JP2022178543A - Electronic lock, packing container, management device, system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To achieve a high degree of security for transported goods during transportation without compromising convenience.SOLUTION: Electronic locks 10A to 10D mounted to a packing container in which objects to be transported are contained realize high security of transported goods during transportation without impairing convenience by having an operation part 15 that performs unlocking operation of the electronic locks, a mobile communication part 12 that performs wireless communication via a mobile communication network 1, and a control part 13 that causes the operation part to perform an unlocking operation based on key information received by the mobile communication part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic lock, packaging container, management device, system and program.

Conventionally, an electronic lock that can be unlocked by an electronic key (key information) is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses an electronic lock provided on the door of a delivery box. In a home delivery box provided with this electronic lock, when delivery request information is transmitted from a home delivery box terminal attached to the home delivery box to the server device, the corresponding home delivery box ID information is transmitted from the server device to the home delivery box terminal device. be. Upon receiving the home delivery box ID information, the home delivery box terminal device unlocks the electronic lock of the home delivery box corresponding to the home delivery box ID information.

JP 2019-006550 A

In the past, the security of transported goods (anti-theft, etc.) during transport was ensured by transport specialists responsible for the transportation through training of personnel who transported and temporarily stored transported goods and work management. However, in recent years, with the spread of Internet shopping, person-to-person sales, and the spread of various home delivery services, a large amount of goods are being transported every day, and the shortage of workers to transport large amounts of goods is becoming a serious problem. there is As a result, human resources training and business management by transportation specialists are insufficient, and there is concern that the security of transported goods will be lowered during transportation. In addition, since transport specialists alone cannot handle all the transportation, individual businesses and businesses in other industries are also responsible for transportation. Under these circumstances, there is a demand for measures that can ensure the security of transported items during transportation, for example, measures that can ensure the security of transported items for people who are in charge of transportation and temporary storage of the transported items.

Conventional measures, such as the system described in Patent Literature 1, lock a delivery box in which goods are temporarily stored during transportation with an electronic lock to ensure the security of the goods against third parties during temporary storage. It ensures. Such conventional measures do not ensure the security of the transported goods at locations other than the home delivery box, and cannot ensure the security of, for example, the person responsible for transporting or temporarily storing the transported goods.

An electronic lock according to one aspect of the present invention is an electronic lock that is attached to a packaging container in which an object to be transported is accommodated. and a control unit for causing the operation unit to perform an unlocking operation based on the key information received by the mobile communication unit.
In the electronic lock, the mobile communication unit may perform the wireless communication by low power consumption wide area communication via the mobile communication network.
Moreover, the said electronic lock WHEREIN: The non-IP communication which communicates without using IP (Internet Protocol) may be sufficient as the said low power consumption wide area communication.
Further, in the electronic lock, the non-IP communication may be communication conforming to NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery).
Further, in the electronic lock, the mobile communication unit may transmit unlocking information when the electronic lock is unlocked.
Further, the electronic lock may have a presentation unit that presents a code image for specifying identification information of the electronic lock.

A packaging container according to another aspect of the present invention is a packaging container capable of accommodating an object to be transported,
The electronic lock according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is attached to the opening/closing portion of the packaging container.

A management device according to another aspect of the present invention is a management device for managing the above-described electronic lock, comprising: a locking information receiving unit that receives locking information when the electronic lock is locked; and a key information transmitting unit that transmits key information for unlocking the device.
The management device includes an acquisition unit that acquires identification information of the electronic lock and position information of the electronic lock, and based on the identification information and the position information of the electronic lock acquired by the acquisition unit, the electronic lock is installed. and a transportation management unit that manages transportation of the transported goods.
In addition, the management device stores information of a first business operator who transports the transported goods from its own business office to the relay point among a plurality of businesses entering and exiting the relay point of the transported goods, and a management database that manages information of a second business operator that transports the transported item from the relay point to the own business office and information of the relay point for each transported item; and a transportation management unit that performs transportation management of the transportation object to which the electronic lock is attached, using information managed by a management database.
Further, the management device includes a transportation information receiving unit that receives the transportation information of the transportation object, information of a relay point candidate that can be a relay point of the transportation object, and information of a plurality of business operators that enter and leave the relay point candidate. and one or more relay points from among the relay point candidates based on the transportation information of the transported goods received by the transportation information receiving unit using the information registered in the registration database. and a transportation route determining unit that selects the transportation route of the transportation object.
Further, in the management device, the information on the relay point candidate registered in the registration database includes information on the empty space of the temporary storage space of the transported object at the relay point candidate, the relay point candidate and other relay point candidates. and at least one of information on the transportation empty space between the relay point candidate and information on the transportation time between the relay point candidate and another relay point candidate.
Further, in the management device, the information of the business operator registered in the registration database includes information on the empty space of the temporary storage space of the transported goods at the business office of the business operator, At least one of information on empty transportation space between a relay point candidate, information on the timing of entry and exit of the business operator to the relay point candidate, and information on the transportation time between the business operator's own office and the relay point candidate. May contain information.
The management device may have a second registration database in which information of a candidate for a transportation company that transports goods between relay points is registered, and the transportation route determination unit stores information in the second registration database. Using the registered information, a transport company that transports the goods between the two or more transit points selected by the transport route determination unit may be selected from the transport company candidates.

Further, in a system according to still another aspect of the present invention, the electronic lock described above and the management device described above are communicably connected via a mobile communication network.
A program according to still another aspect of the present invention is a program that is executed by a computer of the management apparatus described above, and causes the computer to function as the transportation management section.
A program according to still another aspect of the present invention is a program that is executed by a computer of the management apparatus described above, and causes the computer to function as the transportation route determination unit.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the high security of the goods during transportation can be implement|achieved, without impairing convenience.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a transportation method of a transported object according to the embodiment; Explanatory drawing which shows the main structures of the management system in embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a management device in the same management system; FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a part of electronic lock management (registration processing) in the same management system; FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing another part of electronic lock management (locking management) in the same management system. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing another part (unlocking management) of electronic lock management in the same management system; FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing a part of transport management (collection management) of transported items in the same management system. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing another part (transportation management) of transport management of transported objects in the same management system; FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the other part of transport management (delivery management) in the same management system. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing a part of transport management (collection management) of transported objects in the modified management system; Explanatory drawing which shows the main structures of other management systems in embodiment. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a part of electronic lock management (registration processing) in the same management system;

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As an example, this embodiment is applied to a transportation method in which an object to be transported by a sender is stored in a packaging container such as a packaging box with a remote electronic lock and then transported to the recipient in a state of being locked with an electronic lock. is. The electronic lock according to the present invention is attached integrally or separately to a packaging container such as a packaging box used for transportation, and locks or unlocks the opening and closing of the packaging container. The transportation method is not limited to that of the present embodiment as long as it is transported integrally with the transported object, and can be applied to various transportation methods.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of a method for transporting a transported object according to the present embodiment.
In the transportation method of the present embodiment, a packaging box with a remote electronic lock (hereinafter referred to as a "packaging box with an electronic lock" or a "packaging box"), which is a packaging container to which a remote electronic lock (hereinafter referred to as an "electronic lock") 10A is attached. .) 501 is used. At a business office in the neighborhood (nearest) of the sender, which is the business office of the first business operator, the sender collects the packing box 501 in which the goods P to be transported are stored and locked by locking the electronic lock 10A. The electronic lock 10A of the packing box 501 may be locked by the business office of the first business operator who collected the packing box 501 instead of by the sender. Also, the office of the first business operator may collect the goods P to be transported, store the goods P in a predetermined packing box 501, and lock the electronic lock 10A. After that, the packing box 501 (hereinafter referred to as "shipment 500A") containing the goods P and locked by the electronic lock 10A is transported to a relay station where the first business operator usually goes in and out.

The transported item 500A transported to the relay point in this way belongs to another business operator who regularly goes in and out of the relay point, and has an office near (closest to) the recipient of the transported item 500A. It is transported by the second business operator to the second business operator's own office. When the electronic lock 10A is unlocked, the packaging box 501 of the transported item 500A is opened. Then, the item P, which is the content of the transportation item 500A, is taken out from the packing box 501, and the item P is handed over to the recipient.

In the transport method according to the present embodiment, the business operators (first business operator and second business operator) who enter and leave the relay station are those who carry out main businesses that are different from the transportation business. That is, according to the transportation method of the present embodiment, when a business operator enters and exits a relay station for his/her main business (business other than transportation business), the transported object 500A is transported between the own business office and the relay station. It is intended to be transported by

There are no particular restrictions on the relay point as long as it is a place where multiple businesses enter and exit for their main business. A location with space for temporary storage of ~500D is preferred. For example, if a place such as a food store or a food market that sells food ingredients is used as a relay base, a restaurant business operator that operates restaurants, sushi restaurants, ramen shops, izakayas, etc. is the main business. Entering and exiting a relay station to purchase ingredients for a certain restaurant business. In addition, food retailers who operate food stores such as bakeries and liquor stores, and food wholesalers, go in and out of relay points to deliver food and food ingredients for food sales and wholesale business, which is their main business. . Therefore, these businesses can be the first and second businesses described above.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the relay point is a grocery store, the first business is a restaurant business that operates a restaurant (business office) in the neighborhood of the sender, and the second business is the neighborhood of the recipient. It is a food store operator that operates a food store (business office). In this case, the restaurant business operator (first business operator) who received the item P from the sender accommodates the item P in the packing box 501, locks it with the electronic lock 10A, and then transports the food material to the food store (relay base). When going to purchase, the transportation item 500A is transported to the food store (relay point). After that, the food store business operator (second business operator), which is another business operator entering and exiting the food store (relay point), delivers the food to the food store (relay point), and the transported goods Transport 500A to your food store (office). The food store business operator (second business operator) temporarily stores the transported item 500A until the recipient comes to the food store (business office) to pick it up, and when the recipient comes to pick it up, the electronic lock 10A is unlocked to open the transport 500A, and the goods P as its contents are handed over to the recipient.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for transportation of goods (short-distance transportation) in which the sender and recipient are located within a relatively small area, such as in areas where the population is concentrated. The transportation method of the present embodiment is used in the transportation (short-distance transportation) of a transported object within a relatively narrow area where the business offices of businesses entering and exiting one relay point (such as a food store) are distributed. It is possible to realize transportation that does not involve transport specialists such as traders, and it is effective as a new transportation method in the situation where there is a shortage of human resources who are responsible for transportation.

In particular, in the transportation method of the present embodiment, the operators (the first operator and the second operator) who are responsible for the transportation between the business office and the relay point are responsible for the transportation between the relay point and their own business office. When you move for business, you will be transporting the transported goods. Therefore, the transportation burden on business operators is small, and many business operators can be expected to participate in this transportation method.

In the transportation method of the present embodiment, many business operators participate, so for the sender and recipient, the delivery and receiving places (business offices of each business operator) are closer or more established. Therefore, it is highly convenient.
In addition, the transportation method of the present embodiment increases the transportation capacity to and from the relay point by participation of many businesses, so that it becomes possible to handle a larger number of transported items.
In addition, in the transportation method of the present embodiment, the participation of many business operators increases the time density of business operators entering and exiting the relay station, so the temporary storage time at the relay station can be shortened, resulting in faster transportation. becomes possible.

Next, an example of a management system for realizing the transportation method of this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the main configuration of the management system in this embodiment.
In the management system of this embodiment, mainly electronic locks 10A to 10D attached to each transportation item 500A to 500D and a management device 300 for managing this management system can communicate via the mobile communication network 1. It is connected to the. In addition, the management system of this embodiment also uses the communication terminals 201 to 205 used by the sender, the first business operator, the relay base business operator, the second business operator, and the recipient, and the equipment in the mobile communication network 1. is.

The mobile communication network 1 of this embodiment mainly consists of one or more base stations 20 that wirelessly communicate with the electronic locks 10A to 10D, SGW (Serving Gateway) and PGW (PDN (Packet Data Network) Gateway). It is composed of S/PGW 30, MME (Mobility Management Entity) 40, SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function) 50, and I/F 100 for SCEF. The SCEF I/F 100 includes an SCS (Service Capability Server) 120 for communicating with the SCEF 50 .

Facilities in the mobile communication network 1 such as the base station 20, the S/PGW 30, the MME 40, the SCEF 50, and the SCEF I/F 100 may be managed and operated by the mobile communication carrier of the mobile communication network 1, for example. For convenience of illustration, only one electronic lock 10A to 10D is shown in FIG. 2, but two or more electronic locks 10A to 10D are attached to each transportation object.

The electronic locks 10A to 10D of this embodiment are provided with a presentation section 11, a mobile communication section 12, a control section 13, a position information acquisition section 14, and an operation section 15. FIG.

The presentation unit 11 presents a code image for specifying the identification information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D provided with the presentation unit 11. FIG. The presentation unit 11 is specifically a printed matter on which a two-dimensional code image such as a QR code (registered trademark) is printed, and is attached to the outer surface of the body of each of the electronic locks 10A to 10D. The code image is not limited to a two-dimensional code image, and may be another code image such as a bar code image. In addition, the presentation unit 11 is not limited to such printed matter, and may be a display device such as electronic paper. However, since the electronic locks 10A to 10D of the present embodiment are transported together with the transportation objects 500A to 500D, they cannot be supplied with power from an external power source. preferably avoided.

The mobile communication unit 12 is a communication unit for mobile communication, also called a mobile station, and functions as communication means for communicating via the mobile communication network 1. It executes high frequency signal processing for wireless communication with the base station 20 of the network 1 . This mobile communication unit 12 is configured as, for example, a communication module. The electronic locks 10A to 10D can be connected to the mobile communication network 1 side by performing wireless communication with the base station 20 by a predetermined wireless communication method by the mobile communication unit 12, and low consumption is achieved via the mobile communication network 1. Communication can be performed by, for example, the NIDD (Non-IP Data Deliverer) communication method belonging to the LPWA (Low Power, Wide Area) communication technology, which is a power wide area communication technology. Note that a function that enables communication using IP (Internet Protocol) via the mobile communication network 1 may be added as long as the problems of power consumption and cost of the electronic lock can be solved.

The mobile communication unit 12 uses Cat. M and Cat. Other communication methods belonging to the LPWA communication technology such as NB may be adopted. In addition, Cat. M is 3GPP Cat. M, Cat. It is a wireless communication system conforming to the M1, LTE-M or eMTC specifications, the frequency bandwidth is limited to, for example, 1.4 MHz, and supports a coverage extension of approximately 15 dB and a maximum communication speed (throughput) of 1 Mbps (uplink). ing. Also, Cat. NB is 3GPP Cat. It is a wireless communication method that conforms to the specifications of NB or NB-IoT, and the frequency bandwidth is limited to a narrow band of, for example, 200 kHz, and supports a coverage extension of about 23 dB and a maximum communication speed (throughput) of 63 kbps (uplink). there is

The control unit 13 controls operations of the electronic locks 10A to 10D. The control unit 13 is configured by an electric circuit on which various chips are mounted, and executes unlocking operation control for causing the operation unit 15 to perform an unlocking operation based on key information received by the mobile communication unit 12, for example. Further, for example, control is executed to transmit the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 14 from the mobile communication unit 12 .

The position information acquisition unit 14 receives radio waves from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) satellites such as GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites, and based on the reception results, determines the latitude, longitude, and position of the electronic locks 10A to 10D. Calculate location information such as altitude data.

The operation unit 15 is for unlocking the transportation object, and the operation method is not particularly limited as long as the control unit 13 can electrically control unlocking. A locking system or an electromagnetic locking system can be adopted.

The base station 20 constitutes a radio access network (RAN), and is also called eNodeB, gNodeB, or the like, or called a macrocell base station or small cell base station, depending on the size of the cell it forms. The base station 20 includes, for example, a radio unit (RRH) that transmits and receives radio signals and a baseband unit (BBU) that performs digital baseband signal processing. For example, the RRH converts the digital baseband signal received from the BBU into an RF signal, power-amplifies it to a predetermined signal level, and transmits it to the electronic locks 10A-10D. Also, the RRH converts the RF signal received from the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D into a digital baseband signal and transmits the digital baseband signal to the BBU.

A core network included in the mobile communication network 1 is also called an EPC (Evolved Packet Core) in LTE/LTE-Advanced, for example, and is connected to a base station 20 via a predetermined communication interface. The core network also has various nodes such as S/PGW 30, MME 40, SCEF 50 and the like. The core network may have other nodes such as PCRF (Policy and Charging Rules Function).

The S/PGW 30 performs data communication with the base station 20 through the mobile communication network 1 without using IP (Internet Protocol), and performs data communication with the communication terminals 201 to 205 using IP. . The S/PGW 30 functions as a node that transfers packets between the communication terminals 201 to 205 and the management device 300 when performing data communication using IP. Specifically, IP addresses are assigned to the wireless communication units of the communication terminals 201 to 205 to perform packet data transfer processing. For example, the functions of the P-GW include assignment of IP addresses to the communication terminals 201 to 205, user authentication regarding connection to the packet network, DHCP server function, and the like. Also, as a function of the S-GW, it becomes an anchor point of the RAN having the base station 20 and the like, and relays user packet data between the P-GWs.

The MME 40 is a node that accommodates the base station 20 and performs radio communication network control, mobility control, handover control, user authentication control, and the like. Based on the user registration information, the MME 40 transfers data transmitted via the base station 20 to the SCEF 50, which performs NIDD data transfer described later, or forwards data sent from the SCEF 50 to the electronic locks 10A to 10D. It transfers data (such as key information) and control information to the base station 20 . The MME 40 also has a function of collecting and storing information such as communication log information and communication control parameters for each of the electronic locks 10A to 10D and the base station 20. FIG.

The SCEF 50 is a node with interfaces for providing some of the 3GPP communication services to third party application providers. The SCEF 50 performs transfer processing for data transmission/reception with the electronic locks 10A to 10D by NIDD, which will be described later. The SCEF 50 may create communication usage data (for example, CDR) for accounting for data transmission/reception with the electronic locks 10A-10D by the NIDD.

In addition, in the present embodiment, control information such as notification of data communication timing of regular communication in which the electronic locks 10A to 10D perform data communication at predetermined data communication timings is transmitted from the electronic locks 10A to 10D to the SCEF 50 via the control channel, for example. be notified.

Further, the mobile communication unit 12 of each of the electronic locks 10A to 10D may be placed in a sleep state by suspending power supply to some circuits while waiting for an incoming call in order to reduce power consumption. The mobile communication unit 12 of each of the electronic locks 10A to 10D receives a reception request, which will be described later, when waiting for an incoming call, supplies power to the entire circuit using the reception as a trigger, and receives data to be received (key information, etc.). , it may be controlled to return to the sleep state when data reception is completed.

Further, in this embodiment, the communication status information indicating the communication status with the electronic locks 10A-10D is transferred from the electronic locks 10A-10D and the base station 20 to the SCEF 50 via the MME 40. FIG. The communication status information includes, for example, information such as communication log information and communication control parameters of the electronic locks 10A to 10D and the base station 20, setting information on data communication timing set in the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D, and the like. is.

The communication system that constitutes the management system of this embodiment supports NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery). NIDD is a function defined in the 3GPP standards (see, for example, TS23.401 V15.4.0 (2018-06), TS23.682 V15.5.0 (2018-06)), and the electronic lock 10A This function enables the mobile communication unit 12 installed in various devices such as 10D to transfer data without operating the IP stack or obtaining an IP address. By using this NIDD, attacks from an IP network that uses IP can be minimized and secure data transfer becomes possible.

In order to reduce the data processing load in the mobile communication network 1 , an MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) server that performs part of the data processing in the mobile communication network 1 may be provided inside or near the base station 20 . The MEC server may have, for example, a function of managing data transmission timings to the electronic locks 10A to 10D located in the cell of the base station 20 corresponding to that server.

In addition, the communication system that constitutes the management system of this embodiment supports extended coverage (CE) of category M1 (eMTC) and category NB1 (NB-IoT) so that the electronic locks 10A to 10D can communicate in the IoT communication mode. is doing.

The IoT communication mode is a communication mode for performing IoT communication with the base station 20, for example, a communication mode conforming to the LTE-Advanced Pro eMTC or NB-IoT standard (see Non-Patent Document 1), or , is a communication mode of Massive Machine-Type Communications (5G mMTC: Massive Machine-Type Communications) proposed for 5th generation mobile communications.

The broadband communication mode is a communication mode in which broadband communication is performed with the base station 20 in a broadband communication area narrower than the IoT communication area in which communication is possible in the IoT communication mode. It is a communication mode conforming to the LTE, LTE-Advanced or LTE-Advanced Pro standards, or a communication mode of a new radio access technology (5G (New Radio)) proposed for the fifth generation mobile communication.

The communication system constituting the electronic locks 10A to 10D of the present embodiment may support both the broadband communication mode and the IoT communication mode, or may support only the IoT communication mode. may

Further, in the communication system constituting the electronic locks 10A to 10D of the present embodiment, data transmission from the SCEF I/F 100 to the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D is push communication (the mobile communication unit 12 acquires data). communication method that receives the data without sending a request). According to such push communication, data and control information can be transmitted to the electronic locks 10A to 10D at a time desired by the SCEF I/F 100 or the management device 300 side. It is possible to cause a locking operation.

However, in order to reduce power consumption, the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D are in a communication disabled state at communication disabled timings that are not predetermined data communication timings. Therefore, even if data is transmitted (push communication) to the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D at the communication disabled timing, the data will not be delivered.

Regarding this point, in the present embodiment, since the data communication timing is managed by the SCEF 50 or the like, data transmission (push communication) from the SCEF I/F 100 to the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic lock 10A to 10D is performed at the communication disabled timing. If there is, the SCEF 50 temporarily holds the data. Then, at a predetermined data communication timing, the SCEF 50 transmits the data to the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D.

Further, even at a predetermined data communication timing, if the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D cannot communicate with the base station 20, the data will not be delivered. In such a case, in this embodiment, since the MME 40 monitors the communication status between the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D and the base station 20, if there is data transmission to the mobile communication units 12, , the MME 40 notifies the SCEF 50 that communication with the mobile communication unit 12 is not possible. As a result, the SCEF 50 temporarily holds the data, and when receiving a notification from the MME 40 that communication with the mobile communication unit 12 is possible, the SCEF 50 transfers the data to the electronic lock via the MME 40 . It is transmitted to the mobile communication units 12 of 10A to 10D.

As described above, the management system of the present embodiment includes the SCEF 50 as a transmission device for transmitting key information to the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D by low power consumption wide area communication via the mobile communication network. , MME 40, and base station 20.

Next, the configuration of the SCEF I/F 100 of this embodiment will be described.
The SCEF I/F 100 may have a part or all of the functions of a management device that manages the electronic locks 10A-10D. The SCEF I/F 100 includes a control unit 110, an SCS 120, a user management DB 130, and an IP I/F 140, as shown in FIG.

The control unit 110 executes various controls and data processing for exhibiting the functions of the SCEF I/F 100 . Specifically, control unit 110 transmits the key information from management device 300 received by IP I/F 140 to corresponding electronic locks 10A to 10D using a communication method conforming to NIDD, which is a non-IP communication method. (hereinafter referred to as "NIDD communication method"), the processing for transmission to the electronic locks 10A to 10D is executed. Since the key information of this embodiment is used to unlock the electronic locks 10A to 10D that lock the transportation items 500A to 500D, high security is desired for transmission of the key information. Therefore, it is effective to use the NIDD communication method with high security for communication of key information.

As described above, the NIDD communication method supported by the management system of this embodiment is a communication technology that does not use IP and does not require an IP address. Secure communication is possible. In addition, by using the NIDD communication method in this way, it is possible to ensure sufficient security without taking other security measures such as encrypted communication. Therefore, the amount of data to be transmitted for transferring the same amount of information can be reduced.

SCS 120 is an interface for communicating with SCEF 50 . The SCEF I/F 100 and the SCEF 50 do not need to be connected by a non-IP communication method that does not use IP. It is desirable to ensure sufficient security by

The user management DB 130 is a database in which various types of information used for data processing executed by the control unit 110 are registered. The user management DB 130 manages, for example, a database indicating the correspondence between the key information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D and the identification information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D unlocked by the key information.

The I/F 140 for IP is an interface mainly for communicating with the management device 300 . The SCEF I/F 100 and the management device 300 are connected by an IP communication method that communicates using IP, but it is desired to ensure sufficient security. Therefore, for example, authentication is performed so that only the management device 300 permitted to communicate with the client certificate can communicate with the SCEF I/F 100, and encrypted communication is performed by SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Adequate security is ensured.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the management device 300 in this embodiment.
The management device 300 is, for example, a server that executes various data processing necessary to provide applications for various services using communication through the mobile communication network 1 . The management device 300 of this embodiment has functions for managing the electronic locks 10A to 10D (management of locking and unlocking, etc.), and for transport management of the transported objects 500A to 500D locked by the electronic locks 10A to 10D. Includes servers with functions (transportation management, business operator management, relay station management, transportation route management), billing/payment functions, etc. The management device 300 of this embodiment includes a control unit 301 , a registration database 302 , a management database 303 , an NIDD communication unit 304 and an IP communication unit 305 .

The control unit 301 controls the operation of the management device 300 . The control unit 13 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and by executing programs such as a predetermined basic OS and middleware, for example, manages the electronic locks 10A to 10D, and controls transport items to which the electronic locks 10A to 10D are attached. Executes necessary processing for transportation management of 500A to 500D.

The registration database 302 registers various types of registration information required for management and operation of the management system of this embodiment. Specifically, there are business operators who can be the first and second business operators responsible for the transport of transported goods 500A to 500D, candidates for relay points that can be relay points for transported goods 500A to 500D, and Information such as the sender who sends 500A to 500D and the recipient who receives the transported items 500A to 500D by this transportation method is registered.

The management database 303 manages various information necessary for transportation management for the transportation method of this embodiment. Specifically, information on the first business operator who transports the transported goods 500A to 500D from its own office to the relay point among the multiple business operators who enter and leave the relay point of the transported goods 500A to 500D, and the information on the transported goods 500A to 500D Information of a second business operator that transports a transported item from a relay point to its own business office and information of a relay point among a plurality of businesses that enter and leave the relay point are managed for each transported item.

The NIDD communication unit 304 communicates with the electronic locks 10A to 10D and the communication terminals 201 to 205 via the SCEF I/F 100 and the base station 20 according to the NIDD communication method. The NIDD communication unit 304 mainly communicates key information for unlocking the electronic locks 10A to 10D, payment information, and the like.

IP communication unit 305 performs IP data communication with communication terminals 201 to 205 via S/PGW 30 and base station 20 . The IP communication unit 305 mainly communicates various registration information registered in the registration database 302 .

Next, the management flow of the electronic locks 10A to 10D attached to the transportation items 500A to 500D in this management system will be described.
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing part of management (registration processing) of the electronic locks 10A to 10D in the management system of this embodiment.
The processing shown in FIG. 4 includes an electronic lock authentication step (S100) for performing authentication processing for registering the electronic locks 10A to 10D in this management system, and a service for registering each communication terminal 201 to 205 in this management system. and a registration step (S300).

In the electronic lock authentication step (S100), when the electronic locks 10A to 10D are initially operated, the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D transmit their own IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) information to the MME 40 via the base station 20. (S101, S102). The MME 40 performs an authentication process by making an inquiry to an authentication facility for confirming whether or not this IMSI has been authenticated (S103).

Here, before this authentication process, the SCEF I/F 100 is preliminarily provided with resources for performing communication in the NIDD communication method with the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D via the SCEF 50. to generate At this time, the SCEF 50 issues an external-ID (hereinafter referred to as “E-ID”) authentication request to the authentication facility, and the authentication facility sends the IMSI related to the authentication process to the SCEF 50 as a response to this authentication request. return. As a result, the SCEF 50 obtains the IMSI corresponding to the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D to be authenticated in the electronic lock authentication step, and the E-ID used for communication between the SCEF 50 and the SCEF I/F 100. , and holds the correspondence.

By this pre-processing, the authentication facility registers IMSIs in which IMSIs and E-IDs are associated with each other in the SCEF 50, that is, IMSIs that can be used as the electronic locks 10A to 10D of this management system. Therefore, the MME 40, which has received the IMSI notification from the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D, can authenticate whether or not this IMSI is the IMSI of the display device of this management system by inquiring the authentication equipment. can.

After completing the IMSI authentication processing of the electronic locks 10A to 10D, the MME 40 transmits a session creation request by the NIDD communication method to the SCEF 50 (S104). As a result, the SCEF 50 executes the process of associating the IMSI and the E-ID associated in advance with the SCEF I/F 100 (S105). This enables the SCEF I/F 100 to perform data communication via the SCEF 50 with the mobile communication units 12 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D.

Next, the service registration step (S200) will be described.
In the service registration step (S200), the business operator, the relay base company, the sender, and the recipient perform predetermined operations on the communication terminals 201 to 205, thereby allowing the communication terminals 201 to 205 or their operators to enter the management system. A service use request for registration is transmitted from the communication terminals 201 to 205 (S201). For this operation, for example, an application for this management system is installed in the communication terminals 201 to 205, and the application is used to perform an operation for registering with this management system.

When the service use requests transmitted from the communication terminals 201 to 205 are sent to the management device 300 via the base station 20 and the S/PGW 30 (S202, S203), the control unit 301 of the management device 300 sends the service use request A registration process for registering information on the communication terminals 201 to 205 or their operators in the registration database 302 is executed (S204).

Specifically, when a relay base trader registers with this management system as a relay base candidate, the relay base trader executes an application installed in the communication terminal 203, performs predetermined operations according to the instructions of the application, and obtains necessary information. input. Information on relay site candidates includes information such as the name and contact information of the relay site provider, information such as the address (position) of the relay site provider's relay site and the size of the temporary storage space, and provision of provision of the relay site. Payment-related information necessary for receiving service charges can be mentioned. When the service use request is transmitted from the communication terminal 203 to the management device 300 , the information is transmitted from the communication terminal 203 to the management device 300 and registered in the registration database 302 .

In addition, when a business operator who receives and delivers transported goods and transports between relay points registers in this management system, the business operator executes an application installed on the communication terminal 202, 204, and executes the application. Follow the instructions to perform the prescribed operations and input the necessary information. Business operator information includes information such as the business operator's name and contact information, information such as the business address (location) of the business operator's own office and the size of the temporary storage space, etc. Necessary for receiving the service fee provided by the business operator. payment-related information, etc. When a service use request is transmitted from communication terminals 202 and 204 to management device 300 , the information is transmitted from communication terminals 202 and 204 to management device 300 and registered in registration database 302 .

In addition, when the sender or recipient of the transported goods registers in this management system, the business operator executes the application installed on the communication terminal 201, 205, and performs predetermined operations and inputs necessary information according to the instructions of the application. conduct. The information on the sender and recipient includes information such as the name and contact information of the sender and recipient, information related to payment for payment of transportation charges, and the like. When a service use request is transmitted from communication terminals 201 and 205 to management device 300 , the information is transmitted from communication terminals 201 and 205 to management device 300 and registered in registration database 302 .

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the other part (locking management) of management of the electronic locks 10A to 10D in the management system of this embodiment.
The process shown in FIG. 5 is an electronic lock locking step (S300) for managing locking of the electronic locks 10A to 10D registered in this management system.

In the electronic lock locking step (S300), the goods P to be transported at the first company's own office are placed in a predetermined packing box 501 and the electronic lock 10A is locked (S301). After that, the first operator operates the communication terminal 202 to start the application, and reads the two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation unit 11 of the electronic lock 10A using the imaging unit of the communication terminal 202 (S302). . Thereby, the communication terminal 202 extracts code data from the two-dimensional code image. The code data in this embodiment is identification information for identifying the electronic lock 10A.

Also, the first business operator and the sender input the transportation information (sender's address, recipient's address, transportation conditions, etc.) of the transported article 500A to the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator (S303). After that, when the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator is operated to indicate that the lock has been confirmed, the code data, the locking information, the transportation information, and the identification information of the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator are sent from the communication terminal 202. etc. are sent to the management device 300 by the NIDD communication method via the base station 20 (S304 to S307). All or part of this information (such as transport information) may be transmitted from the base station 20 to the management device 300 via the S/PGW 30 using the IP communication method.

The control unit 301 of the management device 300 that has received these pieces of information executes registration processing for registering these pieces of information in the management database 303 (S308). Specifically, it is registered that the electronic lock 10A is in the locked state based on the lock information in association with the identification information of the electronic lock 10A corresponding to the received code data. This makes it possible to manage which electronic lock is in the locked state. Also, based on the identification information of the communication terminal 202, it is registered that the goods have been collected at the own business office of the first business operator. As a result, it is possible to manage which electronic locks are transported to which offices.

In addition, the control unit 301 of the management device 300 generates a personal identification code necessary for unlocking the electronic lock 10A, associates the received code data with the identification information of the electronic lock 10A corresponding to the electronic lock 10A, and also generates the personal identification code. Register in the management database 303 . Then, based on the received transportation information, the control unit 301 notifies the recipient's communication terminal 205 that the article P will be sent, and also transmits the personal identification code (S309).

Processing such as reading of the two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation unit 11 of the electronic lock 10A, transmission of code data and lock information, transmission of transportation information, etc. is not performed by the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator, for example The communication terminal 201 of the sender may be used. Also, the code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) and lock information may be transmitted from the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic lock 10A instead of being transmitted from the communication terminal.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing another part (management of unlocking) of management of the electronic locks 10A to 10D in the management system of this embodiment.
The processing shown in FIG. 6 is an electronic lock unlocking step (S400) for managing the unlocking of the electronic locks 10A to 10D registered in this management system.

In the electronic lock unlocking step (S400), the recipient who comes to pick up the article P from the own business office of the second business operator operates the communication terminal 205 to start the application and open the electronic lock 10A of the transported article 500A. The two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation unit 11 is read using the imaging unit of the communication terminal 205 (S401). Thereby, the communication terminal 205 extracts code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) from the two-dimensional code image. Also, the recipient operates the communication terminal 205 to input the personal identification code corresponding to the electronic lock 10A received in advance (S402). Thereafter, the communication terminal 205 to which the personal identification code has been input sends code data and an unlocking request (including the personal identification code) to the management device 300 via the base station 20 by the NIDD communication method (S403-S406). Note that the code data and the unlocking request may be transmitted from the base station 20 to the management device 300 via the S/PGW 30 using the IP communication method.

The control unit 301 of the management device 300 that has received the code data and the unlocking request refers to the management database 303 and confirms that the personal identification code associated with the identification information of the electronic lock 10A corresponding to the received code data is the received personal identification code. Authentication processing is performed to determine whether or not it matches (S408). If the personal identification codes match as a result of this authentication processing, the management device 300 transmits key information for unlocking to the electronic lock 10A of the corresponding code data using the NIDD communication method (S409 to S411).

When this key information is received by the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic lock 10A, the control unit 13 confirms that the received key information is genuine key information, and then causes the operating unit 15 to perform an unlocking operation. (S412). As a result, the electronic lock 10A is unlocked, the packing box 501 of the transported article 500A can be opened, the item P can be taken out from the packing box 501, and the item P can be received by the recipient.

Processing such as reading of the two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation unit 11 of the electronic lock 10A, transmission of the code data and unlocking request, etc., is performed not by the communication terminal 205 of the recipient, but by communication of, for example, the second business operator. It may be performed using the terminal 204 . Also, the code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) and the unlocking request may be transmitted from the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic lock 10A instead of being transmitted from the communication terminal.

Next, a description will be given of the flow of transportation management of the transported items 500A to 500D in this management system.
Although the transport management of the transported items 500A to 500D partially overlaps with the management of the electronic locks 10A to 10D described above, it can also be performed independently of the management of the electronic locks 10A to 10D described above. It is possible. In other words, the transportation management in this embodiment is not limited to those provided with the mobile communication unit 12 like the electronic locks 10A to 10D described above, and can be applied to a wide range of common electronic locks.

FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing part of transport management (collection management) of the transported items 500A to 500D in the management system of this embodiment.
The processing shown in FIG. 7 is a transportation management step (1) for managing cargo collection performed at the first business operator's own office in the transportation management step (S500).

In the transport management step (1), the goods P to be transported are housed in a predetermined packaging box 501 at the own business office of the first company that collects the goods P of the sender, and the electronic lock 10A is locked. After that, the first business operator operates the communication terminal 202 to start the application, and reads the two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation unit 11 of the electronic lock 10A using the imaging unit of the communication terminal 202 (S501). . Thereby, the communication terminal 202 extracts code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) from the two-dimensional code image.

In addition, the first business operator and the sender input the transportation information (sender's address, recipient's address, transportation conditions, etc.) of the transported article 500A to the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator (S502). After that, the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator is operated, and from the communication terminal 202, code data, lock information, transportation information, identification information of the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator, etc. is sent to the management device 300 (S503 to S506). All or part of this information may be transmitted to the management device 300 by the NIDD communication method.

The control unit 301 of the management device 300 that has received these pieces of information executes registration processing for registering these pieces of information in the management database 303 (S507). Specifically, based on the identification information of the communication terminal 202, it is registered that the goods have been collected at the own office of the first business operator. As a result, it is possible to manage which electronic locks are transported to which offices.

In addition, the management device 300 refers to the received transportation information and the information of businesses registered in the registration database 302, and according to predetermined selection conditions, selects a second business to deliver the goods P to the recipient. (S508). The selection conditions include, for example, selecting a business operator whose location is close to the recipient's address and a business operator offering a low service charge.

In addition, for example, when the information of the vacant space of the temporary storage space of the transported goods at the company's own office is registered as the information of the company in the registration database 302, the company with the large amount of vacant space is selected. The selection condition may include a condition such as
In addition, for example, when the information of the transport vacant space between the company's own office and the relay point is registered in the registration database 302 as the information of the company, the company with many transport vacant spaces is selected. The selection condition may include a condition that
In addition, as the information of the business operator, for example, when the entry and exit timing information of the business operator to the relay point is registered in the registration database 302, the timing of entering and exiting the relay point from the time when the transported item is transported to the relay point The selection condition may include a condition such as selecting a business operator with a similar value.
In addition, for example, when the information of the transportation time between the own office of the business operator and the relay point is registered in the registration database 302 as the information of the business operator, the business operator having the shortest transportation time is selected. Conditions and the like may be included in the selection conditions.

By using the information on the free space for transportation between the business operator's own office and the relay point candidate, for example, transported goods that exceed the transportation capacity between the business office and the relay point can be concentrated at the office or relay point. This makes it possible to manage transportation such as avoiding the need to do so and dispersing transportation to each business office or each relay point. In addition, by using the information on the transportation time between the company's own business office and the relay point candidates, it becomes possible to manage transportation such as determining a transportation route that enables transportation in a shorter time.

The management device 300 that has selected the second operator delivers a selection notification to the effect that it has been selected as the second operator to the communication terminal 204 of the selected second operator (S510 to S512). The operator who has received this notification of selection is determined as the second operator by operating the communication terminal 204 to indicate acceptance.

FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the other part (transportation management) of transport management of transported items 500A to 500D in the management system of this embodiment.
The processing shown in FIG. 8 is a transportation management step (2 ).

When the first business operator (restaurant business operator) who has collected the transported item 500A goes to the food product sales store, which is a relay point, to purchase the food material, the transported item 500A is transported to the relay point (food product sales store). . When the transportation object 500A is transported to the relay point, the relay point company operates the communication terminal 203 to start the application, and the two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation unit 11 of the electronic lock 10A is displayed on the communication terminal 203. (S521). Thereby, the communication terminal 203 extracts code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) from the two-dimensional code image.

After that, the communication terminal 203 of the relay base company is operated, and the code data and the identification information of the communication terminal 203 of the relay base company are sent from the communication terminal 203 to the management device 300 via the base station 20 by the IP communication method ( S522-S525). All or part of this information may be transmitted to the management device 300 by the NIDD communication method.

The control unit 301 of the management device 300 that has received these pieces of information executes registration processing for registering these pieces of information in the management database 303 (S526). Specifically, based on the identification information of communication terminal 203, it is registered that transported article 500A has been transported to the relay point of the relay point company. As a result, it is possible to manage which electronic locks have been transported to which relay points.

Also, when the transported article 500A is transported to the relay point, the settlement process for paying the first business operator the charge for the service provided by the business operator (charge for services such as collection and transportation) is executed (S527). In this payment processing, the control unit 301 of the management device 300 refers to the information (payment-related information, etc.) of the first business operator registered in the management database 303, and based on the payment-related information, perform procedures to pay the provided service fee to the customer. The payment method is not particularly limited, and may be bank transfer, electronic money payment, or award of points. The amount of the service fee to be provided may be determined according to the desired amount and conditions of each business operator, or as a dynamic pricing where the management system determines the amount in consideration of the vacant space status, degree of congestion, delivery time, etc. good.

After the transportation object 500A is transported to the relay point, the second business operator (food store business operator) to which the above-described selection notice is delivered, returns from delivering the food to the foodstuff sales store that is the relay point. , the transported object 500A is transported from the relay point (foodstuff store) to its own office (food store). At this time, the second business operator who has come to the relay station operates the communication terminal 204 to start the application, and the transported article 500A temporarily stored at the relay station is presented to the presentation unit 11 of the electronic lock 10A. A two-dimensional code image is read using the imaging unit of the communication terminal 204 (S531). Thereby, the communication terminal 204 extracts code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) from the two-dimensional code image.

After that, the communication terminal 204 of the second business operator is operated, and the code data and the identification information of the communication terminal 204 of the second business operator are sent from the communication terminal 204 to the management device 300 via the base station 20 by the IP communication method. (S532 to S535). All or part of this information may be transmitted to the management device 300 by the NIDD communication method.

The control unit 301 of the management device 300 that has received these pieces of information executes registration processing for registering these pieces of information in the management database 303 (S536). Specifically, based on the identification information of the communication terminal 204, it is registered that the transported article 500A has been picked up by the second operator. As a result, it is possible to manage which second business operator received which transported electronic lock.

In addition, when the transported object 500A is picked up by the second business operator at the relay point, settlement processing is performed to pay the service fee provided by the relay point (fee for services such as temporary storage at the relay point) to the relay point company. Execute (S537). In this payment processing, the control unit 301 of the management device 300 refers to the information (payment-related information, etc.) of the relay base trader registered in the management database 303, and based on the payment-related information, to the relay base trader. Carry out procedures to pay the service fee. The payment method is not particularly limited, and may be bank transfer, electronic money payment, or award of points. The amount of the service fee to be provided may be determined according to the desired amount and conditions of each relay base company, or as dynamic pricing where the amount is determined by the management system in consideration of the vacant space status, degree of congestion, delivery time, etc. good too.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing the other part (delivery management) of the transport management of the goods 500A to 500D in the management system of this embodiment.
The processing shown in FIG. 9 is the transportation management step (3) for managing the delivery of the goods P to the recipient at the own office of the second business operator in the transportation management step (S500).

After the second business operator has delivered the food to the food store that is the relay base and has transported the transported item 500A to its own business office (food store), the recipient is the second business operator's own business come to pick up the goods P at the place (food store). At this time, the recipient operates the communication terminal 205 to start the application, and uses the imaging section of the communication terminal 205 to read the two-dimensional code image presented on the presentation section 11 of the electronic lock 10A of the transport 500A. (S541). Thereby, the communication terminal 205 extracts code data (identification information of the electronic lock 10A) from the two-dimensional code image.

After that, the communication terminal 205 of the recipient is operated, and the code data and the identification information of the communication terminal 205 of the recipient are sent from the communication terminal 205 to the management device 300 via the base station 20 by the IP communication method (S542 to S545). All or part of this information may be transmitted to the management device 300 by the NIDD communication method.

The control unit 301 of the management device 300 that has received these pieces of information executes registration processing for registering these pieces of information in the management database 303 (S546). Specifically, based on the identification information of communication terminal 205, it is registered that transported article 500A has been handed over to the recipient. This makes it possible to manage which electronic lock package has been handed over to which recipient.

In addition, when the goods P in the transportation object 500A are handed over to the recipient, the settlement processing for paying the second business operator the charge for the service provided by the business operator (charge for services such as transportation and delivery) is executed ( S547). In this payment processing, the control unit 301 of the management device 300 refers to the information (payment-related information, etc.) of the second business operator registered in the management database 303, and based on the payment-related information, perform procedures to pay the provided service fee to the customer. The payment method is not particularly limited, and may be bank transfer, electronic money payment, or award of points. The amount of the service fee to be provided may be determined according to the desired amount and conditions of each business operator, or as a dynamic pricing where the management system determines the amount in consideration of the vacant space status, degree of congestion, delivery time, etc. good.

In this embodiment, the first business operator and the second business operator collect the cargo from the sender and deliver it to the recipient. An unattended operation may be made such that transported items locked by an electronic lock in a locked state are placed in a temporary storage space. In this embodiment, since the transported item is locked with an electronic lock, the transported item itself functions as a conventional home delivery locker, and such unmanned handling is also possible. That is, with the electronic lock of this embodiment, the transported item can be considered as a delivery locker that can be installed anywhere and moved at any time.

As described above, the electronic locks 10A to 10D in this embodiment are electronic locks attached to the transportation objects 500A to 500D. It has a mobile communication unit 12 that performs wireless communication, and a control unit 13 that causes the operation unit to perform an unlocking operation based on key information received by the mobile communication unit.
The electronic locks 10A to 10D are to be attached to transported items (including the contents to be transported and materials and boxes for packing the contents (hereinafter referred to as "packing materials")). Therefore, even during transportation, the electronic lock is transported together with the transported object, and the transported object remains locked until the operating part of the electronic lock performs the unlocking operation based on the key information. Therefore, even a person who is in charge of transporting or temporarily storing the transported goods cannot check the contents of the transported goods or take out the contents from the packaging material of the transported goods. This ensures the security of the goods during transportation, even for those who are responsible for the transportation and temporary storage of the goods.

In addition, unlike conventional electronic locks that are installed on fixed installations such as home delivery boxes, the electronic locks 10A to 10D are attached to transported objects that are being transported. The electronic lock must also be unlocked to allow the recipient to receive the contents of the package. According to the electronic locks 10A to 10D, the key information is received by the mobile communication section 12 that performs wireless communication via the mobile communication network 1, so that the operation section 15 can unlock the transportation object. Therefore, as long as it is an area where wireless communication via the mobile communication network 1 is possible, the electronic locks 10A to 10D can be unlocked and the contents of the transported item can be delivered to the recipient regardless of where the transported item is transported. can receive.

Moreover, since the key information is received by the electronic locks 10A to 10D by wireless communication via the mobile communication network 1, it is not necessary to manually operate the electronic locks to unlock the electronic locks. do not have. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the electronic lock with an operation unit for performing such a manual operation for unlocking, and the electronic lock can be simplified and miniaturized. As a result, it can be said that the effect of reducing the cost of electronic locks attached to a large amount of mailings is very large.

Furthermore, since the electronic locks 10A to 10D are provided with the mobile communication unit 12 that performs wireless communication via the mobile communication network 1, the positional information of the electronic lock (the positional information of the mobile communication unit provided in the electronic lock) is transferred. Managed on the communication network side. Therefore, it is possible to grasp the position of the electronic lock (that is, the position of the transported object) by using the position information managed by the mobile communication network, and to perform transport management such as the transportation status of the transported object. In this way, the location information managed by the mobile communication network can be used to manage the transportation of the transported objects, so that the transport management of the transported objects can be easily realized as compared with the existing transportation management of the transported objects. Therefore, although the electronic locks 10A to 10D of the present embodiment are provided with the positional information acquiring section 14, the transport management such as the transport status of the transported goods can be performed even if the positional information acquiring section 14 is omitted. can. Of course, by providing the position information acquisition unit 14, it is possible to manage more accurate position information and realize more detailed transport management.

In addition, by observing the transition of the base station 20 with which the mobile communication unit 12 of the electronic lock 10A-10D communicates wirelessly, it is possible to determine whether the transportation object 500A-500B to which the electronic lock 10A-10D is attached is moving or stationary. It is also possible to grasp whether it is inside. This improves accuracy as the installation density of base stations increases. For example, it is possible to locate a dedicated small-sized base station at the relay point and grasp the number of transported items temporarily stored at the relay point.

Further, by using such position information of the electronic lock, it is possible to provide a service such as notifying the communication terminal 201 of the sender and the communication terminal 205 of the recipient of the transportation status of the transported item. In addition, for example, it is possible to provide a service that reminds the communication terminals of business operators and relay base companies that they do not forget to load or unload.

Further, the electronic locks 10A to 10D of this embodiment have a presentation unit 11 that presents a code image for specifying the identification information of the electronic lock. In this case, the code images presented on the presentation unit 11 of the electronic locks 10A to 10D are imaged by the imaging units of the communication terminals 201 to 205 separate from the electronic locks, and the electronic locks are sent from the communication terminals 201 to 205. identification information can be sent. That is, the identification information of the electronic lock can be transmitted from the communication terminals 201 to 205 of the sender of the transported item, the business operator responsible for transportation and temporary storage of the transported item, the intermediary business operator, and the recipient of the transported item. As a result, it is possible to identify a person near the postal item to which the electronic lock 10A to 10D is attached, which can be used, for example, to determine conditions when the management device 300 transmits key information. Further, the electronic locks 10A to 10D do not need the function of transmitting the identification information of the electronic locks, so that a simpler and lower-cost electronic lock can be realized.

Further, in the electronic locks 10A to 10D of this embodiment, the mobile communication unit 12 may have a function of transmitting unlocking information when the electronic lock is unlocked. In this case, the electronic locks 10A to 10D are unlocked (including cases where the electronic locks are unlocked by an appropriate method based on the key information, as well as cases where the electronic locks are unlocked by an inappropriate method). This can be grasped from the unlocking information transmitted from the electronic lock. This makes it possible to manage the unsealing of the package by the recipient, the inappropriate unlocking of the electronic lock of the package during transportation, and the like.

In addition, the management device 300 of the present embodiment includes an NIDD communication unit 304 as a locking information receiving unit that receives locking information when the electronic locks 10A to 10D are locked, and a key for unlocking the electronic locks. and an NIDD communication unit 304 as a key information transmission unit for transmitting information. Thus, the managing device 300 can manage locking and unlocking of the electronic locks 10A to 10D. At this time, the locking information received by the locking information receiving unit may be transmitted via the mobile communication network 1 from the mobile communication unit 12 provided in each of the electronic locks 10A to 10D, or the electronic lock 10A. 10D may be transmitted from the communication terminals 201 and 202 of the person (sender, first business operator, etc.) who has locked 10D. Further, the key information transmitted by the key information transmitting unit may be transmitted via a mobile communication network to the mobile communication unit 12 provided in each of the electronic locks 10A to 10D. It may be transmitted to the communication terminals 204 and 205 of the unlocking person (recipient, second business operator, etc.). In addition, in managing the locking and unlocking of the electronic locks 10A to 10D, for example, the communication terminal 201 of the sender and the communication terminal 205 of the recipient are notified that the transport is locked, the state of locking or unlocking, and the unlocking status. It is also possible to provide a service of notifying that the

In addition, the management device 300 of the present embodiment includes information of the first operator who transports the transported goods from its own office to the relay point among the plurality of operators entering and exiting the relay point of the transported goods 500A to 500D, A management database 303 that manages information of a second business operator that transports a transported item from the relay point to its own office and information of the relay point for each transported item, among a plurality of businesses that enter and exit the relay point. , and a control unit 301 as a transportation management unit that uses information managed by this management database 303 to manage the transportation of the transports 500A to 500D to which the electronic locks 10A to 10D are attached. According to this, it is possible to realize a new transport method in which a place where a plurality of business operators usually enter and exit is used as a relay point for transported goods.

In detail, with this transportation method, the transported items are collected at the nearest business office that is closer to the relay point, and the collected transported items are delivered to the business operator of the business office (first business operator) at the time of regular entry and exit. can be transported to a relay station at With this method of transport, the first business operator can transport goods to the relay station when entering and exiting the relay station for the main business of the first business operator (business other than transportation business). , the transportation burden on the first operator is small. Therefore, participation of many businesses can be expected.

Participation of a large number of business operators results in the establishment of a greater number of collection points nearer to the sender, which is highly convenient for the sender. In addition, the participation of many business operators will increase the transport capacity from the nearest collection point to the relay point, making it possible to handle more transported items. In addition, the participation of many business operators increases the temporal density of business operators entering and exiting relay points, enabling faster transportation.

In addition, with this transportation method, to a relay point (it may be the same relay point as the relay point where the first operator enters and exits, or it may be another relay point from which the transported goods are transported). The transported goods can be transported to the own office by the second business operator who enters and exits the relay station during normal entry and exit. In this transportation method, the second business operator transports goods from the relay base to its own office when entering and exiting the relay base for the main business of the second business operator (business other than the transportation business). Therefore, the transportation burden on the second operator is small. Therefore, it can be expected that many business operators will participate. Participation of a large number of business operators results in the establishment of a greater number of receiving locations nearer to the recipient, thereby increasing convenience for the recipient. In addition, the participation of many businesses will increase the transportation capacity from the relay point to the nearest pick-up location, making it possible to handle a greater number of items to be transported. In addition, the participation of many business operators increases the temporal density of business operators entering and exiting relay points, enabling faster transportation.

Further, in the management device 300 of the present embodiment, the identification information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D and the position information of the electronic locks are acquired, and based on the acquired identification information and position information of the electronic locks, the electronic locks are installed. You may manage the transportation of the transported goods. In this case, it is possible to grasp in detail where the individual electronic locks 10A to 10D attached to the transported items 500A to 500D are located, and to manage the transportation of the transported items. The position information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D to be acquired is acquired from equipment on the mobile communication network side that manages the position information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D (position information of the mobile communication unit 12 provided in the electronic locks), for example. Alternatively, the position information obtained by the position information obtaining unit 14 provided in the electronic locks 10A to 10D may be obtained via the mobile communication network 1, or the electronic locks 10A to 10D may be locked. It may be transmitted from the communication terminals 201 to 205 of the person or the unlocking person (sender, recipient, first business operator, second business operator, relay base company, etc.).

[Modification]
A modification of the above-described embodiment will be described below.
This modification transports the transported objects 500A to 500D via two or more relay points. In the management system of this modified example, the management of the electronic locks 10A to 10D attached to the transported items 500A to 500D is the same as that in the above-described embodiment, so the description is omitted. Mainly explain the transportation management of

FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing part of transport management (collection management) of the transported items 500A to 500D in the management system of this modified example.
The processing shown in FIG. 10 is a transportation management step (1) for managing cargo collection performed at the own office of the first business operator in the transportation management step (S500), and is shown in FIG. 7 of the above-described embodiment. is the same as However, in the management device 300 of the above-described embodiment, the process of selecting the second business operator (S508) and the process of notifying the second business operator (S509) were performed, but in this modified example, the determination of the transportation route Processing (S551) and notification processing (S552, S553) to the relay base company and the second company are performed. The business operator and the relay base trader who have received this notification of selection are determined as the second business operator and the relay base respectively by operating the communication terminal to indicate acceptance.

In the management device 300 of this modified example, the IP communication section 305 functions as a transportation information receiving section that receives transportation information of the transportation items 500A to 500D. The control unit 301 of the management device 300 of this modified example functions as a transportation route determination unit, and information registered in the registration database 302, specifically, information on relay point candidates that can be relay points for transported goods. Based on the transport information of the transported goods 500A to 500D received by the communication unit 305 for IP, one or more of the candidates for the relay base are selected using the information and the information of a plurality of businesses entering and exiting the candidate relay base. Determine the transport route of the transported goods by selecting relay points.

Specifically, the transportation route determination processing performed by the control unit 301 of the management device 300 includes transportation information received from the communication terminal 202 of the first business operator, information on business operators registered in the registration database 302, and relay points. By referring to the candidate information, the selection of the relay base and the selection of the second operator are performed. At this time, the second business operator may be selected first and then the relay base may be selected, or conversely, the relay base may be selected first and then the second business operator may be selected.

As explained in the above embodiment, the information on the business operator used when selecting the second business operator includes information on the empty space in the temporary storage space of the transported goods at the business office of the business operator, It is possible to use information such as information on vacant transportation space between a business establishment and a relay point, information on the timing of entry and exit of a company to a relay point, and information on the transportation time between the own business office of a business operator and a relay point. By using this information, it is possible to avoid the concentration of transported items that exceed the transport capacity between the business office and the relay point, and to distribute the transported items to each business office and each relay point. It is possible to manage transportation such as determining a transportation route that can be transported in a shorter time.

In addition, the condition for selecting the second relay point where the goods are transported from the first relay point transported by the first business operator is, for example, selecting a relay point candidate that is close to the recipient's address as the second relay point. condition that the previously selected second operator selects the second relay point candidate that enters and exits as the second relay point, and the second relay point candidate that is easy to transport to and from the first relay point Conditions for selection as a base (for example, a relay base candidate that has an existing transportation means between the first relay base, etc. An example is a relay base candidate that belongs to the same group chain as the first relay base, etc.), etc.

In addition, as the information of the relay point candidate, for example, when the information of the empty space of the temporary storage space of the transported goods at the relay point candidate is registered in the registration database 302, the relay point candidate with the large empty space is the second relay point. A condition such as selection as a base may be included in the selection conditions.
In addition, as the information of the relay point candidates, for example, when the information of the transportation empty space between the first relay point is registered in the registration database 302, the relay point candidate with many transportation empty spaces is selected as the second relay point. The selection condition may include a condition such as selection as.
In addition, as the information of the relay point candidate, for example, when the information of the transportation time to the first relay point is registered in the registration database 302, the relay point candidate with the shortest transportation time is selected as the second relay point. The selection condition may include a condition that

By using information on empty space, for example, transport management such as avoiding the concentration of transported goods that exceed the capacity of the temporary storage space at relay points, or distributing transported goods to each relay point. becomes possible. In addition, by using the information on the empty transportation space, when transporting goods via multiple relay points, for example, the transported goods exceeding the transport capacity between the multiple relay points will be concentrated at the relay points. This makes it possible to manage transportation such as avoiding transportation and distributing transportation to each relay point. In addition, by using information on transportation time, it is possible to manage transportation, such as determining transportation routes that can be transported in a shorter time, when transporting goods via multiple relay points. Become.

If the relay point to which the second business operator enters and exits can be selected as the second relay point, the control unit 301 of the management device 300 determines the transportation route, In response, a notification of selection to the effect that it has been selected as a relay base is distributed (S552). In addition, a selection notification to the effect that it has been selected as the second business operator is also delivered to the communication terminal 204 of the second business operator that has been selected (S553).

On the other hand, if it is not possible to select the relay point to which the second operator enters and exits as the second relay point, the control unit 301 of the management device 300 selects the third relay point, the fourth relay point, and the like. to secure transportation routes.

When the control unit 301 of the management device 300 cannot determine the transportation route, processing for arranging transportation with a specialized transportation company or the like (alternative transportation procedure processing) may be performed.

In addition, in this modified example, transportation between relay points can be carried out using the empty space of the means of transportation that normally transports between relay points. Also, if there is a company that goes in and out of both of these relay points, the transport between the relay points may be carried out by that company.

Further, for example, in the registration database 302 (second registration database) of the management device 300, information of a candidate for a transportation company that transports goods between relay points is also registered, and the control unit 301 registers the information in the second registration database. using the information registered in , a carrier that transports a transport between two or more relay points selected by the control unit 301 may be selected from the carrier candidates. According to this, it is possible to have an individual transportation business operator or the like participate as a transportation business operator candidate and have them take charge of transportation between the relay points, and it is possible to secure the transportation capacity between the relay points. If the transportation capacity between relay points can be secured in this way, it will be possible to realize the transportation of goods over a wider area.

In addition, in this modified example, since the management device 300 can manage the position information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D attached to the respective transportation items 500A to 500D, all the transportation items 500A to 500D managed by this management system can be transported. It is possible to grasp the traffic situation in real time. Using such transportation traffic conditions, it is possible to optimize transportation routes and realize efficient and speedy transportation. For example, the usage status of the temporary storage space (vacant space status) and the vacant transport space status at the relay station can be estimated from the quantity of transported items grasped based on the position information of the electronic locks 10A to 10D.

In addition, when transported goods are concentrated in some of the second business operators, empty packing boxes and electronic locks will stay at the offices of the second business operators. is preferably determined so that

Further, the control unit 301 that determines the transportation route may determine the transportation route by predicting the transportation traffic from the past transportation traffic analysis results.

In addition, since the management system of this embodiment and this modified example manages transportation of transported goods, it is also suitable for cooperation with MaaS (Mobility as a Service).

In the above description, as shown in FIG. In the case of the generation Stand Alone type mobile communication, for example, a configuration as shown in FIG. 11 can be adopted. In this case, a NEF (Network Exposure Function) 51 shown in FIG. 11 is provided in place of the SCEF 50 in FIG. 2, and an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) 41 and SMF ( Session Management Function) 42 is provided, and a UPF (User Plane Function) 31 shown in FIG. 11 is provided in place of the S/PGW 30 in FIG. Note that the electronic lock authentication step S100 in the configuration shown in FIG. 11 is as shown in FIG.

It should be noted that the process steps and components of electronic locks, management devices, and management systems described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these processes and components may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.

For hardware implementation, in order to realize the above steps and components in entities (for example, various wireless communication devices, various base station devices such as eNodeB and gNode, mobile communication units, hard disk drives, or optical disk drives) The processing unit or other means used may be one or more of an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a digital signal processor (DSPD), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable - Gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, computers, or combinations thereof may be implemented in

Also, for firmware and/or software implementations, each part used to implement the components may be a program (e.g., code such as procedures, functions, modules, instructions, etc.) that performs the functions described herein. ) may be implemented. In general, any computer/processor readable medium tangibly embodying firmware and/or software code means, such as a processing unit, used to implement the steps and components described herein. may be used to implement For example, firmware and/or software code may be stored in memory and executed by a computer or processor, such as in a controller or storage device. The memory may be implemented within the computer or processor, or external to the processor. The firmware and/or software code may also be, for example, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read only memory (PROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM). ), flash memory, floppy disk, compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), magnetic or optical data storage devices, etc. good. The code may be executed by one or more computers or processors and may cause the computers or processors to perform certain aspects of the functionality described herein.

Also, the medium may be a non-temporary recording medium. Also, the code of the program is not limited to a specific format as long as it can be read and executed by a computer, processor, or other device or machine. For example, the program code may be source code, object code, or binary code, or may be a mixture of two or more of these codes.

Moreover, the description of the embodiments disclosed herein is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present disclosure. Various modifications to this disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein are applicable to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. This disclosure, therefore, is not to be limited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

1: mobile communication network 10A to 10D: electronic lock 11: presentation unit 12: mobile communication unit 13: control unit 14: position information acquisition unit 15: operation unit 20: base station 30: S/PGW
31: UPF
40: MME
41: AMF
42: SMF
50: SCEF
51: NEF
100: I/F for SCEF
101: I/F for NEF
110: Control unit 130: User management DB
140: I/F for IP
201 to 205: Communication terminal 300: Management device 301: Control unit 302: Registration database 303: Management database 304: NIDD communication unit 305: IP communication unit 500A to 500D: Transportation item 501: Packing box P: Goods

Claims (17)

An electronic lock to be attached to a packaging container containing an object to be transported,
an operation unit that performs an unlocking operation of the electronic lock;
a mobile communication unit that performs wireless communication via a mobile communication network;
and a control unit that causes the operation unit to perform an unlocking operation based on the key information received by the mobile communication unit. In the electronic lock according to claim 1,
The electronic lock, wherein the mobile communication unit performs the wireless communication by low power consumption wide area communication via the mobile communication network. In the electronic lock according to claim 2,
The electronic lock, wherein the low-power wide-area communication is non-IP communication that does not use IP (Internet Protocol). In the electronic lock according to claim 3,
The electronic lock, wherein the non-IP communication is communication conforming to NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery). In the electronic lock according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The electronic lock, wherein the mobile communication unit transmits unlocking information when the electronic lock is unlocked. In the electronic lock according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An electronic lock, comprising a presentation unit for presenting a code image for specifying identification information of the electronic lock. A packaging container capable of accommodating an object to be transported,
A packaging container, wherein the electronic lock according to any one of claims 1 to 6 is attached to an opening/closing portion of the packaging container. A management device capable of communicating with the electronic lock according to any one of claims 1 to 7 via a mobile communication network,
a locking information receiving unit that receives locking information when the electronic lock is locked;
and a key information transmission section for transmitting key information for unlocking the electronic lock. The management device according to claim 8,
an acquisition unit that acquires the identification information of the electronic lock and the position information of the electronic lock;
a transportation management unit that performs transportation management of a transport object containing an object to be transported in a packaging container to which the electronic lock is attached, based on the identification information and position information of the electronic lock acquired by the acquisition unit; A management device characterized by: In the management device according to claim 8 or 9,
Information on the first operator who transports the transported goods from its own office to the relay point among the multiple operators who enter/exit the relay point for the transported goods, and the plurality of operators who enter/exit the relay point for the transported goods. a management database that manages information on a second business operator that transports the transported item from the relay point to the own business office and information on the relay point for each transported item;
A management device, comprising: a transportation management unit that performs transportation management of the transportation object using information managed by the management database. In the management device according to claim 10,
a transportation information receiving unit for receiving transportation information of the transportation object;
a registration database in which information on relay point candidates that can serve as relay points for transported goods and information on a plurality of businesses entering and exiting said relay point candidates are registered;
Using the information registered in the registration database, one or more relay points are selected from the relay point candidates based on the transport information of the transport item received by the transport information receiving unit, and and a transportation route determining unit that determines a transportation route. The management device according to claim 11, wherein
The information on the relay point candidate registered in the registration database includes information on the vacant space of the temporary storage space of the transported goods at the relay point candidate, and the transportation vacant space between the relay point candidate and other relay point candidates. and information on transportation time between the relay point candidate and another relay point candidate. In the management device according to claim 11 or 12,
The information of the business operator registered in the registration database includes information on the empty space of the temporary storage space of the transported goods at the business office of the business operator, It is characterized by including at least one of the following: information on empty transportation space, information on the timing of entry and exit of the operator to the relay point candidate, and information on the transportation time between the operator's own office and the relay point candidate. management device. The management device according to any one of claims 11 to 13,
Having a second registration database in which information on candidates for transport companies that transport goods between relay points is registered,
The transport route determination unit uses the information registered in the second registration database to determine the transport operator that transports the transport between the two or more transit points selected by the transport route determination unit. A management device characterized in that selection is made from business operator candidates. The electronic lock according to any one of claims 1 to 6 or the packaging container according to claim 7,
A system comprising a management device according to any one of claims 8 to 14. A program executed by the computer of the management device according to any one of claims 9 to 14,
A program that causes the computer to function as the transportation management unit. A program executed by the computer of the management device according to any one of claims 11 to 14,
A program that causes the computer to function as the transport route determination unit.

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