer of the present invention is
In addition to the second contactless reader / writer, a plurality of times that can be set are stored in a non-volatile memory.

The fifth non-contact read / write system of the present invention stores a plurality of settable times in a non-volatile memory in addition to the third non-contact reader / writer.

A sixth non-contact reader / writer of the present invention is
In addition to the first contactless reader / writer, the host is informed that the power supply has been stopped.

In addition to the second non-contact reader / writer, the seventh non-contact read / write system of the present invention notifies the host that power supply has been stopped.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A contactless reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows a block configuration and a system configuration of a non-contact reader / writer which is an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a data communication procedure in the non-contact reader / writer system of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a non-contact reader / writer according to the first embodiment of the present invention, 20 is a non-contact information recording carrier, and 30 is a host 30 connected to the non-contact reader / writer. The host 30 sends a command necessary for communication with the non-contact information record carrier 20 to the non-contact reader / writer 1 and receives a communication result with the non-contact information record carrier 20. A contactless reader / writer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a control unit 2, a carrier generation unit 3 that generates an electric power carrier, a power supply stop unit 4 that starts and stops the carrier generation unit 3, and a card. Of the transmission data, an output amplification unit 6 for amplifying the modulated data, a transmission antenna 7 for transmitting the amplified modulated signal as an electromagnetic wave, and an electromagnetic wave emitted by the non-contact information recording carrier 20 as an analog signal. A reception antenna 8 for converting the received analog signal, an input amplification unit 9 for amplifying the received analog signal, a demodulation unit 10 for demodulating the amplified analog signal, a communication unit 11 for communicating with the host, and power supply to the card. The memory 12 for storing the time setting.

The control unit 2 is composed of a control circuit such as an MPU (microcomputer), generates data to be sent to the card and outputs it to the modulation unit 5, receives data from the demodulation unit 6, and stops power supply. The function of controlling the start and stop of the carrier wave generation unit through the unit 4, performing communication with the host through the communication unit 11, and accessing the memory 12 is provided.

The power supply stop unit 3 is composed of a control circuit such as an MPU (microcomputer), reads the power supply time to the card set in the memory 12,
After the carrier wave generating unit 4 is activated, the carrier wave generating unit 4 is controlled by the control unit 2 within the power supply time to the card set in the memory 12.
When there is no command to stop the carrier wave generation unit 4, it has a function of stopping the carrier wave generation unit 4 and a function of notifying the control unit 2 of the stop.

In the contactless read / write system having the above configuration, when the host 30 performs data communication with the contactless information recording carrier 20, first, power is supplied to the contactless information recording carrier 20 through the contactless reader / writer 1. Yes (S101). That is, the non-contact reader / writer 1 includes the non-contact information recording carrier 20 from the host 30 via the communication unit 11.
When the control section 2 receives the command for supplying power to the non-contact information recording medium 20, the control section 2 commands the power supply stopping section 3 to supply power to the non-contact information recording medium 20. The power supply stopping unit 3 causes the carrier wave generating unit 4 to output the carrier wave and starts monitoring the power supply time (S102). Then the host 30
Identification, activation of the non-contact information recording medium 20,
Data communication processing such as data transmission / reception with the non-contact information recording carrier 20 is performed (S103).

In the data communication processing with the non-contact information recording carrier 20, when the data is transmitted to the non-contact information recording carrier 20 by the command from the host 30, the following processing is performed. First, the control unit 2 transmits the host 30 via the communication unit 11.
Command is received, data to be transmitted to the non-contact information unit 20 is generated and output to the modulator 5. The modulator 5 superimposes the input transmission data on a carrier wave by a modulation method corresponding to the non-contact information recording carrier 20, and outputs a modulated signal to the output amplifier 6. In this embodiment, the modulation method is carrier wave 1
3.56MHz, modulation method is ASK 10% (Amplitude
Modulation rate 10% with Shift Keying), coding method NRZ (Non
Return to Zero).

The output amplification section 6 amplifies the modulated signal, and the amplified signal is converted into an electromagnetic wave by the transmission antenna 7 and transmitted to the non-contact information recording carrier 20. In the present embodiment, the output amplification unit 6 amplifies the transmission signal from 5V to 12V, and the loop antenna is used as the transmission antenna 7 to transmit the signal to the non-contact information recording medium 20.

The following processing is performed when a response corresponding to the reception from the contactless information recording medium 20 is returned to the host 30. Upon reception, the contactless information recording medium 20 returns response data corresponding to the transmission data as an electromagnetic wave.
The receiving antenna 8 converts the response data into an analog signal and outputs it to the input amplifier 9. The input amplifier 9 receives the analog signal, amplifies it, and outputs it to the demodulator 10. In the present embodiment, a loop antenna is used as the receiving antenna 8 and the input amplifier 9 amplifies the input signal 30 times.

The demodulator 10 demodulates the amplified analog signal and outputs the demodulated data to the controller 2. In this embodiment, the demodulation method is carrier wave 13.56 MHz,
Subcarrier 847.5 kHz (13.56 MHz / 1
6), modulation method is BPSK 10% (Binary Phase Shift)
Keying degree of modulation 10%), coding method NRZ (Non Retu
rnto Zero). The control unit 2 transmits a response based on the demodulated data to the host 30 via the communication unit 12.

When the host 30 completes the desired data transmission / reception with the non-contact information recording medium 20, the power supply to the non-contact information recording medium 20 is cut off through the non-contact reader / writer 1 (S104). That is, when the non-contact reader / writer 1 receives a command from the host 30 to cut off the power supply to the non-contact information recording carrier 20 via the communication unit 11, the control unit 2 causes the power supply stopping unit 3 to contact the non-contact information recording carrier 20. Command to stop the power supply. The power supply stopping unit 3 cuts off the power supply to the contactless information recording medium 20 by stopping the carrier wave from the carrier wave generating unit 4, and finishes the power supply time monitoring (S105).

Further, the power supply stopping unit 3 monitors whether or not the time during which power is continuously supplied to the non-contact information recording medium 20 reaches the set value stored in the memory (S).
201). If there is no command from the host 30 to cut off the power supply from the host 30 to the contactless information recording medium 20 before the set time is reached, the power supply stopping unit 3 causes the carrier wave generating unit 4 to operate.
By stopping the carrier wave, the power supply to the non-contact information recording medium 20 is cut off, and the power supply time monitoring ends (S202). Then, the control unit 2 is notified that the carrier wave has been stopped. The control unit 2 notifies the host 30 via the communication unit 11 that the power supply to the non-contact information recording medium 20 has been cut off (S203), and ends the power supply time monitoring (S204).

As a result, the power consumption of the non-contact reader / writer 1 can be reduced when no command for cutting off the power supply to the non-contact information recording medium 20 is received. Further, the power supply can be cut off and the non-contact information recording carrier 20 can be protected before the temperature of the non-contact information recording carrier 20 exceeds the operation guarantee temperature. Further, by notifying the contactless reader / writer 1 and the host 30 that the power supply to the contactless information recording medium 20 has been cut off, the host 30 side then restarts from an interrupted position, for example, after a certain time. Appropriate recovery measures can be taken.

The set time stored in the memory 12 can be changed by a command from the host 30. That is, the control unit 2 receives the set time through the communication unit 11 and writes it in the memory 12. In the present embodiment, the initial value of the set time is set to 30 minutes and 5 minutes to 12 minutes.
The time can be set within the range of time. Initial value 3
The value of 0 minutes means that the surface temperature of the non-contact information recording carrier 20 used in the present embodiment in the non-contact reader / writer 1 is 6
It is an experimental value obtained from the time when the temperature becomes 0 degree. By making the set time variable, the time can be set according to the environment of use and the non-contact information recording medium used.

A non-volatile memory is used as the memory 12. As a result, the set time can be maintained even when the power of the non-contact reader / writer 1 is turned off.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the contactless reader / writer is controlled by the command from the host. However, the contactless reader / writer is integrated with the host or, conversely, the contactless reader / writer is built in the host. The same effect can be obtained in the thing.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the non-contact information recording carrier is used as the information carrier and the non-contact reader / writer is used as the reader / writer. The same effect can be obtained as long as the necessary power is supplied to the.

[0032]

As described above, according to the non-contact reader / writer according to the first aspect of the present invention, the consumption of the non-contact reader / writer is reduced when the command for cutting off the power supply to the non-contact information record carrier does not come. The power can be reduced. Further, the power supply can be cut off and the non-contact information record carrier can be protected before the temperature of the non-contact information record carrier exceeds the operation guarantee temperature.

Further, according to the non-contact reader / writer of the second aspect, in addition to the above effects, the time can be set according to the environment of use and the non-contact information recording carrier to be used.

According to the non-contact read / write system of the present invention, the power consumption of the non-contact reader / writer can be reduced when there is no command to cut off the power supply to the non-contact information recording medium. You can Also, by the time the temperature of the non-contact information recording medium exceeds the guaranteed operating temperature,
It is possible to construct a system configuration that can cut off the power supply and protect the contactless information recording medium.

According to the non-contact reader / writer of the fourth aspect, in addition to the effect of the non-contact reader / writer of the second aspect, the set time can be held even when the power of the non-contact reader / writer is turned off. User convenience is improved.

According to the non-contact read / write system of the fifth aspect, in addition to the effect of the non-contact reader / writer of the third aspect, the power of the non-contact reader / writer is turned off.
Even if it is done, the set time can be held, and a system that improves the convenience of the user can be constructed.

Further, according to the non-contact reader / writer of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the non-contact reader / writer of the above-mentioned claim 1, an appropriate recovery action can be taken on the host side. According to the non-contact read / write system of Item 7, in addition to the effect of the non-contact read / write system of Item 2, appropriate recovery measures can be taken on the host side.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a block configuration and a system configuration of a non-contact reader / writer according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a data communication procedure in the non-contact reader / writer system of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Non-contact reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention 2. Control unit 3. Power supply stop unit 4. Carrier wave generator 5. Modulator 6. Output amplifier 7. Transmitting antenna 8. Receiving antenna 9. Input amplifier 10. Demodulator 11. Communications department 12. memory 20. Contactless information recording carrier 30. host

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Nogo             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B058 CA15 CA22 KA40

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A non-contact reader / writer for supplying electric power to an information recording carrier, the non-contact reader / writer having a power supply stopping unit for stopping the electric power supply after supplying electric power for a predetermined time. 2. The contactless reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein a time for supplying electric power to the information record carrier can be set. 3. A non-contact reader comprising a non-contact reader / writer for supplying electric power to an information recording carrier and a host for setting a time for supplying electric power to the non-contact reader / writer and instructing the non-contact reader / writer. Light system. 4. The contactless reader / writer according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of settable times are stored in a non-volatile memory. 5. The non-contact read / write system according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of settable times are stored in a non-volatile memory. 6. The non-contact reader / writer according to claim 1, which notifies a host that power supply has been stopped. 7. The non-contact read / write system according to claim 3, wherein the host is informed that the power supply has been stopped.