JP4720851B2 - Contactless data carrier, its terminal equipment and access system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a contactless data carrier, a terminal device thereof, and an access system, and more particularly, to a terminal device capable of preventing a data carrier from which data is read and / or written from being mistaken.

Recently, contactless IC cards (data carriers) having a larger storage capacity than magnetic cards have been adopted as information recording media for various applications. This non-contact type IC card is configured to acquire power from a radio wave of a specific frequency transmitted from a reader / writer (terminal device) and transmit / receive data to / from the reader / writer (for example, Patent Documents). 1).
JP 2002-197418 A

Since the non-contact type IC card is configured to communicate with the reader / writer by radio waves, there is an IC card that is different from the IC card to be transmitted / received within the reception range of the radio waves emitted from the reader / writer. The reader / writer may communicate with another IC card (misidentification of the communication partner).
Such misidentification of the communication partner must be strictly avoided. In particular, when an IC card is used for settlement of electronic money, if a communication partner is misidentified, a serious problem occurs that the balance of electronic money is reduced without the user's knowledge.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a non-contact data carrier capable of communicating with a legitimate data carrier without causing a reader / writer to misidentify a communication partner, its terminal device, and To provide an access system.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the contactless data carrier optically transmits information that matches the prior confirmation information in addition to the communication means that communicates with the terminal device. It has an optical information display unit displayed in a readable form. On the other hand, the terminal device has communication means for communicating in a non-contact manner with the communication means of the data carrier, and optical information reading means for optically reading the optical information display section of the data carrier.

  In the first to third aspects of the invention, the terminal device causes the optical information reading means to read the information display unit and transmits the read information to the data carrier. When the information transmitted from the terminal device matches the prior confirmation information stored in the memory, the data carrier transmits a permission signal to the terminal device so that the terminal device enters an operation for reading and / or writing. To. For this reason, even if another data carrier exists within the reception range of the radio wave emitted from the terminal device, there is no fear that the terminal device communicates with the other data carrier.

  According to the fourth and fifth aspects of the present invention, if the trigger switch is not operated, the prior confirmation information is not read by the communication means and the optical information reading means, so that the power consumption of the terminal device can be suppressed as much as possible.

[First Reference Example]
Hereinafter, a first reference example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 shows an IC card 1 as a data carrier. This IC card 1 is formed by laminating a plurality of plastic thin plates, and a two-dimensional code is provided on the surface as an information code (optical information display unit). QR code 2 is provided by printing. The QR code 1 may be a label printed on a label and affixed to the IC card 1. A reader / writer 3 as a terminal device that communicates with the IC card 1 by radio waves and transmits and receives commands and data is shown in FIG. The reader / writer 3 is configured as a portable type in this embodiment, and has a function of capturing and decoding an image of the QR code 2 and a function of reading and writing data by communicating with the IC card 1 by radio waves. .

  The reader / writer 3 is mainly composed of a case 4 that can be held by hand, and the case 4 is provided with an operation section 5 that constitutes a grip section, a liquid crystal display 6 and the like. The operation unit 5 is provided with a large number of key switches 7, and the operation contents and the like are instructed by these key switches 7. A printed wiring board 8 is provided in the case 4 of the reader / writer 3. The liquid crystal display 6 and the key switch group 7 are disposed on one surface of the printed wiring board 8, and the optical surface is disposed on the other surface. A CCD area sensor 9 and an imaging lens 10 are provided as a general reading means.

  The front end opening of the case 4 is a reading port 4a, and another printed wiring board 11 is provided here. On the front side of the printed wiring board 11, an LED (light emitting diode) 12 is mounted as an illumination light source located around a hole 11 a formed in the center, and an illumination lens facing the LED 12. 13 is disposed. In the case 4, a reflection mirror 14 is disposed between the reading port 4 a and the imaging lens 10.

  The QR code 2 is read in a state where the reading port 4a is substantially in contact with the IC card 1. Then, the light emitted from the LED 12 is diffused by the illumination lens 13 to illuminate the IC card 1, and the reflected light is incident from the reading port 4 a, bent halfway by the reflection mirror 14, and CCD lens sensor by the imaging lens 10. 9 is imaged.

  On the other hand, bobbins 15 and 16 are provided on both front and back sides of the printed wiring board 11 of the reading port 4a. A transmission antenna coil 17 is wound around the front bobbin 15, and a reception antenna coil 18 is wound around the back bobbin 16. It is disguised. The transmission antenna coil 17 and the reception antenna coil 18 may be configured to be shared by one antenna coil.

  FIG. 1 shows the electrical configuration of the reader / writer 3. The liquid crystal display 6, the key switch group 7, the CCD area sensor 9, the LED 12, the transmission antenna coil 17 as communication means, and the reception antenna as communication means as described above. In addition to the coil 18, a control circuit 19 as a control means, an amplifier circuit 20, an A / D conversion circuit 21, a synchronization pulse generation circuit 22, an address generation circuit 23, an image memory 24, a communication I / F circuit 25, a demodulation unit 26 And a modulation unit 27 and the like.

  The control circuit 19 is configured as a microcomputer system including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, and the like, and operates according to a program stored in the ROM. The control circuit 19 is connected to the liquid crystal display 6, the key switch group 7, the communication I / F circuit 25, and the like.

  The CCD area sensor 9 has CCDs as light receiving elements arranged two-dimensionally, forms an image of the reflected light of the LED 12, and gives the two-dimensional image to the amplifier circuit 20 as a horizontal scanning line signal. The amplifier circuit 20 amplifies the scanning line signal output from the CCD area sensor 9 at an amplification factor corresponding to the gain control voltage from the control circuit 19 and outputs the amplified signal to the A / D conversion circuit 21. The A / D conversion circuit 21 converts the analog scanning line signal into a digital signal. The data converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion circuit 21 is multi-value data, and this multi-value data is stored in the image memory 24. Then, the control circuit 19 decodes the two-dimensional code based on the multi-value data stored in the image memory 24 and stores it in the RAM as temporary storage means. In this multi-value data, each pixel has a gradation value of 8 bits (0 to 255).

  The synchronization pulse generation circuit 22 outputs a synchronization pulse sufficiently finer than the pulse of the two-dimensional image data output from the CCD area sensor 9. The address generation circuit 23 counts the synchronization pulses supplied from the synchronization pulse generation circuit 22 and generates an address for the image memory 24. The multivalued image data converted into a digital signal is written into the image memory 24 in units of 8 bits for each address. The liquid crystal display 6 is configured, for example, as a liquid crystal having two gradations, and is used for displaying image data written in the image memory 24.

  The communication I / F circuit 25 performs communication with an external device such as a host computer. For example, the communication I / F circuit 25 transmits to an external device via a communication light emitting element (not shown) or via a communication light receiving element (not shown). Receive signals from external devices.

  The transmitting antenna coil 17, the receiving antenna coil 18, the demodulating unit 26, and the modulating unit 27 are for communicating with the IC card 1, and the modulating unit 27 first modulates a reference signal when communicating with the IC card 1. The data is transmitted from the transmission antenna coil 17 as a power radio signal, and then the data to be transmitted is superimposed on the power radio signal and transmitted from the transmission antenna coil 17. The demodulator 26 demodulates the radio signal received by the receiving antenna coil 18 and extracts it as data.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, the IC card 1 includes an antenna coil 28 as a communication means for transmitting and receiving radio wave signals, a resonance capacitor 29, a control IC 30, and a smoothing unit 31. The antenna coil 28, the resonance capacitor 29, the control IC 30, and the smoothing unit 31 are interposed between a plurality of plastic thin plates constituting the IC card 1 (FIG. 4 shows the antenna coil 28 and the control IC 30. Only shown.)

  The control IC 30 is a one-chip semiconductor element constituting a rectifier 33, a modem unit 34, a memory unit 35 as a memory unit such as identification information and management information, in addition to a CPU 32 as a control unit. In this case, the memory unit 35 includes a ROM 36 that stores an operation program and the like, and an erasable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM 37 for temporary storage.

  The EEPROM 37, which is a memory, stores a password as prior confirmation information, for example. The password stored in the EEPROM 37 is also displayed as a QR code in the QR code 2 attached to the surface of the IC card 1 described above. The resonant capacitor 29 may be provided in the control IC 30 or may not be necessary.

  The antenna coil 28 is connected in parallel with the resonance capacitor 29 to form a resonance circuit. When a predetermined high frequency electric wave signal is transmitted from the transmission antenna coil 17 of the reader / writer 3, the antenna coil 28 receives this signal. To the rectifying unit 33. The rectification unit 33 constitutes an operation power supply circuit together with the smoothing unit 31, rectifies the electric power radio signal transmitted from the resonance circuit, smoothes the signal by the smoothing unit 31, and has a constant voltage DC power (operation power). ) And supplied to the CPU 32 or the like.

  The command signal and data signal transmitted by being superimposed on the power radio signal are demodulated by the modem unit 34 and applied to the CPU 32. The CPU 32 operates in accordance with an operation program stored in the ROM 36 of the memory unit 35, executes processing according to a signal input from the modem unit 34, and writes the received data to the EEPROM 37 or the like of the memory unit 35. Data is read from the EEPROM 37, modulated by the modem unit 34, and transmitted as a radio wave signal from the antenna coil 28.

Next, the operation when the reader / writer 3 communicates with the IC card 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
The reading port 4a of the reader / writer 3 is addressed on the IC card 1, and a predetermined key switch is operated from the key switch group 7 in this state to start. Then, the control circuit 19 first turns on the LED 12 to illuminate the QR code 2 portion. Thereby, the reflected light is imaged on the CCD area sensor 9 by the imaging lens 10. The QR code 2 image formed on the CCD area sensor 9 is taken into the image memory 24 as multivalued digital data. Then, the control circuit 19 decodes the QR code 2 image fetched into the image memory 24 in accordance with the code decoding program (step S1; decoding means). In this case, since the QR code 2 represents the password of the IC card 1, the control circuit 19 obtains the password of the IC card 1 by decoding the QR code 2.

  Next, the control circuit 19 transmits a power radio signal from the transmission antenna coil 17 to communicate with the IC card 1 and transmits a password read command. Then, the CPU 32 of the IC card 1 reads the password from the EEPROM 37 and transmits it from the antenna coil 28 as a radio wave signal. The radio wave signal transmitted from the IC card 1 is received by the receiving antenna coil 18 of the reader / writer 3, demodulated by the demodulator 26, and given to the control circuit 19. Thereby, the control circuit 19 of the reader / writer 3 acquires the password from the IC card 1 by the radio signal (step S2).

  When information is acquired from both the QR code 2 of the IC card 1 and the EEPROM 37 in this way, the control circuit 19 compares the two acquired information and determines whether or not they match (step S3; Judgment means). If the two pieces of information do not match (“NO” in step S3), the control circuit 19 transmits the password acquired by radio wave communication from the reader / writer 3 instead of the IC card to be read / written. Alarm processing, for example, that is displayed on the liquid crystal display 6 by characters or the like as acquired from another IC card within the reception range of the received radio wave (step S5). In addition, as a warning process, you may sound a buzzer.

  When the two pieces of information match (“YES” in step S3), the control circuit 19 uses the password acquired by radio wave communication for the IC card to be read / written, that is, from the CCD area sensor 10. A read / write process (a process of reading data stored in the EEPROM 37 or writing data into the EEPROM 37) is executed on the assumption that the IC card 2 has the read QR code 2 (step S4). If the IC card 2 is an electronic money IC card, the read / write processing in this case reads the balance stored in the EEPROM 37, subtracts the current transaction amount from the balance, and settles the amount after settlement. The balance is transmitted to the IC card 1 as a balance and the balance stored in the EEPROM 37 is rewritten.

  As described above, according to the reference example, the reader / writer 3 acquires information from the QR code 2 of the IC card 1 to which the reading port 4a is addressed, and this information matches the prior confirmation information acquired from the EEPROM 37 by radio wave communication. Since the read / write processing is executed only when they match, there is no fear of reading / writing from / to an IC card different from the IC card 2 to be read / written. For this reason, when it is used as an IC card for electronic money, there is no fear that the balance will be reduced without the user's knowledge.

[One Example]
FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention. Since the configuration of the IC card and the reader / writer is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, description will be made with reference to FIG. 6 using the names and symbols used in the first reference example.

  The reading port 4a of the reader / writer 3 is addressed on the IC card 1, and a predetermined key switch is operated from the key switch group 7 in this state to start. Then, the control circuit 19 takes in the QR code 2 (step A1) and acquires the password of the IC card 1 (step A2) as in the case of the above-described one embodiment.

  Next, the control circuit 19 transmits a radio wave signal for power from the transmission antenna coil 17 to communicate with the IC card 1 and transmits the decrypted password (step A3). Then, the CPU 32 of the IC card 1 reads the password from the EEPROM 37, compares it with the information transmitted from the reader / writer 3, and determines whether or not they match (step A4; determination means).

  When the password read from the EEPROM 37 and the information transmitted from the reader / writer 3 do not match (“NO” in step A4), the CPU 32 transmits an access non-permission signal from the antenna coil 28 ( Step A6). If both match ("YES" in step A4), the CPU 32 transmits an access permission signal from the antenna coil 28 (step A5).

  A signal transmitted from the IC card 1 is received by the reader / writer 3. Then, the control circuit 19 determines whether or not the received signal is an access permission signal (step A7). If the received signal is an access non-permission signal ("NO" in step A7), an alarm process, for example, A message to that effect is displayed on the liquid crystal display 6 (step A9). If the received signal is an access permission signal, the control circuit 19 executes read / write processing (step S4).

  Thus, according to this embodiment, the IC card 1 is an IC card in which the information transmitted from the reader / writer 3 is its own password, that is, the IC card to which the reader / writer 3 is addressed and the QR code 2 is read. In some cases, access permission is transmitted, but if the information transmitted from the reader / writer 3 is not its own password, the reader / writer 3 is not addressed and the QR code 2 is not read. Send access denied. Therefore, there is no fear that the reader / writer 3 communicates with an IC card other than the IC card to be read / written.

  The transmission of the access permission signal from the IC card 1 can be omitted. In this case, since the command for reading and writing is transmitted to the IC card 1 together with the password, there is no fear that another IC card 1 executes the command from the reader / writer 3.

[Second Reference Example]
7 and 8 show a second reference example of the present invention.
In this reference example, the data carrier is not an IC card but an RFID tag 38 (see FIG. 7), and its electrical configuration is the same as FIG. The RFID tag 38 is provided with a QR code 2 (not shown, but the same code as in the previous embodiment is used). The QR code 2 displays identification (ID) information as prior confirmation information, and also displays a command and information related to the command. In this embodiment, the command and the information related to the command are information that the current time transmitted from the terminal device 3 is written as information related to the read command, the write command, and the write command.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the electrical configuration of the terminal device 3 is basically the same as that shown in FIG. 1, except that a trigger switch 39 including a key switch, a marker LED 40, a buzzer 41, and a green LED 42 for display. The red LED 43 and the clock unit 44 are different. The trigger switch 39 is a two-stage push-in type. When the trigger switch 39 is pressed once, the marker LED 40 is lit, and when the trigger switch 39 is pressed twice, the illumination LED 12 is lit.

  In this reference example, when the identification information of the QR code 2 read by the terminal device 3 is transmitted to the RFID tag 38, the command read from the QR code 2 is also transmitted as shown in the flowchart of FIG. It is characterized by doing so. That is, the reading port 4a of the terminal device 3 is addressed to the QR code 2 of the RFID tag 38 to be read, and the trigger switch 39 is pushed one step (step B1). Then, the control circuit 19 of the terminal device 3 turns on the marker LED 40 (step B2) and displays the reading range. Therefore, after confirming that the QR code 2 is within the reading range, the trigger switch 39 is already turned on. Push in the first step (push in the second step). As a result, the illumination LED 12 is turned on to illuminate the QR code 2 portion, the CCD area sensor 9 captures the QR code 2 image, and the control circuit 19 decodes the QR code image (step B3).

  Next, the control circuit 19 determines whether or not the decryption has been read normally (step B4). If not, the control circuit 19 turns on the red LED 43 to notify that ("NO" in step B4, step B9), the end. When the decoding is normal (“YES” in step B4), the control circuit 19 reads the read command and the write command together with the identification information read from the QR code 2, and the write indicates the current time transmitted from the terminal device 3. Information to be written and current time information acquired from the clock unit 44 are transmitted (step B5).

  When the received identification information matches the identification information stored in the ROM 36, the CPU 32 of the RFID tag 38 that has received the information from the terminal device 3 transmits response information. When receiving the response information from the RFID tag 38 (“YES” in step B6), the control circuit 19 of the terminal device 3 reads and writes information in the RFID tag 38 (step B7).

  In this step B 7, the control circuit 19 of the terminal device 3 first transmits a read / write start command to the RFID tag 38. Then, the CPU 32 of the RFID tag 38 transmits all rewritable information stored in the EEPROM 37 to the terminal device 3 and writes the time transmitted from the terminal device 3 in the EEPROM 37 as the execution time of the read / write command. The terminal device 3 stores the information transmitted from the RFID tag 38. The above is the operation of step B7. Note that step B6 and step B7 may be reversed in some cases.

  After execution of step B7, the control circuit 37 of the terminal device 3 sounds the buzzer 41 and lights the green LED 42 to notify that it has operated normally (step B8), and ends. In the previous embodiment, the operation of the IC card 1 is displayed in the flowchart showing the operation contents of the control circuit 19 of the terminal device 3, but the operation of the RFID tag 38 is not shown in FIG.

  Thus, according to this reference example, after the terminal device 3 reads the identification information from the QR code 2, when transmitting the identification information to the RFID tag tag 38, the terminal device 3 simultaneously transmits a command and information related to the command. As described above, reading and writing according to the special characteristics of the RFID tag 38 can be performed. That is, as exemplified in the present embodiment, when the RFID tag 38 transmits information to the terminal device 3, when it is necessary to write the time in the EEPROM 37, the terminal device 3 has the QR code 2. When the identification information is read, it can be recognized that the RFID tag requires such a thing, so that a command corresponding to the RFID tag and information corresponding to the command can be transmitted.

  In particular, if the command and information corresponding to the command are displayed in addition to the identification information on the QR code 2 as in this reference example, the terminal device 3 can execute the command corresponding to the RFID tag from the identification information. It is not necessary to perform the operation of selecting the above and the processing time can be shortened.

  In this reference example, since the terminal device 3 executes the reading operation of the QR code 2 and the ROM 36 of the RFID tag 38 after operating the trigger switch 39, a battery (not shown) as a power source of the terminal device 3 is used. ) Can be suppressed as much as possible. That is, if the reading operation is executed immediately after the power switch of the terminal device 3 is turned on, the radio signal is transmitted and the lighting LED 12 and the marker LED 40 are turned on, which consumes power wastefully. However, in this embodiment, such a problem can be solved.

  When the RFID tag 38 transmits the response information, all the information described in the EEPROM 37 is transmitted, the execution time is written in the EEPROM 37, and the terminal device 3 receives the information transmitted from the RFID tag 38. A configuration may be adopted in which the reading operation is terminated by receiving and storing in a memory (not shown) of the control circuit 19.

[Other Examples]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and can be expanded or modified as follows.
The data carrier is not limited to an IC card, and may be implemented in various modifications without departing from the gist, such as an RF tag.
The prior confirmation information may be any number, letter, symbol, or a combination thereof.
The prior confirmation information may be stored in the ROM 36.
The optical information display unit is not limited to a QR code, but may be another one-dimensional code such as a two-dimensional code or a barcode, or may be a number or a character.
In the embodiment, the trigger switch 39 may be provided so that the QR code 2 of the IC card 1 is read and the communication with the IC card 1 is performed after the trigger switch 39 is operated.
Either the reading of the QR code 2 of the IC card 1 after the trigger switch 39 is operated or the communication with the IC card 1 may be first.
When the terminal device reads information from the data carrier and writes information to the data carrier, the present invention can be widely applied to a case where only information is read from the data carrier, or a case where information is only written to the data carrier.

The block diagram of the terminal device (reader / writer) which shows the 1st reference example of this invention Cross-sectional view of terminal equipment (reader / writer) Data carrier (IC card) block diagram Front view of data carrier (IC card) flowchart FIG. 5 equivalent diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention FIG. 1 equivalent view showing a second reference example of the present invention Figure equivalent to FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is an IC card (data carrier), 2 is a QR code (optical information display unit), 3 is a reader / writer (terminal device), 9 is a CCD area sensor (optical information reading means), and 17 is a transmission antenna. Coil (communication means), 18 is a receiving antenna coil (communication means), 19 is a control circuit, 28 is an antenna coil (communication means), 30 is a control IC, 32 is a CPU (determination means), 35 is a memory unit (memory) Means), 37 is an EEPROM (memory), 38 is an RFID tag (data carrier), and 39 is a trigger switch.

Claims (5)

A non-contact type data carrier having a communication means, a memory storing pre-confirmation information, an optical information display unit displaying information that matches the pre-confirmation information in an optically readable form,
A communication unit that communicates with the communication unit of the data carrier in a non-contact manner, and a terminal device having an optical information reading unit that optically reads the optical information display unit of the data carrier,
The terminal device reads the optical information display unit by the optical information reading unit, transmits the read information to the data carrier by the communication unit,
When the prior confirmation information transmitted from the terminal device matches the prior confirmation information stored in the memory, the data carrier transmits an access permission signal to the terminal device,
When the terminal device receives an access permission signal from a data carrier, the terminal device enters an operation for reading and / or writing to the data carrier. A terminal device used for the access system of the contactless data carrier according to claim 1,
Communication means for communicating in a non-contact manner to a non-contact type data carrier having a memory storing pre-confirmation information and an optical information display unit displaying information that matches the pre-confirmation information in an optically readable form And optical information reading means for optically reading the optical information display part of the data carrier,
When the optical information reading unit reads the optical information display unit and transmits the read information to the data carrier by the communication unit and receives an access permission signal from the data carrier, Alternatively, a terminal device that enters an operation for writing. A non-contact type data carrier for use in the non-contact type data carrier access system according to claim 1,
A communication means that communicates with a terminal device, a memory that stores prior confirmation information, and an optical information display unit that displays information that matches the prior confirmation information in an optically readable form,
A data carrier characterized by transmitting an access permission signal to the terminal device when the prior confirmation information transmitted from the terminal device matches the prior confirmation information stored in the memory. The access system for a contactless data carrier according to claim 1,
The terminal device includes a trigger switch, and after the trigger switch is operated, the optical information reading unit performs an operation of reading the prior confirmation information. The terminal device according to claim 2,
A terminal device comprising a trigger switch, wherein after the trigger switch is operated, the optical information reading unit reads the prior confirmation information.

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