JP2007316987A - Communication medium processing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication medium processing apparatus for reducing mutual interference generated in a conventional communication, for improving reliability in a communication process, and capable of improving a yield. <P>SOLUTION: In the communication medium processing apparatus for performing a communication process in parallel with a plurality of non-contact type IC cards at a plurality of predetermined locations using a plurality of non-contact type reader-writers for each performing a communication with the non-contact type IC cards in a non-contact state, disposed relating to these non-contact type IC cards which are conveyed by being arranged to two rows, and for continuously conveying the non-contact IC cards which perform a communication with an external device in the non-contact state after being arranged to at least two rows adjacent each other, the plurality of non-contact type card reader-writers are arranged in a zigzag state relating to each row of the non-contact type IC cards to be conveyed after being arranged to two rows. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, for example, a non-contact type IC card (communication medium) having a non-contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state is arranged in at least two adjacent rows and continuously conveyed. Using a plurality of non-contact type reader / writers (communication devices) that are arranged for non-contact type IC cards conveyed side by side and have a non-contact type interface that communicates with the non-contact type IC cards in a non-contact state. The present invention relates to a communication medium processing apparatus and a communication medium processing method such as an IC card test apparatus and an IC card issuing apparatus that perform communication processing in parallel with a plurality of contactless IC cards at a plurality of predetermined positions.

  In general, an IC card is roughly divided from supported communication methods, and is supplied with power and a clock in a state where a contact terminal on the surface is in contact with a contact terminal in a contact reader / writer as an external device, and communicates commands and responses. A contact type IC card having a contact type interface (also referred to as a wireless IC card), an electromagnetic wave transmitted from a non-contact type reader / writer, using an antenna to receive power and a clock, A non-contact type IC card having a non-contact type interface that performs response communication in a non-contact state, and a composite IC card (so-called combination card) having both functions of the contact type interface and the non-contact type interface Known (for example, see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

By the way, for example, in an IC card testing device in a non-contact IC card manufacturing process, an IC card issuing device that issues a non-contact IC card, etc., a plurality of positions determined in advance using a plurality of non-contact reader / writers , Communication processing (data writing or reading) may be performed in parallel (for example, simultaneously) with a plurality of non-contact type IC cards. In that case, conventionally, a plurality of non-contact type reader / writers are simply arranged in close proximity to perform communication processing simultaneously with the plurality of non-contact type IC cards.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 4-16831 JP 2002-171303 A

  Conventionally, when a plurality of non-contact type IC cards are used to perform communication processing simultaneously with a plurality of non-contact type IC cards in an IC card testing device, an IC card issuing device, etc., the plurality of non-contact type reader / writers are simply placed in close proximity. Since the communication processing is performed simultaneously with a plurality of non-contact type IC cards disposed in the network, the communications interfere with each other, the reliability of the communication processing is reduced, and the yield of IC card manufacturing and issuance is reduced. There is a problem of getting worse.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication medium processing apparatus and a communication medium processing method that can reduce the mutual interference of communication that has occurred conventionally, improve the reliability of communication processing, and improve the yield.

  The communication medium processing apparatus of the present invention continuously conveys communication media having a non-contact interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state in at least two adjacent rows, and is conveyed in these two rows. Communication processing in parallel with a plurality of communication media at a plurality of predetermined positions using a plurality of communication devices provided with the communication medium and having a non-contact interface that communicates with the communication medium in a non-contact state. The plurality of communication devices are arranged in a staggered manner with respect to each row of communication media conveyed in a row in the two rows.

  In addition, the communication medium processing apparatus of the present invention includes at least two adjacent communication media each having a non-contact interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state and a contact interface that communicates with an external device in a contact state. A plurality of first communication devices having a non-contact interface that is arranged for a communication medium that is continuously conveyed in a row and that is conveyed in a row, and that communicates with the communication medium in a non-contact state. And communication medium processing for performing communication processing in parallel with a plurality of communication media at a plurality of predetermined positions using a plurality of second communication devices having a contact type interface that performs communication in contact with the communication medium The plurality of first communication devices and the plurality of second communication devices are different from each other for each row of communication media transported side by side in the two rows. Characterized in that it is disposed to so as staggered.

  In the communication medium processing method of the present invention, communication media having a non-contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state are continuously transported in at least two adjacent rows and transported in two rows. By arranging a plurality of communication devices having a non-contact type interface for communicating in a non-contact state with the communication medium for each column of communication media to be used, the plurality of communication devices are used. Communication processing is performed in parallel with a plurality of communication media at a plurality of predetermined positions.

  Further, the communication medium processing method of the present invention includes at least two adjacent communication media each having a non-contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state and a contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a contact state. A plurality of first communication devices having a non-contact interface that communicates in a row and in a non-contact state with each of the communication media that are conveyed in a row and continuously conveyed in a row By arranging a plurality of second communication devices having contact interfaces that perform communication in contact with a communication medium in a staggered manner, the plurality of first communication devices and second communication devices are arranged in a staggered manner. Communication processing is performed in parallel with a plurality of communication media at a plurality of predetermined positions using the apparatus.

  According to the present invention, communication media are continuously transported in at least two adjacent rows, and a plurality of communication devices are arranged in a staggered manner for each row of communication media transported in two rows. Thus, it is possible to provide a communication medium processing apparatus and a communication medium processing method capable of reducing the mutual interference of communication that has occurred in the past, improving the reliability of communication processing, and improving the yield.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a non-contact type IC card as a communication medium according to an embodiment of the present invention. This non-contact type IC card 10 includes an antenna unit 11 as a non-contact type interface composed of a parallel tuning circuit of a loop antenna coil (not shown) as a transmission / reception antenna and a tuning capacitor (not shown), and a received signal. From a power supply generation unit 12 that generates a power supply for operation, a demodulation circuit 13 that demodulates received data, a modulation circuit 14 that modulates transmission data, a nonvolatile memory 15 that includes an EEPROM or the like as storage means, and a received signal A clock generation circuit 16 that generates an operation clock and a control logic circuit (CPU) 17 that controls the entire operation are configured.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a communication medium processing apparatus such as an IC card testing apparatus and an IC card issuing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The communication medium processing device 20 processes a plurality of non-contact IC cards 10 described above in parallel (for example, simultaneously), and performs communication processing with the non-contact IC card 10 in a non-contact state (wireless communication). A non-contact reader / writer 21 as a plurality of communication devices to be performed, a transport unit 22 for transporting the non-contact type IC card 10, a ROM 23 and a RAM 24 as memories, and a control unit (CPU) 25 that controls the whole. Etc.

  FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the non-contact type reader / writer 21. The non-contact type reader / writer 21 includes a transmission antenna 31 as a non-contact type interface, a transmission driver 32, a modulation circuit 33 that modulates transmission data, a reception antenna 34 as a non-contact type interface, and a reception type. An amplifier 35, a demodulating circuit 36 for demodulating received data, an interface unit 37 connected to a host device, and a control unit (CPU) 38 for controlling the whole are configured.

  Next, a method for arranging the non-contact type reader / writer 21 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Here, as an example, a case will be described in which six non-contact type reader / writers 21 are used and six non-contact type IC cards 10 are processed in parallel.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the non-contact type IC card 10 is transported continuously by arranging it in at least two adjacent rows (in this example, two rows) 10a and 10b and transporting the two rows in a row. Six non-contact reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, and 21f are arranged in a staggered manner for each of the ten rows 10a and 10b.

  Here, the non-contact type IC card 10 is conveyed by the conveying unit 22 in the vicinity of the non-contact type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, and 21f in the direction indicated by the arrow and performs communication processing. Is temporarily stopped immediately above each non-contact type reader / writer 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f.

  Each non-contact type reader / writer 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f performs a data processing or a non-contact type communication with the non-contact type IC card 10 stopped at a position directly above, thereby reading or writing data. To do. When the communication process is completed, the next non-contact type IC card 10 is conveyed directly above. In the case of this example, the non-contact type IC card 10 is transported in such a manner that the one-row transport and the five-row transport are repeated as shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, no hatching indicates a state before communication processing, and hatching indicates a state after communication processing.

  That is, as shown in the processing procedure in FIG. 6, when processing is started from the initial state, first, communication processing for the first six non-contact type IC cards 10 is simultaneously performed. When it is finished, the communication processing for the next six non-contact type IC cards 10 is performed at the same time, and when it is finished, five rows are conveyed, and when that is finished, the next six non-contact type IC cards are carried out. The communication process for the card 10 is performed at the same time, and when it is completed, the operation of carrying the first row again is repeated.

  Thus, for example, when six non-contact type IC cards 10 are processed in parallel using six non-contact type reader / writers 21, as shown in FIG. 4, six non-contact type reader / writers 21a are used. , 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f are arranged in a zigzag pattern, and as shown in FIG. 5, communication processing → 1 row conveyance → communication processing → 5 row conveyance → communication processing → 1 row conveyance is repeated. As a result of reducing the mutual interference of communication between the non-contact type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, and 21f and improving the reliability of communication processing, the yield is remarkably improved.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to a communication medium processing apparatus that processes a plurality of non-contact type IC cards in parallel has been described. However, a composite IC having both functions of a contact type interface and a non-contact type interface has been described. The present invention can be similarly applied to a communication medium processing apparatus that processes a plurality of cards (so-called combination cards) in parallel.

  Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. Here, as an example, a case where 12 non-contact reader / writers and 6 contact reader / writers are used to process 12 composite IC cards in parallel will be described. The configuration of the composite IC card is different from the configuration of the non-contact IC card 10 described above in that a contact interface (contact part) is added, and the contact reader / writer is a well-known technique. Description of is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 7, each row of the composite IC cards 40 that are transported continuously in the two rows (in this example, two rows) 40a and 40b, and the composite IC cards 40 that are transported in the two rows. The six non-contact reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f and the six contact reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f are staggered with respect to 40a, 40b. Arrange in a staggered pattern.

  Here, the composite IC card 40 is placed above the non-contact type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f and the contact type reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f by the transport unit 22. In the proximity state, the non-contact type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, and 21f and the contact type reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, and 41f are used when performing communication processing. Shall be paused directly above. Further, the contact reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, and 41f can be brought into electrical contact with each composite IC card 40 temporarily suspended right above via the contact interface. .

  The non-contact reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f and the contact-type reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f are not connected to the composite IC card 40 stopped at the position directly above. Data is written or read by performing communication processing in the contact state or in the contact state. When the communication process is performed, the next composite IC card 40 is conveyed directly above. In the case of this example, the composite IC card 40 is transported in such a manner that the first-row transport and the fifth-row transport are repeated as shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, a white circle indicates a state after the communication processing in the non-contact type reader / writer is completed, and a black circle indicates a state after the communication processing in the contact type reader / writer is completed. The ones with white circles and black circles indicate the state after the communication processing with the non-contact type reader / writer and contact type reader / writers is completed, and the white circles without black circles also indicate the state before the communication processing Yes. In this case, the composite IC card 40 that has completed the communication processing by the non-contact type reader / writer and the contact type reader / writer is regarded as processing completion.

  Thus, for example, in the case of processing 12 composite IC cards in parallel using 6 contactless reader / writers and 6 contact reader / writers, as shown in FIG. 7, 6 contactless reader / writers are used. Type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f and six contact type reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f are arranged in a staggered manner as shown in FIG. In addition, by repeating communication processing → 1 row transport → communication processing → 5 row transport → communication processing → 1 row transport ..., communication between the non-contact type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f As a result of reduced interference and improved reliability of communication processing, yield is significantly improved. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the installation space for the non-contact type reader / writers 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f and the contact type reader / writers 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d, 41e, 41f. Miniaturization can be realized.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the communication medium is a non-contact type IC card or a composite IC card has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the communication medium is a non-contact type IC card or The same applies to an IC module before being embedded in a composite IC card.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a non-contact IC card as a communication medium according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration of a communication medium processing device such as an IC card testing device and an IC card issuing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows schematically the structure of a non-contact type reader / writer. The schematic diagram which was for demonstrating the arrangement | positioning method of a non-contact type reader / writer, and looked at the conveyance line of the non-contact type IC card from right above. The schematic diagram which looked at the conveyance line of a non-contact type IC card from right above for the purpose of explaining conveyance control of a non-contact type IC card. The flowchart explaining the process sequence of a non-contact-type IC card. The schematic diagram which looked at the conveyance line of a composite IC card from right above for demonstrating the arrangement | positioning method of a non-contact type reader / writer and a contact type reader / writer. The schematic diagram which looked at the conveyance line of a compound IC card from right above for the purpose of explaining conveyance control of a compound IC card.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Non-contact type IC card (communication medium), 11 ... Antenna part (non-contact type interface), 12 ... Power supply generation part, 13 ... Demodulation circuit, 14 ... Modulation circuit, 15 ... Non-volatile memory (memory | storage means), DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Clock generation circuit, 17 ... Control logic circuit (CPU), 20 ... Communication medium processing apparatus, 21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f ... Non-contact type reader / writer (communication apparatus), 22 ... Conveyance part , 25 ... control unit (CPU), 31 ... transmission antenna, 32 ... driver for transmission, 33 ... modulation circuit 33, 34 ... reception antenna (non-contact type interface), 35 ... amplifier, 36 ... demodulation circuit, 38 ... Control unit (CPU), 10a, 10b ... non-contact IC card row, 40 ... composite IC card (communication medium), 40a, 40b ... composite IC card row, 41a, 41b, 4 c, 41d, 41e, 41f ... contact type reader writer (communication device).

Claims (6)

  A communication medium having a non-contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state is continuously conveyed in at least two adjacent rows, and is arranged for the communication medium conveyed in the two rows, A communication medium processing apparatus that performs communication processing in parallel with a plurality of communication media at a plurality of predetermined positions using a plurality of communication apparatuses having a non-contact interface that communicates with the communication medium in a non-contact state. The communication medium processing apparatus is characterized in that the plurality of communication apparatuses are arranged in a staggered manner with respect to each column of the communication medium conveyed in the two rows.   2. The communication medium processing device according to claim 1, wherein the communication media transported in two rows are temporarily stopped when communication processing is performed with the communication device.   A communication medium having a non-contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state and a contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a contact state are arranged in at least two adjacent rows and continuously conveyed. A plurality of first communication devices having a non-contact interface arranged in communication with the communication medium arranged in a row and communicating in a non-contact state with the communication medium, and communicating in a contact state with the communication medium A communication medium processing apparatus for performing communication processing in parallel with a plurality of communication media at a plurality of predetermined positions using a plurality of second communication apparatuses having a contact interface to perform, wherein the plurality of first communication devices The communication devices and the plurality of second communication devices are arranged in a staggered manner so as to be staggered with respect to each row of communication media conveyed in the two rows. Communication medium processing apparatus according to claim and.   4. The communication according to claim 3, wherein the communication media carried in the two rows are temporarily stopped when communication processing is performed between the first communication device and the second communication device. Media processing device.   A communication medium having a non-contact interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state is continuously transported in at least two adjacent rows, and for each row of communication media transported in two rows, By arranging a plurality of communication devices having a non-contact interface that communicates with a communication medium in a non-contact state in a zigzag manner, a plurality of communication devices can be communicated at a plurality of positions determined in advance using the plurality of communication devices. A communication medium processing method comprising performing communication processing in parallel with a medium.   A communication medium having a non-contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a non-contact state and a contact type interface that communicates with an external device in a contact state are arranged in at least two adjacent rows and continuously conveyed. A plurality of first communication devices having a non-contact type interface that communicates in a non-contact state with a communication medium, and a contact that communicates in a contact state with the communication medium with respect to each row of communication media conveyed in line A plurality of positions determined in advance using the plurality of first communication devices and the second communication devices by staggering a plurality of second communication devices having an interface in a staggered manner. A communication medium processing method comprising: performing communication processing in parallel with a plurality of communication media.

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