JP3478143B2 - Contactless communication method, contactless communication medium, contactless communication device, boarding card and automatic ticket gate - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a contactless communication method,
The present invention relates to a contactless communication medium, a contactless communication device, a boarding card, and an automatic ticket gate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic ticket gate is used for a normal ticket, a commuter ticket, etc., in which boarding information is magnetically recorded, for boarding and / or
Alternatively, when a user inserts a card issued for disembarking (hereinafter, all will be included in the boarding card in this specification) into the boarding card slot, the boarding information read / reading information in the automatic ticket gate / There is a writing device in which the boarding information is magnetically read and then ejected from the boarding card ejection port. Since such an automatic ticket gate takes a form of so-called contact communication system in which it makes contact with the boarding card and communicates, the user inserts the boarding card into the slot at the ticket gate and then from the outlet at each ticket gate. It is pointed out that it is necessary to collect the boarding card that came out, which is troublesome, and when there are many users, it causes congestion at the ticket gate.

There is a so-called non-contact communication type automatic ticket gate, which will be described below as an example, instead of the automatic ticket gate in the form of the contact communication method. The boarding card used in the automatic ticket gate of this contactless communication system is not the above-mentioned magnetic recording system, but the user can simply hold the boarding card in the communication area with the antenna provided in the automatic ticket gate, and the automatic ticket gate It is configured such that bidding and bidding can be performed by transmitting and receiving boarding information between the boarding card and the boarding card.

In such a non-contact communication type boarding card (hereinafter referred to as a non-contact boarding card), communication can be performed in a non-contact state with the automatic ticket gate itself simply by placing the card in a communication area with the automatic ticket gate. It will be possible.

A conventional non-contact boarding card has an antenna coil and an LC for generating an induced voltage due to a change in magnetic field.
A resonance circuit, a power supply circuit that receives radio waves transmitted from the antenna of the automatic ticket gate at the LC resonant circuit to generate operating power, a demodulation circuit that demodulates information transmitted from the automatic ticket gate side, and a boarding It has a memory circuit for information, etc., and shows the boarding section, bidding, presence / absence of tickets, and other boarding information related to boarding and / or dismounting stored in the contactless boarding card according to the content of information from the automatic ticket gate side. Some have made it possible to reply to the automatic ticket gate side.

[0006] By the way, in the case of connecting a plurality of routes, or dividing the boarding section within the line even on the same line, the user purchases a plurality of contactless boarding cards and possesses them. It may be necessary to do so. In such a case, the user can take out one of the contactless boarding cards corresponding to the route or boarding section from the contactless boarding cards stored in the passbook etc. one by one and hold it over the automatic ticket gate. It is inconvenient to do it.

In order to eliminate the inconvenience, the ticket gate can be operated by simply holding it in the time slot or the like or taking it out from the time slot and then holding a plurality of non-contact boarding cards over the automatic ticket gate. Some of the above are also proposed.

[0008] By the way, in such a non-contact boarding card ticket gate, a plurality of non-contact boarding cards are in very close proximity to each other in the communication area with the automatic ticket gate at the same time. Therefore, the mutual inductance of the antenna coil built in each non-contact boarding card acts on the LC resonance circuit and the L
The resonance frequency of the C resonance circuit changes. If the resonance frequency changes in this way, the level of the transmission signal from the non-contact boarding card to the boarding information reading / writing machine decreases, and the transmission signal from the non-contact boarding card is transmitted to the antenna on the automatic ticket gate side. As a result, any contactless boarding card cannot communicate with the automatic ticket gate for boarding information.

In order to solve the problem of communication failure in the non-contact boarding card stacking system, the present inventors provide an overlap detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of the overlap inside each of the non-contact boarding cards. When the overlapping state of the non-contact boarding cards is detected by the overlapping detecting means, all the C (capacitors) in the LC resonance circuit are turned off for the other non-contact boarding cards other than the specific non-contact boarding card. A structure in which they are separated is proposed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-126318).

According to the technique proposed in this publication, there is only one specific LC resonance circuit of the non-contact boarding cards among the LC resonance circuits of each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards. Since the deviation of the resonance frequency of the LC resonance circuit of the boarding card is eliminated and the non-contact boarding cards are mutually coupled by electromagnetic induction by their antenna coils, the capacitors of the LC resonance circuit are separated from each other. Each contactless boarding card can also communicate with the automatic ticket gate through a specific contactless boarding card.

[0011]

However, the contactless boarding card proposed by the present inventor has solved the above-mentioned problem of communication failure, but it is necessary to provide the overlap detecting means therein. For this reason, the scale of the hardware configuration in the contactless boarding card has to be slightly increased, and when an overlap of the contactless boarding cards is detected, one of the plurality of contactless boarding cards is detected. Since it was also necessary to add a protocol for determining the priority order of disconnecting the capacitor of, the problem that software becomes a little complicated remains.

It should be noted that the above description is an example of the conventional art, and therefore the medium for performing non-contact communication is applied to the non-contact boarding card and the automatic ticket gate. There are multiple media (non-contact communication media) for non-contact communication with a non-contact communication system machine or device (non-contact communication device), and these non-contact communication media are in proximity to each other (the non-contact boarding card described above). Then, when the non-contact communication is performed with the non-contact communication device in the overlapping state, the same problem occurs.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably communicate with a non-contact communication device even if a plurality of non-contact communication media are in close proximity to each other, for example, when they overlap each other. Alternatively, it aims to solve software problems.

[0014]

In the non-contact communication method of the present invention, a boarding information reading / writing machine in an automatic ticket gate in which a plurality of non-contact boarding cards are arranged in proximity to each other in a ticket gate When located in the communication area of
Each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards enables non-contact communication with the boarding information reading / writing machine by using a resonance circuit provided therein, and each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards In a non-contact communication method in which coils included in the respective close proximity to each other are capable of electromagnetic induction coupling, a resonance circuit of each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards is in an operating state in a time axis direction and in an inoperable state. The control is performed so that the time and the time when the vehicle is in an indefinite manner are changed (random control), and the polling command is periodically transmitted from the boarding information reading / writing machine to each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards. According to the control, any one of the non-contact boarding cards (any non-contact boarding card) among the plurality of non-contact boarding cards is the polling card. When a command is received, a response is transmitted from the non-contact boarding card to the boarding information reading / writing machine, and when the boarding information reading / writing machine receives the response, the plurality of non-contact boarding information are received. When a communication start command is transmitted to each boarding card, and the arbitrary contactless boarding card receives the communication start command, the state of each resonance circuit is fixedly stored in the state at the time of receiving the communication start command. By doing so, even if each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards is made to overlap each other in a predetermined proximity state and held over the communication area, the overlapping is detected as in the conventional case. It is possible to reliably communicate with the boarding information reading / writing machine in the automatic ticket gate without the provision of the overlap detecting means. Rui is assumed to have also solved problems on the software.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A contactless communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present invention, as the non-contact communication medium,
For convenience of description, a boarding card (contactless boarding card, hereinafter simply referred to as boarding card) that performs communication by a contactless communication method is used, and a contactless communication device is a boarding information reading / writing machine in an automatic ticket gate. Of course, the use is not limited to the boarding card, but includes other use cards. In short, such a contactless communication type machine or device (contactless communication device) including an automatic ticket gate.
There are multiple media (contactless communication media) for contactless communication with
The present invention is applicable to all cases where non-contact communication is performed with a plurality of non-contact communication media in a state of being close to each other (for example, in the case of a card form, overlapping state).

First, an automatic ticket gate to which the contactless communication method according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

The automatic ticket gate 1 is provided with a pair of ticket gate main bodies 3 which face each other with a ticket passage 2 interposed therebetween. Doors (not shown) for permitting or blocking passage through the ticket gate passage 2 are provided on the respective side surfaces of both ticket gate main bodies 3.

Each ticket gate main body 3 is provided with a boarding information reading / writing machine 4. The antenna coil 5 of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 is arranged so as to face the upper surface of each ticket gate body 3. The antenna coil 5 can perform non-contact communication with the antenna coil of the boarding card 6 when the antenna coil included in the boarding card 6 is located in the communication area. A passenger or the like who is a user carrying the boarding card 6 may simply hold it over the communication area of the antenna coil 5 of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 to communicate with the boarding information reading / writing machine 4. Non-contact communication about boarding information is possible.

The structure of the boarding card 6 will be described with reference to FIG.

The boarding card 6 of this embodiment is in the form of an IC card. The boarding card 6 is an LC type resonance circuit 7 (having a parallel circuit configuration of a coil 8 and a capacitor 9) and a resonance circuit operation state changeover switch 1.
0, demodulation circuit 11 as signal processing means, power supply circuit 1
2. Modulation circuit 13 as signal processing means, ROM 14,
A RAM 15, a non-volatile memory 16 as a storage unit, a CPU 17 as a control unit, a power source selection switch 18, and a battery power source 19 are provided.

The coil 8 in the resonance circuit 7 serves as an antenna coil during communication with the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 and serves as a coil for electromagnetic induction coupling during communication with other boarding cards. Also, the capacitor 9 and the coil 8 perform parallel resonance operation by inputting a predetermined frequency signal.

Resonant circuit operating state changeover switch 10
Are connected in parallel with the coil 8 in series with the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7. The switch 10 is turned on and off so as to perform control (hereinafter, referred to as random control) so that the state of the resonance circuit 7 changes indefinitely when the resonance circuit 7 is in the operable state and in the inoperable state in the time axis direction. It

Specifically, the switch 10 is a CPU
The capacitor 9 connects and disconnects the electric circuit loop in which the capacitor 9 resonates in parallel with the coil 8 under the control of 17 to control the resonance circuit 7 to change between the operable state and the inoperable state. , A relay whose contacts are always on. In this case, in FIG. 2, only the contact of the relay is illustrated, and the illustration of the relay coil for turning off the contact by energization is omitted.

The CPU 17 controls on / off of the switch 10 as the contact by controlling energization of the relay coil. In addition to configuring the switch 10 with a relay, an analog switch or a contactless structure T
It is also possible to use an FT transistor or the like, another semiconductor switch element, or a contact switch. The control unit may include the changeover switch 10 together with the CPU 17.

The demodulation circuit 11 receives a transmission signal (for example, an ASK modulation signal) from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 of the automatic ticket gate 1 by the coil 8 in the resonance circuit 7 and obtains the induced voltage change. Convert to command data.

The power supply circuit 12 receives the transmission signal from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 to generate the operating power of the entire boarding card 6 based on the voltage induced in the resonance circuit 7. In the case where only one boarding card 6 is used, the resonance circuit 7 can generate a resonance output and the power supply circuit 12 can generate power.
The power supply circuit 12 cannot generate a power supply only by the voltage induced in the coil 8 with the capacitor 9 disconnected.
However, when a plurality of boarding cards 6 are overlapped with each other, the power supply circuit 12 can generate a power supply with the voltage induced in the coil 8 between the boarding cards 6 having the resonance circuit 7, so that a power supply such as a battery is incorporated inside. There is no need to keep it.

The modulation circuit 13 is used for the boarding information reading / writing machine 4
Data transmitted to the antenna coil 4 is converted into impedance change of the antenna coil 4. The ROM 14 stores in advance a control program for the entire boarding card 6. RAM15 is CP
The access data of U17 is temporarily stored.

The non-volatile memory 16 is used for boarding card information.
(For example, when it is used as a boarding card or a commuter pass, information about the boarding / alighting section, valid period, etc.) is stored, and the on / off state of the switch 10, that is, the resonance circuit 7 is stored.
It stores whether the state of is in the operable state or the inoperable state.

The CPU 17 controls the entire boarding card 6 and also generates the random data RND for randomly controlling the on / off of the switch 10 as described above. The switch 10 controls ON / OFF in response to the random data RND to control the state of the resonance circuit 7 into an operable state and an inoperable state.

The power source selection switch 18 can select either the output of the power source circuit 12 or the output of the battery power source 19. The switch 18 may be selectively operable by the user of the boarding card 6. In this case, if the battery power source 19 is unnecessary, the switch 18 and the battery power source 19 may be omitted. In the description below, the switch 18 is assumed to be switched to the power supply circuit 12 side.

The configuration of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

In the figure, the boarding information reading / writing machine 4
Is the antenna coil 5 described in FIG. 1, the modulation / demodulation circuit 21 as the signal processing means, the ROM 22, the RAM 23, the boarding card response detection circuit 24, and the interface 2.
5 and a CPU 26 as a control means.

The antenna coil 5 transmits / receives an electromagnetic wave signal to / from the coil 8 of the resonance circuit 7 of the boarding card 6. The modulation / demodulation circuit 21 modulates / demodulates a signal communicated with the boarding card 6. The ROM 22 stores in advance a control program for the entire boarding information reading / writing machine 4. RAM23
Stores the access data of the CPU 26 temporarily. The boarding card response detection circuit 24 includes a CPU 26.
Boarding card 6 to polling command PC (first command) that is output to boarding card 6 in a fixed cycle
The presence or absence of the response RS from the side is detected. The interface 25 exchanges data with a host device such as the automatic ticket gate 1. The CPU 26 controls the entire boarding information reading / writing machine 4.

Next, a non-contact communication method using the boarding card 6 and the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 having the above-mentioned configurations will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. In addition, here, in order to facilitate understanding, it is assumed that a plurality of boarding cards 6a and 6b are placed over each other in the communication area of the automatic ticket gate 1.

Further, FIG. 4A shows the connection between the voltage of the power supply circuit 12 of the one boarding card 6a and the resonance capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 (that is, the resonance circuit 7 is in an operable state,
The same) and disconnection (that is, the resonance circuit 7 is in an inoperable state, hereinafter the same). FIG. 4B shows the connection / disconnection operation of the voltage of the power supply circuit 12 of the other boarding card 6b and the resonance capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7.

FIG. 4C shows a polling command PC from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 to both boarding cards 6a and 6b.
(Indicated by an upward arrow in the figure) and the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 from the boarding cards 6a and 6b.
A response RS (indicated by a downward arrow in the figure) to the vehicle and a communication start command CSC from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 to both boarding cards 6a and 6b (upward in the figure). Is indicated by an arrow.). 5 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side, and FIG. 6 shows boarding cards 6a, 6b.
The flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the side is shown.

At the stage before the data link is established between each boarding card 6a, 6b and the boarding information reading / writing machine 4, the CPU 26 of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4
Is a constant interval T via the modulation / demodulation circuit 21 and the antenna coil 5 regardless of the presence or absence of the boarding cards 6a and 6b.
The polling command PC is sent with p.

The boarding card response detection circuit 24 detects the presence / absence of a response RS from each of the boarding cards 6a and 6b after a fixed time Tw after the polling command PC is transmitted. The presence or absence of this response RS is determined by whether or not the signal strength received by the antenna coil 5 has reached a predetermined level L _A (step S11 in FIG. 5).
~ S13).

On the other hand, when the boarding cards 6a and 6b are held over each other in the communication area of the antenna coil 5 of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4, the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 polls. When the command PC is received by the coil 8 of each resonance circuit 7, a voltage is induced in the resonance circuit 2. The power supply circuit 12 generates the operating power of the entire boarding cards 6a and 6b based on this induced voltage. When the operating voltage obtained by the power supply circuit 12 reaches a constant value (ON in FIG. 4), the CPUs 17 of the respective boarding cards 6a and 6b are activated, and the respective CPUs 17 are activated.
Operates according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

That is, first, each boarding card 6a, 6b
Each of them determines whether or not information for determining the connection and disconnection states of the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 is already stored in the internal nonvolatile memory 16 (step S21). Here, for example, when a new boarding card or a commuter pass is purchased and a bid is placed inside the station, such information is not yet stored in the non-volatile memory 16.

In such a case, next, the CPU 17 of each boarding card 6a, 6b causes the random data R
ND is generated (step S22), and random data RN is generated.
It is determined whether D is "1" or "0" (step S23), and the switch 10 is ON / OFF controlled according to this determination. Here, the random data RND is composed of an indefinite combination of “1” and “0” in the time axis direction, but the output period T of “1” and the output period T of “0”, which are units forming the random data RND. Are equal.

When the random data RND is "1", the switch 10 is turned off to disconnect the capacitor 9, that is, the resonance circuit 7 is disabled (step S24). When the random data RND is "0". , The switch 10 is turned on and the capacitor 9 is connected, that is, the resonance circuit 7 is made operable (step S25). In FIG. 4A, the voltage of the power supply circuit 12 of the boarding card 6a rises, and the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7
The state in which the connection and disconnection states (states in which the resonance circuit 7 is operable and inoperable) are controlled indefinitely regardless of that of the boarding card 6b is shown in FIG.
The voltage of the power supply circuit 12 of (b) rises, and the connection / disconnection state of the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 (the operation state of the resonance circuit 7 is inoperable) is controlled indefinitely regardless of that of the boarding card 6a. The respective states are shown.

That is, in each of FIGS. 4A and 4B, the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 of each of the boarding cards 6a and 6b is connected until the voltage of the power supply circuit 12 rises and becomes ON. , ON, and after the fixed control described later, the random data R in FIG.
ND is "0", "0", "1", "0", and (b) of FIG.
Random data RND is “0” “0” “1” “1”
Is.

In (c) of FIG. 4, the polling command PC is transmitted at the interval Tp as the first command from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 as described in step S11 of FIG. The polling command PC transmitted from the information reading / writing machine 4 is the boarding cards 6a, 6b.
Random data RND as received by each
Each output period T ("1" or "0") is set in advance so as to be longer than the transmission interval Tp of the polling command PC (T> Tp).

Thus, when the CPU 17 of each boarding card 6a, 6b receives the polling command PC from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4, it sends a response RS to the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 accordingly. To do. Also, after the switch 10 is turned on or off, wait for a certain period of time T ₀ (step S26) to read the boarding information /
Communication start command C as the second command from the writing device 4
Check whether the SC has been transmitted (step S2)
7). When it is determined that the communication start command CSC has not been transmitted, the process returns to step S22, the random data RND is generated again, and the communication start command CS is generated.
Unless C is sent, the above steps S22 to S2 are performed.
Repeat 6

By the way, each boarding card 6 for commuter pass etc.
In the case where the a and 6b are stacked and stored, the boarding cards 6a and 6b are extremely close to each other in the communication area. In this state, the resonance circuits 7 of the respective boarding cards 6a and 6b are located within the communication area, and the switches 10 of the respective boarding cards 6a and 6b are simultaneously turned on to operate the respective resonance circuits 7. At times, as a result of mutual influence of the resonance circuits 7, the change in impedance seen from the antenna coil 5 side of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 becomes small, and the boarding cards 6a, 6 respectively.
It is not possible to transmit a signal of a magnitude necessary for the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 to receive from each of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4.

This is because the random data RND "0""0""1""0" in FIG. 4A and the random data RND "0""0""1" in FIG. 4B. Of the "1", the first three combinations "0", "0", "1"
Is the state of.

However, in the present embodiment,
Here, the switch 1 of each boarding card 6a, 6b
Since the ON / OFF of 0 is controlled at random, when the polling command PC is transmitted from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 at time t1 in FIG. 4, one boarding card 6a as shown in FIG. The switch 10 of FIG.
As shown in (b), the switch 10 of the other boarding card 6b is turned off, in other words, only the resonance circuit 7 of the boarding card 6a is operating.
That is, this means that the resonance circuit 7 of the boarding card 6a is not affected by the resonance circuit 7 of the boarding card 6b even if the resonance circuits 7 of the boarding cards 6a and 6b are simultaneously located in the communication area. This is because the random data RND “0” “0” “1” “0” in FIG. 4A and the random data RND “0” “0” “1” in FIG. 4B.
Of the "1" s, the last combination is "0" and "1".

In this way, the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 sends the polling command PC to each boarding card 6a, 6b at time t1 in FIG. 4, and the boarding card 6a returns a response RS at time t2. When the response is received, the reception level L of the response RS is detected by the boarding card response detection circuit 24 of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 as being equal to or higher than the detection level LA (step S13 in FIG. 5).

Therefore, at this time, the boarding information reader / writer 4 is not in a state in which the resonance circuits 7 of the boarding cards 6a and 6b are simultaneously operating, but the boarding card 6a.
Only the communication start command CSC is determined to be in the communicable state (step S1 in FIG. 5).
4).

When this communication start command CSC is received by the boarding card 6a, the CPU 17 of the boarding card 6a
The switch 10 holds the connection state of the capacitor 9, that is, the operation state of the resonance circuit 7 fixed, and
The random data RND in this state is stored in the non-volatile memory 16 (steps S27 and 28 in FIG. 6).

Also for the boarding card 6b, in response to the reception of the communication start command CSC, the switch 10
The fixed state of the disconnected state of the capacitor 9, that is, the inoperable state of the resonance circuit 7 is fixedly held, and the random data RND in this state is stored in the nonvolatile memory 16 (steps S27 and S28 in FIG. 6). In addition, each boarding card 6a, 6b is overlaid, and the boarding card 6a or 6b located far from the communication area is
Since the coil 8 of each resonance circuit 7 is electromagnetically inductively coupled, the communication start command CSC can be received.

Further, the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 transmits the communication start command CSC, and then the boarding cards 6a, 6
b It is checked whether or not there is interference in the signals sent from each of them, and if there is interference, anti-collision processing is performed to eliminate interference (step S15 in FIG. 5,
S16). Since this anti-collision process is a known technique, a detailed description is omitted here (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58-162881).

In this way, after the data links are established between the boarding cards 6a and 6b and the boarding information reading / writing device 4, the boarding cards 6a and 6b and the boarding information reading / writing device 4 are connected. Each do other processing
(Step S17 in FIG. 5 and step S29 in FIG. 6).

Specifically, as the other processing, the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 sends a command to each boarding card 6a, 6b, and receives boarding information returned from each boarding card 6a, 6b. It is sent to the automatic ticket gate 1 which is a higher-level device via the interface 25.

On the other hand, in each of the boarding cards 6a and 6b, the induced voltage change obtained by receiving the transmission signal from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 by the coil 8 of the resonance circuit 7 is converted into command data by the demodulation circuit 11. After conversion, this command data is analyzed by the CPU 17, and the CPU 17 controls the reading and writing of each of the memories 14, 15, 16 based on this command, and executes operations such as authentication. In addition, the non-volatile memory 16 stores the boarding card information (information such as the boarding / alighting section and the valid period). In addition, each boarding card 6a, 6b is a boarding information read / write device 4
The response to the command from is transmitted by changing the impedance viewed from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 by the modulation circuit 13.

By the way, the above explanation is for a case where a passenger board card or a commuter pass is newly purchased and a bid is placed in the station premises.
Non-volatile memory 16 for each boarding card 6a, 6b
The information that determines the connection / disconnection state of the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 was not stored in the first place, but it is possible to issue a bid from the station yard to the outside using the boarding card that has already been bid.
When a bid or a bid is issued using a commuter pass that has already been repeatedly placed and entered, the non-volatile memory 16 of each boarding card 6a, 6b is stored in the capacitor of the resonance circuit 7 by the operation of step S28 in FIG. This means that the information for determining the connection / disconnection state of 9 is already stored in the non-volatile memory 16.

In this case, the operation on the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side is basically the same as the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, but the operation on the boarding card 6a, 6b side is as described above. Will be different from.

That is, when the random data RND for determining the connection / disconnection state of the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 is already stored in the non-volatile memory 16 (step S21 in FIG. 6), the CPU 17 causes the random data RND to be stored. Based on the above, the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 is connected or disconnected (steps S30 to S32 in FIG. 6). At this time, in the normal case, the switch 10 of one of the boarding cards 6a is on (RND = 0), but the other boarding card 6a is
A state in which the switch 10 of b is turned off (RND = 1) occurs, and all of the boarding cards 6a and 6b can communicate with the boarding information reading / writing machine 4.

Then, the CPU 17 of each boarding card 6a, 6b sets an internal timer (not shown).
(Step S33) Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the time is over (step S34). If the time is not over, it is determined whether or not a communication start command is given from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side. It is determined (step S3
5). If the communication start command is given from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side, the data link has been established, and the process shifts to another process (step S29).

If no communication start command is given from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side, the process returns to step S34.

When the time is over while the communication start command is not received from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side, the process proceeds to step S22. As a situation in which the internal timers of the respective boarding cards 6a and 6b are timed out while the communication start command is not received from the boarding information reading / writing machine 4 side, for example, in the respective boarding cards 6a and 6b, Information to connect the capacitor 9 of the resonance circuit 7 (RN
This corresponds to the case where the boarding card 6b storing D = 0) is removed and is not held in front of the antenna coil 5 of the boarding information reading / writing machine 4. At this time, in step S22, the CPU 17 determines the random data RN.
D is generated, and thereafter, the operations of steps S23 to 29 are executed.

As described above, according to the contactless communication method of the present embodiment, a plurality of boarding cards are overlapped without providing a detecting means for detecting whether or not the boarding cards overlap each other. Even if the passengers are not able to communicate with each other, contactless communication can be surely made between each of the plurality of boarding cards and the boarding information reading / writing device 4, so that the passengers can connect to multiple routes or board the same route. Since the section is divided, when using more than one boarding card, it can be used, for example, while keeping it in the passbook, or by taking it out from the passport and overlapping it, it is convenient for users, and it is also convenient for the ticket gate. The confusion will be eliminated.

Although FIG. 2 shows an example in which the switch 10 is composed of a relay, the present invention is not limited to this.
A switch as shown in (b) can also be used.

In FIG. 7A, an analog switch including the bidirectional switch 30 is used. In addition, FIG.
Then, the FET 32 is used to form an analog switch.

Particularly, in the structure shown in FIG. 7B,
The FET 32 is turned on until the power is turned on, and thereafter, the FET 32 is turned on / off by a switch control signal. That is, since the switch control signal output from the CPU 17 remains at the low level until the power is turned on, a positive voltage is applied to the gate of the FET 32 to turn it on. After the power is turned on, when the switch control signal from the CPU 17 is at the low level, the FET 32 is turned on and the resonance circuit 77 is in the operable state in the same manner as described above. Conversely, when the switch control signal is at the high level, the FET 32 is turned on. When turned off, the resonance circuit 7 becomes inoperable.

In this embodiment, the switches 10,
Although the CPUs 30 and 32 are turned on / off under the control of the CPU 17, it is also possible to use hardware without using the CPU 17.

In this embodiment, the boarding card is used as a boarding ticket or a commuter ticket, and the boarding information reading / writing machine is installed in the automatic ticket gate. , But is not limited to this, for example, in various security systems,
The boarding card can be applied for registration of information such as passwords and ID codes, and the boarding information reading / writing machine can be used for ID confirmation control.

[0069]

According to the present invention, even if a plurality of boarding cards are overlapped with each other, communication is not disabled, and the boarding cards can be reliably used. Moreover, in that case, as in the conventional case, a detection means for detecting whether or not the boarding cards are overlapped with each other is provided inside the boarding card, or a protocol for determining the disconnection priority of the capacitors when the boarding cards are detected is added. Since there is no need, software and hardware can be simply configured, and the circuit can be downsized and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an automatic ticket gate to which a non-contact communication method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a boarding card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a boarding information reading / writing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart used for explaining a non-contact communication method using the boarding card and the boarding information reading / writing device having the above-described configurations.

5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the boarding information reading / writing machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the boarding card shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows another example of the switch of the boarding card of FIG. 2 and is a circuit diagram of a main part of the boarding card.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Automatic ticket gate 2 ticket gates 3 ticket gate body 4 Boarding information reading / writing machine 5 Boarding information reader / writer antenna coil 6 boarding cards 7 LC resonance circuit 8 coils 9 capacitors 10 Resonant circuit operating state changeover switch

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Takuya Fujimoto 10 Ouron Co., Ltd., Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (56) References JP-A-7-85325 (JP, A) JP-A-9-284172 (JP , A) JP 4-304718 (JP, A) JP 10-93485 (JP, A) JP 7-230560 (JP, A) JP 9-331466 (JP, A) JP 9-130999 (JP, A) JP-A-8-69513 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06K 17/00 G06K 19/07 G07B 15/00 H01Q 7 / 00

Claims (13)

(57) [Claims] 1. Non-contact communication between a plurality of non-contact communication media and a non-contact communication device is made possible by using a resonance circuit provided in each of the non-contact communication media. In a non-contact communication method in which a coil provided is capable of electromagnetic induction coupling, the resonance circuits of the plurality of non-contact communication media each have an indefinite change between the operating state in the time axis direction and the inoperative state. The non-contact communication device transmits the first command to each of the plurality of non-contact communication media, and the first non-contact communication medium transmits the first command to each of the plurality of non-contact communication media. When a response to the command is received, a second command is transmitted, and when each of the plurality of contactless communication media receives the second command, the second command is transmitted. The non-contact communication method, wherein the state of the resonance circuit of 1 is fixedly stored in the state at the time of receiving the second command. 2. The non-contact communication method according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact communication medium starts non-contact communication with a non-contact communication device according to storage of an operating state of the resonant circuit. The non-contact communication method, wherein when the second command is not transmitted from the communication device, the non-contact communication medium sets the state of the resonance circuit to the random control state. 3. A plurality of non-contact boarding cards when the plurality of non-contact boarding cards are located in a communication area with a boarding information reading / writing machine in an automatic ticket gate which is arranged in a close proximity to each other in a ticket gate passage. Each boarding card enables non-contact communication with the boarding information reading / writing machine by using a resonance circuit provided therein, and each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards is in a predetermined proximity to each other. In the non-contact communication method in which the coils provided in each state are capable of electromagnetic induction coupling, the resonance circuit of each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards is divided into a state in which it is in the operating state in the time axis direction and a state in which it is in the inoperative state. Control to change indefinitely (random control)
Then, a polling command is periodically transmitted from the boarding information reading / writing device to each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards, and one of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards is selected by the random control. When one non-contact boarding card (arbitrary non-contact boarding card) receives the polling command, a response is transmitted from the arbitrary non-contact boarding card to the boarding information reading / writing machine, and the boarding information reading / writing is performed. In the embedded machine, when the response is received, a communication start command is transmitted to each of the plurality of non-contact boarding cards, and in the arbitrary non-contact boarding card, when the communication start command is received, A non-contact communication method, wherein the state is fixedly stored in the state at the time of receiving the communication start command. 4. A resonance circuit used for non-contact communication with a non-contact communication device, signal processing means for processing an output signal from the resonance circuit and an input signal to the resonance circuit, and a resonance circuit for the resonance circuit. The state is controlled (random control) so that the state changes indefinitely in the time axis direction when it is in the inoperable state and when it is in the inoperable state, and the state of the resonant circuit is set to a predetermined value from the non-contact communication device. A non-contact communication medium, comprising: a control unit for fixedly storing a state when a command is received. 5. The non-contact communication medium according to claim 4, wherein the resonant circuit includes a resonant capacitor, and the control unit controls the resonant capacitor to be either connected or disconnected from the resonant circuit. Accordingly, the non-contact communication medium is characterized in that the state of the resonant circuit can be fixedly stored in an operable state and an inoperable state. 6. The non-contact communication medium according to claim 4, further comprising a storage unit that stores the fixed control state and a power supply circuit that is turned on at a predetermined timing, the control unit including the power supply. A non-contact communication medium, wherein the operation of the resonant circuit is controlled in a fixed control state stored in the storage means when the circuit is turned on. 7. The non-contact communication medium according to claim 6, wherein a battery power source can be built in, and either of the power source circuit or the battery power source can be selected. Contact communication medium. 8. The non-contact communication medium according to claim 6, wherein the control unit controls the resonance operation according to a fixed control state stored in the storage unit, and then within a predetermined time from the non-contact communication device. The non-contact communication medium, wherein when the communication start command is not received, the operating state of the resonant circuit is changed from the fixed control state to the random control state. 9. The contactless communication medium according to claim 8, wherein the power supply circuit is based on resonance by receiving a polling command transmitted from the contactless communication device at a constant transmission interval by the resonance circuit. A voltage is generated, the control means randomly controls the resonance circuit with an output voltage of the power supply circuit, and in the random control, a time width during which the resonance circuit is inoperable once, A non-contact communication medium, which is set to be longer than the constant transmission interval of a polling command. 10. The non-contact communication medium according to claim 6, wherein the control unit sets the state of the resonant circuit to an operable state when the output voltage of the power supply circuit is below a certain level. Non-contact communication medium. 11. An antenna coil, and a resonance circuit provided in the non-contact communication medium when a polling command is controlled to be transmitted to the non-contact communication medium via the antenna coil and a response to the polling command is received from the non-contact communication medium. A non-contact communication device, comprising: a control unit that controls transmission of a communication start command for fixing the operation state of. 12. A boarding card comprising the contactless communication medium according to any one of claims 4 to 10. 13. An automatic ticket gate disposed in a ticket gate passage, which has a built-in boarding information reading / writing machine configured by the non-contact communication device according to claim 11 and further has the boarding information reading / writing machine. 13. The plurality of boarding cards according to claim 12 are arranged at a predetermined position, and when the plurality of boarding cards are brought close to each other in a communication area with the antenna coil of the boarding information reading / writing machine, An automatic ticket gate, wherein contactless communication is performed between a plurality of boarding cards and the boarding information reading / writing machine.