KR100423911B1 - An electronic card and a data alteration device - Google Patents

Abstract

A transmitter / receiver which receives power and data from an electronic card reader and transmits some information stored in the card, a memory device for storing an operation program and data provided from the transmitter / receiver, and outputs some information stored in the memory device An electronic card comprising a display unit for recognizing a user, and a control unit for controlling operations of a transmitter / receiver unit, a memory element, and a display unit to display final information.

Description

Electronic card and a data alteration device

The present invention relates to an electronic card, and more particularly, to an electronic card and a device capable of controlling the information of the electronic card formed on a predetermined portion of the display unit that can be driven without a separate power source.

Recently, thanks to the proliferation of bus cards, which are a kind of prepaid card, and subway cards, which are a kind of postpaid card, the proportion of card payment method is increasing among the payment method of transportation use fee. Most payments will be made by credit card, not cash.

In particular, the bus card charges and accumulates a certain amount of information in the memory area mounted inside the card, and checks the radio frequency (hereinafter referred to as RF) terminal system installed at the bus entrance when using the bus and corresponds to the fare of the bus. It is based on a payment system that allows the amount information of the amount to be deducted.

Figure 1 shows the configuration of a fare payment and refill system using a conventional RF traffic card. As referred to herein, an existing bus card system, that is, an RF transportation card system, supplies an operating voltage to an IC chip and an IC chip having a chargeable amount information storage area and an individual unique number information storage area, and an RF terminal system. RF traffic card 12 having an antenna mounted therein for exchange of information, RF card issuing system 10 for issuing and managing the RF traffic card 12, and issuing through the RF card issuing and managing system The sales system 11 for selling the RF traffic card to the general consumer, and the charging system 16 connected to the RF card issuance and management system 11 to charge the amount information corresponding to the request amount of the RF traffic card holder. ), And installed at the entrance of the bus to read the amount information accumulated in the corresponding RF traffic card when using the card by the RF traffic card holder, indicating whether or not to approve the transaction and balance the card after payment RF terminal system 13 to display and collect the amount of sales information accumulated in a number of RF terminal system and settle the information to provide the sales information to the RF card issuance and management system and directly receive the billing charges A collection and settlement system 14, and a fund transfer system 15 that pays the billed amount to the settlement information collection and settlement system when there is an application for transfer of funds from the RF card issuance and management system.

The operation process of the conventional RF transportation (bus) card payment and charging system is as shown in FIG. First, a person who wants to use an RF traffic card purchases the RF traffic card 12 through the sales system 11. After that, the RF traffic card is used as it is, or a certain amount of cash is paid to the charging system 16 of the charging station to replenish the amount of money, and the amount information corresponding to the payment amount is accumulated and used in the RF traffic card. When the holder of the RF traffic card 12 rides the bus and approaches his card to the RF terminal system 13 installed at the entrance of the bus within a specified distance (for example, about 10 cm), the RF traffic card ( The power of the electromagnetic field formed by the RF terminal system 13 is induced in the antenna coil mounted inside the antenna 12, and the IC chip of the RF traffic card is activated. When the IC chip of the RF traffic card is activated, the amount information stored in the memory inside the IC chip is transmitted to the RF terminal system 13 through the antenna coil inside the RF traffic card, and the RF terminal system 13 transmits the RF It accepts the information of the transportation card and determines whether the current amount information is more than the amount corresponding to the fare of the corresponding round.

At this time, if the amount accumulated in the RF transit card is more than the amount that can be settled, the amount corresponding to the ride fare is subtracted, the remaining balance of the RF transit card is displayed, and the transaction and its approval are completed. If the current balance of the RF transit card is less than the fare of the corresponding round, a warning message of insufficient balance will be displayed to indicate rejection of the transaction and a cash payment of the fare will be requested.

On the other hand, the total amount information received from the RF traffic card users accumulated in the RF terminal 13 is collected and settled by individual bus units in the ride information collection and settlement system 14 to the RF traffic card issuing system 10 side. Invoice for sales. In accordance with the billing of the ride information collection and settlement system 14, the RF card issuing system 10 may settle the bill through the direct payment method or the indirect payment method through the fund transfer system 15. do.

This RF transportation (bus) card system frees passengers from the problems of change in cash and the purchase and retention of tokens from token riding so far, and reduces the management burden on bus carriers. It brings economic benefits.

However, the existing RF traffic (bus) card system has the following disadvantages. First of all, to replenish the RF bus card with the price information, you must go to the charging station (which is also a sales office). Therefore, there is considerable inconvenience in charging the amount information on the RF bus card except in the city center where the charging stations are concentrated.

Second, the balance information remaining on the RF bus card can not be known except when the passenger directly boards the bus to pay the fare or charge the RF bus card. Therefore, RF bus card holders are frequently required to get cash payment for bus fare or get off as it is because there is not enough balance accumulated on their card. Therefore, the user using the RF bus card has a burden that must always remember the balance information amount information when using the last bus that represents the amount information stored on their card. There is no separate display on the card, and you can see the transaction information that appears on the device when you use the charger or payment machine. In some cases, a simple number is displayed for each balance step by step, and the reality is that the card holder cannot know the exact balance remaining on the card. As such, until now, the electronic card itself does not provide an accurate way to check the transaction history, so it is inconvenient to find out how much more the user can use.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic card capable of visually checking a part of information stored in a card.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic card with a built-in display element that is driven without a separate power source.

An electronic card according to the present invention for achieving the above object is to receive power and data from the electronic card reader device and to transmit some information stored in the card, and to store the operation program and the data provided from the transmitting and receiving unit A storage device, a display unit for outputting some information stored in the storage device so as to be recognized by a user, and a control unit for controlling operations of the transmitter / receiver unit, the memory device, and the display unit to display final information. It is characterized by.

A detailed feature of the electronic card according to the present invention includes the bistable liquid crystal device capable of displaying some information of the memory device even when the power supply is cut off, thereby indicating final information without providing a separate power source. That can be.

A detailed feature of the electronic card according to the present invention is that the information exchange is performed by a contactless method.

An apparatus for changing information of an electronic card according to the present invention is characterized in that a liquid crystal display element driver for controlling the display operation of the electronic card is incorporated.

The detailed feature of the electronic card information changing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the information of the electronic card is changed by the contactless method with the electronic card.

1 is a block diagram of a fare payment and refill system using a conventional RF traffic card,

2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the RF traffic card payment and charging system according to the prior art,

3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of an electronic card according to the present invention;

4A to 4D are diagrams illustrating various embodiments of the electronic card according to the present invention;

5A to 5B are exemplary views showing the operation of the bistable liquid crystal display device applied to the present invention;

6A to 6B are graphs comparing the application form of voltage for changing the states of the monostable and bistable liquid crystal display;

7 is an exemplary view showing an information change control signal of an electronic card according to the present invention;

8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic card information changing apparatus according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described the configuration and operation of the electronic card according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration according to a preferred embodiment of the electronic card according to the present invention. As illustrated, the transmitter / receiver 100 receives power and data from the electronic card reader and transmits some information stored in the card, the memory device 300 for storing data, and the memory device 300. And a display unit 400 for outputting some stored information so that the user can recognize the information, and a controller 200 for controlling operations of the transmitter / receiver 100, the memory device 300, and the display unit 400. Is done.

The transmitter / receiver 100 includes a power receiver 120 that receives power from a card reader (not shown), and a data transmitter 110 for exchanging information between a card and a card reader according to the present invention. Is done.

The control unit 200 receives the information input from the CPU (Central Processing Unit, 210) for performing overall control or calculation of the circuit and the transmitting / receiving unit 100, and returns the information processed by the card to the transmitting / receiving unit 100. Sending input and output controller 220, and the authentication access controller 230 for authenticating through the exchange of information with the card reader and determines whether the access permission.

The memory device 300 is capable of erasing and writing a ROM 330 in which an operating system and basic information are stored, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) 320 containing change information or a file, and temporary or work information. RAM 310.

The display unit 400 includes a display device controller 410 for controlling display of appropriate information on the display device, and a display device 420 for displaying changed information. As the display device 420, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a bi-stable LCD, an electronic ink, or a ferro-electric liquid crystal display may be used. In particular, the bi-stable LCD has a characteristic that can display predetermined information even when the power is cut off. The control unit 200, the memory device 300, and the display unit 400 share a bus to exchange information.

Figure 4a shows the configuration of the electronic card according to the present invention from a different perspective. As shown, it can be seen that the display device 420 displays information transmitted and operated by the power supplied from the electronic card. That is, the use amount and the remaining balance are displayed. FIG. 4B shows another embodiment of FIG. 4A and shows an example of the use of an electronic transportation card or an electronic gift certificate. This is a case where a logo is displayed along with the amount used and the balance. Figure 4c is an illustration showing the form of the electronic album card. The image information provided from the electronic card read / write unit is shown. In some cases, the capacity of the memory device may be increased to store a plurality of images, and a power supply unit (not shown) and an adjustment key 422 may be added in the card to allow the user to select an image. . Image information such as photographs may be stored in the storage device to be presented to a friend, or information such as a company's main advertisement or a company's product introduction may be applied as an effective advertisement article.

Unlike the above example, in another embodiment of the present invention, the power and data are supplied from the electronic card reader and transmit some information stored in the card, and the transmission and reception unit 100 is transmitted through the transmission and reception unit 100. It may also be the case made of only the display unit 400 for outputting the information to be recognized by the user. For example, when the user wants to display simple text information or image information through the display unit 400, the display unit 400 receives operation power and output information from the electronic card read / write device through the transmitter / receiver unit 100. 400). For example, it can be used as an electronic gift certificate, an electronic business card or an employee card. In other words. As shown in FIG. 4D, a logo of a department store or a shop or an initial of a specific company may be displayed on the display unit. In this case, the display unit 400 uses an element having a characteristic of maintaining a final state without providing a separate power source. That is, a bi-stable liquid crystal display, an electronic ink, a ferro-electric liquid crystal display, or the like is used.

It is also possible to include only a transmitting / receiving unit, a display unit, and a storage element in the electronic card, and the operation of each element can be controlled by the electronic card lead / write unit. However, since this is by way of example for explaining the present invention, it will not be mentioned that the type of information displayed may vary depending on the application of the card according to the present invention.

As the memory device for storing the information content, non-volatile memory or the like can be used. Preferred display elements for electronic cards include bi-stable nematic liquids and include an input / output unit for signal transmission from the outside for storing information and recording changes. That is, when the electronic card is brought into contact with the charger and the payer, the charger may supply the information signal of the payer to the electronic card through the input / output unit so that the information is recorded in the memory and the electric field is applied to the liquid crystal to change the information. When the electronic card is withdrawn, the power supply is cut off, and the information remains in the memory and the erased or recorded information remains according to the shape of the electric field applied to the liquid crystal. Therefore, there is no need for a separate power supply unit for recording and storing information in the electronic card.

Liquid crystal devices typically have a thin layer of liquid crystal material received between the walls of the cell. Optionally, the walled electrode structure causes a magnetic field to be supplied across the layer causing realignment of the liquid crystal molecules. There are three known types of liquid crystal materials, nematic, cholesteric and smetic, each having a different molecular alignment. The present invention relates to an apparatus using nematic materials. In order to provide a display having a large number of addressable elements, it is common to fabricate electrodes as a series of column electrodes on one wall and as a series of row electrodes on another cell wall. For devices of twisted nematic form, this form, i.e., the x, y matrix of addressable elements or pixels, is typically addressed using the rms address method.

Twisted nematic and phase shift type liquid crystal devices are switched on by the application of an appropriate voltage, and are turned off when the supplied voltage falls below a lower voltage, ie when the device is monostable. Allowed to be switched to the (off) state.

In the electronic card according to the present invention, a bi-stable nematic liquid crystal in which the liquid crystal molecular structure is stable in two states when there is no electric pulse is applied. In such liquid crystals, when an electric field is applied to the visetable liquid crystal through a power supply, the liquid crystal molecular layer, which reaches the lowest layer under the substrate by the electric field, rises in the electric field direction, and the orientation of the liquid crystals is changed when the electric field disappears according to the shape of the electric field pulse. The contrast state changes. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when an electric field of about 15V is slowly removed or dropped to an intermediate value, the bistable liquid crystal falls to an inclination angle to be in parallel mode and shows a "white" state.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the electric field is abruptly removed, liquid flows back in the cell, causing the upper liquid crystal molecules to fall to the previous inclination angle, but the lower liquid crystal molecules to fall in the opposite direction to the previous inclination angle. It is turned 180 ° to show a "black" state. Using this phenomenon, when the electric field is applied to the liquid crystal to erase or record information on the liquid crystal and the electric field is suddenly removed, the contrast state of the liquid crystal is stored as it is, and thus the information remains on the display even after the power is removed.

6A to 6B compare the characteristics of a monostable liquid crystal (twisted nematic) device and a bistable nematic device. In the case of the monostable liquid crystal device, as shown in FIG. 6A, only one stable state is maintained when the power is cut off, but the bistable liquid crystal device may have two stable states when the power is cut off as shown in FIG. 6B. Will be.

As described above, in order to change the information of the electronic card without a separate power supply unit, the electronic card information changing device provides the driving power of the display element. Methods of information exchange can be contacted and contactless. A magnetic field is generated by generating electromagnetic fields in the information processing device, so that magnetic field induction occurs, so that power and pulse signals are received from a passing non-contact IC card, and a fee and data inputted to the non-contact IC card are settled and processed. to be.

The technology of providing power wirelessly is the principle of transmitting electric energy through space without electric wires, and the principle of radio wave transmission used in wireless communication methods such as radio or wireless telephone which can be commonly seen around. It is not a concept, but an electric energy. If the normal communication is to send a signal on the carrier signal, wireless power transmission is only sending a carrier wave. Electrical energy has amplitude and frequency. The higher the frequency, the more radio frequency it can transmit wirelessly between free spaces. If the frequency is high, the wavelength is short, so the electric wave has the straightness like the light, so it can collect electrical energy to one place. Using this principle, you can send electricity where you want without the need for power lines.

7 is an exemplary view showing an information change control signal of the electronic card according to the present invention. In order to obtain a sharp or smooth shape signal, very simple electrical signals are needed that can address lines and columns as shown in FIG. The command signal is addressed in one column and low amplitude is needed to prevent cross talk with the lines. These signals can be easily configured with common electrical circuits.

8 shows the configuration of the electronic card information changing apparatus. Micro-processor 204 for reading the transaction program stored in the ROM 202 and outputting the information processing control signal of the electronic card, and a personal identification number to confirm the identity of the user. An input unit 201 for receiving information, a modem 205 for exchanging information with a host computer of a bank or a central control center, and a display of an electronic card according to a control signal of the microprocessor 204. And a card lead / writer 207 for outputting a control signal for correcting the balance information of the electronic card according to the control signal of the microprocessor 204.

Cash input or payment amount is input through the input unit 201 so that the microprocessor 204 reads the transaction program recorded in the ROM (202) and writes it to the RAM (203) Run The display driver 206 receives a command from the microprocessor 204 to drive the display device. At the same time, the microprocessor 204 stores the changed information in the electronic card inserted through the card reader / writer 207 or located in a certain magnetic field area according to the instruction indicated by the input unit 201, and has a charge / payment device. 206 is activated to record the display element in the electronic card. The card reader / writer 207 reads the amount data stored in the electronic card or writes changed information on the electronic card inserted through the microprocessor 204. The modem 205 is a connecting device for connecting to a host computer of a bank or a central control center by a modem or a dedicated line. It may also be responsible for connecting chargers or payers to personal computers or other chargers or payers.

The electronic card information changing device and the electronic card can be made by a contactless method. At this time, the power and information provided to the electronic card are transmitted in the form of wireless.

As described above, the present invention is convenient to use because the user can check the transaction history at any time by embedding the display element in the card. The display element adopts bi-stable liquid crystal to supply power only when contacting an external device and signal. By transmitting the do not need a separate self-power can be produced inexpensive electronic card.

Claims (11)

A transmission and reception unit for receiving power and data from an electronic card reader, In the electronic card, characterized in that it comprises a display unit for the user to recognize the information provided through the transmission and reception unit, the display unit is a display that can display the information even when the power is off separate power supply Electronic card characterized in that the final information can be displayed without providing. The method of claim 1; And said display is a bistable liquid crystal display. The method of claim 1; And said display is an electronic ink. The method of claim 1; And said display is a ferro-electric liquid crystal display. The method of claim 1; And a memory element for storing data provided from said transmitting / receiving unit. The method of claim 5; And the memory device is a nonvolatile memory. The method of claim 6; And a control unit for controlling the operation of the transmitting and receiving unit, the memory element, and the display unit to display the final information. The method of claim 7; The control unit, A central processing unit (CPU) that performs the overall control or operation of each component, An input / output controller which receives the information input from the transmitting / receiving unit and sends the information processed by the card back to the transmitting / receiving unit, Electronic card characterized in that it comprises an authentication access controller for authenticating through the exchange of information with the card reader and determine whether to allow access. delete A micro-processor driving a transaction program to output an information processing control signal of an electronic card; Input unit for inputting personal identification number, etc. to confirm the identity of the user, A communication unit for performing information exchange with a host computer of a bank or a central control center, A display unit which displays a change of information of the electronic card according to a control signal of the microprocessor; And a card lead / writer unit for supplying power to the electronic card according to a control signal of the microprocessor and outputting a signal for performing information exchange with the electronic card. The method of claim 10; And the power and information transmitted to the electronic card by the card lead / writer unit are provided in a wireless form.