JP2003256779A - Antenna sheet for contactless media and reader/writer system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an antenna sheet capable of being installed at a curved site by using a flexible material for the antenna sheet. <P>SOLUTION: The multiple antenna sheet 1 is provided with a plurality of antenna portions 11, a sheet information portion 12 on which sheet ID information is set and a connector 13. A reader/writer device 2 can read or write data with respect to contactless media. An antenna selector part 3 switches the reader/writer device 2 to be connected to each of the antenna portions in the antenna sheet 1. A reader/writer control part 4 switches the antenna selector part 3 for the reader/writer device 2 to be connected to one of the antenna portions 11 in the antenna sheet 1, and determines the existence of the contactless media in accordance with the switch controlled condition and controls data communication. The reader/writer control part 4 is also connected to an external CPU to transmit/receive desired signals. <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 an antenna sheet for contactless media and a reader / writer system, and more particularly to an antenna sheet for contactless media for controlling data communication and read / write with contactless media. And a reader / writer system. In the present invention, the contactless medium is particularly a card-shaped non-contact IC medium having an internal memory for storing data and a wireless transmission / reception element corresponding to the internal memory arranged at a predetermined position. The contactless media reader / writer system transmits / receives information to / from a contactless medium in a non-contact or wireless manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a non-contact IC medium (contactless medium) having a CPU and a memory therein has been used, and data can be transferred between the non-contact IC medium and a reader / writer in a non-contact or wireless manner. Perform non-contact IC
A technique has been developed that enables various processes by writing data to a memory of a medium or reading data from the memory. Further, conventionally, a multi-antenna reader / writer device which has been recently studied is equipped with a plurality of antennas for reading / writing data from / to contactless media, thereby enabling communication with a plurality of contactless media. It is a thing.

[0003]

As described above, the conventional multi-antenna reader / writer device for contactless media is realized by mounting a plurality of read / write antennas for contactless media. However, each antenna section requires a driver circuit for gain adjustment, and the antenna section alone requires a considerable number of parts on a multiple board. Therefore, conventionally, there has been a problem that it is not suitable for forming the antenna part into a sheet and the cost becomes high.

In the conventional multi-antenna reader / writer device for contactless media, the antenna section is
If it was in contact with a metal surface such as a steel desk, shelf, or table, the function as the coil of the antenna was impaired, and it was sometimes impossible to perform sufficient communication.

In view of the above points, the present invention uses the flexible material which is flexible for the antenna sheet.
It is an object to provide an antenna sheet for contactless media and a reader / writer system that can be installed even on a curved surface. Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna sheet for contactless media and a reader / writer system in which the reader / writer device can use the same specifications regardless of the size (number) of antennas. Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna sheet for contactless media and a reader / writer system that allows the reader / writer device to recognize the size even if the antenna size is changed according to the purpose. The present invention also provides an antenna sheet for contactless media and a reader / writer system that enables communication with a contactless medium without damaging the antenna performance even when the antenna sheet is attached to or near a metal surface. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

The main features of the present invention will be exemplified below. 1. A flexible material (flexible substrate) is used so that the antenna can be installed even on a curved surface. 2. In order to realize an antenna sheet, most of the circuits for antenna tuning were mounted on the reader / writer device, and only one tuning capacitor was used for each antenna in the antenna. 3. A sheet information section with sheet ID information set so that the size (number of antennas) of the antenna sheet can be identified at the time of replacement is provided on the antenna sheet, and the reader / writer control section reads this to read the currently connected antenna sheet. Made it possible to judge the size. 4. An electromagnetic shielding sheet was put on the back of the antenna sheet so that it would not be affected even if it was installed on a metal surface.

According to the first solution of the present invention, a plurality of antenna coils for wirelessly communicating signals with the contactless medium, and a plurality of tuning circuits for antenna tuning connected to each of the plurality of antenna coils. A sheet information section for setting sheet information indicating the arrangement state of the plurality of antenna coils, each set of the antenna coil and the tuning circuit, and connectors respectively connected to the sheet information section. The contactless medium, the reader / writer device for reading or writing data, and either of the antenna coils are switched via the connector, and the presence of the contactless medium is determined based on the switching control state to perform data communication. Antenna sheet for contactless media using a flexible substrate There is provided.

According to a second solution of the present invention, such an antenna sheet for contactless media, a reader / writer device for reading or writing data to and from the contactless media, and the reader / writer device are provided as described above. An antenna selector unit that is switched and connected to each of the antenna coils mounted on the antenna sheet, and the antenna selector unit is switched to connect one of the antenna coils to the reader / writer device, and contactless based on the switching control state. There is provided a contactless media reader / writer system including a reader / writer control unit for determining the presence of a medium and controlling data communication.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a contactless media / multi-antenna reader / writer system according to the present invention.

This reader / writer system for contactless media comprises a contactless media / multi-antenna sheet 1, a reader / writer device 2, an antenna selector section 3, and a reader / writer control section (CPU) 4.

The multi-antenna sheet 1 for contactless media (hereinafter referred to as antenna sheet 1) is
Multiple antenna units 11 (indicated by antennas 1 to n in the figure)
And a sheet information section 12 in which sheet ID information is set,
A plurality of antenna units 11 and a connector 13 respectively connected to the sheet information unit 12 are provided.

The reader / writer device 2 is a device for reading or writing contactless media and data. The antenna selector unit 3 is the antenna sheet 1
The reader / writer device 2 is switched and connected to each of the internal antenna units. The reader / writer control unit 4 switches the antenna selector unit 3 to connect one of the antenna units 11 in the antenna sheet 1 to the reader / writer device 2, and determines the presence of contactless media based on the switching control state. Control data exchange. The reader / writer control unit 4 is also connected to an external CPU and sends and receives desired signals. In addition, as will be described later, the reader / writer control unit 4 has a virtual space coordinate management unit that manages the presence / absence information of the contactless media in an array corresponding to the two-dimensional array of the antenna units 11 on the antenna sheet 1. , And a virtual space coordinate storage unit for storing presence / absence information of contactless media managed by the array.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the antenna section. Each antenna unit 11 includes an antenna coil 21 that wirelessly communicates signals with a contactless medium, a tuning circuit 22 for antenna tuning connected to the antenna coil 21, a display control unit 23, and a display unit 24. .

The display control unit 23 is commonly connected to a line for connecting each set of the antenna coil 21 and the tuning circuit 22 to the connector 13, and is identified as a communication between the antenna coil 21 and the contactless medium. The communication state of each antenna coil 21 is displayed so that the information is transmitted by the signal. The display of the display unit 24 is controlled by each display control unit 23.

For reading / writing information from / to the contactless medium, it is possible to select a single antenna by controlling the antenna selector unit 3 and communicate with the contactless medium. For example, the display unit 24 can display red / green LEDs on each antenna unit 11.
As a control method, the LED control lighting can be realized by directly using the communication line with the contactless medium and changing the frequency. When communicating with the contactless medium, for example, communication is performed at a high frequency of 13.56 MHz, and at this time, the coil L1 performs a filtering operation and a flip-flop circuit for LED control (hereinafter,
It is called F / F circuit. ) Can be prevented from transmitting a signal. When controlling the display section 24 such as an LED, the frequency component can be transmitted to the F / F circuit as a clock signal by suppressing the frequency component to, for example, the order of kHz. At this time, the display unit control 23 has a frequency completely different from the communication frequency with the contactless media, so communication with the contactless media is not executed,
Only the LED control can be performed. Further, the control of turning off the LED can be realized by cutting off the power supply of the F / F circuit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the sheet ID information set by the sheet information section. The sheet information unit 12 gives the reader / writer control unit 4 sheet ID information indicating the arrangement state of the plurality of antenna coils. The sheet ID information identifies the arrangement state (size, number, etc.) of the antenna unit 11 of the antenna sheet connected to the reader / writer device 2. In this example, the sheet ID information is the antenna unit 11
Is information for discriminating the vertical and horizontal two-dimensional arrangement states, and indicates the number of antenna units 11 in the vertical direction (Y direction) and the horizontal direction (X direction) by 4-bit information (this information). In the example, up to 15 can be set).

FIG. 4 is a structural view of the antenna sheet. The antenna sheet 1 includes a protective sheet layer 31,
The antenna substrate layer 32 and the electromagnetic shielding sheet layer 33 are provided.
The first protective sheet layer 31 is a sheet that protects the antenna sheet from the outside, but in practice, it is also possible to use a printed material according to the purpose of use or a sheet using a material other than metal. The second antenna substrate layer 32 is
This is the antenna sheet itself, and can be created using a flexible double-sided / single-sided substrate. The third electromagnetic shielding sheet layer 33 is an electromagnetic shielding sheet. The electromagnetic shielding sheet layer 33 may be omitted if necessary.

As described above, since the antenna sheet 1 is flexible, it can be arranged on a curved surface, an uneven surface, a cylindrical surface or the like. Further, by providing the electromagnetic shielding sheet layer 33, it is possible to maintain the function as an antenna even if the material on the back surface of the antenna sheet or near the antenna sheet is metal.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of automatic recognition of sheet ID information. Reader / writer control unit 4
Reads the sheet ID information on the antenna sheet 1 when the system is powered on and initially started,
The determination regarding the arrangement state of the antennas of the antenna sheet 1 to be connected is performed. Based on this information, the reader / writer system starts operation matching the antenna sheet size.

When the power is turned on, the reader / writer control section 4 reads the sheet ID information from the sheet information section 12 (S11). If there is a read error (S12), the reader / writer control unit 4 repeats a predetermined number of times (eg, three times) (S13), and if there is still a read error, the system is initialized with no sheet (S14). on the other hand,
If there is no read error (S12), the reader / writer control unit 4 initializes the system based on the sheet ID information (S15). After such processing, the system shifts to idle processing (S16).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the contactless media / multi-antenna reader / writer device in the idle state. When the idle process starts, the reader / writer control unit 4 initializes antenna switching control (S21). Next, the reader / writer control unit 4
The antenna selector unit 3 is controlled to sequentially operate the antenna unit 11
Is selected (S22). The reader / writer control unit 4 determines whether there is a contactless medium at the selected position (S23), and if there is no contactless medium, returns to step S22,
On the other hand, if there is, the read coordinate information is stored in the two-dimensional virtual space coordinate storage unit (S24). Here, FIG.
An explanatory view of the virtual space coordinate storage unit is shown in FIG. In this example,
The case where the antenna sheet arranged two-dimensionally in 6x6 is used is shown. The reader / writer control unit 4 repeats the process from step S22 until all the antenna units 11 are selected and read (S25), and when such a process is completed for all the antenna units 11, the process returns to Step S21. .

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the read / write operation of the contactless medium. Upon receiving the read / write request command from the operator, the reader / writer control unit 4 controls the antenna selector unit 3 to select the antenna unit 11 designated by the command (S31).
The reader / writer control unit 4 determines whether or not there is a contactless medium at the selected position (S32).
Here, when there is a contactless medium, the reader / writer control unit 4 reads the designated memory area (S34) or writes the designated memory area (S35) in response to a read or write command (S33). To execute. After that, the reader / writer control unit 4 notifies the external CPU of the read information or the write information (S36). On the other hand, when there is no contactless medium in step S32, the reader / writer control unit 4 notifies the external CPU of medium-less information or error information (S36).

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the antenna sheet is made of a flexible material, the antenna sheet can be installed at a place of a situation. Further, according to the present invention, the reader / writer device having the same specifications can be used regardless of the size of the antenna. Further, according to the present invention, even if the antenna size is changed according to the purpose, the reader / writer device can recognize the size. Further, according to the present invention, even when the antenna sheet is attached to or near the metal surface, it is possible to communicate with the contactless medium without deteriorating the antenna performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a contactless media / multi-antenna reader / writer system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an antenna unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of sheet ID information set by a sheet information unit.

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of an antenna sheet

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of automatic recognition of sheet ID information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the contactless media / multi-antenna reader / writer device in an idle state.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a virtual space coordinate storage unit.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a read / write operation of contactless media.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Multi-antenna sheet for contactless media 2 Reader / writer device 3 Antenna selector 4 Reader / writer control unit (CPU) 11 Antenna unit 12 Sheet information unit 13 Connector

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H01Q 3/24 H01Q 3/24 7/00 7/00 F term (reference) 5B058 CA15 KA02 KA04 KA06 KA13 KA24 5J021 AA05 AA06 AB04 CA06 DB04 EA04 FA31 GA02 HA05 JA07 5J046 AA02 AA04 AA07 AB11 PA07 QA02 5J047 AA02 AA04 AA07 AB11 EF04 EF05

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of antenna coils for wirelessly communicating a signal with a contactless medium, a plurality of tuning circuits for antenna tuning connected to each of the plurality of antenna coils, and an arrangement state of the plurality of antenna coils. A sheet information section for setting sheet information indicating, each of the set of the antenna coil and the tuning circuit,
A contactless medium, a reader / writer device for reading or writing data, and one of the antenna coils, which are connected to the sheet information unit, respectively, are switched via the connector, and a switching control state is set. An antenna sheet for contactless media that uses a flexible substrate to determine the presence of contactless media and communicate data based on it. 2. A signal which is commonly connected to a line for connecting each set of the antenna coil and the tuning circuit to the connector, and which is identified by a signal which is identified as a communication between the antenna coil and the contactless medium. A plurality of display control units for displaying a state related to each antenna coil, and a plurality of display units each of which is display-controlled by each display control unit. The antenna sheet for contactless media according to claim 1. 3. The sheet information section is set with information indicating the number of each of the antenna coils mounted in the antenna sheet in each of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Antenna sheet for contactless media. 4. The antenna sheet for contactless media according to claim 1, further comprising an electromagnetic shielding sheet stretched on the back surface of the antenna sheet. 5. The contactless medium according to claim 1, wherein each set of the antenna coil and the tuning circuit and the connector are connected by two lines. Antenna sheet. 6. The antenna sheet for contactless media according to claim 1, a reader / writer device for reading or writing data to and from the contactless media, and the antenna for the reader / writer device. An antenna selector unit that switches and connects to each of the antenna coils mounted on the sheet, and switches the antenna selector unit to connect one of the antenna coils to the reader / writer device, and based on the switching control state, contactless media A reader / writer system for contactless media, which is provided with a reader / writer control unit for determining the presence of data and controlling data communication.