KR100867718B1 - A scalable active rfid system using dual radio frequency for port logistics environment - Google Patents

Abstract

A dual frequency band active type RFID system having the expandability for a harbor distribution is provided to monitor information and state of a container by attaching active type RFID tag to the container. A dual frequency band active type RFID system comprises an RFID reader, a tag, and a smart tag. An RFID reader obtains the information of target object. Tag parts(30a,30b,30c,30d) contain information about the target object. Smart tag parts(40a,40b) collect the tag information of the communication limit outside of the RFID reader using the secondary frequency which is different from the first frequency for collecting the tag information. The communication rage of the RFID is expanded by the multihop mode.

Description

A scalable active RFID system using dual radio frequency for port logistics environment

The present invention relates to the rapid and accurate handling of containers in ports, and more particularly, dual frequency band active RFID having scalability for port logistics for monitoring the information and situation of containers by attaching active RFID tags to the containers. It's about the system.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is one of non-contact recognition technologies that can recognize objects by identifying unique IDs (data) using radio frequency (RF).

RFID technology consists of an RFID tag containing unique data, an RFID reader for reading information (data) of the RFID tag, and a series of computing systems for processing data read by the RFID reader. It is a technology that enables RFID readers to read tag data from RFID tags attached to objects requiring identification, such as vehicles, goods, transportation cards, etc., and process them in a computing system to recognize objects and perform a desired purpose.

In general, an RFID tag is composed of a transponder chip made of a semiconductor and an antenna, and receives energy from a radio wave signal of an RFID reader (passive type) or energy supplied from its own power source (battery) (active type). Send the unique data stored in the tag.

On the other hand, the frequencies mainly used for RFID technology include low frequency (LF) in the 123 GHz band, high frequency (HF) in the 13.56 MHz band, ultra-high frequency (UHF) in the 433/900 MHz band, and MW in the 2.4 GHz band. (Microwave) and the like. Each of these frequency bands has advantages and disadvantages according to their characteristics. For reference, 900 MHz of the UHF band is mainly used for the passive RFID scheme, and 433 MHz is mainly used for the active RFID scheme.

The RFID system used for the port logistics process consists of an active RFID reader and a tag. The tag is attached to a container and contains information about the container.

This information is communicated using radio frequency when requested by the reader. Since the radio frequency signal attenuates as the distance between the tag and the reader increases, the radio frequency signal has a finite communication range.

The port is not processed in a narrow range, but in a wide area of hundreds of meters or more. The reader's radio frequency communication range does not cover all of these broad ranges, and information from active RFID tags that do not belong to the reader's communication range is not collected.

If the active RFID system cannot recognize the tag in the yard due to the limitation of communication range in the wide-area port environment, the tag must be recognized manually or by using a mobile reader. There is a problem that the number of work required increases.

Therefore, a new method of RFID system that can collect information even in the case of an active RFID tag that does not belong to the communication range of the reader for the rapid processing of port logistics.

The present invention is to solve the problem of the active RFID system of the prior art, by attaching an active RFID tag to the container dual frequency band active RFID system having the expandability for port logistics for monitoring the information and situation of the container The purpose is to provide.

The present invention utilizes a smart tag using dual frequencies of the first frequency (433 MHz) and the second frequency (2.4 GHz) to expand the collection range of the reader. The purpose is to provide an RFID system.

The present invention provides a dual frequency band active RFID system having an expandability for a port logistics environment in which an active RFID system solves the problem of not being able to recognize a tag in a yard due to a limitation of communication range in a wide area port environment. There is a purpose.

The present invention solves the problem that the active RFID system cannot recognize the tag in the yard due to the limitation of the communication range in the wide-area port environment, so that the time and cost required to recognize the tag manually or by using a mobile reader The purpose of the present invention is to provide a dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for port logistics.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for port logistics that can be usefully used in fields such as automatic recognition and positioning in a field of a wide area as well as a port logistics environment.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dual frequency band active RFID system having an expandability for port logistics according to the present invention. An RFID reader unit for acquiring information on a confirmation object; a tag unit containing information on the confirmation object; And a smart tag unit to collect tag information outside the communication range of the RFID reader, and extend the communication range of the RFID reader in a multi-hop manner.

Here, the RFID reader unit and the smart tag unit may communicate using a second frequency of a band different from the first frequency for collecting tag information.

In addition, the RFID reader unit collects information of tags within a communication range using a first frequency, and information collection of tags outside its own communication range communicates with a smart tag unit by using a second frequency so that the corresponding smart tag unit is a first frequency. Using to collect information of the tags in the communication range of the smart tag unit.

Here, it is preferable that the first frequency is 433 MHz and the second frequency is 2.4 GHz.

In addition, the RFID reader unit and the smart tag unit are equipped with a dual processor to smoothly use the dual frequency, and the tag information collection using the first frequency for active RFID tag collection is controlled by a dedicated coprocessor, and the second frequency is controlled. Communication is characterized in that the main processor is in charge.

In addition, the communication between the smart tag unit and another smart tag unit adjacent thereto is characterized by using a second frequency.

In addition, the tag unit uses only the first frequency and is characterized by complying with ISO / IEC 18000-7, which is a standard for containers.

In addition, the smart tag unit filters and compresses and transmits the redundantly collected data to reduce the wireless data transmission / reception load when responding the collected information to the remote RFID reader.

Such dual frequency band active RFID system having extensibility for port logistics according to the present invention has the following effects.

First, there is an effect of providing a dual frequency band active RFID system having the scalability for the port logistics for monitoring the information and situation of the container by attaching the active RFID tag to the container.

Second, by utilizing the smart tag using the dual frequency of the first frequency (433MHz) and the second frequency (2.4GHz), it is possible to expand the collection range of the reader to enable rapid port logistics.

Third, the active RFID system solves the problem of not recognizing the tag in the yard due to the limitation of the communication range in the wide-area port environment, thereby increasing the applicability to the port logistics environment.

Fourth, the active RFID system can solve the limitation of communication range in the wide-area port environment, and it can reduce the time and cost required to recognize the tag manually or by using a mobile reader and the use of additional workers.

Fifth, there is an effect of providing an active RFID system that can be usefully used in fields requiring automatic recognition and positioning in the field of wide area as well as the port logistics environment by solving the communication range limitation problem of the active RFID system.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for port logistics according to the present invention will be described in detail.

Features and advantages of the dual frequency band active RFID system with scalability for port logistics according to the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of each embodiment below.

1 is a block diagram of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a process of communication between smart tags of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention, Figure 3 is two or more smart tags in an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention Is a block diagram showing a method of removing duplicate RFID information when it is acquired.

The dual frequency band active RFID system having the scalability for port logistics according to the present invention uses the active RFID in the port logistics environment to recognize the information of the object to be checked, that is, the container. To expand.

Here, it is obvious that the object of confirmation is not limited to the container only.

The present invention also relates to a technique of avoiding collision with the first radio frequency by using a second frequency when extending the communication range of the reader.

The first frequency uses a dedicated coprocessor and the second frequency takes charge of the main processor for active RFID tag collection.

When the smart tag unit responds to the remote reader, the smart tag unit filters and compresses redundantly collected data, thereby reducing the load of wireless data transmission and reception.

1 is a dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for a port logistics environment according to the present invention, the host 10 and the host 10 for the control of the RFID reader and processing of information collected through the RFID reader Is connected by wire to the host 10 and receives a command from the host 10 to collect information of the active RFID tags 30a and 30b whose first frequency is within the communication range, and the information collection of the tags within the communication range is completed. The RFID reader 20 transmits an active RFID tag collection command to the smart tags 40 using the second frequency (b), and the active RFID tag using the second frequency (b) of the RFID reader 20. Collect the information of the active RFID tag 30c (30d) existing within its communication range by using the first frequency (a) by the collection command and transmits the collected information in the reverse direction received the command to the RFID reader 20 Smart tag (40a) And includes 40b.

2 shows a multi-hop communication process of a dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for a port logistics environment according to the present invention.

The RFID reader 20 may not directly communicate with the smart tags 42 and 43 that are outside of its second frequency (b) range.

Therefore, the RFID reader 20 transmits a collection command only to the smart tag 41 within its communication range. The smart tag 41 receiving the collection command collects the active RFID tag using the first frequency (A) and transmits the collection command to the neighboring smart tag 42 using the second frequency (B). .

The smart tag 42 collects the RFID tag 31 existing within its communication range by using the first frequency (a), and transmits a collection command to the neighboring smart tag 43 again.

Finally, the smart tag 43 receiving the collection command collects the RFID tag 32 present in its first frequency range. The smart tag collecting all the RFID tags transmits the collected information to the RFID reader 20 in the reverse direction of the commanded direction.

The dual frequency band active RFID system having expandability for a port logistics environment according to the present invention collects information of all RFID tags by communicating with smart tags that are not within its communication range by the multi-hop communication method.

FIG. 3 illustrates the elimination of redundantly collected RFID information in a dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for a port logistics environment according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, when two or more smart tags 42 and 43 repeatedly recognize information of the same active RFID tag 33, the duplicated data should be transmitted to the RFID reader 20.

However, such unnecessary transmission of additional information causes problems such as occupancy of wireless channels and waste of energy.

In the present invention, in order to solve this problem, duplicate RFID information is removed and summarized to be delivered to a smart tag close to the reader.

When the smart tag 42 and the smart tag 43 collects the active RFID tag 33, the smart tag 43 has a table (C), and transmits it to the smart tag 42.

The smart tag 42 contains duplicated RFID information such as table B, including information collected through its first frequency and information received from neighboring smart tags.

The smart tag 42 transmits the information A from which duplicate data is removed to the RFID reader 20 via the smart tag 41 close to the reader.

The dual frequency band active RFID system having the scalability for the port logistics environment according to the present invention eliminates unnecessary redundant information by summarizing such redundant RFID information.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the RFID reader, smart tag, active RFID tag is as follows.

4 is a configuration diagram of a reader having a dual frequency of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a configuration of a smart tag having a dual frequency of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention It is also.

6 is a block diagram of an active RFID tag of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention.

4 illustrates a configuration of an RFID reader, centering on the main processor 210, a host interface 211, a storage device 213, an active RFID tag collection module 214, a smart tag control module 217, and a power supply unit. It consists of 219.

The host interface 211 is connected to the host through serial communication or Ethernet 212.

In addition, the active RFID tag collection module 214 is not directly controlled by the main processor 210, but the secondary processor 215 controls the first frequency wireless communication unit 216 to communicate with and collect the active RFID tag. The smart tag control module 217 is directly controlled by the main processor 210.

The smart tag control module 217 is directly controlled by the main processor 210 to communicate and collect with the active RFID tag through the second frequency wireless communication unit 218.

The RFID reader of the active RFID system using the dual frequency according to the present invention is configured with a dual processor in order to use the dual frequency smoothly.

FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration of a smart tag. The filter and data compression unit 411, the memory control unit 412, and the active filter filter and compress information about the redundantly collected active RFID tags based on the main processor 410. RFID tag collection module 413, the second frequency wireless communication unit 416, and a power supply unit 417.

The main processor 410 controls the memory controller 412, communication with the coprocessor 414 for active RFID collection, and the second frequency wireless communication unit 416.

The memory controller 412 stores information on the collected active RFID tags, and the filter and data compressor 411 extracts, summarizes, and compresses information on the duplicated active RFID tags to multi-hop readers. Make it convenient to transfer.

Smart tags are also equipped with dual processors to facilitate dual frequencies.

6 shows the configuration of an active RFID tag, and includes an antenna 310, a switching unit 320, a radio frequency transceiver 330, a wake-up recognition unit 340, a processor 350, and a power supply unit 360. do.

Here, the radio frequency transceiver 330 has a center frequency of 433.92 MHz as defined in the standard ISO / IEC 18000-7 for active RFID for containers.

The wake-up recognizing unit 340 wakes up the tag in the sleep state in order to maximize the lifespan of the active RFID which is battery operated.

The dual frequency band active RFID system having expandability for port logistics according to the present invention utilizes a smart tag using dual frequencies of a first frequency (433 MHz) and a second frequency (2.4 GHz) to collect a reader. Can be extended.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

1 is a block diagram of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention

2 is a block diagram illustrating a communication process between smart tags of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention

3 is a block diagram showing a method of removing two or more smart tags when obtaining duplicate RFID information in an active RFID system using dual frequency according to the present invention.

4 is a block diagram of a reader having a dual frequency of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention

5 is a configuration diagram of a smart tag having a dual frequency of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention

6 is a block diagram of an active RFID tag of an active RFID system using a dual frequency according to the present invention

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

10. Host 20. RFID Reader

30a.30b.30c.30d. RFID tag 40a.40b. Smart tag

Claims (9)

An RFID reader unit for acquiring the information to be checked; A tag unit containing information on the confirmation target; And a smart tag unit for collecting tag information outside the communication range of the RFID reader using a second frequency of a band different from the first frequency for collecting tag information. Dual frequency band active RFID system having scalability for port logistics, characterized in that extending to. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader unit collects the information of the tags in the communication range using the first frequency, The information collection of tags outside its own communication range is characterized in that the smart tag unit communicates with the smart tag unit using the second frequency so that the smart tag unit collects information of the tags within the communication range of the smart tag unit using the first frequency. Dual frequency band active RFID system with extensibility for port logistics. 4. The dual frequency band active RFID system with scalability according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the first frequency is 433 MHz and the second frequency is 2.4 GHz. The dual frequency band active RFID system according to claim 1, wherein the RFID reader unit and the smart tag unit have a dual processor for smoothly using the dual frequency. The method according to claim 1, wherein tag information collection using a first frequency for active RFID tag collection is controlled by a dedicated coprocessor, and communication using a second frequency is handled by a main processor. Dual frequency band active RFID system. The dual frequency band active RFID system of claim 1, wherein the communication between the smart tag unit and another neighboring smart tag unit is performed using a second frequency. The dual frequency band active RFID system of claim 1, wherein the tag unit uses only the first frequency and conforms to ISO / IEC 18000-7, which is a standard for containers. The method of claim 1, wherein the smart tag unit has scalability for port logistics by filtering and compressing redundantly collected data to reduce the load of wireless data transmission and reception when responding the collected information to a remote RFID reader. Dual frequency band active RFID system.

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