JP2009053851A - Automatic ticket gate device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain correct ticket checking processing by recognizing the identity between a radio medium and its owner, and preventing radio interference for a passenger passing through another gate in an automatic ticket gate device for performing the ticket checking processing by using a radio medium. <P>SOLUTION: This automatic ticket gate device is provided with: a plurality of sensors for detecting a passenger; a reader/writer for performing radio communication with a radio IC card owned by the passenger; a plurality of array antennas arranged on a passage floor between two ticket checking units with the maximum directional gain in a ceiling direction for transmitting and receiving a radio signal between the reader/writer and the radio IC card; a selector for selecting the corresponding array antennas when any of the plurality of sensors detects the passenger; and a determination part for determinating the identity of the radio IC card and the passenger based on the result of the radio communication between the reader/writer and the radio IC card, and for determinating whether to permit the passage of the ticket checking unit by the passenger detected by the sensor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic ticket gate apparatus installed at a railway station or the like.

  As a conventional automatic ticket gate device, a conventional station staff determines whether a passenger can get on and off the station unconditionally or conditionally by inserting a commuter pass into the automatic ticket gate device at a certain station. The one that performs the ticket gate processing function is known. In this case, the passenger inserts the commuter pass etc. into the insertion slot, moves the commuter pass etc. transported to the take-out slot to the position and extracts it, so the correspondence between the information media such as the commuter pass and the passenger can be easily taken be able to.

  On the other hand, when a boarding ticket or commuter pass is used as an information medium such as a wireless IC card that has been put into practical use in recent years, a passenger can pass through the automatic ticket gate without releasing the information medium that the passenger has. However, this apparatus has a problem that even if the passing state can be detected, it is difficult to take a correspondence between the information medium being checked and the owner.

  In particular, when a plurality of passengers possessing a wireless IC card appear at a ticket gate where a plurality of automatic ticket gates are arranged, interference may occur between each passenger's wireless IC card and the automatic ticket gate. . In other words, a situation may occur in which an automatic ticket gate that communicates with a passenger's wireless IC card is different from an automatic ticket gate that the passenger actually tries to pass. In this case, the latter automatic ticket gate device prevents the passenger from proceeding.

As countermeasures, techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 are known. Patent Document 1 describes avoiding interference by switching a plurality of communication areas having different directivities and transmission / reception outputs. In Patent Document 2, a plurality of transmission antennas and reception antennas are installed on the side face of a ticket gate so that traffic is detected based on the strength of power of a communication signal, and at the same time, communication is performed to determine whether or not the vehicle can pass. Is described.
Japanese Patent No. 2625631 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-70487

  However, in the inventions disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, antenna directivity, installation method, and card reader / writer wireless transmission / reception output are used to prevent interference with passengers passing through another adjacent gate. There is a problem that it is very difficult to design the ticket gate machine in advance because of the structure of the ticket gate device.

  As described above, when a plurality of automatic ticket gates are lined up, in order to associate the wireless IC card with the owner and prevent interference with passenger information passing through different ticket gates, There is a problem that it is difficult to design the characteristics of the antenna to be installed and to adjust the wireless output level.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an automatic ticket gate apparatus that can prevent interference with passengers passing through another adjacent gate and is easy to install and adjust. The purpose is to provide.

  An automatic ticket gate according to an aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of sensors for detecting a passer-by, a reader / writer for performing wireless communication with a wireless IC card possessed by the passer-by, the reader / writer, and the wireless A plurality of array antennas arranged on the floor of a passage between two ticket gate units and having a maximum directivity gain in the ceiling direction for transmitting and receiving radio signals to and from an IC card, and any one of the plurality of sensors When the person detects the passerby, the identity of the wireless IC card and the passerby is determined based on the result of wireless communication between the selector for selecting the corresponding array antenna and the reader / writer and the wireless IC card. And a judging unit for judging whether or not the passerby detected by the sensor is allowed to pass the ticket gate unit.

  According to the automatic ticket gate of the present invention, it is possible to prevent interference with passengers passing through another adjacent gate, and the automatic ticket gate can be easily installed and adjusted.

  First, before describing the embodiment of the present invention, first to third reference examples will be described. In the first reference example, it will be described that a directional antenna having a maximum directional gain in the ceiling direction is installed on the floor surface of the passage to prevent interference with transmission / reception devices of different gates. In the second reference example, a description will be given of the case where the ticket gate unit corresponds to bi-directional bidding, and the antenna pattern of the directional antenna is switched while determining the approach direction of the passenger. In the third reference example, description will be given of forming a variable directivity pattern so as to follow a moving wireless IC card. These reference examples can be appropriately combined with the embodiment of the present invention.

(First reference example)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an automatic ticket gate apparatus according to a first reference example. The automatic ticket gate includes a human sensor 102 and a human detection unit 103 for detecting the passage of a human being who is a passenger, a reader / writer 105 for communicating with a wireless IC card 101 possessed by the ticket passer, The communication control unit 104 that starts communication of the reader / writer 105 based on the detection result of the human sensor 102 and the communication signal between the wireless IC card 101 are arranged on the floor surface between the two ticket gate units 111, The identity of the wireless IC card and the passenger based on the directional antenna 106 having the maximum directional gain in the ceiling direction, the detection result of the human sensor 102, and the wireless IC card information obtained via the directional antenna 106 And control devices 108 and 109 for determining whether or not the vehicle can pass based on information from the wireless IC card, and an open / close door 110.

  The operation of the automatic ticket gate according to the first reference example will be described.

  Consider a case where a passenger carrying a wireless medium (for example, wireless IC card 101) on which boarding information is recorded passes through the gate (opening / closing door 110) and inside the ticket gate unit 111.

  When a human being who is a passenger passes in front of the human sensor 102, the passage is detected by the human detection unit 103. The passenger detection result is sent from the human detection unit 103 to the communication control unit 104. The communication control unit 104 sends a communication start control signal to the reader / writer 105, and in response to this, the reader / writer 105 starts wireless communication for reading and writing information of the wireless IC card 101 possessed by the passenger. To do. A signal transmitted from the reader / writer 105 to the wireless IC card 101 is converted into a radio frequency band signal and then radiated as a radio wave from the antenna 106.

  The reader / writer 105 reads boarding information according to a predetermined protocol for communicating with the wireless IC card 101 and receives a transmission signal from the wireless IC card 101. Thereafter, the reader / writer 105 communicates with the wireless IC card 101 to write bid information. Based on the boarding information of the wireless IC card 101 read by the reader / writer 105, the passage permission / non-permission determining unit 108 determines whether or not the passage is permitted. As a result, the door opening / closing control unit 109 controls the opening / closing of the opening / closing door 110.

  Here, the conventional opening / closing door 110 is illustrated as a passenger passage restraining means when it is determined that the passage is impossible. However, in addition to this, on the ticket gate unit 111 that emits a warning sound and performs automatic voice notification. There is no limitation on the means such as displaying on the display unit, displaying a part of the ticket gate unit in a flashing manner, starting recording with the surveillance camera, and reporting to the station staff.

  The beam pattern 107 is characterized in that the transmission / reception directivity of radio waves is a pattern that faces from the floor surface of the passage toward the ceiling. When a passenger passes through the wireless communication area created by the beam pattern 107, communication between the wireless IC card 101 and the reader / writer 105 is performed.

  A specific installation place of the antenna 106 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a view of the automatic ticket gate device viewed from the ceiling to the floor. As shown in FIG. 2, the antenna 106 is installed between two ticket gate units 111a and 111b arranged in parallel. As the type of antenna, a planar antenna such as a patch antenna that can be installed on the floor surface is assumed. Since the antenna 106 is installed on the floor surface, a rubber antenna made of a conductive material may be used to prevent damage.

  3 is a cross-sectional view of the automatic ticket gate shown in FIG. 2 in the A-A ′ direction. The beam 107 radiated from the antenna 106 is formed so as to have a maximum directivity gain with respect to the ceiling direction from the antenna 106 installed on the floor surface. The ticket gate unit 111 includes two metal ticket gate units 111a and 111b installed so as to form a traffic path. These two ticket gate units 111a and 111b serve not only as a ticket gate partition but also as a shielding plate for preventing the upward beam 107 from propagating to the adjacent gate. The ticket gate unit 111 has a height of, for example, about 1 meter in accordance with the height of the person. The higher the height, the smaller the amount of radio waves leaking to the adjacent gate. In addition, although the radio wave may be diffracted at the upper edge of the ticket gate unit 111, the amount is small, and even if it is diffracted, there is propagation attenuation until the radio wave reaches the floor antenna of the adjacent gate, so it is almost received. It will not be detected.

  Next, the operation of the communication control unit 104 during passenger passage will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, each control unit 103-105, 108, 109 of the ticket gate apparatus is set to an initial state (step S401). At this time, the open / close door 110 is opened (passable) (step S402). Further, the reader / writer 105 is turned off so as not to perform communication (step S403). Here, when a passenger tries to bid (step S404), the human sensor 102 reacts to the passage of a human and the human detection unit 103 detects the passage of a human (step S405). As a result, when human traffic is detected, the communication control unit 104 sends a communication start control signal to the reader / writer 105 to instruct to start a communication operation related to reading and writing of boarding information (step S406). ).

  The reader / writer 105 starts communication by extending the beam 107 with the antenna 106 (step S407). On the contrary, when the human sensor 102 does not detect, it remains in the initial state.

  Next, when communication is started between the ticket gate device and the wireless IC card, the wireless IC card 101 reacts to a transmission signal from the reader / writer 105 and sends a reply according to a predetermined communication protocol. On the automatic ticket gate side, when this reply is received from the wireless IC card 101 (step S408), card information such as boarding information and ID information of the wireless IC card 101 is received and a determination process of suitability is performed (step S408). S409). Here, it is determined whether or not the content of the card information is appropriate (step S410), and if it is appropriate, it is determined that the passage is permitted (step S411), and the tender information is written from the reader / writer 105 to the wireless IC card 101 (step S411). S412). Then, if a passenger passes a ticket gate apparatus, it will return to initial state S413. If there is no reply from the wireless IC card 101 in step S408 or if the contents of the card information are not appropriate in step S410, it is determined that traffic is denied (step S414), the door 110 is closed, a warning sound is sounded, etc. The traffic blocking operation is performed (step S415).

  From the above flowchart, the reader / writer 105 of the automatic ticket gate normally operates when the circuit is OFF and no radio wave is emitted from the directional antenna 106, and when the human sensor 102 senses a passerby. To send. As a result, it is possible to recognize the identity of the wireless IC card and the currently passing passenger based on the detection result of the directional antenna installed upward on the floor of the aisle, and to prevent misjudgment of permission / prohibition of passage. it can.

  Thus, according to the automatic ticket gate relating to the first reference example, the ticket gate itself is used as a reflector by installing the directional antenna having the maximum directivity gain in the ceiling direction on the floor of the passage. As a result, the reach of the radio wave is narrowed, it is possible to prevent crosstalk between different gate transmission / reception devices, and the automatic ticket gate device can be easily installed and adjusted.

(Second reference example)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an automatic ticket gate according to a second reference example. 5, parts common to the first reference example are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the second reference example, the ticket gate unit supports bi-directional bidding. For this reason, human sensors are provided at two locations (102a and 102b), and the direction of passenger entry is determined based on the detection results of these sensors. The directivity switching unit 112 is characterized in that the antenna patterns 107 a and 107 b of the directional antenna 106 are switched to either one according to the detection result from the human detection unit 103. The door opening / closing control unit 109 performs control so that only one of the opening / closing doors 110a and 110b operates.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the directivity of the directional antenna 106 in the present embodiment is selected as a beam that has an elevation angle that is tilted forward or backward from the center of the ticket gate unit and that faces the ticket exit direction. Therefore, when the passenger continuously bids from the same direction, the radio signal of the next passenger trying to pass through the same gate can be prevented from being erroneously captured.

  Thus, according to the automatic ticket gate relating to the second reference example, the directional antenna has a plurality of directivities, detects the bidding direction of the passenger based on the detection result of the sensor, and based on the directivity It is possible to reduce the recognition error of the identity between the wireless IC card and the passenger.

  The antenna 106 in the above-described embodiment may be an array antenna in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged. The directivity at this time is an antenna pattern that reduces interference with the adjacent gate. In practice, a predetermined beam pattern can be formed by performing weighted combination of amplitude and phase on transmission / reception signals from or to each antenna element. In this way, by configuring the directional antenna with an array antenna and changing its directivity arbitrarily by electrical signal processing, it is possible to further reduce interference with adjacent gates.

(Third reference example)
In addition, when the area that can be covered with the directivity pattern is limited as described above, for example, when the passenger passes through the ticket gate at high speed, the communication of reading and writing of bid information is completed after the passenger is detected by the sensor. By the time, the problem of inadequate boarding information writing occurs when the beam 107 passes through the communication area. Thus, by forming a variable directivity pattern that follows the wireless IC card with a beam until communication is completed, it is possible to prevent a malfunction of the ticket gate. Specific examples are shown below.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an automatic ticket gate apparatus according to a third reference example of the present invention. 6, parts common to the first reference example are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the third reference example, human sensors are provided at a plurality of places, for example, four places (102a to 102d) in FIG. 6, and the position of the passenger can be determined based on the sensor detection result. According to the result of the human detection unit 103, the directivity switching unit 112 switches the antenna patterns 107a, 107b, 107c, 107d, and 107e of the plurality of directional antennas 106. Of course, the door opening / closing control unit 109 controls the door so that only one of 110a and 110b operates.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the directivity of the directional antenna 106 in the present embodiment has maximum directivity gain in each direction of the human sensors 102a to 102d, and the human sensors 102a to 102d are passengers. Is detected, the beams 107a to 107d having directivity in the direction of the human sensor are selected.

  In addition, when communication is not completed even after the passer-by has left the gate, it can be switched to the directional beam 107e facing further in the direction of the bid. As a result, communication can be completed without failure even when passing through the ticket gate at high speed.

  Thus, according to the automatic ticket gate relating to the third reference example, the directional antenna has a plurality of directivities, detects the position of the passenger based on the detection result of the sensor, and determines the directivity based on the detected position. By switching, it becomes possible to reduce recognition errors of identity between the wireless IC card and the passenger. Although the number of sensors is four in FIG. 6, the number is not limited to this.

  A directivity setting method in the directivity switching unit 112 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the directivity switching unit 112 when a directional antenna element is used, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the directivity switching unit 112 when an array antenna that weights each antenna is used.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the directivity switching unit 112 includes a directivity control unit 701 and a selector 702. Directivity switching is realized by turning ON / OFF the connection to a plurality of directional antenna elements 106 having different directivity patterns and selecting one of the antenna elements 106 accordingly. In this case, the directivity control unit 701 switches the antenna element 106 by controlling the selector 702 based on the antenna element number given from the outside.

  In the directivity switching unit 112 shown in FIG. 8, for example, the directional antenna element 106 is omnidirectional. The directivity control unit 801 selects a predetermined weight coefficient based on a weight pattern given from the outside, and sets it in the multiplier 802. A signal received by the antenna 106 is multiplied by a weight by a multiplier 802 and then added by an adder 803. Thus, the phase and amplitude are weighted, which is equivalent to being received by the reader / writer 105 via a predetermined directional beam.

  On the contrary, when a signal is transmitted from the reader / writer 105, the transmission signal is equivalently transmitted by a predetermined directional beam by being input to the multiplier 802 in four distributions and radiating from the antenna 106.

(First embodiment)
In the third reference example, one array antenna 106 that forms a variable directivity pattern is arranged at the center of the passage bottom surface. However, due to the nature of the linear array structure, both directions from the center line of the passage (for example, As the beam 107a or beam 107e) in FIG. 6 moves away, it becomes difficult to obtain a desired antenna gain and directivity with a limited number of antennas. In other words, the gain and beam pattern of each beam region become non-uniform, and when a plurality of passersby pass in close proximity, the radio signals may interfere with each other and the bidding process may fail.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, in order to sufficiently suppress radio waves from a plurality of passers-by existing in the same ticket gate, a plurality of arrays with narrow directivity and high gain are provided as shown in FIG. The antenna 106 is disposed on the bottom of the passage. As a result, the beam area is limited so that desired communication quality is ensured in each directivity zone, and malfunction of the bidding process due to failure of beam tracking can be prevented. FIG. 10 shows a view of the ticket gate apparatus at this time as viewed from above. It can be seen that the plurality of array antennas 106 are arranged at regular intervals on the center line CL of the bottom surface of the passage. In the array antenna 106, a black-colored portion means one antenna element. In this embodiment, one array antenna is composed of two-element antennas, but this number may be changed.

  However, when the radio frequency to be used is low, or when the length of the ticket gate unit 111 in the traveling direction is short, the area of one array antenna 106 becomes large and can be physically arranged at an appropriate place on the floor surface. The problem of not. Alternatively, it is difficult to increase the number of array antennas 106, that is, the number of zones.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, in order to solve such a problem, a plurality of array antennas 106 are arranged in a zigzag pattern on the left and right across the center line CL of the ticket gate, and the array cover is arranged. Arrange the zones so that they are staggered on the left and right. The layout of such an antenna is shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 11B is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. The arrangement relationship between the array antenna 106a and the array antenna 106b is as follows. That is, the array antenna 106a and the array antenna 106b are displaced from each other along the direction parallel to the center line CL and the direction orthogonal to the center line CL. The same positional relationship is also applied to the array antenna 106b and the array antenna 106c. Arrange so that As a result, the plurality of array antennas are arranged in a zigzag pattern on the left and right across the center line CL of the ticket gate passage.

  More specifically, as can be seen from FIG. 11B, the array antenna 106b is arranged at a position shifted by a distance d1 along the direction parallel to the center line CL with respect to the array antenna 106a. Arranged at a position shifted by a distance d2 along the direction orthogonal to the center line CL with respect to the array antenna 106a. Array antenna 106c is arranged at a position shifted by a distance d1 along a direction parallel to center line CL with respect to array antenna 106b, and along a direction orthogonal to center line CL with respect to array antenna 106b. It is arranged at a position shifted by a distance d2. The other array antennas 106 have the same arrangement relationship.

  With this configuration, the arrangement location of the array antenna 106 can be secured widely, so that desired directivity can be easily realized by narrowing the beam and increasing the gain by using the array antenna with the antenna elements separated from each other. Furthermore, since the probability that a passer-by passes directly over the array antenna 106 can be reduced, it is possible to prevent damage to the antenna and deterioration of the antenna characteristics.

  Processing for switching the antenna 106 when such an antenna arrangement is used will be described with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, the number of antennas and the number of sensors are set to 5, but the numbers may be changed. The antenna number and sensor number are 1 to 5 in the order from the bid direction. It is assumed that after sensing the passerby by the sensor, bidding processing such as ID confirmation and determination of passability is performed in parallel with the antenna switching processing flow.

  First, in the initial state (S1001), the bidding direction, the sensor state, and the reader / writer (hereinafter referred to as “R / W”) 105 state are initialized, and the antenna 1 is selected (S1002). When the passerby is detected by the sensor 1 (S1003), a signal is transmitted from the R / W 105 (S1004), and a reply signal from the wireless IC card 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. If the sensor 2 or later does not detect a passerby, the antenna 1 remains selected. If the reception fails at the R / W 105, the process returns to the initial state (S1005).

  Next, when a passerby is sensed by the sensor 2 after a while (S1006), the selector 702 selects the antenna 2 (S1007), and transmits a signal from the R / W 105 as in S1004 (S1008). A reply signal from the card 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At this time, if reception is not successful in the R / W 105, the antenna 1 is selected again (S1009).

  Similarly, when the passerby is sensed by the sensor 3 (S1010), the selector 702 selects the antenna 3 (S1011), and transmits a signal from the R / W 105 (S1012), similar to S1004, from the wireless IC card 101. Is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At this time, when the reception is not successful by the R / W 105, the antenna 2 is selected again (S1013).

  Similarly, when a passerby is detected by the sensor 4 (S1014), the selector 702 selects the antenna 4 (S1015), and transmits a signal from the R / W 105 (S1016), similar to S1004, from the wireless IC card 101. Is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At this time, if the reception is not successful in the R / W 105, the antenna 3 is selected again (S1017).

  Similarly, when a passerby is detected by the sensor 5 (S1018), the selector 702 selects the antenna 5 (S1019), and transmits a signal from the R / W 105 (S1020) as in S1004. Is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At this time, if the reception is not successful in the R / W 105, the antenna 4 is selected again (S1021). If reception is successful in the R / W 105, the process returns to the initial state (S1022).

  As shown in FIG. 11 (a), if the upper surface of the array antenna 106 is covered with a cover material 901 such as polycarbonate, acrylic, or plastic, a passerby will not step on the array antenna 106 directly. Therefore, damage to the antenna can be prevented.

  Furthermore, even if the antenna is not damaged, the antenna directivity characteristic may be remarkably deteriorated when the area directly above the array antenna 106 is covered with shoes or the like due to the passage of passengers. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 13, by arranging the antenna element 1102 itself on the array antenna ground plate 1101 toward the ticket gate unit 111, the probability that a passenger will pass on the array antenna is further reduced. It is possible to prevent deterioration of the antenna characteristics while maintaining the antenna cover zone.

(Second Embodiment)
When wireless bidding is actually performed, the passer is free to hold the wireless IC card 101. Therefore, the reply from the wireless IC card 101 is influenced by the influence of clothes, bags, and the passer's body. There is a problem that the reception sensitivity of the receiver deteriorates.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, the RSSI of the received signal is measured by each of the plurality of antennas in the front-rear direction of the passage, and the antenna having the maximum RSSI is selected. Considering the state of radio wave propagation in the semi-closed space between the ticket gate units, it is considered that the magnitude of the electric field strength becomes spatially significant by synthesizing a plurality of different phases by reflection and diffraction of radio waves. Therefore, a spatial diversity effect can be obtained by selecting an antenna having a strong reception strength, instead of determining antenna switching only by a human sensor. The configuration is shown in FIG. The selector 702 is connected to the array antenna 106 via the interface unit 1201. The RSSI of the signal received by the reader / writer 105 is measured by the RSSI measuring unit 1202 and stored in the memory 1203.

Each time the antenna is switched, the switching determination unit 1204 compares the RSSI values accumulated in the measurement value memory 1203 with each other, and the selector 702 selects the antenna having the maximum value.

  The antenna switching control method in the case of the diversity configuration will be described with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, the number of antennas and the number of sensors are set to 5, but the numbers may be changed. The antenna number and sensor number are 1 to 5 in the order from the bid direction. It is assumed that after sensing the passerby by the sensor, bidding processing such as ID confirmation and determination of passability is performed in parallel with the antenna switching processing flow.

  First, in the initial state (S1401), the bidding direction, the sensor state, and the R / W 105 state are initialized, and the antenna 1 is selected (S1402). When a passerby is detected by the sensor 1 (S1403), a signal is transmitted from the R / W 105 (S1404), and a reply signal from the wireless IC card 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At that time, the RSSI measurement unit 1202 measures the RSSI (received signal strength) of the received signal. The value is stored as RSSI1 in the measured value memory 1203 (S1405). If the sensor does not detect a passerby, the antenna 1 remains selected.

  Next, when a passerby is detected by the sensor 2 after a while (S1406), the selector 702 selects the antenna 2 (S1407), and similarly to S1404, a signal is transmitted from the R / W 105 (S1408), and the wireless IC card The reply signal from 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At this time, the RSSI measurement unit 1202 measures the RSSI of the received signal. The value is stored as RSSI2 in the measured value memory 1203 (S1409).

  Here, the switching determination unit 1204 compares RSSI1 and RSSI2 stored in the measurement value memory 1203 (S1410), and if RSSI1 is larger, the selector 702 selects the antenna 1 (S1411) and goes to step S1404. Returning, if RSSI2 is larger, selector 702 selects antenna 2 (S1412).

  After the antenna 2 is selected, the minimum value of the sensor number that the sensor is sensing and reacting is set to K, and the maximum value is set to L (S1413). That is, the reacting sensor numbers are K, K + 1,..., L−1, L in order from the smallest. If K is not 5 (S1414), j = K is set (S1415), the selector 702 selects the antenna j (S1416), and transmits a signal from the R / W 105 (S1417), similar to S1404, and the wireless IC card 101. The R / W 105 receives and demodulates the reply signal from the receiver. At this time, the RSSI measurement unit 1202 measures the RSSI of the received signal, and stores the value as RSSI_j in the memory (S1418). Subsequently, j is incremented by 1 (S1419), and the processes of S1416 to S1420 are repeated until j matches L. As a result, all the antennas corresponding to the sensed sensor numbers are switched, and the RSSI value is stored in the measurement value memory 1203. Thereafter, when j and L match (S1420), the selector 702 selects the largest antenna among RSSI_j (S1421), and the process returns to S1413.

  If K is equal to 5 in S1414, that is, if only the last one sensor is sensed, the antenna 5 is selected (S1422). Similarly to S1404, a signal is transmitted from the R / W 105 (S1423), and a reply signal from the wireless IC card 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. Finally, when the sensor 5 no longer detects a passerby (S1424), the process returns to the initial state.

  With such a configuration, when passengers pass through the automatic ticket gate according to the present embodiment, a change in antenna characteristics due to a person passing over the antenna and a decrease in reception sensitivity due to the influence of the human body / clothes / bags, etc. It can be avoided.

  In the embodiment described above, it is assumed that the sensors are densely installed in the passage direction and two or more sensors sense. However, when the sensors are spaced apart from each other, there are always two sensors. It does not always react. The antenna switching control method in that case will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in the initial state (S1701), the bidding direction, the sensor state, and the R / W105 state are initialized, and the antenna 1 is selected by the selector 702 (S1702). When a passerby is detected by the sensor 1 (S1703), a signal is transmitted from the R / W 105 (S1704), and a reply signal from the wireless IC card 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At that time, the RSSI measurement unit 1202 measures the RSSI (reception signal strength) of the received signal, and the value is stored as RSSI1 in the measured value memory 1203 (S1705). If the sensor does not detect a passerby, the antenna 1 remains selected.

  Next, when the sensor 2 senses a passerby after a while (S1706), the selector 702 selects the antenna 2 (S1707), and transmits a signal from the R / W 105 (S1708) as in S1704, and the wireless IC card. The reply signal from 101 is received and demodulated by the R / W 105. At this time, the RSSI measurement unit 1202 measures the RSSI of the received signal, and the value is stored as RSSI2 in the measurement value memory 1203 (S1709).

  Here, the switching determination unit 1204 compares RSSI1 and RSSI2 stored in the measurement value memory 1203 (S1710). If RSSI1 is larger, the selector 702 selects the antenna 1 (S1711) and returns to step S1704. If is larger, the selector 702 selects the antenna 2 (S1712), and proceeds to step S1713.

  In step S1713, the currently selected antenna number is stored as a variable p, a signal is transmitted from the R / W 105 as in S1704 (S1714), and a reply signal from the wireless IC card 101 is received by the R / W 105. The RSSI measurement unit 1202 measures the RSSI at this time, and the value is stored in the measurement value memory 1203 as RSSI (p) (S1715). Thereafter, when nothing is detected by the sensor (S1716), the process returns to step S1713 and the same processing is repeated. If the sensor is detected in step S1716, that is, if only sensor #p has reacted, antenna #p is selected (S1718), and the process proceeds to step S1713. If two or more sensors are detected at this time, the processing is the same as the processing after step S1413 shown in FIG.

  As another modified example, the received signal quality can be further improved by adopting a combining diversity configuration in which in-phase combining is performed using signals from a plurality of antennas as shown in FIG. 17 instead of the antenna selection as described above. . In FIG. 17, a combined weight calculation unit 1701 calculates a combined weight using signals received by each array antenna 106. For example, the combined weight calculation unit 1701 measures the amplitude and phase of the received signal of each array antenna, and calculates a combined weight by a maximum ratio combining algorithm that performs in-phase combining by applying a weight of the received signal proportional to the amplitude. Alternatively, the S / N (signal-to-noise power ratio) of the received signal of each array antenna may be measured and weighted in proportion to the S / N to perform in-phase synthesis. Alternatively, the synthesis weight may be calculated by a gain synthesis algorithm, such as simply performing in-phase synthesis. At the time of transmission from the reader / writer, the (reception) composite weight calculated immediately before is used as it is.

  In addition, although the embodiment of the automatic ticket gate described above is intended to be used for entering and exiting passengers, especially in the station service, entrance and exit such as parking lots and facilities capable of automatic entrance and exit monitoring, tollgates on highways, etc. The gate may be implemented in the same manner.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the automatic ticket gate apparatus concerning a 1st reference example The top view of the automatic ticket gate of the first reference example Sectional view of A-A 'direction of automatic ticket gate of first reference example Flow chart showing the operation of the first reference example The block diagram which shows the structure of the automatic ticket gate concerning 2nd reference example The block diagram which shows the structure of the automatic ticket gate apparatus concerning the 3rd reference example Block diagram showing the processing of the directivity switching unit when a directional antenna is used Block diagram showing processing of directivity switching unit when array antenna is used The figure which shows the arrangement | positioning method of the array antenna in the automatic ticket gate concerning 1st Embodiment The figure which looked at arrangement | positioning of the array antenna in the automatic ticket gate concerning 1st Embodiment from the top The figure which shows another arrangement | positioning method of the array antenna in the automatic ticket gate concerning 1st Embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the automatic ticket gate which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the arrangement | positioning method of another array antenna concerning 1st Embodiment The block diagram regarding the directivity control of the automatic ticket gate concerning 2nd Embodiment The flowchart which shows operation | movement of 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the antenna switching control method in 2nd Embodiment. The block diagram regarding another directivity control of the automatic ticket gate concerning 2nd Embodiment

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Wireless IC card; 102 ... Human sensor; 103 ... Human sensing part; 104 ... Communication control part; 105 ... Reader / writer; 106 ... Directional antenna; 108: Passability determination unit; 109 ... Door opening / closing control unit; 110 ... Opening / closing door; 111 ... Ticket gate unit; 112 ... Directionality switching unit; Control unit: 702 ... Selector; 801 ... Directionality control unit; 802 ... Multiplier; 803 ... Adder; 901 ... Cover material; 1101 ... Array antenna ground plane; Antenna element 1201 Interface unit 1202 RSSI measurement unit 1203 Measurement value memory 1204 Switching determination unit 1701 Composite weight calculation unit 1702 Ibashichi synthesis unit

Claims (5)

A plurality of sensors for detecting passers-by;
A reader / writer for wireless communication with a wireless IC card possessed by the passer-by;
A plurality of array antennas disposed on a passage floor between two ticket gate units and having a maximum directivity gain in a ceiling direction for transmission and reception of radio signals between the reader / writer and the wireless IC card;
A selector that selects a corresponding array antenna when any of the plurality of sensors detects the passerby;
Based on the result of wireless communication between the reader / writer and the wireless IC card, the identity of the wireless IC card and the passerby is determined, and the passerby detected by the sensor is allowed to pass the ticket gate unit. An automatic ticket gate device comprising: a determination unit that determines whether or not.   2. The automatic ticket gate according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of array antennas are arranged on the floor surface between the two ticket gate units so as to form a zigzag pattern on both sides of the center line of the ticket gate passage. apparatus.   3. The automatic arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the first array antenna and the second array antenna are arranged so that their positions are shifted from each other along a direction parallel to the center line and a direction orthogonal to the center line. Ticket gate device.   4. The selector according to claim 1, wherein the selector determines a position of a passer based on an output from the sensor, and selects an array antenna having directivity in the direction of the passer's position. Automatic ticket gate described in 1. A measurement unit for measuring the received signal strength of the radio signal received by the array antenna selected by the selector;
A memory for storing a measurement value of the received signal strength;
A comparison unit that compares the measured values of the received signal strength stored in the memory with each other and determines the maximum value of the measured values; and
The automatic ticket gate apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the selector selects an array antenna having a maximum received signal strength.

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