JP2006099324A - Non-contact card - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-contact card which is available for a plurality of non-contact communication systems. <P>SOLUTION: This non-contact card for executing non-contact communication corresponding to a plurality of protocols with a reading device is provided with a non-contact communication part for executing non-contact communication with the reading device, an electrical field detection part for detecting the input and output of the electrical field of electromagnetic waves to be generated by the reading device, a plurality of protocol processing parts for executing one protocol processing depending on non-contact communication specifications, a protocol status management part for managing the execution status of the protocol processing part, a data communication part for transmitting and receiving communication data with the reading device and a protocol processing control part for executing the initialization of the plurality of protocol processing parts based on the detection of the input of the electrical field by the electrical field detection part, and for permitting the reception of the non-contact communication data to the protocol processing part based on the executions status of the protocol processing parts. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a contactless card that communicates with an external device in a contactless manner.

  In recent years, contactless cards that have antennas inside cards and transmit and receive data using weak radio waves transmitted by external terminals have begun to be used by users. The card can be operated without a battery because electricity for operating the card itself is also generated from electromagnetic waves from the reading terminal. In addition, the contactless card can be processed without touching the reading terminal, so it is suitable for operation in an environment with a lot of vibration and dust. Is often used for ticket gates and processing of railways and buses that require

The non-contact communication has a plurality of standards depending on the communication protocol. For example, in addition to Type A and Type B standardized by ISO / IEC14443, the standard is based on the JICSAP card specification.
ISO / IEC 14443 Part1-4 JICSAP IC card specification V2.0 Part 4 IC card for high-speed processing Vodafone News release May 6, 2004 04-005

Since the conventional contactless card supports only one of the above contactless communication methods, the user has to possess a card for each contactless communication method supported by the service.
Therefore, in recent years, a card that supports the plurality of contactless communication methods has been desired. However, the plurality of non-contact communication methods are individually standardized, and in order to support them with one card, it is necessary to satisfy the individual standards. In particular, when waiting without specifying a plurality of non-contact communications, identification and support of the non-contact communication method within a predetermined time from the entry into the electric field of the reading terminal to the start of communication with the reading terminal There is a problem that it is necessary to complete preparation for executing the contactless communication protocol processing.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide a non-contact card capable of waiting for a plurality of non-contact communication methods with a single card while satisfying all the above standards. And

In order to solve the conventional problem, a contactless card capable of executing contactless communication corresponding to a plurality of protocols with the reader of the present invention is provided.
A non-contact communication unit that performs non-contact communication with the reader;
An electric field detector that detects the entry and exit of the electromagnetic field generated by the reader;
A plurality of protocol processing units for executing protocol processing depending on the non-contact communication standard;
A protocol state management unit for managing an execution state of the protocol processing unit;
A data communication unit that transmits and receives communication data to and from the reader;
Instructing execution of initialization of the plurality of protocol processing units based on the entry detection in the electric field detection unit, and further permitting the protocol processing unit to receive non-contact communication data based on the execution state of the protocol processing unit A protocol processing control unit for instructing, and the protocol processing unit executes the protocol processing in accordance with an instruction from the protocol processing control unit.

  Still further, the protocol processing control unit of the contactless card according to the present invention instructs to stop the protocol processing unit not related to the protocol based on the protocol type of the received contactless communication data.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, the protocol processing control unit of the contactless card receives the contactless communication data from the protocol processing unit when all the execution states of the protocol processing unit have been initialized. Instructed permission.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when the protocol processing control unit of the contactless card permits reception of contactless communication data, one of the protocol processing units has completed initialization. It was time.

According to the contactless card of the present invention, it is possible to provide a plurality of contactless communication services without setting a standby state for a specific contactless communication protocol.
Furthermore, according to the non-contact card of the present invention, it is possible to preferentially execute reception of a specific non-contact communication protocol and avoid a processing conflict with other protocol processing.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a usage overview diagram showing a usage mode of a contactless card according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The contactless card 1 can provide various services to the user by entering the electric field 21 of the electromagnetic wave generated by the reading terminal 2 alone or in a state where the contactless card 1 is inserted into the mobile terminal 3 including a mobile phone. The reading terminal 2 is further connected to the server 4 that provides the service by some communication means. Therefore, the user can communicate with the server 4 by bringing the contactless card 1 close to the reading terminal 2.
Note that the power for operating the contactless card 1 may be provided in the card itself, supplied from the mobile terminal 3, and received by receiving electromagnetic waves emitted from the reading terminal 2.

The non-contact communication system exemplified in this embodiment is Type B standardized by ISO / IEC14443 and a communication standard based on the JICSAP card specification. The latter communication standard will be described as Type C for convenience.
Here, in Type B and Type C, the time from entering the electric field of the reading terminal 2 to starting communication with the reading terminal 2 is defined as 5 milliseconds or less. Furthermore, since it is necessary to prepare different terminals for the reading terminal 2 according to the non-contact communication method, communication between Type B and Type C cannot occur at the same time. Furthermore, since the user is not aware of the communication between Type B and Type C, the non-contact card 1 is not instructed to wait for a specific non-contact communication method.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram showing a configuration example of hardware necessary for manufacturing the contactless card of the present invention. Stores an antenna coil 14 that performs communication or power acquisition using electromagnetic waves emitted from the reading terminal 2, a contact terminal 15 that performs communication or power acquisition with the mobile terminal 3, and a program that describes processing in a contactless card A ROM 12 that executes the program, a RAM 13 that serves as a work area for the execution of the program, and an EEPROM (Electronic Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) 15 that stores the execution result of the program. Note that the EEPROM 15 is preferably a non-volatile memory, and can be replaced with a FeRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory). These hardware components are typically connected within the contactless card 1 by a bus. The hardware components may include firmware that controls them.
The non-contact card 1 performs non-contact communication with the reading device B 210 corresponding to the Type B non-contact communication method or the reading device C 221 corresponding to the Type C non-contact communication method according to each communication method.

FIG. 3 is a software configuration diagram showing a configuration example of software necessary for manufacturing the contactless card 1 of the present invention. The software includes a non-contact communication unit 120 that performs non-contact communication with an external device using the reading device 2 and the antenna coil 14, an electric field detection unit 130 that detects entry and exit from the electric field 21, and non-contact communication. The data communication unit 140 that performs data communication, the protocol processing unit 150 that performs processing of the communication protocol, and the protocol processing unit 150 further perform processing of the non-contact communication protocol of Type B, and the non-contact of the protocol B processing unit 151 and Type C A protocol processing state that includes a protocol C processing unit 152 that performs processing of a communication protocol, a protocol processing control unit 100 that controls the operation of the protocol processing unit 150, and that manages the operating state of the protocol processing unit 150 It consists of a management unit 110.
Since the protocol processing unit 150 is often implemented as a task in the real-time OS in a contactless card, the protocol B processing unit 151 is hereinafter referred to as task B, and the protocol C processing unit 152 is referred to as task C. The following explanation will be given.

The protocol processing state management unit 110 manages the operation states of task B and task C in the protocol processing state management table 500 shown in FIG. 5, and the protocol processing control unit 100 refers to and changes the operation state, thereby Control the operation of task B and task C.
The protocol processing state management table 500 includes task state information including a task type 501 and a task state 502 for each task. That is, in the example of FIG. 5, task state information 510 regarding task B and task state information 520 regarding task C are described.
The task type 501 includes “task B” and “task C”. The task status 502 can be “stopped”, “initializing”, “initialization complete”, or “in operation”.

Hereinafter, the operation of the contactless card of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the software configuration diagram of FIG. 3, the flowchart of FIG. 4, the protocol processing state management table of FIG. 5, and the processing sequence diagram of FIG.
When the contactless card 1 approaches the reading terminal 2 within a predetermined distance, contactless communication between the contactless card 1 and the reading terminal 2 using the contactless communication unit 120 is started. Here, it is determined in the card that the non-contact card 1 has entered the electric field 21 by the electric field detector 130. In many cases, this determination process is caused by a hardware interrupt (SQ2000). In response to this notification, the protocol processing control unit 100 starts task B and task C (STEP 1100). The order of activation is based on a predetermined priority. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that task B has a higher priority than task C, and after task B starts to be started (SQ2110), task C starts to start (SQ2120). At this time, the states of task B and task C transition from “stopped” ([A] in FIG. 5) to “initializing” ([B] in FIG. 5) (TR1).
The activated task B and task C each independently execute initialization processing of their tasks (STEP 1200). Thereafter, the protocol processing control unit 100 continues to wait for completion of initialization of task B and task C (STEP 1300).
When the initialization is completed, the task B notifies the protocol processing control unit 100 of the completion of activation (SQ2210). Similarly, when the initialization of task C is completed, the completion of activation is notified to the protocol processing control unit 100 (SQ2220). At this time, the state of task B and task C transitions from “initializing” ([B] in FIG. 5) to “initialization complete” ([D] in FIG. 5) (TR2).
After confirming that the states of task B and task C are all “initialization complete”, the protocol processing control unit 100 permits reception of data communication from the reading terminal 2 (STEP 1400). At this time, it is unclear whether the communication protocol of the reading terminal 2 is Type B compatible or Type C.

Next, communication data is received from the reading terminal 2 by the data communication unit 140 (STEP 1500, SQ 2400). The data communication unit 140 notifies the protocol processing control unit 100 of the received data together with the protocol type. Based on the protocol type of the received data, the protocol processing control unit 100 stops the task that does not correspond to the protocol, makes the task corresponding to the protocol active, and notifies the task of the received data.
For example, when it is determined that the data received by the data communication unit 140 is Type B, that is, when the reading apparatus 2 provides a Type B service, the protocol processing control unit 100 stops the task C (STEP 1610, SQ 2300) and receives it. Data is notified to task B (SQ2500). At this time, the states of the task B and the task C are “initialization completed” ([D] in FIG. 4), the state of the task B is “active”, and the state of the task C is “stopped” ([E in FIG. 4] ]) (TR3).
Thereafter, the data received by the data communication unit 140 is notified to the task B via the protocol processing control unit 100 until it leaves the electric field, that is, until the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. Protocol processing is performed (STEP 1611).

When the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 exceeds a predetermined distance, the entry is notified to the protocol processing control unit 100 (SQ2600), and the task stop notification is given to the task B (STEP 1612, SQ2700). ).
At this time, the state of task B and task C transitions to “stop” ([A] in FIG. 4).
Contrary to the above example, when it is determined that the data received by the data communication unit 140 is Type C, that is, when the reading device 2 provides a Type C service, the protocol processing control unit 100 stops the task B (STEP 162). The received data is notified to the task C.
Thereafter, the data received by the data communication unit 140 is notified to the task C via the protocol processing control unit 100 until it leaves the electric field, that is, until the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 exceeds a predetermined distance. , TypeC protocol processing is performed (STEP 1621).
When the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the entry is notified to the protocol processing control unit 100, and the task C is notified to the task C (STEP 1612).
Even when a new waiting protocol is added, the intended effect can be obtained by performing the same processing.

  As described above, by completing the initialization process of tasks corresponding to all protocols within a predetermined time from the time of entering the electric field, a plurality of settings can be made without setting a standby state for a specific non-contact communication protocol. It is possible to provide a non-contact communication service.

(Embodiment 2)
In the first embodiment, the time when the protocol processing control unit permits the reception of the non-contact communication data is the time when all of the plurality of protocol processing units have completed the execution state. However, depending on the timing, data may be transmitted from the reading device during initialization among a plurality of protocol processing units. In this case, although the protocol processing can be started at an early stage, the first embodiment has a problem that the reaction is delayed because it waits for the initialization of all the protocol processing units.
Therefore, a method of accepting data of a protocol processing unit that has been initialized among a plurality of protocol processing units can be considered, but in this case, data processing of the protocol processing unit that has been initialized and initialization are completed. The initialization processing of the protocol processing unit that has not been used is duplicated, the processing of the contactless card is delayed, and if it is configured with one-chip hardware, the processing of both of them may collide.

  The second embodiment solves the above problem, and when the protocol processing control unit permits the reception of the non-contact communication data, one of the plurality of protocol processing units has completed the initialization state. This is a technique for performing the response of the contactless card at a higher speed by stopping the execution of the other protocol processing unit at that time.

  Hereinafter, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. However, since the usage form, hardware configuration, and software configuration of the contactless card are the same as those in Embodiment 1, description thereof will be omitted. However, since the initialization process is different, referring to the software configuration diagram of FIG. 3, the flowchart of FIG. 7, the protocol processing state management table of FIG. 5, and the processing sequence diagram of FIG. Will be described in detail.

When the contactless card 1 approaches the reading terminal 2 within a predetermined distance, contactless communication between the contactless card 1 and the reading terminal 2 using the contactless communication unit 120 is started. Here, it is determined in the card that the non-contact card 1 has entered the electric field 21 by the electric field detector 130. In many cases, this determination process is caused by a hardware interrupt (SQ2000). In response to this notification, the protocol processing control unit 100 starts task B and task C (STEP 1100). The order of activation is based on a predetermined priority. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that task B has a higher priority than task C, and after task B starts to be started (SQ2110), task C starts to start (SQ2120). At this time, the states of task B and task C transition from “stopped” ([A] in FIG. 5) to “initializing” ([B] in FIG. 5) (TR1).
The activated task B and task C each independently execute initialization processing of their tasks (STEP 1200). Thereafter, the protocol processing control unit 100 preferentially waits for task B initialization completion (STEP 1310).
When the initialization is completed, the task B notifies the protocol processing control unit 100 of the completion of activation (SQ2210). At this time, the state of task B and task C is “initializing” ([B] in FIG. 5), the state of task B is “initialization complete”, and the state of task C is “initializing” (FIG. 5). To [C]) (TR5).
After confirming that the task B state is “initialization complete”, the protocol processing control unit 100 permits reception of data communication from the reading terminal 2 (STEP 1400).

Here, since task B has priority over task C, data communication reception is permitted without waiting for completion of initialization for task C. Conversely, when task C is prioritized over task B, reception of data communication is permitted without waiting for completion of initialization for task B when initialization of task C is completed.
At this time, it is unclear whether the communication protocol of the reading terminal 2 is Type B compatible or Type C.

Next, communication data is received from the reading terminal 2 by the data communication unit 140 (STEP 1500, SQ 2400). The data communication unit 140 notifies the protocol processing control unit 100 of the received data together with the protocol type. Based on the protocol type of the received data, the protocol processing control unit 100 stops the task that does not correspond to the protocol, makes the task corresponding to the protocol active, and notifies the task of the received data.
That is, when it is determined that the data received by the data communication unit 140 is Type B, that is, when the reader 2 provides a Type B service, the protocol processing control unit 100 stops initialization of the task C (STEP 1610, SQ 2300). The received data is notified to task B (SQ2500). At this time, the state of task B is “initialization complete”, the state of task C is “initializing” ([C] in FIG. 5), the state of task B is “active”, and the state of task C is “ Transition is made to “stop” ([E] in FIG. 5) (TR6).
Note that when the data received by the data communication unit 140 is found to be Type C, that is, when the reader 2 provides a Type C service, the initialization of the task C is not completed, so the protocol processing control unit 100 Do not perform the process.
Further, when the data communication unit 140 receives data after the initialization of both the task B and the task C is completed, it is as described in the first embodiment.
Thereafter, the data received by the data communication unit 140 is notified to the task B via the protocol processing control unit 100 until it leaves the electric field, that is, until the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance. Protocol processing is performed (STEP 1611).

When the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 exceeds a predetermined distance, the entry is notified to the protocol processing control unit 100 (SQ2600), and the task stop notification is given to the task B (STEP 1612, SQ2700). ).
At this time, the state of task B and task C transitions to “stop” ([A] in FIG. 4).
Thereafter, the data received by the data communication unit 140 is notified to the task C via the protocol processing control unit 100 until it leaves the electric field, that is, until the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 exceeds a predetermined distance. , Type C protocol processing is performed (STEP 1621).

When the distance between the card 1 and the reading device 2 is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the entry is notified to the protocol processing control unit 100, and the task C is notified to the task C (STEP 1612).
Even when a new waiting protocol is added, the intended effect can be obtained by performing the same processing.

  As described above, the time when the protocol processing control unit permits the reception of non-contact communication data is the time when one of the plurality of protocol processing units has completed the execution state, and at that time, the other protocol By stopping the execution of the processing unit, the contactless card can respond more quickly.

(Embodiment 3)
In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the protocol processing control unit 100 directly instructs execution of the protocol processing unit 150, but each protocol processing unit itself (task B151, task C152). However, it is also possible to execute processing by directly referring to the protocol state management table 500 managed by the protocol processing management unit 110. (FIG. 9). In this case, the protocol processing control unit 100 changes the contents of the protocol state management table 500 and directly instructs the execution of the protocol processing unit 150.
In addition, the state management in the protocol state management table 500 may be performed by any method as long as the operation of the protocol control unit 150 described in the above embodiment can be specified.

  The non-contact card according to the present invention has a plurality of non-contact communication protocol processing units and a configuration for controlling them, and is useful as an IC card for multi-application.

Usage overview diagram showing usage of contactless card in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Hardware configuration diagram of contactless card in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Software configuration diagram of contactless card in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Processing flowchart of contactless card in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Protocol processing state management table showing the state of the protocol processing unit of the contactless card according to the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention Processing sequence diagram of contactless card in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Processing flowchart of contactless card in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Processing sequence diagram of contactless card in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Software configuration diagram of contactless card in Embodiment 3 of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Contactless card 100 Protocol processing control part 110 Protocol processing state management part 120 Contactless communication part 130 Electric field detection part 140 Data communication part 140
150 Protocol processing unit 151 Protocol B processing unit (task B)
152 Protocol C processor (task C)

Claims (4)

A contactless card capable of performing contactless communication corresponding to a plurality of protocols with a reader;
A non-contact communication unit that performs non-contact communication with the reader;
An electric field detector that detects the entry and exit of the electromagnetic field generated by the reader;
A plurality of protocol processing units for executing one protocol processing depending on the non-contact communication standard;
A protocol state management unit for managing an execution state of the protocol processing unit;
A data communication unit that transmits and receives communication data to and from the reader;
Instructing execution of initialization of the plurality of protocol processing units based on the entry detection in the electric field detection unit, and further permitting the protocol processing unit to receive non-contact communication data based on the execution state of the protocol processing unit A protocol processing control unit for instructing,
The contactless card, wherein the protocol processing unit executes the protocol processing in accordance with an instruction from the protocol processing control unit.   The contactless card according to claim 1, wherein the protocol processing control unit further instructs to stop a protocol processing unit not related to the protocol based on a protocol type of the received contactless communication data.   The contactless card according to claim 2, wherein the protocol processing control unit further instructs the protocol processing unit to receive noncontact communication data when all the execution states of the protocol processing unit are initialized. .   The non-contact communication unit according to claim 2, wherein the protocol processing control unit further permits reception of non-contact communication data to the protocol processing unit when any one of the protocol processing units is initialized. card.

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