JP2005293112A - Rfid tag, rfid tag reader, and method to read rfid tag - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent complication of identification processing in an RFID tag reader when an RFID tag reader tries to read information on a target RFID tag. <P>SOLUTION: The RFID tag is equipped with; a storage section 14 which stores ID information 16 and time limit information 15; a transceiver section 12 which receives date information 24 together with a request for reading information from the RFID tag reader 20 and returns ID information 16; a control section 13 which compares the received date information 24 with the time limit information 15 read from the storage section 14, and outputs the ID information 16 to the transceiver section 12 based on the result of comparison. The control section 13 controls the transceiver section 12 not to return the ID information 16 to the RFID tag reader 20 when the date in the date information 24 exceeds the time limit in the time limit information 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tag, an RFID tag reader, and an RFID tag reading method.

  RFID provides an IC chip with an antenna in the form of a tag or label to an object or person, and reads information stored in the IC chip by non-contact communication using radio waves by a reader, thereby enabling object identification and personal authentication. Is what you do. Since RFID tags can be reduced in size and read without contact, RFID tags are being added to various things. For example, in Patent Document 1, a rental medium (content) to be protected is encrypted and recorded on a recording medium surface using a recording medium (RFID-equipped recording medium, specifically a CD or DVD) on which an RFID chip is mounted. A system is disclosed in which a decryption key and a lending condition (lending date, number of uses, etc.) are written in an RFID chip to protect information and manage lending.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 2 describes a tag for an IC tag that has a function for holding the number of times the IC tag can be used in the IC tag and a function for locking the memory when the number of times the usable number reaches the use limit value. A method for managing IDs and dates is disclosed.

JP 2003-187524 A (FIGS. 1 and 4) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-256659 (FIGS. 1 and 2)

  According to the progress of the information society in the future, it is considered that RFID tags are added to an extremely large number of things. However, as time passes, a large amount of unnecessary RFID functions will be available, and there may be meaningless RFID tags around. In other words, there is a possibility that a large amount of RFID tags that have expired due to their expiration date are scattered.

  Under such circumstances, when the RFID tag reader tries to read the information of the target RFID tag, the non-target RFID tag also responds, and whether or not the responded information is the information of the target RFID tag. The processing by the RFID tag reader to be determined becomes complicated.

  By the way, the IC tag disclosed in Patent Document 2 manages an IC tag whose life has been reached by the number of times of writing to the IC tag. Therefore, since the lifetime is not managed by year and month, if the number of accesses is small, it cannot be said that it is sufficient to eliminate unnecessary expired tags. Furthermore, since a response is returned in response to a read request from a reader even for an expired tag, it is not possible to prevent complication of discrimination processing in the tag reader.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an RFID tag, an RFID tag reader, and an RFID tag reading method that prevent complication of discrimination processing in the RFID tag reader when the RFID tag reader attempts to read information of the target RFID tag. It is in.

  An RFID tag according to one aspect of the present invention that achieves the above object includes a storage area that stores time limit information for executing a function as an RFID.

  In the RFID tag of the present invention, the function may include notification of ID information stored in the RFID tag to the outside.

  An RFID tag according to another aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores ID information and time limit information, a transmission / reception unit that receives date information together with an information read request from the outside, and returns ID information; A control unit that compares the date information and the time limit information read from the storage unit, and outputs the ID information to the transmission / reception unit based on the comparison result. The control unit controls the transmission / reception unit not to return the ID information when the date in the date information exceeds the time limit in the time limit information.

  In the RFID tag reader of the present invention, a read request and date information may be transmitted to the RFID tag.

  In the RFID tag reader of the present invention, the date information may be a date when a read request is made.

  Furthermore, the RFID tag reader of the present invention may include a date setting unit, and the date information may be information that can be set and changed by the date setting unit.

  An RFID tag reading method according to still another aspect of the present invention is an RFID tag reading method in which ID information is read by an RFID tag reader. The method includes receiving date information together with a request to read information from the RFID tag reader, reading ID information and time limit information stored in the RFID tag, comparing date information and time limit information, If the comparison result shows that the date in the date information exceeds the time limit in the time limit information, the ID information is not returned to the RFID tag reader, and if not, the ID information is returned to the RFID tag reader.

  According to the present invention, when an RFID tag reader attempts to read information of an RFID tag, ID information is not returned from an RFID tag that has finished its role as an RFID. Therefore, unnecessary information from the RFID tag is limited, and the discrimination process in the RFID tag reader can be prevented from becoming complicated.

  In addition, the date setting unit of the RFID tag reader sets the date to a date earlier than the expiration date of the expiration date information held by the RFID tag, whereby the ID information can be read from the expired RFID tag.

  An RFID tag according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a storage area for storing time limit information for executing a function as an RFID, and this function includes notification of ID information stored in the RFID tag to the outside. . More specifically, the RFID tag (10 in FIG. 1) includes a storage unit (14 in FIG. 1), a transmission / reception unit (12 in FIG. 1), and a control unit (13 in FIG. 1). The storage unit (14 in FIG. 1) stores ID information (16 in FIG. 1) and time limit information (15 in FIG. 1). In addition, the transmission / reception unit (12 in FIG. 1) receives date information (24 in FIG. 1) together with a read request for ID information from the RFID reader (20 in FIG. 1), and returns the ID information (16 in FIG. 1). To do. Further, the control unit (13 in FIG. 1) compares the received date information (24 in FIG. 1) with the deadline information (15 in FIG. 1) read from the storage unit (14 in FIG. 1), and the comparison result is obtained. Based on this, ID information (16 in FIG. 1) is output to the transmission / reception unit (12 in FIG. 1), and the date in the date information (24 in FIG. 1) exceeds the time limit in the time limit information (15 in FIG. 1). The transmission / reception unit (12 in FIG. 1) is controlled so as not to return the ID information (16 in FIG. 1).

  The RFID tag is configured as described above. When the RFID tag reader attempts to read the ID information of the RFID tag, the RFID tag does not function when the RFID expires, and the ID information is not returned from the RFID tag.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an RFID tag and an RFID tag reader according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an RFID tag 10 includes an antenna 11, a transmission / reception unit 12, a control unit 13, and a storage unit 14, and is appropriately attached to an article or the like. The storage unit 14 stores ID information 16 and time limit information 15 for determining a time limit for functioning as an RFID (in other words, the life of the RFID tag). On the other hand, the RFID tag reader 20 includes an antenna 21, a transmission / reception unit 22, a control unit 23, and a date setting unit 25. The RFID tag reader 20 accesses an article or the like to which the RFID tag 10 is attached by irradiating a radio wave 30. The control unit 23 stores date information 24 corresponding to the time information.

  The RFID tag reader 20 first operates the control unit 23 in order to read the ID information 16 in the RFID tag 10. The control unit 23 instructs the transmission / reception unit 22 to transmit a read request. At this time, the control unit 23 outputs the date information 24 indicating the date at the time of the read request to the transmission / reception unit 22 so as to be transmitted together with the read request. The transmission / reception unit 22 transmits a read request and date information 24 to the RFID tag 10 via the antenna 21 by the radio wave 30.

  The RFID tag 10 receives the radio wave 30 transmitted from the antenna 21 of the RFID tag reader 20 by the antenna 11 and operates with the energy of the received radio wave. The transmission / reception unit 12 receives the information read request and date information 24 sent from the RFID tag reader 20, and outputs the read request and date information 24 to the control unit 13.

  In response to the read request, the control unit 13 reads the time limit information 15 and the ID information 16 from the storage unit 14. Further, the date information 24 and the read time limit information 15 are compared, and the ID information 16 is output to the transmission / reception unit 12 based on the comparison result. Note that when the date in the date information 24 exceeds the time limit in the time limit information 15, the transmission / reception unit 12 is controlled not to return the ID information 16.

  Based on the control of the control unit 13, the transmission / reception unit 12 transmits the ID information 16 to the RFID tag reader 20 by the radio wave 30 via the antenna 11 when returning the ID information 16. If no ID information 16 is returned, no response is made.

  Next, the operation of the RFID tag 10 having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the RFID tag according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  In step S11, the RFID tag 10 receives the energy of the radio wave 30 transmitted from the RFID tag reader 20, converts it into power of the power source, and activates the electronic component provided therein.

  In step S12, the information read request and date information 24 sent from the RFID tag reader 20 are received.

  In step S <b> 13, the time limit information 15 and the ID information 16 are read from the storage unit 14.

  In step S14, the date information 24 is compared with the read deadline information 15, and if the date in the date information 24, that is, the read request date exceeds the deadline in the deadline information 15, no response is made and a series of processing is performed. finish.

  On the other hand, if the date does not exceed the time limit in the time limit information 15, the ID information 16 is returned to the RFID tag reader 20 in step S15, and the series of processing ends.

  The RFID tag operates as described above, and when the RFID tag reader 20 tries to read the ID information 16 of the RFID tag 10, it does not function when the RFID tag 10 expires as an RFID, and is unnecessary from the RFID tag 10. ID information is not returned.

  The RFID tag reader 20 according to the second embodiment includes a date setting unit 25, and the date information 24 can be set and changed by the date setting unit 25. With this setting, the RFID tag reader 20 can set a date other than the date at the time of the read request as the date information 24. By setting the date to a date earlier than the time limit of the time limit information 15 held by the RFID tag 10, the ID information 16 can be read from the expired RFID tag 10 so as to pass N in step S <b> 14 of FIG. 2. it can. As a result, the ID information can be read out when information on the expired RFID tag 10 is necessary for quality control of the RFID tag 10, tracing of an accident or crime, and the like.

  It can be applied to tags that are attached to general mass merchandise such as food and clothing.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the RFID tag and RFID tag reader which concern on the Example of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows operation | movement of the RFID tag which concerns on the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 RFID tags 11 and 21 Antennas 12 and 22 Transmitting and receiving units 13 and 23 Control unit 14 Storage unit 15 Time limit information 16 ID information 20 RFID tag reader 24 Date information 25 Date setting unit

Claims (9)

  An RFID tag comprising a storage area for storing time limit information for executing a function as RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification).   2. The RFID tag according to claim 1, wherein the function includes notification of ID (IDentification) information stored in the RFID tag to the outside. A storage unit for storing ID information and time limit information;
A transmission / reception unit that receives date information together with a request to read information from the outside and returns the ID information;
A control unit that compares the received date information with the deadline information read from the storage unit, and outputs the ID information to the transmission / reception unit based on a comparison result;
With
The RFID tag, wherein the control unit controls the transmission / reception unit not to return the ID information when a date in the date information exceeds a time limit in the time limit information.   The RFID tag reader, wherein the read request and the date information are transmitted to the RFID tag according to claim 3.   5. The RFID tag reader according to claim 4, wherein the date information is a date at the time of the read request.   5. The RFID tag reader according to claim 4, further comprising a date setting unit, wherein the date information is information whose setting can be changed by the date setting unit. An RFID tag reading method in which ID information is read by an RFID tag reader,
Receiving date information together with a request to read information from the RFID tag reader;
Reading ID information and time limit information stored in the RFID tag;
Comparing the date information with the deadline information;
As a result of the comparison, if the date in the date information exceeds the time limit in the time limit information, the ID information is not returned to the RFID tag reader, and if not, the ID information is returned to the RFID tag reader. And steps to
A method for reading an RFID tag, comprising:   8. The RFID tag reading method according to claim 7, wherein the date information is a date at the time of the reading request. 8. The RFID tag reading method according to claim 7, wherein the RFID tag reader includes a date setting unit, and the date information is information whose setting can be changed by the date setting unit.

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