KR100716906B1 - Recognition apparatus of goods information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a product information recognizing apparatus for automatically recognizing product information and processing payment when a shopper selects a product to purchase, and the product information recognizing apparatus according to the present invention includes a shopping cart having a metal frame performing an antenna function. part; And an RFID reader unit mounted on the shopping cart unit and receiving tag information transmitted from an RFID tag attached to a product through the metal frame, processing the received tag identification information, and transmitting the received tag identification information to a payment system along with the reader information. It is characterized by including. The RFID reader unit may wirelessly communicate with the RFID tag through a high frequency (HF) RFID channel band.

According to the present invention, the purchaser can process the purchase and payment of the goods only by putting the goods in the shopping cart, it is possible to prevent the inconvenience of shopping behavior due to the installation of a large size antenna. In addition, according to the present invention, since the RFID reader and the payment system installed in the shopping cart process the real-time product information, there is an effect that can greatly shorten the time for the shopper who has finished shopping to make a payment at the checkout counter.

Description

Recognition apparatus of goods information

1 is a perspective view illustrating an external form of a product information recognition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention by way of example.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example in which a product information recognizing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to an RFID tag and a payment system through a wireless network.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating components of an RFID tag for performing data communication with a product information recognizing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a block diagram schematically showing the components of the product information recognition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating components of a Zigbee communication unit included in a product information recognizing apparatus or a payment system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

100: product information recognition device 110: shopping cart

112: metal frame 120: RFID reader unit

121: RFID transmitter and receiver 122: demodulator

123: modulation unit 124: reader control unit

125: second memory 130: first Zigbee communication unit

200: RFID tag 300: payment system

The present invention relates to a product information recognizing apparatus used in a predetermined shopping area, and more particularly, to a product information recognizing apparatus for processing payment by automatically recognizing product information when a shopper selects a product to purchase.

Currently, ubiquitous network technology has attracted the attention of many people, ubiquitous network technology means a technology that allows to naturally connect to various networks regardless of time and place.

The ubiquitous network technology can be implemented in various ways using communication technologies such as telematics communication, short-range wireless communication, and mobile communication, and by using this, a natural connection environment is provided in a space such as a car, home, or public place. The utilization of IT information and technology will increase, and the overall IT industry is expected to develop more rapidly.

As the next generation technology of the ubiquitous network technology, RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) technology can be cited. Among them, RFID technology introduced in commerce is representative.

In general, a commercial RFID system includes an electronic tag attached to a product and embedded with detailed information, an RFID reader that reads the information of the electronic tag using RF communication, an information server that collects information from the RFID reader and builds a database; It consists of an ONS (Object Name Server) that connects the information server to build a global network, and the electronic tag attached to the product passes through the area where the RFID reader is located and transmits information using RF communication. As a result, logistics / distribution management such as distribution, assembly, price change, and sales of goods can be efficiently processed.

RFID technology as described above is expected to be able to make life in the real world more convenient by combining various technologies and services because the application range is very wide. However, technology development is still in its infancy, and the application services used are also very limited in the form of transportation cards, identity cards, animal management chips, and the like.

In the future, it is expected to increase the convenience of buyers by applying RFID technology to shopping spaces such as large marts, and to increase the convenience of buyers. In the shopping spaces such as large marts, HF (High Frequency; 13.56 MHz) RFID channel band is expected to be used.

In addition, the RFID channel band includes a LF (Low Frequency; 134 kHz) channel band, a UHF (Ultra HF; 400 to 915 MHz) channel band, and a microwave (2.45 GHz) channel band. It is suitable for shopping spaces such as large marts because it has the advantages of passing through materials such as fabrics, fabrics, easy antenna design, and low production cost.

Therefore, a technology for building an automatic payment system using an HF RFID channel band is being developed. Since the HF RFID channel band frequency requires an antenna having a large size compared to a short recognition distance and a high frequency characteristic, the device is applied to a shopping system. Configuration becomes difficult.

In addition, since the antenna must be mounted on a display stand or a shopping cart, it is not only good in appearance but also causes a lot of inconveniences such as the inconvenience of the buyers moving in the busy passage.

Accordingly, the present invention improves the antenna structure of an RFID reader that receives an HF RFID frequency signal in constructing a shopping system for processing an automatic payment in a shopping space such as a hypermarket, that is, the size of the HF RFID frequency band has a disadvantage. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product information recognizing apparatus that overcomes the need for a large antenna.

In order to achieve the above object, the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention comprises a shopping cart unit having a metal frame performing an antenna function; And an RFID reader unit mounted on the shopping cart unit and receiving tag information transmitted from an RFID tag attached to a product through the metal frame, processing the received tag identification information, and transmitting the received tag identification information to a payment system along with the reader information. It is characterized by including.

The RFID reader unit of the apparatus for recognizing goods information according to the present invention may transmit the tag information and the reader information to the payment system through a short range wireless network.

In addition, the short-range wireless network used by the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the Zigbee (Zigbee) network.

In addition, the RFID reader of the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the wireless communication with the RFID tag via the HF (High Frequency) RFID channel band.

In addition, the tag information processed in the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by consisting of any one or more of the header information, error correction information, product information and tag identification information.

The RFID reader unit of the apparatus for recognizing goods according to the present invention may receive the tag information by transmitting an information request signal to the RFID tag through the metal frame.

In addition, the RFID reader unit of the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention filters the tag information received through the metal frame of the shopping cart unit, the reception processing unit for demodulating the digital data; A communication protocol to control wireless communication with the RFID tag, analyze a code of the demodulated tag information, and transmit the analyzed tag information together with the reader information to the payment system, and transmitted to the RFID tag. A controller generating an information request signal; And a transmission processing unit which modulates the information request signal into a transmission signal and transmits the information request signal to the metal frame.

In addition, the RFID reader unit of the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a wireless network connection unit for processing data transmission by setting a wireless communication channel and a wireless access device provided in the payment system.

Hereinafter, a product information recognition apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view exemplarily illustrating an external form of a product information recognizing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

1, the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a shopping cart unit 110, RFID reader unit 120 and ZigBee communication unit 130, the shopping cart unit ( 110 is formed of a metal frame (hereinafter referred to as "metal frame") to accommodate the goods, the storage space is formed, the lower side of the storage space is provided with wheels, the upper side of the storage space has a handle It is provided.

In addition, one of the handles is equipped with an RFID reader unit 120 is connected to the metal frame, the other handle is mounted with a ZigBee communication unit 130 is connected to the RFID reader unit 120.

Such an external form of the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to the present invention is an example applied to a general shopping cart, for example, the mounting positions of the RFID reader unit 120 and the ZigBee communication unit 130 are changed into various forms. Could be.

2 is a block diagram illustrating an example in which a product information recognizing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is connected to an RFID tag 200 and a payment system 300 through wireless networks 10 and 20. to be.

Referring to FIG. 2, the product information recognizing apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as the "product information recognizing apparatus according to the present invention") 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is an RFID tag 200 through a wireless network 10, 20. In connection with the payment system 300, the RFID tag 200 means a tag attached to a product, and the payment system 300 is located inside a building where shopping is performed.

In addition, the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to the present invention is connected to the RFID tag 200 through the RFID network 10, and the payment system 300 is connected through the Zigbee network 20.

Therefore, the moment the shopper selects a product and puts it in the storage space of the shopping cart unit 110, the RFID tag 200 attached to the product and the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to the present invention perform data communication. The product information recognizing apparatus 100 according to the present invention may receive product information.

Of course, when the shopper returns the goods from the shopping cart unit 110 to the merchandise display, the product information recognizing apparatus 100 recognizes this and retransmits it to the payment system and excludes the payment object. This is possible because the RFID reader unit 120 periodically transmits an information request signal to determine the position of the RFID tag.

The product information recognition apparatus 100 according to the present invention receiving the product information performs ZigBee wireless communication with the payment system 300 in real time, and transmits the product information selected by the shopper to the payment system 300.

Therefore, the payment system 300 performs payment processing in real time at the moment the shopper selects a product, and when the shopper who has finished shopping arrives at the checkout counter, the payment system 300 can immediately perform the payment.

A communication function and a data processing function between the product information recognizing apparatus 100, the RFID tag 200, and the payment system 300 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. The RFID tag 200 will be described.

3 is a block diagram schematically illustrating components of an RFID tag 200 that performs data communication with the product information recognizing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the RFID tag 200 includes an antenna 210, a power supply unit 230, a reception processor 220, a transmission processor 240, a tag controller 250, and a first memory 260. When the product is contained in the shopping cart unit 110, the RFID tag 200 receives an information request signal from the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to the present invention, generates tag information, and generates a product information recognition apparatus ( 100).

The antenna 210 receives the information request signal or transmits tag information through an HF RFID channel (a channel allocated to a 13 MHz band), and usually a dipole antenna is used.

The power supply unit 230 is a device for supplying power to the reception processing unit 220, the tag control unit 250 and the transmission processing unit 240.

The RFID tag 200 is classified into an active method and a passive method according to the driving method of the antenna 210 and the power supply unit 230. The active method includes the antenna 210 having an oscillation circuit. The tag information is sent, and the power supply unit 230 includes a battery to provide power to an oscillation circuit.

In addition, the manual method is a power source 230 is a way to regenerate the power by using the radio wave energy of the RF signal transmitted from the RFID reader unit 120, the detector diode rectifies and rectified to DC voltage using the RF signal. The generated DC voltage is used as a power source for supplying a modulation waveform to the transmission processor 240 by generating a response code.

The reception processor 220 demodulates the received information request signal into digital data and transmits the demodulated information request signal to the tag controller 250. The tag controller 250 analyzes a code of the demodulated information request signal to generate tag information. The tag control unit 250 includes a communication protocol to control wireless communication with the RFID reader unit 120 of the product information recognizing apparatus 100.

The first memory 260 stores an information code system, and the tag controller 250 generates the tag information using the information code system. The information code system includes header information, error correction information, product information, and tag identification information. And the like.

The header information includes information such as a code format, a version of a code system, and a code length. Error correction information (CRC: Cyclic Redundancy Checking) is information for correcting an error that may occur in data communication. Product information means information such as the name, price, expiration date, etc. of the product.

Lastly, the tag identification information is ID information which enables the RFID reader unit 120 to identify the RFID tag 200.

The transmission processor 240 modulates the tag information into an RF signal, and transmits the modulated tag information through the antenna 210. In the case of the manual method, the transmission processor 240 transmits the backscatter method as described above. In the case of an active method, a signal is transmitted using the oscillation circuit.

Next, the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to the present invention will be described.

4 is a block diagram schematically showing the components of the product information recognition apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to FIG. 4, the product information recognizing apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes a shopping cart unit 110, an RFID reader unit 120, and a Zigbee communication unit 130 as described above. 120 includes an RFID transmitter / receiver 121, a demodulator 122, a modulator 123, a reader controller 124, and a second memory 125.

First, as described with reference to FIG. 1, the shopping cart unit 110 functions as an antenna by a metal frame 112 forming an accommodation space, wherein the RFID reader unit 120 and the RFID tag 200 are HF. Since wireless communication is performed through the RFID frequency band, it is designed to correspond to a resonance frequency of 13.56 MHz.

The metal frame 112 is a size that can sufficiently satisfy the antenna size required by the HF RFID frequency, and simultaneously performs an antenna function and a storage space function. Therefore, the RFID tag 200 enters the recognition distance of the HF RFID frequency at the moment the customer puts the product in the storage space, and the RFID tag 200 and the RFID reader 120 may naturally start wireless communication.

Subsequently, the RFID reader unit 120 will be described. The reader controller 124 includes a communication protocol to control wireless communication with the RFID tag 200 and to determine the position of the RFID tag 200. The information request signal is periodically transmitted.

The reader controller 124 analyzes the code of the tag information received from the RFID tag 200 and demodulated by the demodulator 122. At this time, the data format is converted and a filtering process is performed to extract necessary information. .

As such, the reader control unit 124 reading the tag information from the RFID tag 200 transmits the tag information to the Zigbee communication unit 130, and the Zigbee communication unit 130 mounted on the shopping cart unit 110 is a payment system ( The tag information is transmitted to the payment system 300 by performing wireless communication with the Zigbee communication unit installed at 300.

In this case, since the shopping cart unit 110 is divided by the RFID reader unit 120, payment processing is possible for each customer (shopping cart unit), so that the reader control unit 124 transmits the tag information. The identification information (leader information) of 120 is also transmitted.

Since the code analysis system is recorded in the second memory 125 like the first memory 260 of the RFID tag 200, the reader control unit 124 may use the code analysis system. Stored in memory 125.

The RFID transmitter / receiver 121 receives the signal processed tag information through the metal frame 112, and if the information request signal generated by the reader controller 124 is modulated into a radio signal through the modulator 123, It transmits through the frame 112.

The demodulator 122 demodulates the signal processed tag information into digital data and transmits the demodulated tag information to the reader controller 124.

5 is a block diagram schematically illustrating components of the Zigbee communication unit 130 included in the product information recognition apparatus 100 or the payment system 300 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the Zigbee communication unit 130 includes an analog receiver 132a, an analog transmitter 132c, a frequency generator 132b, a digital transceiver 133, a GPIO 134a, which are connected to the antennas 131a and 131b, respectively. SPI 134b, timer 134c, control logic 134d, buffer ram 135a, IRQ arbiter 135b, ram arbiter 135c, power supply 136a and voltage regulator 136b, The analog transmitter / receivers 132a and 132c transmit and receive a Zigbee frequency signal in a 2.4 GHz band (in some cases, an 868 MHz or 915 MHz band may be used), and the frequency generator 132b uses a frequency source signal. Generates RF transmission signal.

The digital transceiver 133 modulates the tag information received as an analog signal into a digital signal, and the tag information and the reader information before being transmitted to the payment system 300 are temporarily stored in the buffer RAM 135a.

The IRQ arbiter 135b and the ram arbiter 135c process network processing commands, control commands, and the like, and the control logic 134d, GPIO 134a, and SPI 134b perform near field communication according to the Zigbee standard. Process.

ZigBee is a standard for hardware and software based on IEEE 802.15.4, and is different from Bluetooth based on IEEE 802.15.1. It can be miniaturized and can last for several months with a single battery.

In addition, Zigbee has a maximum transmission speed of 250 Kbps when using the 2.4 GHz band, and has a transmission distance of 30m (indoor) to 100m.

For reference, in the MAC protocol, when only CSMA / CA is used, the channel access method consumes a lot of power during beacon listening, so it is preferable to use CSMA / CA + Optional guaranteed time slotting.

When the tag information and the reader information are received from the Zigbee communication unit 130 of the product information recognition device 100 as described above, the Zigbee communication unit connected to the payment system 300 transfers the received information to the payment system 300.

The payment system 300 classifies the shopping cart unit (buyer) by the reader information, and processes the payment information for each buyer by processing the tag information.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments, which are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present invention, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains do not depart from the essential characteristics of the present invention. It will be appreciated that various modifications and applications are not possible that are not illustrated above. For example, each component specifically shown in the embodiment of the present invention can be modified. And differences relating to such modifications and applications will have to be construed as being included in the scope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

According to the product information recognition apparatus according to the present invention, by improving the antenna structure of the HF RFID band, the buyer can process the purchase and payment of the goods only by putting the goods in the shopping cart, the shopping behavior by installing a large size antenna It can prevent the inconvenience.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the RFID reader and the payment system installed in the shopping cart process the real-time product information through a short-range wireless network such as Zigbee, it is possible to greatly reduce the time for the shopper who has finished shopping to make a payment at the cash register. It can be effective.

Claims (8)

A shopping cart unit having a metal frame performing an antenna function; And The RFID reader unit mounted on the shopping cart unit receives tag information transmitted from an RFID tag attached to a product through the metal frame, processes the received tag identification information, and transmits the received tag identification information to the payment system together with the reader information. Product information recognition device, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader unit And transmitting the tag information and the reader information to the payment system through a short range wireless network. The method of claim 2, wherein the short-range wireless network Product information recognition device, characterized in that the Zigbee (Zigbee) network. The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader unit A product information recognizing apparatus for performing wireless communication with the RFID tag through an HF (High Frequency) RFID channel band (assigned to a 13 MHz band). The method of claim 1, wherein the tag information is And at least one of header information, error correction information, product information, and tag identification information. The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader unit And receiving the tag information by transmitting an information request signal to the RFID tag through the metal frame. The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader unit A reception processing unit for filtering the tag information received through the metal frame of the shopping cart unit and demodulating the digital information into digital data; A communication protocol to control wireless communication with the RFID tag, analyze a code of the demodulated tag information, and transmit the analyzed tag information together with the reader information to the payment system, and transmitted to the RFID tag. A controller generating an information request signal; And And a transmission processor for modulating the information request signal into a transmission signal and transferring the information request signal to the metal frame. The method of claim 7, wherein the RFID reader unit And a wireless network access unit configured to set a wireless communication channel and a wireless communication channel provided in the payment system to process data transmission.

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