JP2008257548A - Tag information processing device, tag information processing method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem wherein a conventional tag information processing device cannot easily detect an attribute such as a position of an RFID tag and the like. <P>SOLUTION: A tag information processing device includes: a receiving part 13 for receiving a read result of information stored in the plurality of RFID tags 100 from a read processing conducted by changing a space to be a reading target for a plurality of times in a space where the RFID tags 100 are placed; an adjacent degree setting part 14 for setting an adjacent degree being a value indicating an adjacent relationship between each of a target tag for a tag in the RFID tags 100 whose information read at the same time as at least one of the target tags that are one or more tags among the RFID tags 100 according to the number of times of being read at the same time, based on the plurality of read results received by the receiving part 13; and an output part 16 for outputting an adjacent degree set by the adjacent degree setting part 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a tag information processing apparatus that processes information read from an RFID (Radio frequency identification) tag.

As a conventional tag information processing device, when a model piece is placed on a mounting board on which a plurality of section mounting surfaces are formed, the model piece data written in the transmission / reception storage unit in the model piece is opposed by the reading / writing device. A device is disclosed that is read by reading control via an antenna coil at a position, and position data is identified by an antenna coil control circuit (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-156896 A (first page, FIG. 1 etc.)

  As described above, in the conventional tag information processing apparatus, a plurality of reading means such as an antenna coil for reading information stored in the RFID tag are arranged in advance, and reading is performed by reading information from the RFID tag. Since the position of the RFID tag is detected from the position where the means is disposed, it is necessary to provide a plurality of reading means.

  However, when a plurality of reading means are prepared in this way, there is a problem that the cost increases. In addition, it is necessary to connect a plurality of reading means and the like to a processing device that receives information output from the reading means, or to perform settings for the connection, and it takes time and effort to connect. was there. As a result, there has been a problem that attributes such as the position of the RFID tag cannot be easily detected.

  The tag information processing apparatus of the present invention receives a result of reading information recorded on an RFID tag, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged. The plurality of RFIDs in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of the reception tag and a target tag that is one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in a plurality of reading results received by the reception unit. An adjacency setting unit that sets adjacency, which is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, according to the number of times the tags in the tag are read simultaneously, and the adjacency setting unit sets It is a tag information processing apparatus comprising an output unit that outputs the degree of adjacency.

  With this configuration, the degree of adjacency between a plurality of tags can be obtained. Thereby, it becomes possible to acquire the attribute of a tag using this degree of adjacency, and it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of means for reading information from the tag, and the cost can be suppressed at a low cost. In addition, since the tag attributes are acquired using a plurality of tags, it is possible to reduce troubles such as installation and connection of devices required to acquire the tag attributes. For this reason, it is possible to easily detect attributes such as the position of the RFID tag.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the plurality of RFID tags include one or more attribute tags that are tags associated with information indicating attributes of the target tag, The adjacency setting unit is a tag information processing apparatus that sets the adjacency with respect to an attribute tag read simultaneously with any one of the target tags.

  With this configuration, the degree of adjacency between the target tag and the attribute tag can be obtained. As a result, since the attribute of the target tag can be acquired using the attribute of the attribute tag, it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of means for reading information from the tag, and the attribute of the RFID tag can be easily obtained. be able to.

  Also, the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention is the RFID tag information that is performed multiple times in the tag information processing apparatus by changing the space to be read in the space where the plurality of RFID tags are arranged. The information is read simultaneously with at least one of the reception tag that accepts the reading result of the target tag and the target tag that is one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in the reading result that is received multiple times by the reception unit. An adjacency setting unit that sets an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags according to the number of times the tags in the plurality of RFID tags are read simultaneously; and the target An attribute acquisition unit that acquires the attribute of the tag according to the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit with respect to the RFID tag from which information is read simultaneously with the target tag A tag information processing apparatus and an output unit for outputting information indicating an attribute the attribute acquisition unit has acquired.

  With such a configuration, the tag attributes can be obtained from the degree of adjacency between the plurality of tags, so that it is not necessary to prepare a plurality of means for reading information from the tags, and the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the tag attributes are acquired using a plurality of tags, it is possible to reduce troubles such as installation and connection of devices required to acquire the tag attributes. For this reason, attributes such as the position of the RFID tag can be easily detected.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the attribute of the target tag acquired by the attribute acquisition unit is read simultaneously with each target tag for each target tag. The tag information processing apparatus is information indicating a positional relationship with respect to at least one of the plurality of RFID tags.

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily know the positional relationship between each target tag and one or more tags in the plurality of tags.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the target tag is three or more RFID tags read in a plurality of reading results received by the reception unit, and the attribute acquisition unit The attribute of the target tag acquired by is a tag information processing apparatus that is information indicating a positional relationship between three or more target tags.

  With this configuration, it is possible to easily know the positional relationship between three or more tags in a plurality of tags.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the plurality of RFID tags include one or more attribute tags that are attributes indicating attributes of the target tag, and the adjacency setting unit includes: , The degree of adjacency is set for an attribute tag read simultaneously with at least one of the target tags, and the attribute acquisition unit assigns each attribute of the target tag to the attribute for each target tag. It is a tag information processing apparatus that is acquired using a tag adjacency and an attribute indicated by the attribute tag.

  With such a configuration, the attribute of the target tag can be acquired from the degree of adjacency between the target tag and the attribute tag by using the attribute of the attribute tag. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a plurality of means for reading information from the tag. The attributes of the RFID tag can be easily obtained.

  Moreover, in the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the attribute acquisition unit indicates each attribute of the target tag, and indicates an attribute indicated by the attribute tag having a high degree of proximity to the target tag. It is a tag information processing apparatus acquired by using.

  With this configuration, the attribute of the target tag can be acquired from the degree of adjacency between the target tag and the attribute tag using the attribute of the attribute tag, so that the attribute of the RFID tag can be easily obtained.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the attribute tag is associated with attribute information that is information indicating an attribute indicated by the attribute tag, and the attribute acquisition unit includes the attribute information It is a tag information processing apparatus that acquires each attribute of a target tag using an attribute indicated by attribute information associated with the attribute tag having a high degree of adjacency with respect to each target tag.

  With this configuration, by associating the attribute information with the attribute tag, various attributes can be obtained for the target tag and the article to which the target tag is attached, and high versatility can be obtained.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the attribute indicated by the attribute tag is an attribute about a position where the target tag is arranged, and the attribute acquisition unit It is a tag information processing apparatus that acquires an attribute for each position.

  With this configuration, it is possible to obtain an attribute regarding the position of the target tag or an article to which the target tag is attached.

  In the tag information processing apparatus of the present invention, in the tag information processing apparatus, the adjacency setting unit is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags as the number of simultaneous readings increases. This is a tag information processing apparatus that sets a high degree of adjacency.

  With this configuration, the tag attribute can be obtained using the height of the adjacency value.

  According to the tag information processing apparatus and the like according to the present invention, attributes such as the position of the RFID tag can be easily detected.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a tag information processing apparatus and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, since the component which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in embodiment performs the same operation | movement, description may be abbreviate | omitted again.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a tag information processing system including a tag information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The tag information processing apparatus in the present embodiment is an apparatus that performs a process of extracting the mutual adjacency relationship of tags by signals from a plurality of tags. Here, this process is referred to as ADROWS (ADjoin Relation Of Node Extraction With Mixed Chorus Echo Signals).

  The tag information processing system includes a tag information processing apparatus 1 and a plurality of RFID tags 100.

  The tag information processing apparatus 1 includes an antenna 10, a transmission unit 11, a reception unit 12, a reception unit 13, an adjacency setting unit 14, an attribute acquisition unit 15, and an output unit 16.

  An RFID tag (hereinafter referred to as a tag) 100 records information such as identification information, receives information transmitted from the outside to instruct reading of information, and performs identification according to the received information. Information such as information is read and transmitted. In the present embodiment, a case where information read from the RFID tag 100 is identification information of the tag 100 will be described. The information to be read may be information including identification information. The identification information may be any information as long as the information can identify the plurality of tags 100. For example, it may be a production number or the like, may be the name of the tag 100, or may be information unique to the tag 100. The structure of the tag 100, the operating frequency band, etc. are not limited. The plurality of tags 100 may all be tags having the same structure, or may include tags having different structures. As the tag 100, a passive type RFID tag is usually used, but an active type RFID tag may be used.

  The antenna 10 is used for transmission / reception of information with respect to a plurality of RFID tags 100 arranged in a desired space, specifically, identification information. In the present embodiment, the transmission / reception of information to / from the RFID tag 100, that is, the reading process of the RFID tag 100, changes the space to be read in a desired space where a plurality of RFID tags 100 are arranged. Multiple times. For this reason, it is preferable that the antenna 10 can change the area | region which transmits / receives an electromagnetic wave automatically or manually. However, a plurality of antennas 10 arranged so that areas for transmitting and receiving radio waves are different may be switched and used. The directivity of the antenna 10 does not matter. Note that, here, a case where a transmission / reception antenna is used is described, but a transmission antenna and a reception antenna may be provided separately.

  The transmission unit 11 transmits information instructing transmission of a plurality of times of information, specifically, identification information, to the plurality of RFID tags 100. There is no limitation on the timing for transmitting the information for instructing transmission. For example, the process of transmitting information for instructing transmission of identification information may be repeated at predetermined intervals set in advance, or transmission is performed when a transmission instruction is received from the outside via a reception unit (not shown) or the like. You may do it. Here, as an example, a case where the transmission unit 11 performs transmission via the antenna 10 will be described. The transmission unit 11 is usually realized by a wireless communication unit, but may be realized by a broadcasting unit.

  In response to transmission of information transmitted from the transmission unit 11, the reception unit 12 receives information transmitted from the plurality of RFID tags 100, specifically identification information. Then, the received identification information is output to the reception unit 13. The output here may be an output via a bus or an output via a line. It is also possible to read out arguments. Here, as an example, a case where the receiving unit 12 performs reception via the antenna 10 will be described. The receiving unit 12 is preferably a wireless communication unit, but can also be realized by a broadcast receiving unit or a wired communication unit. It can be realized by wireless or wired communication means. Usually, it is realized by a wireless communication means, but may be realized by a means for receiving a broadcast. A general RFID tag reader / writer may be used as the transmitter 11 and the receiver 12 described above.

  In the space where the plurality of tags 100 are arranged, the reception unit 13 changes the space to be read and changes the information recorded in the tag 100, specifically the identification information. Accept reading results. The reading described here is reception of information on the tag 100, for example, identification information, and the reading result is, for example, identification of the tag 100 received corresponding to transmission of information instructing transmission by the transmission unit 11. Indicates information. Here, a case where the receiving unit 13 receives a reading result that is identification information read from the plurality of tags 100 output by the receiving unit 12 as needed will be described. However, the reading result of the identification information recorded in the tag 100 performed by another device having the same configuration as the transmission unit 11 and the reception unit 12 may be received in advance via a network or the like. In addition, the result of reading the identification information of the tag 100 performed several times using another device having the same configuration as the transmission unit 11 and the reception unit 12 in advance is stored in a recording medium or the like. In addition, the receiving unit 13 may receive the reading results of the plurality of tags 100 by reading the identification information stored in the recording medium every time it is read. The reception described here is, for example, reception of an input signal from the receiving unit 12, reception of an input signal transmitted from another device, reading of information from a recording medium, or the like. The reception unit 13 can be realized by a device driver of a device that reads an input signal or the like, software that controls reception of an input signal, or the like.

  The adjacency setting unit 14 includes a plurality of tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of tags 100 in a plurality of reading results received by the receiving unit 13. The degree of adjacency, which is a value indicating the adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, is set for the tags in 100 according to the number of times read simultaneously. The number of simultaneous readings here may be considered as the frequency of simultaneous readings. In addition, although the tag read simultaneously does not usually contain the object tag itself used as judgment object, you may make it include. In the present embodiment, in particular, one or more tags in the tag 100 are referred to as target tags for convenience. It does not matter how the target tag is determined. The target tag may be designated in advance by the user using a tag identification information or the like via a reception unit (not shown) or the like. Further, the target tag may be specified for all tags read by a plurality of reading operations. Further, the target tag may be determined randomly. The target tag may be determined in advance, or may be appropriately added during the processing. The target tag may be a part or all of a tag read by a plurality of reading operations, or may be a part or all of a plurality of tags 100 to be read. The adjacent relationship described here is, in other words, the relationship between the distances between the tags, such as whether or not the tags are in a close positional relationship. Here, “simultaneous” indicates that the same reading is performed (hereinafter referred to as “reading”), and the reading times do not necessarily match. The degree of adjacency is an index, degree, or value that indicates the proximity of tags. Here, as an example, it is assumed that tags with high adjacency are located at a closer distance than tags with low adjacency. The degree of adjacency is represented by a numerical value, for example. In this embodiment, as an example, a case will be described in which the degree of adjacency is set to be higher as the degree of adjacency is higher, that is, the closer the tags are to each other. In this case, for the tags in the plurality of tags 100, the degree of adjacency, which is a value indicating the adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, becomes a relatively high value as the number of times read simultaneously with the target tag increases. Is set. However, the higher the degree of adjacency, that is, the closer the tags are to each other, the lower the adjacency value may be set. In this case, for the tags in the plurality of tags 100, The degree of adjacency, which is a value indicating the adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, may be set to a lower value as the number of simultaneous readings increases. Whether or not the tags in the plurality of tags 100 are read simultaneously with one of the target tags is determined based on, for example, information on the tags in the plurality of tags 100 and one tag of the target tag in the reading result of one reading time. It is determined whether or not (identification information) is included at the same time. If it is included at the same time, it is determined that the information is read at the same time. For example, if the identification information of one tag in the target tag and the identification information of another tag are included in one reading time, the adjacency setting unit 14 Increase the adjacency value for one tag in the tag. This process is sequentially performed for all tags in the target tag. Furthermore, as a result of sequentially repeating this process for a plurality of reading results, the degree of adjacency corresponding to the number of times of simultaneous reading is set for the tags in the plurality of tags 100. Here, the adjacency of the tag 100 read at the same time may be set relatively higher than the adjacency of the tag 100 that has not been read, and instead of setting the adjacency high, or adjacent In addition to setting the degree high, the degree of adjacency of the tags in the plurality of tags 100 that have not been read simultaneously may be set low. Further, the degree of adjacency and weighting are not limited in one reading time. For example, when reading is performed simultaneously in one reading time, the adjacency value is increased by a predetermined value, for example, “2”, and when reading is not performed at the same time, the adjacency value is decreased by a predetermined value “1”. You may let them. If the value of the adjacency is increased by 1 when read at the same time in one reading time, the adjacency matches the number of times read at the same time as the one target tag. Therefore, the number of times read simultaneously with each target tag may be used as the degree of adjacency. Also, the degree of adjacency may be a value obtained by performing statistical processing such as normalization on the number of times read simultaneously or the number not read simultaneously. For example, a value obtained by dividing the number of times the tags in the plurality of tags 100 are read simultaneously with each target tag by the number of times each target tag is read, or a value obtained by displaying this value as a percentage is used as the degree of adjacency. May be. The degree of adjacency may be considered as the probability that the target tag and the tags in the plurality of tags 100 are simultaneously read with respect to the number of times each target tag is read. Here, it is only necessary to set the degree of adjacency to at least tags in the plurality of tags 100 read simultaneously with the target tag, and the degree of adjacency is also set to tags that are not read simultaneously in the plurality of tags. May be set. The adjacency setting unit 14 can usually be realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the adjacency setting unit 14 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The attribute acquisition unit 15 acquires the attribute of the target tag described above according to the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit 14 with respect to the tag 100 from which information is read simultaneously with the target tag. The tag 100 read simultaneously with the target tag may be a target tag or a tag other than the target tag. Here, for example, the attribute acquisition unit 15 sets all or a part of the tags 100 read in a plurality of reading results received by the receiving unit 13 as target tags, and sets all or You may acquire the attribute which shows the positional relationship of some object tags. The attribute indicating the positional relationship between all or some of the target tags indicates, for example, which target tag is close to and apart from which target tag for the entire target tag or part of the target tag. This is information indicating the mutual positional relationship. Further, the attribute acquisition unit 15 may acquire information specifying a group to which each target tag belongs when the target tags are grouped according to the distance between each other as an attribute indicating the positional relationship between the target tags. good.

  The attribute of the target tag acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 15 indicates the positional relationship of each target tag with respect to at least one of the plurality of tags 100 whose information has been read simultaneously with the target tag. It may be an attribute. The positional relationship here is a relationship of distance between tags. That is, it is information indicating whether one of the plurality of tags 100 read simultaneously with the target tag is near or far with respect to one target tag. For example, the attribute acquisition unit 15 determines that the tag 100 having a high degree of adjacency with respect to one target tag is a tag closer to the one target tag. The attribute indicating the positional relationship as described above may be referred to as correspondence information that is information indicating the positional relationship between the tags. The attribute acquisition unit 15 can be usually realized by an MPU, a memory, or the like. The processing procedure of the attribute acquisition unit 15 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

  The output unit 16 outputs information indicating the attribute acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 15. The output described here is a concept including display on a display, printing on paper or the like by a printer, transmission to an external device, accumulation in a recording medium, and the like. The output unit 16 may or may not include an output device such as a display or a printer. The output unit 16 can be realized by driver software for an output device or driver software for an output device and an output device.

  Next, the operation of the ADROWS process performed by the tag information processing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, a case where identification information is read from the tag 100 will be described as an example. Here, as an example, each time information is read from the tag 100, the tag 100 from which identification information is newly acquired is sequentially added to the target tag and the target tag for which the degree of adjacency is set. The case where it does is demonstrated. Therefore, here, each target tag can be a target for which the degree of adjacency is set for other target tags. In addition, here, the number of times the tag 100 read simultaneously with each target tag is divided by the number of times each target tag is read, and the value displayed as a percentage is used as the degree of adjacency for each target tag. The case where it is used will be described as an example. Here, it is assumed that the tag information processing apparatus 1 reads identification information from a plurality of tags 100 including a target tag, and the identification information is appropriately used instead of each tag.

  (Step S <b> 201) The transmission unit 11 transmits an identification information transmission instruction for reading the identification information to the plurality of tags 100 via the antenna 10.

  (Step S202) The receiving unit 12 receives the identification information transmitted from the tag 100.

  (Step S203) The accepting unit 13 accepts the identification information received by the receiving unit 12. The received identification information is stored in, for example, a memory (not shown).

  (Step S204) The adjacency setting unit 14 substitutes 1 for a counter i.

  (Step S205) The adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether or not the i-th identification information is included in the identification information received in step S203. If there is i-th identification information, the process proceeds to step S206, and if not, the process proceeds to step S209.

  (Step S206) The adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether the i-th identification information of the identification information received in step S203 is identification information other than the identification information received by the reception unit 13 in the past, that is, new identification information. Judge whether or not. For example, the i-th identification information received in step S203 is compared with a list of identification information of tags received in the past, and if they do not match, it is determined that the i-th identification information is new identification information. . The presence of new identification information means that the identification information has been read from the new tag. If the i-th identification information is new identification information, the process proceeds to step S207. If the i-th identification information is not new identification information, the process proceeds to S208.

  (Step S207) The adjacency setting unit 14 determines that the i-th identification information is identification information corresponding to the target tag, and registers it in a management table or the like that manages the target tag. That is, a tag corresponding to the i-th identification information is added to the target tag. For example, the management table is stored in a memory (not shown).

  (Step S208) The adjacency setting unit 14 increments i by 1. Then, the process returns to step S205.

  (Step S209) The adjacency setting unit 14 substitutes 1 for a counter j.

  (Step S210) Whether the adjacency setting unit 14 includes the j-th identification information in the identification information corresponding to the target tag (hereinafter referred to as target tag identification information) included in the identification information received in Step S203. Judge whether or not. The jth identification information is identification information corresponding to the jth target tag. If there is j-th target tag identification information, the process proceeds to step S211, and if not, the process proceeds to step S213.

  (Step S211) The adjacency setting unit 14 increments the number of readings for the j-th target tag identification information among the target tag identification information included in the identification information received in Step S203 by one. Here, since all the identification information of the tag 100 received in step S203 becomes the target tag identification information, the reading count of the jth identification information in the identification information of the tag 100 received in step S203 is incremented by one. If the tag used as the target tag is determined in advance, the identification information of the tag used as the target tag is registered in advance, and the identification information received in step S203 matches the registered identification information. The first identification information may be detected, and the number of times the identification information is read may be incremented by one.

  (Step S212) The adjacency setting unit 14 increments the counter j by 1. Then, the process returns to step S210.

  (Step S213) The adjacency setting unit 14 sets the adjacency. Details of this process will be described later.

  (Step S214) The tag information processing apparatus 1 determines whether or not to continue outputting the transmission instruction with the radio wave irradiation direction changed. For example, the number of times to repeat transmission of the transmission instruction is set in advance, and every time the transmission unit 11 performs transmission, the counter is incremented by 1, and continues when the counter value reaches a predetermined number of repetitions. A stop may be determined. Further, when the degree of change in all adjacency is judged from, for example, a value obtained by differentiating the value of adjacency, and the degree of change in all adjacency becomes smaller than a predetermined value, that is, all If the change in the degree of adjacency is stable, it may be determined whether to continue or stop. Further, it may be determined whether or not an instruction to stop transmission is received from the user, and if the instruction is received, the continuous stop may be determined. When continuing transmission, it returns to step S201, and when continuation of transmission is stopped, it progresses to step S215. Note that, when transmission is continued, the radio wave irradiation direction is changed automatically or manually, and transmission is performed again.

  (Step S215) The attribute acquisition unit 15 acquires an attribute indicating the positional relationship for the tag 100 that has received the identification information.

  (Step S216) The output unit 16 outputs, for example, displays the attribute acquired in step S215 using a display or the like. Then, the process ends.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process of step S215 may be omitted, and the degree of adjacency set in step S213 may be output, for example, displayed using, for example, a table in the output process of step S216. . By doing in this way, it becomes possible for a user to judge the tag 100 in the position which adjoined with respect to each object tag from the adjacency degree between the tags which the said output content shows.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 2, the process is terminated by powering off or a process termination interrupt.

  Details of the process for setting the adjacency described in step S209 in FIG. 2 will be described below with reference to the flowchart in FIG. Here, a description will be given of a case where a value in which the ratio of the number of times the tag 100 is read at the same time as the target tag is calculated as a percentage is calculated as the degree of adjacency.

  (Step S301) The adjacency setting unit 14 substitutes 1 for a counter j.

  (Step S302) The adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether or not the j-th target tag identification information is included in the target tag identification information included in the identification information of the tag 100 received in Step S203. That is, the adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether or not the jth target tag is included in the tag read by the processing from step S201 to step S202. Here, since all the identification information of the tag 100 received in step S203 becomes the identification information of the target tag, it is determined whether or not there is the jth identification information in the identification information of the tag 100 received in step S203. May be. If the tag used as the target tag is determined in advance, the identification information of the tag used as the target tag is registered in advance, and the identification information received in step S203 matches the registered identification information. It may be determined whether or not there is j-th identification information. If there is j-th target tag identification information, the process proceeds to step S303, and if not, the process returns to the upper function.

  (Step S303) The adjacency setting unit 14 substitutes 1 for a counter k.

  (Step S304) The adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether or not the identification information received in step S203 includes the k-th identification information read simultaneously with the j-th target tag identification information. Specifically, it is determined whether or not the identification information received in step S203 includes the kth identification information. As a result, the presence or absence of the kth tag read simultaneously with the jth target tag is determined. If there is, the process proceeds to step S305, and if not, the process proceeds to step S310. Hereinafter, the identification information read simultaneously with the identification information of one target tag is referred to as simultaneous reading identification information. Note that the simultaneous reading identification information may be target tag identification information other than the jth target tag identification information.

  (Step S305) The adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether or not the k-th simultaneous reading identification information is new identification information, that is, the k-th simultaneous reading identification information is j-th until the previous step. It is determined whether or not the identification information is read simultaneously with the identification information of the target tag. Thus, it is determined whether or not the tag corresponding to the kth simultaneous reading identification information is a new tag that has not been read up to the previous step. If it is new identification information, the process proceeds to step S306. If it is not new identification information, the process proceeds to step S307.

  (Step S306) The adjacency setting unit 14 registers the kth simultaneous reading identification information in a management table or the like (not shown) as identification information of a tag for which the adjacency is set corresponding to the jth target tag. To do. As a result, the kth tag is added to the tag for which the degree of adjacency is set for the jth target tag. The management table or the like is stored in, for example, a memory (not shown).

  (Step S307) The adjacency setting unit 14 increments the number of times the kth simultaneous reading identification information is read simultaneously with the jth target tag identification information. That is, the number of times the kth tag is read simultaneously with the jth target tag is incremented by one. The increment value is 1, for example, but may be other than 1.

  (Step S308) The adjacency setting unit 14 calculates the adjacency of the kth simultaneous reading identification information with respect to the jth target tag identification information. As a specific example, the value obtained by dividing the number of times the kth simultaneous reading identification information is read simultaneously with the jth target tag identification information by the number of times the jth target tag identification information is read is expressed as a percentage. The degree of adjacency that is a value is calculated. That is, the adjacency setting unit 14 multiplies the number of times the k-th tag is read simultaneously with the j-th target tag by the number of times the j-th target tag is read, and multiplies it by 100. Calculate and set. The calculated degree of adjacency is stored in, for example, a memory (not shown).

  (Step S309) The adjacency setting unit 14 increments the counter k by 1.

  (Step S310) The adjacency setting unit 14 increments the counter j by 1. Then, the process returns to step S302.

  In the above flowchart, for example, when the number of readings of the kth identification information with respect to the identification information corresponding to the jth target tag is used as the degree of adjacency, the processing in step S308 or step S209 in the flowchart of FIG. To S212 may be omitted.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 3, the process ends when the power is turned off or the process is terminated.

  Hereinafter, a specific operation of the tag information processing apparatus in the present embodiment will be described.

  Here, first, the relationship between the degree of adjacency and the distance between tags in this specific example will be described.

  Usually, it is presumed that tags that are likely to be read at the same time are arranged at positions close to each other. For example, assuming that tags are arranged as shown in FIG. 4, it is considered that the tag a1 has the shortest distance from the tags b1 and a2 and is likely to be read simultaneously. On the other hand, the tag a1 is far from the tag d4 and has a low probability of being read simultaneously.

  For this reason, in this specific example, as a value indicating the probability of being read simultaneously with tag A and tag B, the ratio of the number of times read with tag A and tag B to the number of times tag A was read is calculated, This is used as the degree of adjacency of tag B to tag A.

  For example, the degree of adjacency may be calculated as follows.

The degree of adjacency of tag l to tag k (target tag k) is g (k, l) (rate), the number of times tag k is read in multiple readings is the number of times (k) (times), and in multiple readings If tag k (target tag k) and tag l are read simultaneously and the number of times is (k, l) (times),
g (k, l) = number of times (k, l) / number of times (k)
It is represented by

Also, when tag k and tag l are read at the same time by the next reading,
Next g (k, l) = {previous number (k, l) +1} / {previous number (k) +1}
It becomes.

Also, if it is not read at the same time by the next reading,
Next g (k, l) = {previous count (k, l)} / {previous count (k) +1}
It becomes.

Here, if the distance between the tag A and the tag B is F (A, B),
If g (A, B) ≧ g (A, C), then F (A, B) ≦ F (A, C)
Holds. Therefore, it is estimated that the tag having the highest degree of adjacency with respect to the target tag is the tag closest to the target tag. However, the distance here is not an actual physical distance but a distance corresponding to the ease of reading of radio waves, and is defined here as a read distance.

  In addition, the probability that the tag A and the tag B are read simultaneously is G (A, B), the adjacency of the tag B to the tag A is g (A, B), and the adjacency of the tag A to the tag B is g (B , A).

In this case, if it is in a stable state with sufficient reading,
A stable value of g (A, B) = g (B, A) = G (A, B) is established. In addition,
g (A, B) = (number of times tag A and tag B were read simultaneously in multiple readings) / number of times tag A was read in multiple readings,
g (B, A) = (number of times tag B and tag A were read simultaneously in multiple readings) / number of times tag B was read in multiple readings,
Is

  In an unstable state, of the number of times tag A has been read and the number of times tag B has been read, the one with the larger number of times of reading is close to the stable value of G (A, B). It is estimated to be.

In addition, if it is in a stable state with sufficient reading,
If G (A, B) ≧ G (A, C), then F (A, B) ≦ F (A, C) holds.

  Next, the tag information processing apparatus 1 in this specific example will be described. A conceptual diagram of the tag information processing apparatus 1 is shown in FIG. Here, as an example, the antenna 10 of the tag information processing apparatus 1 is automatically changed in direction each time reading of a tag (one period) is completed, and the area to be read is changed. Suppose it is a thing. The direction is changed to a different direction every time. It is assumed that a plurality of tags 100 are disposed within a range in which radio waves from the antenna 10 can be irradiated. Here, it is assumed that the transmission unit 11 and the reception unit 12 of the tag information processing apparatus 1 constitute an RFID tag reader / writer 40. Further, it is assumed that the portion of the tag information processing device 1 excluding the antenna 10, the transmission unit 11, and the reception unit 12 is configured by an information processing device such as a computer 50.

  Here, in order to simplify the description, a plurality of tags 100 are arranged in any of a predetermined section partitioned in a matrix as shown in FIG. Information reading from 100 is performed by scanning the matrix-shaped tag 100 while changing the area irradiated with the radio wave output from the antenna 10 every time it is read. In FIG. 6, a region 50 is a region where radio waves from the antenna 10 are irradiated in the first reading. Here, the tag 100 is represented by a circle, and the value in the tag 100 is tag identification information.

  Hereinafter, the processing of this example will be described in order from the reading processing. First, as a first reading, as shown in FIG. 6, the transmission unit 11 is identified via the antenna 10 in an area 50 in which a plurality of tags 100 are arranged and stored in the tag 100. Send information instructing to send information. Note that the size of the region 50 is set to a size smaller than the size covering all the regions where the plurality of tags 100 are arranged.

  In response to the information for instructing transmission of the identification information, the tags 100 located in the region 50 each transmit the identification information.

  The receiving unit 12 receives the identification information transmitted from the tag 100 via the antenna 10. The receiving unit 13 receives the identification information received by the receiving unit 12. Here, it is assumed that the received identification information is “03”, “12”, “13”, and “34”.

  FIG. 7 is a target tag management table for managing the number of times the identification information corresponding to the target tag is read. The identification information management table has attributes of “target tag identification information” and “number of readings”. “Target tag identification information” is identification information of a target tag. The “number of readings” is the number of times the target tag has been read, and specifically, the number of times identification information corresponding to the target tag has been received. The initial value of “number of readings” is “0”. Each row is called a record here. Here, it is assumed that the number of records is 0 at the start of the first reading.

  Next, when the reception unit 13 receives the identification information of the read tag 100, the adjacency setting unit 14 determines whether the received identification information is newly received in order with respect to the received identification information. Judging. For example, it is determined whether or not the received identification information is included in the attribute value of “target tag identification information” in the target tag management table shown in FIG. 7. to decide. And if it is new identification information, the said identification information will be judged as the identification information of an object tag, and will be additionally set as the identification information of an object tag. As a result, the tag 100 corresponding to the new identification information is determined as the target tag and additionally registered in the target tag. Here, since the identification information received by the receiving unit 13 is the identification information received by the first reading, and there is no record in the target tag management table yet, it is determined that all are new identification information. . For this reason, all the identification information is registered as identification information corresponding to the target tag.

  Specifically, the adjacency setting unit 14 additionally registers a record including new identification information in the “target tag identification information” in the target tag management table as illustrated in FIG. For example, as a result of registering all the identification information received by the first reading in the target tag identification information, the identification information is “03”, “12”, “13”, “34” as shown in FIG. The target tag management table having the record “is configured.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 searches the target tag identification information from the identification information received by the receiving unit 13. Specifically, the identification information matching the target tag identification information managed by the target tag management table shown in FIG. 7 is searched from the identification information received by the reception unit 13. Then, the number of readings is sequentially incremented by 1 for the searched target tag identification information. Thereby, the target tag management table in which the “read count” attribute as shown in FIG. 7 is incremented from “0” which is the initial value to “1” is configured here. Note that instead of incrementing the value of “read count” of a newly added record from 0 to 1, the value of “read count” may be set to 1 when adding a new record. good.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 searches the target tag identification information from the identification information received by the reception unit 13, and sets one of the searched identification information as the first target tag identification information. specify. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the identification information “03” is designated as the first target tag identification information.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 detects the identification information “03” of the first target tag and the identification information received simultaneously, that is, the simultaneous reading identification information, and one of the simultaneous reading identification information is detected. Set to the first simultaneous reading identification information. For example, the simultaneous reading identification information “34” is set as the first simultaneous reading identification information here. Then, it is determined whether or not the simultaneous reading identification information “34” is already received simultaneously with the first target tag identification information “03”.

  FIG. 8 is an adjacency management table for managing the adjacency of the target tag. The adjacency management table has attributes of “target tag identification information”, “simultaneous reading tag identification information”, “number of simultaneous readings”, and “adjacency”. “Target tag identification information” is identification information of a target tag. The “simultaneously read tag identification information” is identification information of the tag 100 read simultaneously with the identification information of the target tag indicated by the “target tag identification information” of the same record. The “number of simultaneous readings” is the number of times the identification information indicated by the “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is read simultaneously with the identification information of the target tag indicated by the “target tag identification information”. Further, the “adjacency” is a value of the adjacency calculated using “the number of simultaneous readings”. It is assumed that the number of records in the adjacency management table is 0 at the start of the first reading.

  The adjacency setting unit 14 has, for example, the identification information “03” of the first target tag as the attribute value of “target tag identification information” in the adjacency management table illustrated in FIG. 8. A record having “34” as an attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is searched. Here, since it is the first reading, no record is added, and as a result of the search, a result that there is no corresponding record is obtained. Therefore, regarding the first target tag identification information “03”, the identification information “34” is determined to be new simultaneous reading identification information, and the first identification information “34” is determined to be the first target tag identification information “03”. Add to the target to set the adjacency for tag identification information. Specifically, for the adjacency management table, the identification information “03” of the first target tag is used as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the first identification information “34” A record having an attribute value of “read tag identification information” is added. It is assumed that the attribute value of “number of simultaneous readings” when adding a record is “0”.

  Then, the adjacency setting unit 14 further increments the number of times the identification information “03” of the first target tag is read simultaneously with the first identification information “34”. Here, since it is immediately after adding the record, the first target tag identification information “03” is used as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the first simultaneous reading identification information “34” is set to “simultaneous”. The “simultaneous read count” of the record having the attribute value of “read tag identification information” is changed to “1”.

  Further, the adjacency setting unit 14 calculates the adjacency of the first identification information “34” with respect to the identification information “03” of the first target tag. Specifically, the identification information “03” of the first target tag is used as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the first identification information “34” is “simultaneously read tag identification information”. The attribute value “1” of the “number of simultaneous readings” of the record having as the attribute value of the first tag and the identification information “03” of the first target tag in the target tag management table shown in FIG. Divide by “1” that is the “read count” attribute of the record that has the attribute value. Then, a percentage value is obtained from the division result. Here, “the number of simultaneous readings” ÷ “the number of readings” × 100 = 1 ÷ 1 × 100 = 100%. This calculation result is set to the degree of adjacency.

  Similarly, for the second simultaneous reading identification information “13” and the third simultaneous reading identification information “12” read simultaneously with the identification information “03” of the first target tag, the degree of adjacency is similar to the above. Is calculated and set. Thus, the process for the first target tag identification information “03” is completed.

  Further, the second to fourth target tag identification information other than the first target tag identification information “03”, here, the remaining identification information “12”, “13”, and “34” read in turn In addition, the same processing is performed. As a result, the adjacency management table shown in FIG. 8 is configured by the first reading process.

  Next, assume that the second reading process is performed. For example, it is assumed that the second reading process is performed by changing the place where the radio wave is applied as shown in FIG. Thereby, for example, it is assumed that tag identification information as shown in FIG. 10 has been read.

  Next, when the reception unit 13 receives the identification information of the read tag 100 as illustrated in FIG. 10, the adjacency setting unit 14 newly receives the received identification information in order. It is determined whether it is identification information. Here, it is determined whether or not the received identification information is included in the attribute value of “target tag identification information” in the target tag management table as shown in FIG. It is judged that. Here, since the record including the identification information “03”, “13”, “34” exists in the target tag management table of FIG. 7, the identification information “06”, “34”, “45” is present. The new identification information is determined. Then, records corresponding to these new identification information are added to the target tag management table shown in FIG. The initial value of the “read count” attribute value is “0” as described above.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 searches the target tag identification information from the identification information received by the receiving unit 13. Specifically, the identification information matching the target tag identification information managed by the target tag management table shown in FIG. 7 is searched from the identification information received by the reception unit 13. For the identification information of the searched target tag, the number of readings is sequentially incremented by 1, specifically, the attribute value of “number of readings” in the target tag management table is incremented by 1. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11, the “number of reads” of the records whose “target tag identification information” is “03”, “06”, “13”, “26”, “34”, “45”. A target tag management table is formed by incrementing the attribute value by one.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 searches the target tag identification information from the identification information received by the reception unit 13, and sets one of the searched identification information as the first target tag identification information. specify. Here, as an example, it is assumed that the identification information “03” is designated as the first target tag identification information.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 detects the first target tag identification information “03” and the simultaneous reading identification information received simultaneously, and one of the simultaneous reading identification information is detected as the first simultaneous reading. Set to identification information. For example, here, the identification information “45” is set as the first simultaneous reading identification information. Then, it is determined whether or not this identification information “45” is already received simultaneously with the identification information “03” of the first target tag.

  The adjacency setting unit 14 has, for example, the first target tag identification information “03” as the attribute value of “target tag identification information” in the record of the latest adjacency management table as shown in FIG. A record having the first simultaneous reading identification information “45” as an attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is searched. Here, as a result of the search, a result that there is no corresponding record is obtained. For this reason, regarding the first target tag identification information “03”, the simultaneous reading identification information “45” is determined to be new simultaneous reading identification information, and is added to the proximity setting target. Specifically, for the adjacency management table, the first target tag identification information “03” is used as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the first simultaneous reading identification information “45” is set to “ A record having an attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is added.

  Then, the adjacency setting unit 14 further includes the added first target tag identification information “03” as an attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and sets the first simultaneous reading identification information “45” as “ The “simultaneous reading count” of the record having the attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is changed to “1”.

  Further, the adjacency setting unit 14 calculates the adjacency of the first simultaneous reading identification information “45” with respect to the first target tag identification information “03”. Specifically, the attribute value “1” of the “number of simultaneous readings” of the record whose “target tag identification information” is “03” and “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is “45” is shown in FIG. The value divided by the attribute value “2” of “read count” of the record whose “target tag identification information” is “03” in the tag management table is multiplied by 100 to obtain the adjacency “50%”. This calculation result is set as the degree of adjacency.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 14 converts the first target tag identification information “03” and the simultaneous reading identification information “34” of the simultaneous reading identification information received at the same time into the second simultaneous reading identification information. Set. Then, it is determined whether or not the simultaneous reading identification information “34” is already received simultaneously with the first target tag identification information “03”.

  The adjacency setting unit 14 has, for example, the first target tag identification information “03” as the attribute value of “target tag identification information” in the record of the latest adjacency management table as shown in FIG. A record having the second simultaneous reading identification information “34” as an attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is searched. Here, as a result of the search, a result that there is a corresponding record is obtained. For this reason, regarding the first target tag identification information “03”, the simultaneous reading identification information “34” is determined to be non-new simultaneous reading identification information.

  Then, the adjacency setting unit 14 has the first target tag identification information “03” in the latest adjacency management table as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the second simultaneous reading identification information “34” is changed to “2” which is a value obtained by incrementing “simultaneous reading count” of the record having “34” as an attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information”.

  Further, the adjacency setting unit 14 calculates the adjacency of the second identification information “34” with respect to the first target tag identification information “03”. Specifically, the attribute value “2” of the “number of simultaneous readings” of the record whose “target tag identification information” is “03” and “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is “34” is shown in FIG. The value divided by the attribute value “2” of “read count” of the record whose “target tag identification information” is “03” in the tag management table is multiplied by 100 to obtain the degree of adjacency “100%”. This calculation result is set as the degree of adjacency.

  Similarly, the degree of adjacency is calculated and set in the same manner as described above for the third and subsequent simultaneous reading identification information read simultaneously with the first target tag identification information “03”. Thus, the process for the first target tag identification information “03” is completed.

  Furthermore, the target tag identification information after the first target tag identification information “03” in the identification information read for the second time, here “06”, “13”, “26”, “34”, The same processing is performed for “45” in order. As a result, the adjacency management table shown in FIG. 12 is configured by the second reading process.

  Thereafter, the reading process as described above and the process of setting the adjacency are repeated, and the reading process and the process of setting the adjacency are finished when the change in the adjacency is almost stabilized. Note that the reading process and the process of setting the degree of adjacency may be terminated when the number of processes reaches a predetermined number in advance.

  Here, in order to simplify the explanation, the reading process from the third time to the sixth time and the process of setting the adjacency are repeated in the same manner as described above, following the above-described two processes. Assume that the processing for setting the adjacency is completed.

  For example, it is assumed that the reading process from the third time to the sixth time is performed by changing the reading range for the tag 100 as shown in FIG. Regions 133 to 136 indicate reading ranges of the reading process from the third time to the sixth time.

  Moreover, the identification information which the reception part 13 received by these readings is shown in FIG.

  Further, FIG. 15 shows an adjacency management table set by the received identification information.

  And the attribute acquisition part 15 performs the process which acquires the attribute of a target tag using the adjacent degree set in this way.

  Here, first, a first example of processing for acquiring the attribute of the target tag will be described. In the first example, a case will be described in which for each target tag, an attribute indicating a positional relationship with respect to at least one of the tags read simultaneously with each target tag is described. Specifically, in the first example, by using the fact that tags having high adjacency are arranged at positions close to each other, the identification information of each target tag and Among the identification information read at the same time, the identification information with a high degree of adjacency is acquired, and the attribute of each target tag is arranged at a position close to the tag corresponding to the acquired identification information with a high degree of adjacency, The attribute regarding the positional relationship is acquired.

  FIG. 16 is an example of a simultaneous reading count table created for the explanation based on the adjacency management table shown in FIG. The simultaneous reading table uses the value of the “simultaneous reading count” attribute in the adjacency management table as the identification information of the target tag for the row and the identification information of the tag for which the column is read at the same time. The table shows the number of times each tag is read simultaneously. Note that the position at which the identification information of the target tag and the identification information of the tag read at the same time, that is, the value of the cell in the shaded portion of the figure, is at least the number of times the target tag has been read, that is, in FIG. A value corresponding to the “read count” attribute of the indicated target tag management table is indicated. Here, for each target tag, the number of tags that have not been read at the same time is read as 0.

  FIG. 17 is an example of an adjacency table created for explanation based on the adjacency management table shown in FIG. The adjacency table is a table in which the values of the “adjacency” attribute of the adjacency management table are represented by using rows as identification information of target tags and columns as identification information of tags read simultaneously.

  As illustrated in FIG. 17, for example, for the target tag whose identification information is “34”, the highest adjacency value is “66.7”. For this reason, as the attribute of the target tag whose identification information is “34”, the attribute that is closest to the tag of the identification information “45” whose adjacency value is “66.7” is acquired.

  Actually, in the adjacency management table in which the processing result corresponding to the sixth reading as shown in FIG. 15 is reflected, the attribute value of “adjacency” is the highest for each identification information of each target tag. A high record is searched, and the value of the “simultaneous read tag identification information” attribute of the record is obtained. For example, the identification information “45” is acquired as the attribute of the target tag “34”. When two or more records are searched, the value of the “simultaneous reading tag identification information” attribute of both records is acquired as the attribute of the target tag. For example, two identification information “34” and “63” are acquired as attributes of the target tag “42”.

  And the output part 16 outputs the attribute which the attribute acquisition part 15 acquired, and displays it on a display here as an example.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an output example of the attribute acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 15 by the output unit 16. In FIG. 18, the attributes acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 15 are displayed as a positional relationship table. In the positional relationship table, “tag” indicates identification information of the target tag. The “closest tag” indicates the attribute acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 15, that is, the identification information of the tag having the highest degree of proximity to the target tag. With this positional relationship table, as an attribute indicating the positional relationship for each target tag, it is possible to indicate an attribute indicating which tag is closest to which tag.

  For example, the user knows from the positional relationship table shown in FIG. 18 the attribute that the tag closest to the tag whose identification information is “12” is the tag whose identification information is “13” or “34”. Can do.

  Here, the identification information having the highest degree of adjacency with respect to the identification information of the target tag is acquired as an attribute. However, it is not always necessary to acquire only the identification information having the highest degree of adjacency. For the tag identification information, identification information up to the third highest degree of adjacency may be acquired as an attribute for the target tag and output. Further, identification information with a low degree of adjacency may be acquired as an attribute and output.

  In the first example, the number of simultaneous readings as shown in FIG. 16 may be used as the degree of adjacency. For example, in this case as well, with respect to the identification information of each target tag, the attribute acquisition unit 15 may acquire the identification information having a high degree of adjacency, that is, the number of simultaneous readings, as the attribute of each target tag.

  Here, the attributes of each target tag are acquired according to the six reading results. However, more accurate attributes can be obtained when the number of readings is as large as possible. Further, it is preferable to radiate radio waves for reading to a plurality of tags as evenly as possible in order to obtain more accurate attributes. The same applies to other examples and other embodiments.

  Next, a second example of processing for acquiring the attribute of the target tag will be described. In this second example, a case where an attribute indicating the positional relationship between three or more target tags is acquired will be described. Specifically, here, using three or more tags read by a plurality of reading processes as target tags, the relative degree between the three or more target tags is determined based on the degree of adjacency between the three or more target tags. Information indicating the positional relationship is acquired, and attributes relating to the positional relationship are acquired as attributes of three or more target tags.

  Here, as a premise, instead of processing the result of reading about six times as described above, the reading process and the process of setting the degree of adjacency are the second for the first target tag. The process of acquiring the attribute is performed on the result of repetition sufficient times until the degree of adjacency of the target tag and the degree of adjacency of the first target tag for the second target tag are substantially the same. Shall.

Hereinafter, a process of acquiring attributes related to the positional relationship between target tags using the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit 14 will be described using a case where there are three target tags as an example.
First, there are target tags A, B, and C in the reading space, and the number of readings is necessary and sufficient. G (A, B) ≈g (B, A) = G (A, B)
g (B, C) ≈g (C, B) = G (B, C)
g (C, A) ≈g (A, C) = G (A, C)
Suppose that That is, the probability G described here corresponds to the adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit 14. Actually, when the values of g (A, B) and g (B, A) are different, G (A, B) is changed to g (A, B) and g (B, A). Any one of the above may be used. For example, if g (A, B) and g (B, A) have a large number of parameters, that is, g having a larger number of readings of the target tag A and the target tag B, G (A, It may be used as B). Also, any one of g (A, B) and g (B, A) may be used as G (A, B). Also, a representative value such as an average or a weighted average of g (A, B) and g (B, A) may be used. This also applies to the case where probability is used as the degree of adjacency.

  Here, a certain threshold value X is provided for the value of the probability that two target tags represented by G are simultaneously read, and when G ≧ X is expressed as “1”, when G <X, “0” is expressed. ”, There are eight combinations of values of G (A, B), G (B, C), and G (A, C) as shown in FIG. Note that the value of X is a value between the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the probability G value.

  Here, in case 1, it is presumed that the relationship between the spaces where the tags exist is as shown in FIG. In the figure, G (A) is the probability that the tag A and other tags are read simultaneously. Hereinafter, the same applies to other tags. The space 21 is a space in which the probability that the tag A and another tag are simultaneously read is equal to or greater than the threshold value X, that is, a space having a relationship represented by G (A)> 0. The space 22 is a space in which the probability that the tag B and another tag are simultaneously read is equal to or greater than the threshold value X, that is, a space having a relationship represented by G (B)> 0. The space 23 is a space in which the probability that the tag C and another tag are simultaneously read is equal to or greater than the threshold value X, that is, a space having a relationship represented by G (C)> 0.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 20 (a), when the three probabilities (adjacent degrees) are in the case 1 relationship, the relationship between the distances between the tags is estimated to be as shown in FIG. 20 (b). .

  That is, as shown in FIG. 21A, when the three probabilities (adjacent degrees) are in the case 2 relationship, the relationship of the space where the tag exists is estimated as shown in FIG. 21B. The

  That is, as shown in FIG. 22A, when the three probabilities (adjacency) are in the relationship of case 3, it is estimated that the relationship of the space where the tag exists is as shown in FIG. The

  That is, as shown in FIG. 23A, when the three probabilities (adjacency) are in the relationship of case 4, it is estimated that the relationship of the space where the tag exists becomes as shown in FIG. The

  That is, as shown in FIG. 24A, when the three probabilities (adjacency) are in the relationship of case 5, the relationship of the space where the tag exists is estimated as shown in FIG. The

  That is, as shown in FIG. 25A, when the three probabilities (adjacent degrees) are in the relationship of case 6, it is estimated that the relationship of the space where the tag exists becomes as shown in FIG. The

  That is, as shown in FIG. 26 (a), when the three probabilities (adjacent degrees) are in the relationship of case 7, it is estimated that the relationship of the space where the tag exists becomes as shown in FIG. 26 (b). The

  That is, as shown in FIG. 27A, when the three probabilities (adjacency) are in the relationship of case 8, it is estimated that the relationship of the space where the tag exists is as shown in FIG. The

  Accordingly, the attribute acquisition unit 15 acquires the positional relationship estimated in this way using the degree of adjacency for the three target tags, for example, the inclusion relationship of the space in which each tag is present, for example, as an attribute. . Then, the acquired attribute is output from the output unit 16 as an attribute for the three target tags.

  In addition, in the tags A, B, and C, when the physical positions of the tags A and B are fixed in a state where G (A, B) = “1”, the position of the tag C is changed from the case 5 to the case 8. By the reasoning described above, it is possible to accurately determine which of the four spaces a to d as shown in FIG. In this case, information indicating the space in which the tag C exists may be acquired and output as information indicating the attribute of the tag C.

  As described above, since “F (A, B) ≦ F (A, C) holds if G (A, B) ≧ G (A, C)”, the distance function F and the probability function G It can be defined that there is a relationship shown in the graph as shown in FIG. This graph has different inclinations and values depending on the performance of the reader / writer and the installation environment, but it can be created by approximating the distance of the tag whose position has been specified in advance to the read distance indicated by the distance function F. Is possible. Therefore, by using such a graph, it is possible to estimate the distance between the tags from the degree of adjacency between the tags. Therefore, the distance between tags estimated in this way may be acquired as an attribute between tags and output.

  In addition, although the case where the attribute about three target tags was acquired was demonstrated here, each tag exists from the probability that each tag is read using the adjacency degree of each target tag similarly to the above. By determining the positional relationship of the existing spaces, it is possible to acquire mutual positional relationship attributes for four or more target tags.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the tag attributes can be acquired from the degree of adjacency between a plurality of tags, and therefore it is necessary to prepare a plurality of means for reading information from the tags, such as a tag reader / writer. The cost can be kept low. In addition, since the tag attributes are acquired using a plurality of tags, it is possible to reduce troubles such as installation and connection of devices required to acquire the tag attributes. For this reason, attributes such as the position of the RFID tag can be easily detected.
Moreover, according to this Embodiment, the attribute which shows the mutual positional relationship between several tags is acquirable using the adjacent degree of several tags.

  In the above embodiment, the attribute acquisition unit 15 is omitted, and the output unit 16 sets the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit 14, such as the simultaneous reading count table shown in FIG. 16 or FIG. You may make it output using a degree table etc. FIG. By using such a table, the user can determine which tag has a high degree of adjacency with respect to which target tag and know the positional relationship between the target tag and other tags. The same applies to other embodiments.

  In the above specific example, the reception unit 13 receives the identification information repeatedly read from the plurality of RFID tags 100 by the transmission unit 11 and the reception unit 12, but in the present invention, the transmission unit 11 and the identification information read out by another device having the same configuration as the reception unit 12 may be received through a network or the like, or the same configuration as the transmission unit 11 and the reception unit 12 is provided in advance. The identification information read repeatedly by another device or the like is accumulated in a recording medium or the like, and the identification information accumulated in the recording medium is sequentially read so that the receiving unit 13 can identify the identification information. May be accepted. The same applies to other embodiments.

  Further, in the above specific example, the case where target tags are sequentially added has been described, but the target tag may be designated in advance. For example, in step S210 of FIG. 2 and the like, a list of identification information stored in the target tag is prepared in advance, and the identification information matching the identification information on the list is received by the receiving unit 13. If it is within the received identification information, the identification information may be determined as the identification information of the target tag. The same applies to other embodiments.

  Further, in the above specific example, the case has been described where a tag whose identification information is newly read is sequentially added to the target tag for which the degree of adjacency for the target tag is set. However, the degree of adjacency is set. The tag to be processed may be designated in advance using identification information or the like. The same applies to other embodiments.

(Embodiment 2)
The tag information processing system according to the present exemplary embodiment is the tag information processing system described in the above exemplary embodiment, wherein one or more tags are associated with information indicating the attribute of the target tag in the plurality of tags 100. The attribute tag is provided, and the attribute of the target tag, for example, the feature or property is determined using the attribute tag.

  FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the tag information processing system according to the second embodiment.

  The tag information processing system includes a plurality of tags and a tag information processing device 2. Here, for convenience of explanation, a case where a plurality of tags are configured by one or more target tags 100a and one or more attribute tags 200 will be described as an example.

  The tag information processing apparatus 2 includes an antenna 10, a transmission unit 11, a reception unit 12, a reception unit 13, an attribute information storage unit 20, an adjacency setting unit 24, an attribute acquisition unit 25, and an output unit 26.

  Since the configuration of the antenna 10, the transmission unit 11, the reception unit 12, and the reception unit 13 is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Since the target tag 100a is the same as the target tag described in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  The attribute tag 200 is a tag indicating an attribute for the target tag. The attribute for the target tag may be, for example, an attribute for each target tag itself, or may be an attribute of a target object to which the target tag is attached. The attribute of each target tag is, for example, information on the position or area where each target tag is arranged. More specifically, it is within the same area with respect to the position where one or more attribute tags are arranged, whether it is near or far from the position where one or more attribute tags are arranged, or the area where one or more attribute tags are arranged. Or not. Moreover, the attribute of the target object to which the target tag is attached is also information such as the type and type of the target object. Further, for example, if the object is a product or the like, an attribute such as a date when the product is manufactured may be used. Further, if the object is a transported item, an attribute such as a shipping date may be used. Further, if the object is food or the like, it may be an attribute such as an expiration date. Further, it may be an attribute of the position or area of the object. The attribute tag 200 is associated with, for example, attribute information that is information indicating the attribute of the target tag 100a as described above. Based on the attribute information of one or more attribute tags 200, the attribute for the target tag is acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 25 described later. There is no limitation on how attribute information is stored in association with each attribute tag 200 and how it is acquired by an attribute acquisition unit or the like described later. For example, attribute information may be stored in a storage medium or the like in each attribute tag 200, and the attribute information may be read by the receiving unit 12. In addition, the identification information stored in each attribute tag 200 and the attribute information corresponding to each attribute tag are stored in a recording medium or the like in association with each other, and the identification information read from each attribute tag Attribute information corresponding to can be read. Here, as an example, a case where attribute information is stored in the attribute information storage unit 20 in association with the identification information of each attribute tag 200 will be described. The attribute information of each attribute tag 200 may be identification information of each attribute tag 200. For example, when the attribute tag 200 is a tag that gives an attribute of the position of the target tag 100a and each attribute tag is arranged at a predetermined position, the attribute tag 200 corresponding to a certain target tag 100a This is because, by obtaining the identification information, the user can determine that the target tag 100a exists in the vicinity of the attribute tag 200 having the obtained identification information or in a group including the attribute tag. As the attribute tag 200, a tag having the same structure as a plurality of tags such as the target tag 100a may be used, or a different tag may be used. The attribute tag 200 may be determined to be an attribute tag from the identification information, for example. The structure of the attribute tag 200 does not matter. The frequency band in which the attribute tag 200 operates is preferably the same as the frequency band in which the target tag 100a operates, but may be a different frequency band. However, in this case, it is necessary to use each operating frequency band during each reading process.

  The attribute information storage unit 20 stores attribute information corresponding to each attribute tag 200 and identification information of each attribute tag 200 in association with each other. For example, attribute information and corresponding identification information are stored as attribute values of one record. The attribute information storage unit 20 is preferably a non-volatile recording medium, but can also be realized by a volatile recording medium.

  The adjacency setting unit 24 is an attribute tag in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of tags 100 in the adjacency setting unit 14 described in the first embodiment. 200, an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags is set according to the number of times read simultaneously. For other configurations, the adjacency setting unit described above is used. 14 is the same as in FIG. Whether or not the adjacency setting unit 24 sets adjacency for the tags in the plurality of tags 100 other than the attribute tag 200 is arbitrary.

  The attribute acquisition unit 25 uses the attribute acquisition unit 15 described in the second embodiment to set each attribute of the target tag described above as the degree of adjacency of the attribute tag 200 set by the adjacency setting unit 14 for each target tag 100a. And the attribute indicated by the attribute tag. Specifically, the attribute acquisition unit 25 acquires each attribute of the target tag 100a as an attribute indicated by an attribute tag having a high degree of proximity to each target tag 100a. The attribute acquisition unit 25 may acquire the attribute indicated by the attribute tag 200 having the highest degree of adjacency as the attribute for the target tag 100a, or two or more attributes indicated by the two or more attribute tags 200 in descending order of adjacency You may get Further, in this case, the degree of attribute assigned to the target tag 100a may be changed according to the size of the adjacency value or the like. The attribute indicated by the attribute tag is, for example, an attribute indicated by the attribute information associated with each attribute tag described above. In this case, for example, the attribute acquisition unit 25 uses, as each attribute of the target tag 100a, the attribute indicated by the attribute information associated with the attribute tag 200 having a high (or low) degree of adjacency with respect to each target tag 100a. get. For example, when the attribute information associated with the identification information of the attribute tag 200 is stored in the attribute information storage unit 20, the attribute acquisition unit 25 uses the identification information of the attribute tag 200 having a high degree of proximity to the target tag 100a. The attribute information corresponding to the identification information is searched and acquired from the attribute information storage unit 20, and the attribute indicated by the acquired attribute information is set as the attribute of the target tag 100a. When the attribute information of the attribute tag 200 is stored in the attribute tag 200, the attribute acquisition unit 25 appropriately reads the attribute information of the attribute tag 200 having a high degree of adjacency with respect to the target tag 100a from the attribute tag 200. The attribute acquired by the above and indicated by the read attribute information is set as the attribute of the target tag 100a. At this time, if the attribute information is read together with the identification information or the identification information, this attribute information may be used. Other configurations are the same as those of the attribute acquisition unit 15 described in the first embodiment, and a description thereof is omitted here.

  The output unit 26 is configured to output information indicating the attribute acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 25 in the output unit 16 described in the first embodiment, and other configurations are described in the first embodiment. Since this is the same as the output unit 16 of FIG. The output unit 26 may use the attribute information acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 25 as it is as information indicating the attribute acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 25.

  Next, the operation of the tag information processing apparatus 2 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 31, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 indicate the same or corresponding processing steps.

  (Step S3101) The adjacency setting unit 24 determines whether or not the i-th identification information is newly received identification information. For example, it is determined whether the attribute tag identification information or the target tag identification information received in the past, which are respectively managed using a management table or the like, is matched. Judge. If it is new, the process proceeds to step S3102, and if it is not new, the process proceeds to step S208.

  (Step S3102) The adjacency setting unit 24 determines whether or not the i-th identification information is an attribute tag. For example, it is determined whether or not there is identification information that matches the i-th identification information in a management table or the like that manages attribute information of attribute tags stored in advance in the attribute information storage unit 20 or the like. If they match, it is determined that they are identification information of the attribute tag. If they do not match, it is determined that they are not identification information of the attribute tag. A list of identification information of tags used as attribute tags may be prepared in advance, and the list may be used instead of a management table for managing attribute information. If it is an attribute tag, the process proceeds to step S208. If it is not an attribute tag, the process proceeds to step S207.

  (Step S3103) The adjacency setting unit 24 sets the adjacency. Details of this process will be described later.

  (Step S3104) The attribute acquisition unit 25 acquires identification information of one or more attribute tags having a high degree of adjacency for each target tag.

  (Step S3105) The attribute acquisition unit 25 acquires attribute information corresponding to the identification information of the attribute tag acquired in step S3104 from the attribute information management table stored in the attribute information storage unit 20 in advance. Specifically, a record including attribute tag identification information that matches the attribute tag identification information acquired in step S3104 is searched in the attribute information management table, and attribute information included in the detected record is acquired. Then, the attribute indicated by the acquired attribute information is set as the attribute of the target tag.

  Next, details of the process of setting the adjacency described in step S3103 of FIG. 31 will be described below using the flowchart of FIG. Here, a description will be given of a case where a value in which the ratio of the number of times the tag 100 is read at the same time as the target tag is calculated as a percentage is calculated as the degree of adjacency. 32, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 indicate the same or corresponding processing steps. In addition, the simultaneous reading identification information and the like in FIG. 3 are appropriately replaced with the identification information and the like of the attribute tag here.

  (Step S3201) The adjacency setting unit 24 determines whether or not the kth identification information is identification information of an attribute tag. This process is the same as the process of step S3101. If it is an attribute tag, the process proceeds to step S3202, and if it is not an attribute tag, the process proceeds to step S309.

  (Step S3202) The adjacency setting unit 24 determines whether or not the k-th identification information is identification information of a new attribute tag. For example, it is determined whether or not it matches the identification information of the attribute tag received in the past, which is managed using a management table or the like, and if it does not match, it is determined that the identification information is a new attribute tag. . If it is new, the process proceeds to step S3203. If it is not new, the process proceeds to step S307.

  (Step S3203) The adjacency setting unit 24 registers the k-th identification information in the management table or the like as the identification information of the attribute tag for which the adjacency is set. Then, the process proceeds to step S307.

  Next, a specific example according to the present embodiment will be described. In this specific example, a case will be described in which the tag information management system is used to acquire an attribute indicating on which shelf the target tag is placed.

  FIG. 33 is a conceptual diagram of the tag information management system of this example. As shown in the figure, it is assumed that a plurality of book shelves 300 are prepared, and attribute tags 200 are arranged at the centers of the shelves. Here, it is assumed that each book shelf 300 has a name or the like that can be identified by the user. Each book shelf is assumed to have a plurality of books to which the target tag 100a is attached. It is assumed that the tag information processing apparatus 2 is arranged in front of the bookcase 300. As an example, the antenna 10 of the tag information processing apparatus 2 is automatically changed in direction each time reading of a tag (one period) is completed, and a region to be read is changed. And The direction is changed to a different direction every time. It is assumed that the bookcase 300 is located within a range in which radio waves from the antenna 10 can be irradiated. Here, it is assumed that the transmission unit 11 and the reception unit 12 of the tag information processing apparatus 1 constitute an RFID tag reader / writer 40. Further, it is assumed that the part of the tag information processing apparatus 1 excluding the antenna 10, the transmission unit 11, and the reception unit 12 is configured by an information processing apparatus such as a computer 350.

  FIG. 34 is an attribute information management table for managing the identification information of the attribute tag 200 and the attribute information corresponding to the attribute tag 200 stored in advance in the attribute information storage unit 20. The attribute information management table has attributes “attribute tag identification information” and “attribute information”. “Attribute tag identification information” is identification information stored in the attribute tag 200. “Attribute information” is attribute information indicated by the corresponding attribute tag 200, and here is information on the name of the bookcase 300 to which the corresponding attribute tag 200 is attached. Here, “attribute tag identification information” and “attribute information” of one attribute tag 200 are stored in one record.

  First, as a first reading, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 33, the transmission unit 11 transmits an object tag 100 a and an attribute tag 200 to an area 310 in a space where a plurality of tags 100 are arranged via the antenna 10. The transmission instruction of the identification information stored in is transmitted. The size of this area is set to a size smaller than the size that covers the entire area where the bookcase 300 is arranged.

  In response to information instructing transmission of identification information, the target tag 100a and the attribute tag 200 located in the area 310 each transmit identification information.

  The receiving unit 12 receives the identification information transmitted from the target tag 100 a and the attribute tag 200 via the antenna 10.

  The receiving unit 13 receives the identification information received by the receiving unit 12. Then, it is determined whether or not each received identification information matches one of the attribute values of “attribute tag identification information” in the attribute information management table described above. If they match, the identification information is determined as the identification information of the attribute tag. If they do not match, it is determined that the information is identification information of the target tag, and it is determined whether it matches any of the attribute values of “target tag identification information” in the target tag management table as shown in FIG. If they do not match, a record including the received identification information is added to the target tag management table.

  Then, among the records of the target tag management table, the “read count” of the record in which the identification information of the target tag received by the receiving unit 13 matches the attribute value of “target tag identification information” is incremented by one.

  FIG. 35 is an attribute adjacency management table for managing the adjacency between the target tag and the attribute tag read simultaneously. This attribute adjacency management table is provided with a “simultaneous reading attribute tag identification information” attribute instead of the “simultaneous reading tag identification information” attribute in the adjacency management table shown in FIG. The “simultaneous reading attribute tag identification information” is identification information of the attribute tag read simultaneously with the identification information of the target tag. However, FIG. 33 shows the attribute adjacency management table at the time when a plurality of readings are repeated, and it is assumed that the number of records is 0 at the start of the first reading.

  Next, the adjacency setting unit 24 determines whether each piece of identification information received simultaneously with respect to the identification information of one target tag among the identification information received by the reception unit 13 is an attribute tag. Judge similarly. And if it is an attribute tag, it will be judged whether it is a new attribute tag. For example, in the attribute adjacency management table shown in FIG. 35, the identification information of one target tag has the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the identification information determined to be an attribute tag is “simultaneously read tag identification”. The record having the attribute value of “information” is searched in the attribute adjacency management table. If there is no corresponding record, it is determined to be a new attribute tag, the identification information of one target tag is included as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the identification information determined to be an attribute tag is , A record having an attribute value of “simultaneous reading tag identification information” is added to the attribute adjacency management table, and “number of simultaneous readings” is set to “1”. Further, when each identification information received simultaneously with the identification information of one target tag is not a new attribute tag, that is, it has the identification information of one target tag as the attribute value of “target tag identification information”, and the attribute tag When the record having the identification information determined as the attribute value of “simultaneous reading attribute tag identification information” is detected, the “number of simultaneous reading of the record” is incremented by one. For the identification information of one target tag, for each identification information received at the same time, for the identification information of one target tag, the degree of adjacency of the identification information of the attribute tag that is read at the same time Calculate as in the example. That is, the identification information of the target tag in the attribute adjacency management table shown in FIG. 35 is “target tag identification information”, and the identification information of the attribute tag read simultaneously is “simultaneous reading attribute tag identification information”. The degree of adjacency is calculated using the formula of “number of simultaneous readings” ÷ “number of readings” × 100. Then, the “adjacency” attribute in the attribute adjacency management table shown in FIG. 35 is updated with the calculated adjacency. The same processing is performed for the identification information of all target tags in the identification information received by the receiving unit 13. Thereby, the adjacency management table based on the first reading result is constructed.

  Further, the position where the antenna 10 emits radio waves is changed, reading is repeated, and the attribute adjacency management table is updated each time.

  Then, the reading process as described above and the process of setting the adjacency are repeated, and the process of setting the adjacency is completed. Thereby, for example, it is assumed that the attribute adjacency management table as shown in FIG. 35 is configured.

  FIG. 36 is an example of an attribute adjacency table created for explanation using the attribute adjacency management table shown in FIG. The adjacency table is a table showing the value (%) of the “adjacency” attribute in the adjacency management table, with the row as the identification information of the target tag and the column as the identification information of the attribute tag read simultaneously.

  Next, the attribute acquisition part 25 acquires the attribute of each object tag 100a using the set adjacency. For example, as shown in FIG. 36, for the target tag whose identification information is “45”, the highest adjacency value is the adjacency “63.6” of the attribute tag of identification information “34”. . For this reason, for the target tag whose identification information is “45”, it is determined that the adjacency value of the attribute tag of identification information “34” has the highest value.

  Actually, in the attribute adjacency management table shown in FIG. 35, for each identification information of each target tag, a record having the highest attribute value of “adjacency” is searched, and “simultaneous reading attribute tag identification” of the record is searched. Get the value of the "information" attribute. The acquired attribute value is the identification information of the attribute tag having the highest degree of adjacency for each target tag.

  And the attribute acquisition part 25 acquires the attribute information corresponding to the identification information of the attribute tag with the highest adjacency about each acquired target tag from the attribute information management table shown in FIG. For example, since the identification information of the attribute tag having the highest degree of adjacency is “34” for the target tag whose identification information is “45”, the “attribute tag identification information” in the attribute information management table is “34”. Attribute information “bookshelf B2” that is “attribute information” of the record is acquired. That is, the attribute acquisition unit 25 has acquired the position attribute that the target tag whose identification information is “45” is arranged in the bookcase “bookshelf B2”.

  Then, the output unit 26 displays the attribute information acquired by the attribute acquisition unit 25 for each target tag on a display or the like as shown in FIG. In FIG. 37, the correspondence between the book to which the target tag 100a is attached and the book shelf is displayed. “Book” is identification information of the target tag 100a attached to each book. “Book shelf” is the name of each book shelf 300, and is attribute information acquired corresponding to the target tag 100a.

  From the display as shown in FIG. 37, for example, a book to which a target tag whose identification information is “45”, in other words, a target tag whose identification information is “45”, is referred to as “book shelf B2”. It is possible to obtain an attribute of being arranged on a bookcase with a name.

  Here, in advance, a management table in which the identification information of the target tag 100a is associated with the pasted book name and the like is prepared, and the attribute acquisition unit 25 uses the identification information of the target tag 100a. Alternatively, it may be converted into a book name or the like using the management table, and “book name” and “book shelf” are output in association with each other. In this way, it is possible to easily determine which book shelf the book is placed on.

  In the above specific example, the attribute acquisition unit 25 acquires attribute information corresponding to the identification information of the attribute tag having a high degree of adjacency from the attribute information management table stored in the attribute information storage unit 20. However, in the present embodiment, the attribute acquisition unit 25 may acquire identification information of an attribute tag having a high degree of proximity to the target tag as information indicating the attribute of the target tag. By outputting such identification information of the attribute tag from the output unit 26, the user can target the object in the vicinity of the attribute tag having the identification information or in the area centering on the attribute tag having the identification information. It is possible to obtain an attribute related to the position and area of the target tag that the tag exists. Also, for example, if the position information such as the coordinate information where the attribute tag is arranged is given as the identification information of the attribute tag, the identification information of the attribute tag is output, so that the target tag is arranged You can determine the approximate location you are.

  In the above embodiment, the attribute acquisition unit 25 is omitted, and the output unit 26 outputs the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit 24 using an attribute adjacency table as shown in FIG. You may make it do. By using such a table, the user determines which attribute tag has a high degree of adjacency with respect to which target tag, and which attribute tag is positioned closer to which attribute tag, etc. The positional relationship attribute can be obtained.

  In the above specific example, the case where the attribute tag 200 gives an attribute related to the position of the target tag 100a has been described. However, the attribute tag 200 may give an attribute other than the position of the target tag 100a. The attribute tag 200 may give an attribute such as an article to which the target tag 100a is attached.

  For example, one attribute tag associated with attribute information indicating the size is installed on each of the plurality of wagons on which clothes are arranged, and information on the size of each clothes is provided on each of the clothes arranged on the wagon. A tag having identification information to be included is attached.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 38, the S size wagon 361, the M size wagon 362, and the L size wagon 363 have attribute information of “S size”, “M size”, and “L size”, respectively. Attribute tags 301 to 303 associated with are arranged. In addition, for S size clothes, for example, target tags from “S1” to “Sn” (n is an integer of 1 or more), and for M size clothes, for example, “M1” to “Mn” (n Are attached to L size clothes, for example, "L1" to "Ln" (n is an integer of 1 or more). In this way, it is assumed that the radio wave irradiation area is changed for the wagons 361 to 363, a plurality of readings are performed, and the processing of the present embodiment is performed as described above. In this case, for example, when the attribute information “M size” is obtained for the target tag whose identification information is “L4”, the clothing of L size to which the target tag having the identification information “L4” is attached. However, it is possible to know that it is in the M size wagon 302 by mistake.

  Also, an attribute tag associated with the attribute information about the shipping date is attached to the pallet, and the target tag is attached to the product to be shipped. Then, it is assumed that manufactured products are stacked in order of manufacture, starting from the pallet with the earliest shipping date. In such a case, if you want to know the shipping date of a certain product, specify the identification information of the target tag for that product, and perform the process as in this embodiment to attach it to the pallet closest to that product. Information about the shipping date that is the attribute information of the target tag is output as the attribute information of the product. Thereby, the attribute called the shipping date about the product to which the target tag is attached can be acquired.

  In the above specific example, the identification information of the attribute tag having the highest degree of adjacency with respect to the identification information of the target tag is acquired, and the attribute information corresponding to the attribute tag is acquired. It is not necessary to acquire only the identification information of the attribute tag having a high degree. For example, the identification information of the attribute tag having the highest degree of adjacency is obtained with respect to the identification information of the target tag. You may make it output the attribute information corresponding to the identification information of the acquired attribute tag. Further, attribute information corresponding to identification information of an attribute tag having a low degree of adjacency may be acquired and output.

  For example, when there are attribute tags having various attributes, the attribute information corresponding to the top three attribute tags for the target tag attached to a certain product is obtained by the same processing as described above. Suppose that it was obtained. If the attribute information obtained from these three attribute tags is attribute information “made in Japan”, “late September production”, and “electric appliances”, the product with the target tag attached is “Japan It is possible to obtain an attribute of “made and manufactured in late September”.

  In such a case, the degree of the attribute may be determined based on the rank of the adjacency of the attribute tag. For example, with respect to a target tag attached to a product, attribute information corresponding to the top three attribute tags, “personal”, “office”, and “factory” in order from the top If the product is obtained, the product is most suitable for personal use, but it can be seen that it is a product that can also be used for office use and for factory use.

The adjacency shown in the specific example, that is, the ratio of the number of times one target tag and one attribute tag are simultaneously read to the number of times one target tag is read is described in the first embodiment. As described above, it may be considered as the probability G that one target tag and one attribute tag are read simultaneously. Here, when the attribute tags α, β, and γ exist, when the read probability G of the tag A and each attribute tag indicates the following values,
G (A, α) ≧ G (A, β) ≧ G (A, γ)
The distance F between the tag A and the attribute tags α, β, γ is as shown in FIG.
F (A, α) ≦ F (A, β) ≦ F (A, γ)
It becomes.

  When the positions of the attribute tags α, β, and γ are specified, as shown in FIG. 40, the circles represented by F (A, α), F (A, β), and F (A, γ) are represented by α. , Β and γ are drawn at the center, the tag A is on the intersection of the respective circles. Further, the error range of the distance F can be represented by the thickness of a line that draws a circle (the hatched portion in FIG. 40).

  If the positions of the attribute tags α, β, and γ are specified by these pieces of information, the position of the tag A can be estimated. Further, when there are more tags whose positions are specified, the position of the tag A can be estimated with higher accuracy. Such estimation may be performed by, for example, the attribute acquisition unit 25 and the estimation result may be output as the attribute of the tag A.

  In the above specific example, the number of simultaneous readings may be used as the degree of adjacency. For example, also in this case, for the identification information of each target tag, the attribute acquisition unit 25 sets the attribute information corresponding to the identification information of the attribute tag having a high degree of adjacency, that is, the number of simultaneous readings, to the attribute of each target tag. What is necessary is just to acquire as information to show.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the attribute of the target tag can be obtained from the degree of adjacency between the target tag and the attribute tag using the attribute of the attribute tag. Therefore, means for reading information from the tag is provided. There is no need to prepare a plurality of attributes, and attributes such as the position of the RFID tag can be easily obtained.

  In addition, by associating attribute information with attribute tags, various attributes can be obtained for the target tag and the article to which the target tag is attached, and high versatility can be obtained.

  In each of the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing by a single device (system), or by distributed processing by a plurality of devices. May be.

  In each of the above embodiments, each component may be configured by dedicated hardware, or a component that can be realized by software may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component can be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

  Note that the software that implements the tag information processing apparatus in each of the above embodiments is the following program. In other words, this program accepts a result of reading information recorded on the RFID tag, which is performed multiple times by changing the space to be read in the space where the plurality of RFID tags are arranged in the computer. The plurality of RFIDs in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of the target tags, which are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags, in the reception step and a plurality of reading results received in the reception step. An adjacency setting step for setting an adjacency, which is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, according to the number of times the tags in the tag are read simultaneously, and an adjacency setting step This is a program for executing the output step of outputting the adjacent degree.

  Moreover, the software which implement | achieves the tag information processing apparatus in said each embodiment is the following programs. In other words, this program receives a reading result of RFID tag information, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged in a computer, Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in the plurality of reading results received in the receiving step. On the other hand, an adjacency setting step for setting an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags according to the number of times read simultaneously, and an attribute of the target tag, Attribute acquisition to be acquired according to the adjacency set in the adjacency setting step for the RFID tag from which information has been read simultaneously And steps, a program for executing an output step for outputting the information indicating the attribute acquired by said attribute obtaining step.

  In the above program, in a transmission step for transmitting information, a reception step for receiving information, etc., processing performed by hardware, for example, processing performed by a modem or an interface card in the transmission step (only performed by hardware). Not included) is not included.

  Further, this program may be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, and a program recorded on a predetermined recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like) is read out. May be executed by

  Further, the computer that executes this program may be singular or plural. That is, centralized processing may be performed, or distributed processing may be performed.

  Further, in each of the above embodiments, it goes without saying that two or more communication means (such as an information transmission unit) existing in one apparatus may be physically realized by one medium.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  Further, although cases have been described with the above embodiments where the tag information processing apparatus is stand-alone, the tag information processing apparatus may be a stand-alone apparatus or a server apparatus in a server / client system. . In the latter case, the output unit or the reception unit receives an input or outputs a screen via a communication line.

  As described above, the tag information processing apparatus and the like according to the present invention are suitable as an apparatus for processing information read from an RFID tag, and are useful as an apparatus for acquiring attributes of an RFID tag.

Block diagram of tag information processing system provided with tag information processing apparatus in Embodiment 1 Flow chart for explaining the operation of the tag information processing apparatus Flow chart for explaining the operation of the tag information processing apparatus The figure for demonstrating the specific example of the tag information processing system Conceptual diagram of the tag information processing system The figure for demonstrating arrangement | positioning of the tag of the tag information processing system The figure which shows the object tag management table of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the adjacency management table of the same tag information processing system The figure for demonstrating the reading process of the tag information processing system The figure which shows the identification information which the tag information processing system read The figure which shows the object tag management table of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the adjacency management table of the same tag information processing system The figure for demonstrating the reading process of the tag information processing system The figure which shows the identification information which the tag information processing system read The figure which shows the adjacency management table of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the example of the simultaneous reading frequency table of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the example of the adjacency table of the tag information processing system The figure which shows the output example of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the combination in case the three tags in the tag information processing system are read The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure (a) which shows the relationship of the probability that three tags will be read in the tag information processing system, and the figure (b) which shows the relationship of the space where a tag exists The figure which shows the relationship between the position of a tag and the probability in the tag information processing system The figure which shows the relationship between the distance between tags and the probability in the tag information processing system Block diagram of a tag information processing system provided with a tag information processing apparatus in the second embodiment Flow chart for explaining the operation of the tag information processing apparatus Flow chart for explaining the operation of the tag information processing apparatus Conceptual diagram of the tag information processing system The figure which shows the attribute information management table of the tag information processing system The figure which shows the attribute adjacency management table of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the attribute adjacency table of the same tag information processing system The figure which shows the example of a display of the same tag information processing system The figure for demonstrating the modification of the tag information processing system The figure for demonstrating the modification of the tag information processing system The figure for demonstrating the modification of the tag information processing system

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Tag information processing apparatus 2 Tag information processing apparatus 10 Antenna 11 Transmission part 12 Reception part 13 Reception part 14, 24 Adjacency setting part 15, 25 Attribute acquisition part 16, 26 Output part 20 Attribute information storage part 21-23, 310 Space 40 Tag reader / writer 50, 350 Computer 50, 51 Area 100 Tag 100a Target tag 200, 301-303 Attribute tag

Claims (16)

In a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged, a reception unit that receives a result of reading information recorded on the RFID tag, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read;
Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in a plurality of reading results received by the receiving unit. In contrast, an adjacency setting unit that sets adjacency, which is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, according to the number of times read simultaneously,
A tag information processing apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit. The plurality of RFID tags include one or more attribute tags that are tags associated with information indicating attributes of the target tag,
The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjacency setting unit sets the adjacency with respect to an attribute tag read simultaneously with any one of the target tags. A reception unit that receives a result of reading RFID tag information that has been performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space in which a plurality of RFID tags are disposed;
Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in a plurality of reading results received by the receiving unit. In contrast, an adjacency setting unit that sets adjacency, which is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags, according to the number of times read simultaneously,
An attribute acquisition unit that acquires the attribute of the target tag according to the degree of adjacency set by the adjacency setting unit with respect to the RFID tag from which information is read simultaneously with the target tag;
A tag information processing apparatus comprising: an output unit that outputs information indicating the attribute acquired by the attribute acquisition unit. The attribute of the target tag acquired by the attribute acquisition unit has a positional relationship with respect to at least one of the plurality of RFID tags from which information is read simultaneously with the target tag for each of the target tags. The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 3, which is information to be displayed. The target tag is three or more RFID tags read in a plurality of reading results received by the receiving unit,
The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the attribute of the target tag acquired by the attribute acquisition unit is information indicating a positional relationship between three or more target tags. The plurality of RFID tags include one or more attribute tags that are attributes indicating attributes of the target tag,
The adjacency setting unit sets the adjacency for an attribute tag read simultaneously with at least one of the target tags,
The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the attribute acquisition unit acquires each attribute of the target tag using a degree of adjacency of the attribute tag with respect to each target tag and an attribute indicated by the attribute tag. . The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the attribute acquisition unit acquires each attribute of the target tag using an attribute indicated by the attribute tag having a high degree of proximity to the target tag. The attribute tag is associated with attribute information that is information indicating the attribute indicated by the attribute tag,
The tag information according to claim 7, wherein the attribute acquisition unit acquires each attribute of the target tag using an attribute indicated by attribute information associated with the attribute tag having a high degree of adjacency with respect to the target tag. Processing equipment. The attribute indicated by the attribute tag is an attribute for a position where the target tag is arranged,
The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the attribute acquisition unit acquires an attribute for each position of the target tag. The tag according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the adjacency setting unit sets an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags as the number of simultaneous readings increases. Information processing device. A transmission unit that transmits a transmission instruction of recorded information to the plurality of RFID tags a plurality of times;
The apparatus further comprises a reception unit that receives information transmitted from the RFID tag in response to the transmission instruction transmitted from the transmission unit, and outputs the read result that is the received information to the reception unit. The tag information processing apparatus according to claim 1. A tag information processing system comprising the tag information processing apparatus according to claim 1 and the plurality of RFID tags. A reception step of receiving a result of reading information recorded on the RFID tag, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged;
Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in the plurality of reading results received in the receiving step. On the other hand, an adjacency setting step of setting an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags according to the number of times read simultaneously,
A tag information processing method comprising: an output step of outputting the adjacency set in the adjacency setting step. A reception step of receiving a result of reading RFID tag information, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged;
Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in the plurality of reading results received in the receiving step. On the other hand, an adjacency setting step of setting an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags according to the number of times read simultaneously,
An attribute acquisition step of acquiring the attribute of the target tag according to the degree of proximity set in the proximity setting step with respect to the RFID tag from which information is read simultaneously with the target tag;
A tag information processing method comprising: an output step of outputting information indicating the attribute acquired in the attribute acquisition step. On the computer,
A reception step of receiving a result of reading information recorded on the RFID tag, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged;
Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in the plurality of reading results received in the receiving step. On the other hand, an adjacency setting step of setting an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags according to the number of times read simultaneously,
A program for executing the output step of outputting the adjacency set in the adjacency setting step. On the computer,
A reception step of receiving a result of reading RFID tag information, which is performed a plurality of times by changing a space to be read in a space where a plurality of RFID tags are arranged;
Tags in the plurality of RFID tags in which information is read simultaneously with at least one of target tags that are one or more tags in the plurality of RFID tags in the plurality of reading results received in the receiving step. On the other hand, an adjacency setting step of setting an adjacency that is a value indicating an adjacency relationship with each of the target tags according to the number of times read simultaneously,
An attribute acquisition step of acquiring the attribute of the target tag according to the degree of proximity set in the proximity setting step with respect to the RFID tag from which information is read simultaneously with the target tag;
A program for executing an output step of outputting information indicating the attribute acquired in the attribute acquisition step.

Images