JPH07110851A - Non-contact data carrier and its passage management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow plural non-contact data carriers to execute data communication with a master equipment without overlapping them. CONSTITUTION:A control part 3 in a non-contact data carrier 10 is provided with a data communication control part 32 for transmitting/receiving data to/ from the master equipment 20 when a detection part 31 detects a search signal from the equipment 20 and a suspension control part 33 for suspending the detection of the search signal by the deection part 31 during the period of a prescribed time after ending the data communication of the control part 32. Since plural non-contact data carriers 10 to be turned to a data communication state by transmitting a response signal after receiving a prescribed search signal are turned to a senseless state to the search signal, from the equipment 20 during the period of a prescribed time after the end of data communication, the equipment 20 to be turned to a data communication state by receiving the response signal after the transmission of the search signal can individually manage plural carriers 10 passing a communication management area 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a non-contact data carrier and its passage management system, and more particularly to a memory for storing data and a data communication section for non-contact data communication with a master unit. The present invention relates to a non-contact data carrier including a control unit for controlling the non-contact data carrier and a non-contact data carrier passage management system in which a master unit manages passage of the plurality of non-contact data carriers.

Today, contactless data carriers of this kind are
Compact and thin to C card size, FA (Factory
It is used in various fields such as logistics management in automation) or gate management of people who enter / exit the facility.
By the way, in physical distribution management, for example, products move orderly at intervals, so that it is possible to carry out one-to-one correspondence between the master unit and the non-contact data carrier, and to provide a simple communication control function. Although there is no problem with contact data carriers and their transit management systems, contact management of contactless data carriers and their A more advanced communication control function is required for the passage management system.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a conventional data carrier passage management system. In FIG.
Is a gate, 50 is a communication management area of the master device 20, and 30 is a conventional data carrier. In FIG. 6A, the data carrier 30 enters the communication area 50 of the master device 20 to enable wireless half-duplex data communication with the master device 20. Therefore, by having such a data carrier 30 carried by each person, passage management of people who enter / exit the facility can be automatically performed.

FIG. 6B shows a conventional data carrier 30.
It shows a transit control system using. Now time t
_{In 1} , the persons A, B, and C carrying the data carrier 30 are heading toward the gate 40 at the positions shown in the figure. Base unit 60
Outputs the search signal S at time t ₁ , and at this time, the data carrier A in the communication control area 50 has the search signal S.
Is identified and a response signal R is returned. The base unit 60 enters a normal data communication state by receiving the response signal R after transmitting the search signal S, and the data carrier A also transmits the response signal R after receiving the search signal S to and from the base unit 60. A normal data communication state is set. At time t ₂ , the necessary data signal D is exchanged, and at time t ₃ , the data carrier A is exchanged.
Passes through the gate 40.

Similarly, at time t ₄ , the data carrier B transmits a response signal R to the search signal S of the master device 60, and a normal data communication state with the master device 60 is established. At the next time t ₅ , the necessary data signal D is exchanged.
Further, at this time t ₅ , the data carrier C invades the communication control area 50, but the master device 60 is the data carrier B.
Since the normal data communication is performed with the data carrier C, the data carrier C does not receive the search signal S.

At the next time t ₆ , the data carrier B, which has completed the data communication, is heading to the boundary of the communication management area 50. Further, at this time t ₆ , the data carrier C is the master device 6
The response signal R to the search signal S of 0 is transmitted, and the master device 60
Tries to enter a normal data communication state with.

[0007]

However, conventionally, since there is no regulation in the data carrier B after the end of normal data communication, the data carrier B also identifies the search signal S of the master device 60 at the same time. Response signal to R
Will be sent. As a result, the response signals R of the data carriers B and C interfere with each other, which prevents the master device 60 from receiving the normal response signal R. Therefore, conventionally, the base unit 60
Also, there is a problem that the data carrier C cannot perform normal data communication.

An object of the present invention is to provide a contactless data carrier and a passage management system for the contactless data carrier, in which a plurality of contactless data carriers can perform data communication with a master unit without duplication.

[0009]

The above problems can be solved by the structure shown in FIG. That is, the contactless data carrier of the present invention (1) is the memory 1 for storing data.
In a non-contact data carrier including a data communication unit 2 that performs non-contact data communication with the master unit, and a control unit 3 that controls the data communication unit 2 and the master unit, the control unit 3 transmits the search signal from the master unit. a detection unit 3 ₁ to be detected, the data communications controller 3 ₂ for exchanging data between the master unit is energized by the detection of the detection portion 3 ₁ of the search signal, the data communication data in the control unit 3 ₂ A pause controller 3 ₃ is provided to pause the detection of the search signal by the detector 3 _{1 for} a predetermined time after the end of communication.

The above problem can be solved by the structure of FIG. That is, in the non-contact data carrier passage management system of the present invention (4), the parent device performs non-contact data communication with a plurality of non-contact data carriers passing through its own communication area, thereby passing the data carrier. In a non-contact data carrier passage management system that performs management, a master unit 20 that enters a data communication state by receiving a predetermined response signal after transmitting a predetermined search signal, and transmission of the response signal after receiving the search signal The plurality of contactless data carriers 10 according to claim 1, which are brought into a data communication state with the master device 20 according to the above.
0 is insensitive to the search signal from the master device 20 for a predetermined time after the end of data communication with the master device 20, and thus a plurality of non-contact data carriers passing through the communication management area. 10 can be managed individually.

[0011]

In the contactless data carrier of the present invention (1) of FIG. 1A, the detection unit 3 ₁ detects the search signal S from the master unit 20, and the data communication control unit 3 ₂ detects the detection unit 3 _1. The data signal D is exchanged with the master device 20 by being energized by the detection of the search signal S of. Then, the suspension control unit 3 ₃ suspends the detection of the search signal by the detection unit 3 _{1 for} a predetermined time after the end of the data communication in the data communication control unit 3 ₂ .

Therefore, the non-contact data carrier 10 which has exchanged the data signal D once becomes insensitive to the search signal S from the parent device 20 for a predetermined time thereafter, and thus such non-contact The data carrier 10 is the base unit 20.
There is no duplication of data communication with. Further, preferably, the suspension control unit 3 ₃ is biased by the end of data communication in the data communication control unit 3 ₂ and applies an offset bias to the amplification circuit for amplifying the received signal from the parent device 20 for a predetermined time. Equipped with. Therefore, the present invention can be realized with an extremely simple configuration.

Further, preferably, the pause control section 3 ₃ is energized by the detection of the search signal by the detection section 3 ₁ or by the end of the data communication in the data communication control section 3 ₂ .
A timer 5 for delaying the restart of ₁ for a predetermined time is provided. In addition, such a timer 5 may be configured by hardware or software. In the non-contact data carrier passage management system of the present invention (4) of FIG. 1B, the master device 20 enters a data communication state by receiving a predetermined response signal R after transmitting a predetermined search signal S, Further, the plurality of non-contact data carriers 10 are respectively transmitted to the master unit 2 by transmitting the response signal R after receiving the search signal S.
A data communication state is established with 0.

In this case, even if the plurality of non-contact data carriers 10 intrude into the communication area 50 of the parent device 20 with some time lag, the generality of practical use is not lost.
As a result, the first-arriving non-contact data carrier B forms a data communication path with the parent device 20 at time t ₄ , for example, and exchanges the necessary data signal D at time t ₅ . on the other hand,
The non-contact data carrier C arriving at this communication management area 50 at time t ₅ cannot form a data communication path with the parent device 20, and as a result, the communication of the non-contact data carrier C is kept waiting.

When the first non-contact data carrier B finishes the data communication with the base unit 20 in time, it becomes insensitive to the search signal S from the base unit 20 for a predetermined time from time t _6. Become. As a result, when the later-arriving non-contact data carrier C forms a data communication path with the parent device 20 at time t ₆ , the first-arriving non-contact data carrier B is still in the communication management area of the parent device 20. Despite being there, no response was given.

Thus, a plurality of non-contact data carriers 10 entering at arbitrary intervals and speeds can sequentially perform data communication with the master device 20 without overlapping each other.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals denote the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the contactless data carrier system of the embodiment, and in FIG.
Reference numeral 0 is a master unit, 21 is its data processing unit, 22 is a data communication unit, 23 is a rectangular patch antenna (ANT), 24 is a hybrid (H), and 25 is an ASK modulator (ASKMO).
D), 26 is an oscillator (OSC), 27 is a PSK demodulator (PSKDEM), and 28 is a directional coupler. Also,
Reference numeral 10 is a contactless data carrier of the embodiment, and an example of the structure thereof is shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a non-contact data carrier of the embodiment. In the figure, 10 is a non-contact data carrier of the embodiment (hereinafter simply referred to as data carrier), 1 is a memory for storing data, and 2 is a parent. Data communication unit for performing non-contact data communication with the machine 20, 11 is a square patch antenna (ANT), 12 is a hybrid (H), 13 is P
SK modulator (PSKMOD), 14 is a detector (DE
T), 15 is an FSK modulator (FSKMOD), 16 is a detection signal amplification circuit (AMP), 4 is a bias control circuit,
And 3 is a CPU that performs the main control of the data carrier 10.
Is.

[0019] If the base unit 20 transmits the data (including the exploration data) is ASK-modulated by the transmission data TxD a high-frequency signal (e.g., 2.45 GHz _Z) in ASK modulator 25. The ASK modulated wave is split by the hybrid 24 into signal waves having different phases by 90 °, and each is high-frequency (electromagnetically) coupled to the feeding points a and b of the patch antenna 23 through terminals. As a result, the right-handed polarized wave of the ASK modulated wave is radiated into space from the patch antenna 23.

In the data carrier 10, the right-handed polarized wave is received by the patch antenna 11 and each signal wave having a 90 ° phase difference is reproduced at the feeding points a and b. Each signal wave is input to the terminal of the hybrid 12 via high frequency coupling,
The composite wave appears at the terminal. The ASK composite wave is detected by the wave detector 14, further amplified by the amplifier circuit 16, and the obtained reception data RxD is taken into the CPU 3.

[0021] If the base unit 20 receives the data (including the response data) biases the oscillator 26 generates a continuous wave CW of the high-frequency signal (e.g., 2.45 GHz _Z) and. The continuous wave CW is divided by the hybrid 24 into continuous waves having different phases of 90 °, and is high-frequency coupled to the feeding points a and b of the patch antenna 23 from the terminals. As a result, the left-handed polarized wave of the continuous wave CW is radiated into the space from the patch antenna 23.

In the data carrier 10, the left-handed polarized wave is received by the patch antenna 11 and each continuous wave CW having a 90 ° phase difference is reproduced at the feeding points a and b. Each continuous wave CW is input to the terminal of the hybrid 12 via high frequency coupling, and the combined wave appears at the terminal. On the other hand, CPU3
Then, at this time, the transmission data Tx is transmitted by the FSK modulator 15.
DSK is FSK-modulated, and the PSK modulator 13 further
The input continuous wave CW is PSK-modulated by the modulating wave. That is, the input continuous wave CW is opened and short-circuited at the input of the PSK modulator 13, and as a result, the PSK modulator 13 ideally has a phase of 180 ° (however, 60 ° according to the FSK modulated wave). PS of different degrees (about 90 °)
The K wave is reflected. The PSK reflected wave follows the reverse path, appears at the terminal of the hybrid 24 of the parent device 20, and is further input to the PSK demodulator 27 via the directional coupler 28.
The PSK demodulator 27 demodulates the PSK reflected wave and fetches the obtained reception data RxD into the data processing unit 21.

Thus, by using the left-handed / right-handed polarized waves in time division according to the data read / write of the master device 20, the half-duplex data communication is performed between the master device 20 and the data carrier 10. . In FIG. 2, the data carrier 10 as described above enters the communication area of the master device 20 to enable data communication with the master device 20, and in this state, the data carrier 10 moves around the X axis and the Y axis. ± 4
Proper data communication can be performed even if the device is tilted by 5 ° (actually ± 90 ° or more) or rotated 360 ° around the Z axis. Therefore, when each person carries such a data carrier 10, passage management of people who enter / exit the facility can be automatically performed.

Further, referring to FIG. 3, the amplifier circuit 1 of the present embodiment.
6 is a transistor Q, for example₁, Q₂2 stage Emi by
The first-stage transistor, which consists of a grounded amplifier circuit
Q₁Is the load resistance R_L1And negative feedback resistance R_FAnd by
It is self-biased to the desired operating point Q. Also detector
A coupling (electric field) capacitor C is provided between the amplifier 14 and the amplifier circuit 16. _C
Is AC-coupled by
Is a transistor Q when the power is turned on.₁Desired base
It takes some time to be biased to the operating point Q of
To do.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the bias control circuit 4 including the switch circuit SW and the resistor R _A having a small resistance value is provided, and the reset pulse RSP generated by the end of the data communication with the master device 20 is used. The switch circuit SW is short-circuited so that the base bias of the transistor Q ₁ is pulled (offset) to a bias equivalent to the initial state when the power is turned on. As a result, it takes a considerable time for the base bias of the transistor Q ₁ to return to the desired operating point Q, during which the amplifier circuit 16 becomes insensitive to the signal received from the master device 20.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the data communication processing of the embodiment.
Chart, 3 in the figure₁Is the search signal from the base unit 20
Detection unit to detect, 3₂Is the detection unit 3₁To detect the exploration signal of
Data signals are exchanged with the base unit 20 by being biased.
Data communication control unit for performing 3 ₃Is the data communication control unit 3₂
During a predetermined time after the end of the data communication in ₁
It is a pause control unit that pauses the detection of the search signal by.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned parts 3 in this embodiment₁~ 3₃Is CPU3
It is realized by the following program control in.

The master unit 20 transmits the search signal S for a predetermined time in step S1, and continuously transmits the continuous wave CW for a predetermined time in step S2. In step S3, it is checked whether or not the response signal R from the data carrier 10 is received. If no response signal R is received, the process returns to step S1 to repeat the above-described periodic search transmission. In this state, when the data carrier 10 enters the communication area of the master device 20 at a certain time, the search signal S from the master device 20 is received in step S11, and the response signal R is continuously transmitted in step S12.
The data carrier 10 becomes the normal data communication mode by the transmission of the response signal R, and the parent device 20 makes the step S3.
Since the response signal R is received at, the normal data communication mode is set.

The base unit 20 transmits the necessary command and data signals D and processes the received data signal D from the data carrier 10 in subsequent steps S4 to S6. On the other hand, in the data carrier 10, step S13,
In S14, the reception command and the data signal D from the parent device 20 are received, and the corresponding processing is performed. When the data communication ends, the parent device 20 transmits the end signal E in step S7 and returns to step S1. The data carrier 10 receives the end signal E in step S15, and thus proceeds to step S16 and outputs the reset pulse signal RSP to the bias control circuit 4. The control flow returns to step S11, whereby the data carrier 10 receives the next search signal S
However, since the amplification circuit 16 has not yet amplified the received signal from the parent device 20 for a predetermined time, the reception of the search signal S is substantially continued until the predetermined time elapses. Not done

[0029] Incidentally, pause controller 3 _3, instead of performing the processing of the provided and step S16 bias control circuit 4 as described above may be provided with a timer 5 to be implemented in hardware or software. In this case, the timer 5 is activated by the detection of the search signal S in step S11 or the reception of the end signal E of the data communication in step S15, and delays the above-described control flow from returning to step S11 for a predetermined time. Therefore, also in this case, the data carrier 10 does not receive the next search signal S for a predetermined time.

Further, in the above embodiment, the data communication end signal E is transmitted from the master device 20, but a communication protocol may be used in which the data carrier end signal E is transmitted from the data carrier 10. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the data carrier passage management system of the embodiment. In the figure, 20 is a master unit, 40 is a gate, 50 is a communication management area of the master unit, 10
Is a data carrier of the embodiment.

At time t ₁ , the persons A, B and C carrying the data carrier 10 are heading toward the gate 40 at the positions shown in the figure. The parent device 20 outputs the search signal S at time t ₁ , and at this time, the data carrier A in the communication management area 50 identifies the search signal S and returns the response signal R. The master device 20 enters a normal data communication state by receiving the response signal R after transmitting the search signal S, and the data carrier A also transmits to the master device 20 by transmitting the response signal R after receiving the search signal S. A normal data communication state is set. At the next time t ₂ , the necessary data signal D is exchanged, and when the data communication is ended, the data carrier A is made insensitive to the search signal S for a predetermined time, and the gate 40 is turned off at the time t _3. pass. It is needless to say that the data carrier A returns after a predetermined time has elapsed, and the next gate (not shown) performs the same process as above.

Similarly, at time t ₄ , the data carrier B transmits the response signal R to the search signal S of the master device 20, and the normal data communication state with the master device 20 is established. At the next time t ₅ , the necessary data signal D is exchanged.
Further, at this time t ₅ , the data carrier C enters the communication control area 50, but since the master device 20 is performing normal data communication with the data carrier B at this time, the data carrier C is the search signal. Never receive S.

At the next time t ₆ , the data communication is completed, and the data carrier B, which has been insensitive to the search signal S for a predetermined time, is heading for the exit of the communication control area 50.
Further, at this time t ₆ , the data carrier C transmits the response signal R to the search signal S of the parent device 20 and is about to enter the normal data communication state with the parent device 20. In this embodiment, the data carrier B does not sense the search signal S at the time t ₆ , and therefore does not respond to the master device 20 at all. Therefore, the response signal D of the data carrier C is correctly received by the parent device 20, and enters a normal data communication state with the parent device 20.

Although the microwave is used as the communication medium in the above embodiment, the present invention can be applied as it is even when other radio waves, light, ultrasonic waves or the like are used as the communication medium. In the above embodiment, the bias of the amplifier circuit 16 including the coupling capacitor C _C and the self-bias circuit associated with the capacitor C _C is offset for a predetermined time, but the other types are described. The amplifier circuit of
The configuration in which the bias is offset for a predetermined time is not limited to that in the above embodiment.

Although one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been specifically described as described above, the present invention can be carried out in various modes without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above, the non-contact data carrier of the present invention (1) is insensitive to the search signal of the master unit for a predetermined time after the end of the data communication with the master unit. ,
Such a non-contact data carrier does not perform data communication with the master unit redundantly without performing special data communication control / processing for preventing double communication with the master unit.

Further, in the noncontact data carrier passage management system of the present invention (4), the master unit 20 is brought into the data communication state by receiving a predetermined response signal after transmitting a predetermined search signal.
And a plurality of the non-contact data carriers 10 that are in a data communication state with the master device 20 by transmitting the response signal after receiving the search signal, and each non-contact data carrier 10 is connected to the master device 20. During a predetermined time after the end of the data communication between them, the search signal from the master device 20 becomes insensitive, and thus a plurality of communication devices that pass through the communication management area of the master device 20 at arbitrary intervals and speeds are used. The contactless data carrier 10 can be managed individually.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a contactless data carrier system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a contactless data carrier according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a data communication process of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data carrier passage management system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a conventional data carrier passage management system.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 parent device 10 non-contact data carrier 1 memory 2 data communication unit 3 control unit 3 ₁ detection unit 3 ₂ data communication control unit 3 ₃ pause control unit 50 communication jurisdiction area

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A data communication unit (2) for performing contactless data communication between a memory (1) for storing data and a master unit.
And a control unit (3) for controlling these, in the non-contact data carrier, the control unit (3) includes a detection unit (3 ₁ ) for detecting an exploration signal from the master unit, and a detection unit (3 ₁ data communication control unit for exchanging data with the biased the parent device by detection of the probe signal) and (3 _2), the data communication control unit (3 ₂₎ in the data communication after the end of a predetermined time And a pause controller (3 ₃ ) that pauses the detection of the search signal by the detector (3 ₁ ). 2. The suspension control unit (3 ₃ ) applies an offset bias for a predetermined time to an amplifier circuit which is energized by the end of data communication in the data communication control unit (3 ₂ ) and amplifies a received signal from the master unit. Contactless data carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a bias control circuit (4). 3. A pause control unit (3 ₃₎ the detection unit (3 ₁₎ detected by the or data communication control unit according to search signal (3 ₂₎ detecting section is biased by the terminated data communication in (3 ₁₎ Contactless data carrier according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a timer (5) for delaying the restart for a predetermined time. 4. A contact management system for a contactless data carrier, wherein a master unit performs contact management of the data carrier by performing contactless data communication with a plurality of contactless data carriers passing through its own communication area, Between a master unit (20) which is in a data communication state by receiving a predetermined response signal after transmitting a predetermined search signal and between the master unit (20) by transmitting the response signal after receiving the search signal. The plurality of contactless data carriers (10) according to claim 1, which are in a data communication state, each contactless data carrier (10) for a predetermined time after the end of data communication with the master unit (20). , The base unit (2
Passage of a non-contact data carrier, which makes it possible to individually manage a plurality of non-contact data carriers (10) passing through the communication area by becoming insensitive to the search signal from 0). Management system.