JP2005069861A - Radio communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide radio communication equipment capable of reading or writing only a radio IC tag having passed a desired gate even if the gate is close and identifying a position where an object exists. <P>SOLUTION: The equipment comprises a radio IC tag 15 carried by a man (object 13), two antennas 4 and 24 provided on gates 1 and 2 and having directionality, a turnover switch 40 for selecting either of transmission/reception signal of the two antenna 4 and 24, and a reader-writer 30 inputting the signal from the switch 40 or outputting to the switch 40. Two antennas 4 and 24 are placed to face the direction of directionality of the two so as to be a pair. By controlling the switch 40 by the reader-writer 30 and turning over the transmission/reception of the two antennas 4 and 24, data of the radio tag against the antennas 4 and 24 are read. Only when radio IC tag 15 is recognized by both, the reading of the radio IC tag 15 is judged to be effective. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus that mainly includes a wireless tag and a reader / writer and can communicate data wirelessly.

  A wireless tag including an IC and an antenna capable of storing information can transmit and receive data to and from a wireless device called an interrogator or a reader / writer by radio waves. Such a wireless tag is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example.

  Wireless tags are used for gate entry records, admission permission judgments, etc., and can reduce manpower and have advantages in terms of labor saving. This wireless tag is generally a card type and has a communication distance of a few centimeters. Therefore, the wireless tag is almost in contact with each other and must be taken out from a wallet or the like each time. For this reason, in order to be able to pass through the gate while being carried, it is necessary to increase the communication distance between the wireless tag and the reader / writer. However, at this time, when a person carries such a wireless tag, there is no misrecognition that the person has passed the gate until there is no intention to pass the gate and the person is near the gate. Such ingenuity is necessary.

  FIG. 8 shows an example in which the communication distance of a conventional wireless communication device is expanded. In FIG. 8, 1, 2, and 3 are gates, 4, 5, and 6 are antennas, 7, 8, and 9 are cables, 10, 11, and 12 are reader / writers, 13, and 14 are objects such as books, and 15, 16 Indicates a wireless tag, and 17 indicates a communicable range in which reading and writing are possible. When the object 13 to which the wireless tag 15 is attached passes through the gate between 1 and 2, when the wireless tag 15 enters the communicable range 17 by the radio wave radiated from the antenna 4, the wireless tag 15 is connected to the antenna 4 and the cable. 7, the reader / writer 10 can communicate with the reader / writer 10, and the reader / writer 10 reads the ID code and the like of the wireless tag, permits passage, and writes the necessary items to the wireless tag. Such an example is shown in Patent Document 2, for example.

Japanese Patent No. 2555361 Japanese Patent No. 3193612

  However, such a conventional wireless communication apparatus has the following problems. That is, when the object 14 carrying the wireless tag 16 is passed between the gates 2 and 3 in the same manner as described above, communication is performed between the wireless tag 16 and the reader / writer 11. However, if the communicable range of the radio wave radiated from the antenna 4 is a range such as 17, this range extends to between the gates 2 and 3, and the reader / writer 10 reads the information of the wireless tag 16 to read the information. May occur. If the object does not intend to pass through the gate and is in the vicinity, or if it is necessary to distinguish between the gate between 1 and 2 and the gate between 2 and 3, it becomes a misread and becomes a problem.

  The present invention solves the above-described problems, and provides a wireless communication apparatus that can read or write only a wireless tag that has passed through a desired gate even if the gate is close, and that can identify the position where the object exists. There is.

  The present invention includes a wireless tag including an IC, a plurality of antennas having directivity, a changeover switch that selects any one of transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas, and a signal input from the switch or A wireless communication device comprising a reader / writer for outputting to the switch, wherein the plurality of antennas are arranged so as to face each other with their directivity directions facing each other, and connected to the reader / writer or the outside By switching the transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas by controlling the switch by another device provided, the wireless tag data for each antenna is read and installed so as to be paired among the plurality of antennas The wireless tag is determined to be valid only when all the antennas recognized recognize the wireless tag. It is a communication apparatus.

  In addition, the present invention provides a wireless tag including an IC, a plurality of antennas having directivity, a changeover switch for selecting one of transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas, and a signal input from the switch Or a wireless communication device comprising a reader / writer for outputting to the switch, wherein the plurality of antennas are arranged so as to be paired with their respective directivity directions facing each other. By switching the transmission / reception signal of the plurality of antennas by controlling the switch by another device provided in the wireless tag, the wireless tag data for each antenna is read and recognized for each of the plurality of antennas. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wireless communication apparatus that determines a position of the wireless tag based on a combination of reading results of the wireless tag.

  That is, the wireless communication device of the present invention includes a wireless tag carried by a person or the like, two or more antennas that face each other in the radiation direction of radio waves, and a switch that switches transmission / reception signals (data) of the respective antennas. It consists of a reader / writer that reads or writes transmission / reception signals. The reader / writer includes a control circuit for controlling the switch, processing a reading result when the antenna is connected, and the like. Here, the pair includes not only two but also three or more antennas facing each other.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a wireless communication device that can read or write only a wireless tag that has passed through a desired gate even when the gate is close, and that can identify a position where an object is present.

  That is, in the present invention, when an object carrying a wireless tag passes through the gate, erroneous reading can be prevented by taking the logical product of the reading results of a plurality of antennas facing each other. A plurality of antennas are arranged in a specific position facing each other in the space, and the position where the object is placed can be recognized and specified by a combination of the results of being able to read the antenna.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a wireless communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, an antenna 4 facing right is installed at the gate 1, and an antenna 24 facing left is installed at the gate 2, and is connected to the reader / writer 30 via the switch 40 by cables 7 and 27. Yes. Similarly, an antenna 5 directed to the right side is installed at the gate 2, and an antenna 25 directed to the left side is installed at the gate 3. The antennas 5 and 25 are also connected to the reader / writer 31 via the switch 41 by the cables 8 and 28. It is connected. The switch 40 is a changeover switch that selects one of the transmission / reception signals of the antennas 4 and 24. Similarly, the switch 41 is configured to select and switch one of the transmission / reception signals of the antennas 4 and 24. The switches 40 and 41 are configured to be controlled by the reader / writers 30 and 31, respectively, or to be controlled by a device provided outside.

  When an object 13 such as a person carrying the wireless tag 15 passes between the gates 1 and 2, it passes through the communicable ranges 17 and 37 of the antennas 4 and 24, and the wireless tag 15 is recognized and communicated. Is possible. The reader / writer 30 determines that it is valid only when both of the antennas 4 and 24 can communicate (readable), that is, when recognized by the logical product (AND condition) of the reading results of each antenna, and executes the subsequent processing. To do. For example, if the read time is “1” and the non-read time is “0”, both of the antennas 4 and 24 can read “1”, and this logical product is 1 × 1. = 1 and read. On the other hand, when an object 14 such as a person carrying the wireless tag 16 passes between the gates 2 and 3, it may pass through the communicable range 17 of the antenna 4 and be read by the reader / writer 30. However, since the antenna 24 cannot read, the antenna 4 is “1”, and the antenna 24 is “0”. Therefore, the logical product of both the antennas 4 and 24 is 1 × 0 = 0, and processing is not performed. . In this way, erroneous reading can be prevented.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a wireless communication apparatus according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, antennas 51 to 53 are attached to the A row side and antennas 54 to 56 are attached to the B row side of both sides of a rack 57 having a five-stage shelf. And is connected to the reader / writer 59 with one cable. Note that switching of transmission / reception signals from each antenna in each switch is the same as in the first embodiment. The control method of each switch is the same as that in the first embodiment.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a format for writing the respective reading results for the respective antennas 51 to 56. For example, the reading result of the antenna 51 is entered in the cell 100, and the result is A1. Similarly, the masses 101 to 105 correspond to the antennas 52 to 56, and the results are A2, A3, B1, B2, and B3, respectively. FIG. 4 is a diagram collectively showing only the conditions recognized in the reading result of each antenna shown in FIG. Only the reading result described in the square of FIG. 4 is recognized. For example, the reading result A1 of the cell 106 indicates that only the antenna 51 has read and recognized. The reading results A1, A2, B1, and B2 of the cell 112 are simultaneously read by the four antennas 51, 52, 54, and 55, and are recognized as the same data.

  Next, this operation will be described. FIG. 5A shows a reading result corresponding to the format of FIG. 3 in the case of an object 66 such as a book to which a wireless tag 67 is attached. Since the wireless tag 66 can communicate only with the antenna 52, only the cell 101 is read and the result A2 is entered. At this time, if the read can be performed as “1”, and if the read cannot be performed as “0”, only A2 becomes “1” (shaded portion), and others become “0”. The result of applying this result to the recognition conditions in FIG. 4 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5B, only the square 108 is “1”. That is, the object 66 is present at the position of the square 108. In the example of FIG. 2, the number of rows in FIG. 2 and the number of rows in FIG. 4 are equal, so the number of rows in FIG. 4 shows almost the same position as that of the shelf, in this case, in FIG. It shows that it exists on the A row side of the third row.

  Similarly, FIG. 6 (a) and FIG. 7 (a) show the reading results of each antenna in the case of the objects 68 and 70, respectively. FIG. 6 (b) and FIG. FIG. 8 shows the processing results according to the recognition conditions of FIG. 4 in each case of 6 (a) and FIG. 7 (a). In FIG. 6A, A2 and B2 are “1” in FIG. 6A, and only the mass 113 is “1” in FIG. You can see that Further, the object 70 has four stages in FIG. 2 because A2, B2, A3, and B3 are “1” in FIG. 7A and only the mass 114 is “1” in FIG. 7B. It can be seen that it exists almost in the center of. Accordingly, as in FIG. 5B, the approximate positions of the objects 68 and 70 can be recognized from FIGS. 6B and 7B. Although the actual reading result is specific data, the specific position can be recognized by the same operation when specific data is used instead of “1” in the above description. In addition, although the example which faced two antennas was shown in the above, the same effect is acquired even if it combines three or more antennas facing each other.

The figure which shows the radio | wireless communication apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the radio | wireless communication apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the format which fills in the reading result of each antenna in 2nd Embodiment shown in FIG. The figure which shows collectively only the conditions recognized in the reading result of each antenna shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the reading of each antenna with respect to the target object 66, and a process result. FIG. 5A shows a reading result. FIG. 5B shows a processing result. The figure which shows an example of the reading of each antenna with respect to the target object 68, and a processing result. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a reading result. FIG. 6B shows a processing result. The figure which shows an example of the reading of each antenna with respect to the target object, and a processing result. FIG. 7A shows a reading result. FIG. 7B shows a processing result. The figure which shows the conventional radio | wireless communication apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2, 3 Gate 4, 5, 6, 24, 25, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 Antenna 7, 8, 9, 27, 28 Cable 10, 11, 12, 30, 31, 59 Reader Writer 13, 14, 66, 68, 70 Object 15, 16, 67, 69, 71 Wireless tag 17, 37, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 Communication range 40, 41, 58 Switch 57 Rack 100 ~ 120 trout

Claims (2)

  A wireless tag including an IC, a plurality of antennas having directivity, a changeover switch for selecting one of transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas, and a signal from the switch is input to or output to the switch A plurality of antennas arranged in pairs so that the directivity directions of the plurality of antennas face each other, and the reader / writer or another provided outside By switching the transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas by controlling the switch by the device of, the radio tag data for each antenna is read, and all of the plurality of antennas installed as a pair among the plurality of antennas Only when an antenna recognizes the wireless tag, it is determined that reading of the wireless tag is valid.   A wireless tag including an IC, a plurality of antennas having directivity, a changeover switch for selecting one of transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas, and a signal is input to or output from the switch A wireless communication device comprising a reader / writer, wherein the plurality of antennas are arranged so as to be paired with their respective directivity directions facing each other, and the reader / writer or another provided outside By switching the transmission / reception signals of the plurality of antennas by controlling the switch by a device, the RFID tag data for each antenna is read, and the RFID tag reading results recognized for each of the plurality of antennas A position of the wireless tag is determined by a combination of the wireless communication device.

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