JP2006285368A - Radio card and card access device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve the handling of a file through a radio card, and to achieve file operation along the intuition of a user by utilizing a plurality of radio cards. <P>SOLUTION: A card access device 240 comprises card reception sections 241, 242 for receiving radio cards. The radio card 41 and the radio card 42 are placed at the card reception sections 241, 242, respectively. The radio cards 41, 42 are related to a prescribed file on a file system, and store the storage location of the file in the format of an URL, or the like. The operation of a file related to the radio cards 41, 42 is performed according to the position relationship placed at the card reception sections 241, 242. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless card and a card access device, and more particularly to a wireless contactless card such as an IC card, a device for accessing such a card, and an application system using them.

  The wireless card is a wireless non-contact card and is called an IC card or an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) card. This wireless card is constituted by an IC chip including a memory and a communication circuit and an antenna, and performs communication by external dielectric.

As described above, since wireless cards can exchange information in a non-contact manner using wireless communication, a technique for simultaneously reading a plurality of wireless cards has been developed. For example, an IC card has been proposed in which a random number generator is provided in each of a plurality of IC cards, a time slot corresponding to the generated random number is assigned, and communication is performed at the timing of the assigned time slot (for example, , See Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-327142 (FIG. 17)

  According to the above-described prior art, since the wireless card performs communication at a timing based on a random number, it is possible to avoid a collision of communication from the wireless card when a plurality of wireless cards are used simultaneously.

  However, with such a conventional technique, it is difficult to distinguish and rank each of the plurality of wireless cards even though it is possible to avoid communication collisions between the plurality of wireless cards. In the future, when it is assumed that wireless cards will be widely used and a plurality of wireless cards are ranked and used in combination, it is considered that ranking the wireless cards is an indispensable technology.

  In addition, the wireless card has a weight and a size that can be handled with one hand for humans, and is easy to handle. On the other hand, each file on the file system cannot be directly touched, and handling of these files through a computer may make a person feel complicated.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize file handling through a wireless card, and to realize file operations in line with the user's intuition by using a plurality of these wireless cards.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. The first aspect of the present invention is a storage location holding means for holding a storage location of a predetermined file on a file system, in response to an external request. A wireless card comprising: communication means for transmitting the storage location. As a result, the file storage location is transmitted wirelessly, and the file operation by the wireless card is executed.

  The first aspect may further include authentication information holding means for holding authentication information for authenticating the file, and the communication means may further transmit the authentication information in response to the request. Good. This brings about the effect of executing a highly secure file operation based on authentication.

  In the first aspect, the information processing apparatus may further include additional information holding means for holding additional information related to file replication, and the communication means may further transmit the additional information in response to the request. This brings about the effect that the file operation is executed under the conditions defined in the additional information.

  Further, the second aspect of the present invention provides communication means for communicating with a plurality of wireless cards associated with a predetermined file on the file system, and the plurality of wireless cards with which the communication has been performed. A card access apparatus comprising: rank determining means for determining a rank; and file operation control means for controlling operations between files associated with the plurality of wireless cards according to the rank. Thereby, the rank is determined through communication with a plurality of wireless cards associated with a predetermined file, and the file operation according to the rank is executed.

  In the second aspect, the rank determining means may determine the rank based on positions where the plurality of wireless cards are arranged. Here, the position is the position where the wireless card is to be placed in the card access device, and the order is determined when the wireless card is placed by predetermining the order for those positions. can do. Further, in the second aspect, priority order specifying means for specifying the priority order of the positions may be further provided. In the second aspect, the order determining means may determine the order based on the relative positions of the plurality of wireless cards. Here, as the relative position, for example, the overlapping order when wireless cards are stacked can be used. Further, in the second aspect, the apparatus further comprises radio field intensity measuring means for measuring the intensity of radio waves received from the plurality of wireless cards, and the rank determining means determines the rank based on the radio wave intensity. May be.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to achieve an excellent effect of realizing handling of files through a wireless card and further realizing file operations in accordance with the user's intuition by using a plurality of these wireless cards.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a wireless card 40 in the embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 1A, the wireless card 40 includes a control unit 410, a memory 420, a communication unit 430, and a random number generation unit 440.

  The control unit 410 controls the operation of the entire wireless card 40. The memory 420 holds data necessary for the wireless card 40. The communication unit 430 performs communication by external dielectric, and here, it is assumed to include an antenna embedded in the wireless card 40. The random number generator 440 generates a predetermined random number.

  When the communication unit 430 receives a radio wave from a card access device such as a card reader or a card reader / writer, the control unit 410 generates a random number in the random number generation unit 440. Then, when a period corresponding to the random number generated by the random number generation unit 440 elapses, the control unit 410 causes the communication unit 430 to transmit predetermined data held in the memory 420.

  The data held in the memory 420 of the wireless card 40 includes a card identifier 421, a storage location 423, additional information 424, and an authentication key 425 as shown in FIG.

  The card identifier 421 is information for identifying the wireless card 40. The storage location 423 is information indicating a storage location on the file system of a file associated with the wireless card 40. In addition, the file here means a wide concept including a folder (directory) having an individual file in addition to a normal individual file. The file system referred to here means the entire file structure accessible through a network in addition to the file structure in a specific computer. Therefore, the storage location 423 can be expressed as a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

  The additional information 424 is information relating to the copy of the file identified by the storage location 423. As information regarding this duplication, for example, it is possible to assume the number of times or a period of time when duplication is possible.

  The authentication key 425 is authentication information for authenticating the file identified by the storage location 423. This authentication information functions as a so-called password, and access to the file is not permitted if this authentication information is not valid. This authentication key 425 is transmitted together with a file access request, and is used for authentication processing at the transmission destination.

  The information in the wireless card 40 is recorded in a state where encryption is appropriately performed. In particular, it is necessary to prohibit unauthorized access to the authentication key 425 and the additional information 424 in order to prevent falsification and impersonation. Since such encryption means is a well-known technique, description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an external appearance example of the card access device 240 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a front view of the card access device 240, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the card access device 240.

  The card access device 240 includes card receiving portions 241 and 242 for receiving a wireless card. Each of the card receiving portions 241 and 242 can receive one wireless card. In the example of this figure, the card receiving portion 241 has a wireless card 41, the card receiving portion 242 has a wireless card 42, and It is placed.

  In such a card access device 240, it is possible to define that the card receiving unit 241 has a higher rank than the card receiving unit 242 and perform a file transfer operation. That is, when the wireless cards 41 and 42 are respectively placed on the card receiving portions 241 and 242, a file associated with the wireless card 42 placed on the card receiving portion 242 is wirelessly placed on the card receiving portion 241. It can be moved to a folder associated with the card 41.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the card access device 240 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 3A, the card access device 240 includes antennas A243 and B244, a changeover switch 245, a communication unit 246, and a communication control unit 249.

  The antenna A243 is used for communication with the wireless card placed on the card receiving unit 241, and the antenna B244 is used for communication with the wireless card placed on the card receiving unit 242. Is. The changeover switch 245 switches so that either one of the antennas A243 and B244 is connected to the communication unit 246.

  The communication unit 246 performs communication with the wireless card via the antenna A243 or B244. The communication control unit 249 controls the communication in the communication unit 246. For example, the communication control unit 249 determines the rank of the wireless cards with which communication has been performed, and performs a predetermined operation according to the rank.

  In the example of FIG. 3B, the card access device 240 performs communication by the communication units A246 and B247 without using the changeover switch 245 as in the example of FIG. 3A and 3B perform substantially the same process.

  In the example of FIG. 3C, the card access device 240 includes an antenna 243, a communication unit 246, a radio wave intensity measurement unit 248, and a communication control unit 249. Unlike FIGS. 3A and 3B, a single antenna 243 and a radio wave intensity measuring unit 248 that measures the intensity of radio waves are used. Thereby, the communication control unit 249 determines the order of the wireless cards according to the strength of each radio wave measured by the radio wave intensity measurement unit 248.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an external appearance example of another card access device 250 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A is a front view of the card access device 250, and FIG. 4B is a side view of the card access device 250.

  The card access device 250 includes a card receiving unit 251 that receives a wireless card. The card receiving unit 251 can receive a plurality of wireless cards. In the example of this figure, the wireless card 41 is placed on the front surface, and the wireless card 42 is placed on the rear surface.

  In the card access device 250, the wireless cards 41 and 42 can be distinguished by adopting the internal configuration example described with reference to FIG. That is, the radio card 41 placed at a position far from the card access device 250 should have a lower radio field intensity, and the radio card 42 placed at a closer position should have a higher radio field intensity. The card access device 250 can distinguish between the wireless cards 41 and 42 using the strength of the radio wave intensity.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an external appearance example of still another card access device 260 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The card access device 260 includes card receiving portions 261 and 262 that receive wireless cards. Each of the card receiving portions 261 and 262 can receive one wireless card. In the example of this figure, the card receiving portion 261 has a wireless card 41, the card receiving portion 262 has a wireless card 42, respectively. It is placed.

  The card access device 260 includes priority order designation buttons 263 and 264 for designating the priority order of the card receiving portions 261 and 262. For example, in a state where the priority order designation button 263 is pressed, the card receiving unit 262 has a higher rank than the card receiving unit 261, and is placed on the card receiving unit 261 at the time of the file transfer operation. A file associated with the wireless card 41 can be moved to a folder associated with the wireless card 42 placed on the card receiving unit 262. On the other hand, when the priority order designation button 264 is pressed, the card receiving unit 261 has a higher rank than the card receiving unit 262, and is placed on the card receiving unit 262 during the file transfer operation. A file associated with the wireless card 42 can be moved to a folder associated with the wireless card 41 placed on the card receiving unit 261.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of the card access apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. First, the card access device sets the initial value of the counter i to “0” (step S911), adds “1” to the counter i (step S912), and reads the i-th wireless card (step S913). Then, until there is no unread wireless card (step S914), while adding “1” to the counter i (step S912), the i-th wireless card is read (step S913). That is, the card access apparatus sequentially reads out the first to Nth (N is the number of wireless cards) wireless cards.

  Based on the storage location 423 of the wireless card read out in this way, the file structure of the associated file is analyzed (step S915). When the read wireless cards can be ranked (step S916), a predetermined file operation is performed on the files associated with the respective wireless cards (step S917).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a computer system according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this computer system, a computer 210, a home server 230, and a portable device 290 are connected on a network 281. A card access device 240 is connected to each of the computer 210 and the portable device 290. Further, a modem 282 is further connected to the network 281 so that the external network 283 and the network 281 in the computer system can be appropriately connected.

  The computer 210 and the portable device 290 are information processing apparatuses provided on the assumption that the user directly uses them. On the other hand, the home server 230 is an information processing apparatus provided on the premise that the home server 230 is used via the computer 210 and the portable device 290 via the network 281. These computer 210, home server 230, and portable device 290 can include a storage device such as a disk device (not shown). These computers 210, home server 230, and portable device 290 as information processing apparatuses can not only directly access their own storage devices but also access storage devices of other information processing apparatuses via the network 281.

  The card access device 240 is a card access device that accesses a wireless card, that is, transmits information to the wireless card or receives information from the wireless card. Such access to the wireless card is performed under the control of the computer 210 or the portable device 290 to which the card access device 240 is connected.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the computer 210, the home server 230, and the portable device 290 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Here, it is assumed that the file is stored in the file system 520 in the home server 230 and the file on the file system 520 is accessed from the home server 230 and the portable device 290.

  First, it is assumed that, for example, the computer 210 records the authentication key 425 on the wireless card 40 prior to accessing the file. For this purpose, the authentication key request unit 211 in the computer 210 requests the home server 230 for an authentication key for a desired file. The authentication key request receiving unit 231 in the home server 230 receives the authentication key request. As a result, the authentication key issuing unit 232 in the home server 230 issues the requested authentication key.

  The authentication key updating unit 212 in the computer 210 receives the authentication key issued by the authentication key issuing unit 232 in the home server 230 and updates the authentication key 425 of the wireless card 40 placed on the card interface 213. Thereby, the wireless card 40 holding the authentication key for the desired file is generated. In the wireless card 40, the storage location 423 and the like are recorded in advance.

  When the plurality of wireless cards 40 generated in this way are placed on the card interface 294 of the portable device 290, the card interface 294 determines the rank between the wireless cards 40 from the placed state. The file operation request unit 297 requests the file operation after presenting the authentication key to the home server 230 in accordance with the order thus determined. The authentication unit 237 in the home server 230 performs authentication of the presented authentication key.

  When the authentication unit 237 in the home server 230 succeeds in authentication, the file operation unit 239 of the home server 230 performs file operation in the file system 520 and returns the result to the portable device 290. When the file operation result reception unit 299 in the portable device 290 receives the file operation result from the home server 230, the series of processing related to the file operation is completed.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of file operation by the wireless card 40 in the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9A, when the wireless card A43 is placed on the upper part of the card access device 240 and the wireless card X44 is placed on the lower part, the wireless card A43 placed on the upper side is more wireless. It is assumed that the card is defined as having a higher rank than the card X44.

  As shown on the left of FIG. 9B, before the file operation, the files a and b are held in the card A folder 543 on the file system 520 corresponding to the wireless card A43, and the file corresponding to the wireless card X44. It is assumed that the file x is held in the card X folder 544 on the system 520. Then, when the wireless cards 43 and 44 are placed in the arrangement as shown in FIG. 9A, the file operation as shown on the right in FIG. 9B is performed. That is, the file x held in the card X folder 544 is held in the card A folder 543.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of handling a deleted folder by file processing according to the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10A, a process when a file x held in the card X folder 544 moves to the card A folder 543 is assumed. At this time, it is conceivable to delete the file x in the card X folder 544 after the transfer process by deleting the file on the file system 520. In this case, since the file x does not remain in the card X folder 544, the card X44 associated with the card X folder 544 may be left as it is. That is, the storage location (423) of the card X44 keeps the information indicating the card X folder 544, and does not need to be changed.

  On the other hand, there is also a method of changing the storage location of the card X44. As shown in FIG. 10B, the association between the card X44 and the file x in the card X folder 544 can be canceled by setting the storage location of the card X44 to not indicate anything after the movement process. . In this case, the existence of the file x in the card X folder 544 does not matter, and the association between the card X44 and the file x in the card X folder 544 is lost.

  Here, the file movement process has been described as an example as an example, but other file copying processes may be performed. In the moving process of FIG. 9B, the file x is eventually deleted from the card X folder 544. However, in the case of the copying process, the file x is stored in the card A folder 543 even after the card x is stored. The file x is held in the X folder 544 as it is.

  Thus, according to the embodiment of the present invention, in the card access device, for example, a place where a wireless card is placed on each of the plurality of card receiving portions 241 and 242, or a plurality of wireless cards on the card receiving portion 251. The order of the wireless cards can be determined in accordance with the order in which the cards are stacked. Then, the file associated with the wireless card can be operated according to the determined order.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, an example of file operation using a card has been described. However, even in this case, these files may be operated via a computer or the like as in the prior art.

  Further, the embodiment of the present invention shows an example for embodying the present invention, and has a corresponding relationship with the invention specific matter in the claims as shown below, but is not limited thereto. However, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  That is, in claim 1, the storage location holding means corresponds to, for example, the storage location 423. A communication unit corresponds to the communication unit 430, for example. Further, in claim 2, the authentication information holding means corresponds to the authentication key 425, for example. Further, in claim 3, the additional information holding means corresponds to the additional information 424, for example.

  In claim 4, the communication means corresponds to the communication unit 246, for example. The order determining means corresponds to the card interface 294 or the communication control unit 249, for example. The file operation control means corresponds to the file operation request unit 297, for example.

  Further, in claim 6, priority order specifying means corresponds to priority order specifying buttons 263 and 264, for example.

  Further, in claim 8, the radio wave intensity measuring means corresponds to, for example, the radio wave intensity measuring unit 248.

  The processing procedure described in the embodiment of the present invention may be regarded as a method having a series of these procedures, and a program for causing a computer to execute these series of procedures or a recording medium storing the program May be taken as

It is a figure which shows the example of 1 structure of the radio | wireless card 40 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of an external appearance of the card access apparatus 240 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of an internal structure of the card access apparatus 240 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of an external appearance of the other card access apparatus 250 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of an external appearance of the other card access apparatus 260 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the card access apparatus in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the computer system in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the computer 210, the home server 230, and the portable device 290 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the file operation by the radio | wireless card 40 in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the handling example of the deletion folder by the file processing in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

40 to 44 Wireless card 210 Computer 211 Authentication key request unit 212 Authentication key update unit 213, 294 Card interface 230 Home server 231 Authentication key request reception unit 232 Authentication key issue unit 237 Authentication unit 239 File operation unit 240, 250, 260 Card access Device 241, 242, 251, 261, 262 Card receiving unit 243 Antenna 245 Changeover switch 246 Communication unit 248 Signal strength measurement unit 249 Communication control unit 263 264 Priority specification button 281, 283 Network 282 Modem 290 Mobile device 297 File operation request Unit 299 file operation result reception unit 410 control unit 420 memory 430 communication unit 440 random number generation unit 520 file system

Claims (8)

Storage location holding means for holding a storage location of a predetermined file on the file system;
A wireless card comprising: communication means for transmitting the storage location in response to an external request. Further comprising authentication information holding means for holding authentication information for authenticating the file;
The wireless card according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit further transmits the authentication information in response to the request. Further comprising additional information holding means for holding additional information relating to the copy of the file;
The wireless card according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit further transmits the additional information in response to the request. Communication means for communicating with a plurality of wireless cards associated with a predetermined file on the file system;
Rank determining means for determining the rank of the plurality of wireless cards with which the communication has been performed;
A card access device comprising: a file operation control unit that controls operations between files associated with the plurality of wireless cards according to the order.   5. The card access device according to claim 4, wherein the rank determining means determines the rank based on a position where the plurality of wireless cards are arranged.   6. The card access device according to claim 5, further comprising priority order specifying means for specifying the priority order of the positions.   5. The card access device according to claim 4, wherein the rank determining means determines the rank based on a relative position of the plurality of wireless cards. Further comprising radio field intensity measuring means for measuring the intensity of radio waves received from the plurality of wireless cards,
5. The card access device according to claim 4, wherein the rank determining means determines the rank based on the radio field intensity.

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