JP2009059030A - Reader/writer and ic tag system therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reader/writer and an IC tag system, allowing control of comparatively many antennas in consideration of a case of providing an antenna switch circuit outside the reader/writer. <P>SOLUTION: This IC tag system has: the reader/writer 1; the antenna switch circuit 2 connected to the reader/writer 1; and the plurality of antennas 100-115. The reader/writer 1 is provided with a general-purpose I/O port (a GPIO port) 6 connected to a control part 3. By using the general-purpose I/O port 6 for antenna changeover control in the antenna switch circuit 2, flexibility of the antenna changeover control is improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC tag reader / writer and an IC tag system including the reader / writer.

  In order to expand the area that can be covered by one reader / writer, it is effective to increase the number of antennas connected to the reader / writer. Examples of a system that switches between a plurality of antennas to read an IC tag or write to an IC tag include those disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2.

  As a reader / writer, for example, a reader / writer including a control unit including a CPU, a logic circuit having a modulation / demodulation function and performing baseband signal processing, and a transmission / reception unit performing high-frequency signal processing is known. (For example, refer to FIG. 5 of Non-Patent Document 1).

JP 2003-072919 A JP 2001-118037 A http://www2.nict.go.jp/pub/whatsnew/press/h17/060217/060217.html

  As described above, the larger the number of antennas, the larger the area that can be covered, but when the number of antennas exceeds a certain number, the size of the antenna switch circuit for switching antennas increases. As a result, the size of the reader / writer becomes large.

  Therefore, when the number of antennas exceeds a certain number, it is preferable to provide an antenna switch circuit outside the reader / writer in order to avoid an increase in the size of the reader / writer.

  In consideration of the case where an antenna switch circuit is provided outside a reader / writer, an object of the present invention is to provide a reader / writer capable of controlling a relatively large number of antennas and an IC tag system using the reader / writer.

  Some reader / writers are ports that can be used for various purposes, and are provided with general-purpose I / O ports (GPIO ports) connected to a control unit such as a CPU. In the present invention, the general-purpose I / O port is used for antenna switching control, thereby improving the degree of freedom of antenna switching control.

  That is, according to the present invention, as a first reader / writer, a reader / writer that reads and writes to an IC tag, and is connected to an antenna switch circuit for switching a plurality of antennas based on a control signal The reader / writer includes a general-purpose I / O port and a control unit connected to the general-purpose I / O port, and the general-purpose I / O port is used for input and / or output of the control signal. A reader / writer in which the control unit is configured is obtained.

  Further, according to the present invention, an IC tag system including the first reader / writer, the plurality of antennas, and the antenna switch circuit can be obtained as the first IC tag system.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, as the second reader / writer, the first reader / writer further includes a signal output port and a logic circuit having a modulation / demodulation function connected to the signal output port, and the control The signal includes a first control signal and a second control signal, the general-purpose I / O port is used for input and / or output of the first control signal, and the logic circuit is connected via the signal output port. A reader / writer that outputs the second control signal is obtained.

  Further, according to the present invention, an IC tag system including the second reader / writer, the plurality of antennas, and the antenna switch circuit can be obtained as the second IC tag system.

  According to the present invention, as the third IC tag system, in the second IC tag system, the reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit, and the antenna switch circuit includes the transmission / reception unit. A first switch connected to the first switch and a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch, wherein the first switch is in response to the first control signal input from the controller. One of the second switches is connected to the transmitting / receiving unit, and each of the second switches is connected to a plurality of antennas, and each of the second switches is connected to the logic unit. In accordance with the second control signal input from the circuit, an IC tag system is obtained that connects any one of the antennas to the first switch.

  According to the present invention, as the fourth IC tag system, in the second IC tag system, the reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit, and the antenna switch circuit includes the transmission / reception unit. And a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch, the first switch according to the second control signal input from the logic circuit, One of the second switches is connected to the transmitting / receiving unit, and a plurality of antennas are connected to each of the second switches, and each of the second switches is connected to the control unit. In accordance with the first control signal input from the unit, an IC tag system that connects any one of the antennas to the first switch is obtained.

  According to the present invention, as the fifth IC tag system, in the second IC tag system, the reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit, and the antenna switch circuit includes: A first switch connected to the transmission / reception unit; a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch; and a signal generation circuit that generates the first control signal. According to the first control signal input from the signal generation circuit, one of the second switches is connected to the transmission / reception unit, and the first control signal is the general-purpose I / O. A signal indicating which of the second switches is selected is also input to the control unit via a port, and a plurality of antennas are connected to each of the second switches, Serial Each of the second switch, in response to the second control signal inputted from the logic circuit is any one which connects to the first switch of the antenna, IC tag system is obtained.

  According to the present invention, as the sixth IC tag system, in the second IC tag system, the reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit, and the antenna switch circuit includes: A first switch connected to the transmission / reception unit; a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch; and a signal generation circuit that generates the first control signal. One of the second switches is connected to the transceiver according to the second control signal input from a logic circuit, and each of the second switches has a plurality of antennas. Each of the second switches is configured to connect one of the antennas to the first switch in response to the first control signal input from the signal generation circuit. Ri, the first control signal, via said universal I / O ports, either of the antenna is also input to the controller as a signal indicating whether the selected, IC tag system is obtained.

  According to the present invention, as the seventh IC tag system, in the fifth or sixth IC tag system, the signal generation circuit receives the second control signal and outputs the second control signal. An IC tag system that generates the synchronized first control signal is obtained.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, as the eighth IC tag system, in any one of the fifth to seventh IC tag systems, the signal generation circuit receives the second control signal and receives the second control signal. An IC tag system is obtained that counts control signals and generates the first control signal.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the improvement of the freedom degree of antenna switching control can be aimed at by utilizing the general purpose I / O port provided in the reader / writer for antenna switching control. For example, if only the port connected to the logical circuit is used for antenna switching control, the number of controllable antennas is limited by the number of ports, but the general-purpose I / O port is also used. If so, the number of controllable antennas can be greatly increased. In addition, when an IC tag attached to an article placed on a shelf is slowly read once every few hours, there is no strict time limit on the switching timing, so it can be handled only by general-purpose I / O. Become.

  Hereinafter, an IC tag system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 1, the IC tag system according to the first embodiment of the present invention is connected to the reader / writer 1, the antenna switch circuit 2 that is a separate housing from the reader / writer 1, and the antenna switch circuit 2. 16 antennas 100 to 115 are provided.

  The reader / writer 1 includes a control unit 3 having a CPU or the like, a logic circuit 4 connected to the control unit 3, and a transmission / reception unit 5 connected to the logic circuit 4. The logic circuit 4 performs modulation / demodulation processing such as encoding and decoding based on an instruction from the control unit 3. The transmission / reception unit 5 includes a DA / AD converter, a signal processing unit that performs high-frequency analog signal processing such as amplification, a circulator that separates transmission / reception signals, and the like, and includes an analog signal terminal 8 and an analog signal. An analog signal is transmitted / received via the line 14.

  A general-purpose I / O port 6 is connected to the control unit 3. In the present embodiment, the general-purpose I / O port 6 is used to output a first control signal that constitutes a signal used for antenna switching. The first control signal is transmitted to the antenna switch circuit 2 via the first control signal line 15. A signal output port 7 is connected to the logic circuit 4. The signal output port 7 is used to output a second control signal that constitutes a signal used for antenna switching. The second control signal is transmitted to the antenna switch circuit 2 via the second control signal line 16.

  The antenna switch circuit 2 includes a first switch 9 connected to the transmission / reception unit 5 via the analog signal terminal 8 and the analog signal line 14, and four second switches 10 to 13 connected to the first switch 9. ing. The first switch 9 connects any one of the second switches 10 to 13 to the transmission / reception unit 5 in accordance with the first control signal input from the control unit 3. Four antennas 100-103, 104-107, 108-111, and 112-115 are connected to the second switches 10 to 13, respectively. The second switch 10 connects any one of the antennas 100 to 103 to the first switch 9 according to the second control signal input from the logic circuit 4. Similarly, the second switches 11 to 13 connect any one of the antennas 104 to 107, 108 to 111, and 112 to 115 to the first switch 9.

  The first control signal in the present embodiment is a 2-bit signal and designates one of the four ports # 0 to # 3 of the first switch. The second control signal is also a 2-bit signal and designates one of the ports # 0 to # 3 of each second switch.

  In FIG. 2, only the antennas 100 to 103 can be selected while the first control signal selects the port # 0 of the first switch 9, but then the antenna 104 is selected by selecting the port # 1 of the first switch 9. ~ 107 can be selected. For example, when the first control signal designates port # 2 (that is, the second switch 12) and the second control signal designates port # 3 of the second switch 12, the antenna 111 transmits and receives. Selected as an antenna. Similarly, 16 antennas can be selected.

  When the general-purpose I / O port 6 of the reader / writer 1 is not used for antenna control, the signal used for antenna control is only the second control signal output from the logic circuit 4, and the number of antennas that can be controlled is from the logic circuit 4. Although it is determined only by the number of bits that can be output, if the general-purpose I / O port 6 is also used for antenna control as in this embodiment, the number of antennas that can be controlled can be increased. It becomes possible.

  Since the second control signal is output from the logic circuit 4 while the first control signal is transmitted from the control unit 3, the first control signal is asynchronous with the second control signal. Therefore, depending on the selection switching timing of the second switches 10 to 13 in the first switch, while the reading operation for one antenna is being performed, the antenna is switched to another antenna and a reading error may occur. However, in FIG. 2, the first control signal changes every approximately one cycle of the second control signal, but actually, the switching interval of the first control signal is larger than the switching interval of the second control signal. Since the switching interval of the second control signal is several ms, for example, the switching interval of the first control signal via the general-purpose I / O port 6 is about several tens to several hundred ms. Before switching the first control signal, the IC tag reading operation can be performed repeatedly with the same antenna several times. Since the IC tag needs to be read at least once, the asynchronousness between the first control signal and the second control signal is not a problem in practice. Since the control unit 3 knows the value of the first control signal and also knows the value of the second control signal output from the logic circuit 4, it can identify the antenna used for transmission and reception. Become.

(Second Embodiment)
As shown in FIG. 3, the IC tag system according to the second embodiment of the present invention is connected to the reader / writer 1, the antenna switch circuit 2 that is a separate housing from the reader / writer 1, and the antenna switch circuit 2. 16 antennas 100 to 115 are provided.

  As in the first embodiment, the reader / writer 1 includes a control unit 3, a logic circuit 4, and a transmission / reception unit 5, and a general-purpose I / O port 6 is connected to the control unit 3. Is connected to a signal output port 7. The transmission / reception unit 5 is connected to an analog signal line 14 via an analog signal terminal 8. Further, the logic circuit 4 outputs a second control signal via the signal output port 7. However, the control unit 3 in the present embodiment does not output the first control signal. In the present embodiment, as will be described later, a first control signal is generated by means provided in the antenna switch circuit 2, and the generated first control signal is transmitted to the first control signal line 15 and the general purpose I / O. It is to be input to the control unit 3 via the O port 6.

  As in the first embodiment, the antenna switch circuit 2 includes a first switch 9 and second switches 10 to 13 connected to the antennas 100 to 115, and via a second control signal line 16. A signal generation circuit 17 for generating a first control signal from the transmitted second control signal is further provided. The first switch 9 connects any one of the second switches 10 to 13 to the transmission / reception unit 5 in accordance with the first control signal input from the signal generation circuit 17. The second switch 10 connects any one of the antennas 100 to 103 to the first switch 9 according to the second control signal input from the logic circuit 4. Similarly, the second switches 11 to 13 connect any one of the antennas 104 to 107, 108 to 111, and 112 to 115 to the first switch 9.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the signal generation circuit 17 in the present exemplary embodiment includes an AND circuit 18 that performs an AND operation on the 2-bit second control signals a and b, and a counter 19 that counts the output c of the AND circuit 18. Consists of. In particular, the counter 19 in the present embodiment is a 4-bit counter, and the lower two bits of outputs d and e are used as the first control signal. Thus, the signal generation circuit 17 according to the present embodiment generates the first control signal synchronized with the second control signal output from the logic circuit 4. This first control signal is input to the first switch 9 as described above. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, one of the 16 antennas 100 to 115 can be selected by a combination of the first control signal and the second control signal. The antenna selection operation according to this embodiment is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the counter 19 according to the present embodiment counts up the falling edge of the output c of the AND circuit 18, and a first control signal synchronized with the second control signal is generated. In the present embodiment, since the lower two bits of outputs d and e of the counter 19 are used as the first control signal, the first control signal changes every cycle of the change of the second control signal. ing.

  The first control signal in the present embodiment is input to the control unit 3 via the first control signal line 15 and the general-purpose I / O port 6. Thereby, the control unit can know the value of the first control signal, and can specify the antenna used for transmission and reception by using this value and the value of the second control signal notified from the logic circuit 4. It becomes possible.

  As described above, in the signal generation circuit shown in FIG. 4, the first control signal changes every cycle of the second control signal. Until all antennas have been read, there will be no chance of reading. In order to avoid such a situation and make it possible to read a plurality of times in a certain period, the upper bits of the output of the counter 19 may be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, when the upper 2 bits of outputs f and g of the 4-bit counter 19 are used as the first control signal, as shown in FIG. The control signal changes every four cycles. That is, there is an opportunity to read four times with the same antenna until the first control signal changes. Therefore, it is possible to reduce reading loss and increase the recognition rate.

  In the embodiment described above, it is assumed that the first-stage switch is switched by the first control signal and the second-stage switch is switched by the second control signal when viewed from the reader / writer 1, but the first-stage switch is controlled by the second control signal. It is good also as switching with a signal and switching a back | latter stage switch with a 1st control signal. In the above-described embodiment, the case where there is one antenna switch circuit 2 has been described. However, when there are a plurality of analog signal terminals 8 of the reader / writer 1, a plurality of antenna switch circuits 2 are provided accordingly. It is also good. In this case, in order to further expand the number of antennas, a switch that can be controlled by the first or second control signal is provided between the plurality of antenna switch circuits 2 and the reader / writer, and the antenna switch circuit may be switched. good. In the above-described embodiment, each pin of the general-purpose I / O port 6 and the signal output port 7 is associated with a bit. For example, when a specific pin is on, a specific antenna (or switch) Each switch may be configured such as selecting).

1 is a diagram schematically showing an IC tag system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the antenna switching control in the IC tag system shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows schematically the IC tag system by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the signal generation circuit in the IC tag system shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the antenna switching control in an IC tag system provided with the signal generation circuit shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of a structure of the signal generation circuit in the IC tag system shown by FIG. It is a figure which shows antenna switching control in the IC tag system provided with the signal generation circuit shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Reader / writer 2 Antenna switch circuit 3 Control part 4 Logic circuit 5 Transmission / reception part 6 General purpose I / O port 7 Signal output port 8 Analog signal terminal 9 1st switch 10, 11, 12, 13 switch 14 Analog signal line 15 1st Control signal line 16 Second control signal line 17 Signal generation circuit 18 AND circuit 19 Counter 100-115 Antenna a, b Second control signal d, e, f, g First control signal

Claims (10)

  A reader / writer that reads and writes to an IC tag, and is connected to an antenna switch circuit for switching a plurality of antennas based on a control signal. A reader / writer comprising a control unit connected to a / O port, wherein the control unit is configured to use the general-purpose I / O port for input and / or output of the control signal.   An IC tag system comprising the reader / writer according to claim 1, the plurality of antennas, and the antenna switch circuit. A signal output port, and a logic circuit having a modulation / demodulation function connected to the signal output port;
The control signal includes a first control signal and a second control signal,
The general purpose I / O port is used for input and / or output of the first control signal,
The reader / writer according to claim 1, wherein the logic circuit outputs the second control signal via the signal output port.   An IC tag system comprising the reader / writer according to claim 3, the plurality of antennas, and the antenna switch circuit. The reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit,
The antenna switch circuit includes a first switch connected to the transmission / reception unit, and a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch,
The first switch is configured to connect any one of the second switches to the transmission / reception unit according to the first control signal input from the control unit,
A plurality of antennas are connected to each of the second switches,
5. The IC tag system according to claim 4, wherein each of the second switches connects one of the antennas to the first switch in accordance with the second control signal input from the logic circuit. . The reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit,
The antenna switch circuit includes a first switch connected to the transmission / reception unit, and a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch,
The first switch is configured to connect any one of the second switches to the transmission / reception unit according to the second control signal input from the logic circuit.
A plurality of antennas are connected to each of the second switches,
5. The IC tag system according to claim 4, wherein each of the second switches is configured to connect any one of the antennas to the first switch in accordance with the first control signal input from the control unit. . The reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit,
The antenna switch circuit includes a first switch connected to the transmission / reception unit, a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch, and a signal generation circuit that generates the first control signal,
The first switch connects any one of the second switches to the transmission / reception unit according to the first control signal input from the signal generation circuit,
The first control signal is also input to the control unit as a signal indicating which second switch is selected via the general-purpose I / O port.
A plurality of antennas are connected to each of the second switches,
5. The IC tag system according to claim 4, wherein each of the second switches connects one of the antennas to the first switch in accordance with the second control signal input from the logic circuit. . The reader / writer includes a transmission / reception unit connected to the logic circuit,
The antenna switch circuit includes a first switch connected to the transmission / reception unit, a plurality of second switches connected to the first switch, and a signal generation circuit that generates the first control signal,
The first switch is configured to connect any one of the second switches to the transmission / reception unit according to the second control signal input from the logic circuit.
A plurality of antennas are connected to each of the second switches,
Each of the second switches connects any one of the antennas to the first switch in response to the first control signal input from the signal generation circuit.
The IC tag system according to claim 4, wherein the first control signal is also input to the control unit as a signal indicating which antenna is selected via the general-purpose I / O port.   9. The IC tag system according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the signal generation circuit receives the second control signal and generates the first control signal synchronized with the second control signal.   10. The IC tag system according to claim 7, wherein the signal generation circuit receives the second control signal, counts the second control signal, and generates the first control signal. 11.

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