KR20010012700A - Contactless communication system using an induction method between a terminal and portable objects, comprising terminal functional testing means - Google Patents

Abstract

In the system, non-electrical two-way communication is achieved by inductive coupling between the data transceiver forming terminal 10 and one or more portable objects 14 within the active range of the terminal. The system consists of a test module 20 comprising, together with a terminal, circuitry suitable for operating with the terminal by inductive coupling to mimic communication with a portable object located within the range of activity. And functional test means suitable for confirming communication with the test module, determining complete or incomplete communication with the test module, and generating a fault signal if the communication is incomplete. Advantageously, the test module is structurally similar to a portable object and is powered remotely by the terminal.

Description

CONDACTLESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING AN INDUCTION METHOD BETWEEN A TERMINAL AND PORTABLE OBJECTS, COMPRISING TERMINAL FUNCTIONAL TESTING MEANS}

Contactless data exchange is well known. Applications for this technology include, but are not limited to, access control, electronic payments (“electronic wallet” type applications), and remote payments for, for example, access and payment to public transport.

In public transport, for example, each user is fixed by moving (or optionally moving) a badge close to the terminal so that non-galvanic mutual coupling can occur between them. It has a portable object of the "contactless card" or "contactless badge" type, which is an object suitable for exchanging information with a terminal.

In the technique known as the "induction method", the coupling is achieved by varying the magnetic field generated by the induction coil. For this purpose, the terminal has an induction circuit which is executed by an alternating signal and generates an alternating magnetic field in the space surrounding the terminal. The portable object in the space detects the magnetic field and responds to the magnetic field by modulating the load represented by the portable object coupled to the terminal. By detecting such a change by the terminal, a desirable two-way communication is achieved.

EP-A-0 565 469, in the name of the applicant, discloses the above method of data exchange, which relates to the management of data exchange between a handheld object and a terminal, and to other details particularly relevant to the various communication protocols used. It is incorporated by reference herein.

The advantages of these derivation techniques are well known, especially at very low costs for very good regulation and communication capabilities in the area in which data can be exchanged, although these advantages generally form the desired derivation through wireless coupling. This is more expensive and sensitive to the extent of change.

Nevertheless, in practice, equipment using induction technology is self-contained, separated from all operators. If the terminal fails, especially if its induction coil is incomplete, the system is disturbed by the failure of the coil (which prevents all magnetic fields from being released into the surrounding space) and the presence of all portable objects, though the surrounding space (which is actually emitting magnetic fields). The system controlling the terminal may not always detect a fault condition unless the absence of all portable objects in the receiver) is not distinguished.

In general, today's equipment can only be properly connected to the antenna (usually mounted on a cover that is separate from the processing electronics), for example by testing electrical continuity on a particular terminal of the antenna connector. Check. Nevertheless, the test is only electrical and does not detect a functional failure in the case of a component failure, for example, or a disturbance of dialogue due to any external metal media, etc., but only a plug of the coil connector. Only indicates whether is plugged in.

One of the objectives of the present invention is to test the proper operation of a terminal and test it in a data exchange system suitable for responding to it, for example by indicating whether the terminal is functional and generating a status signal for transmission to a management center. The above limitation is improved by suggesting the integration of means.

In addition to determining whether the terminal is functional, another object of the present invention is to enable one or more adjustment parameters of the terminal, in particular parameters related to the transmitter circuit and the terminal coil, to be adjusted automatically, and thus It is possible to optimally adapt V to its own electromagnetic environment, and it may also be possible to automatically readjust the settings if the environment changes.

The data exchange system of the present invention provides a non-metallic two-way communication by inductive coupling between a known type of the above-specified type, i.e., a terminal forming a data transceiver, and one or more portable objects present within the range of the terminal's activity. It is a type.

The present invention relates to a contactless communication technology between a portable object and a terminal (the term “terminal” herein is used to refer to a data transceiver terminal operating with portable objects).

1 is a block diagram illustrating a player in a contactless data exchange system of the present invention, wherein the player consists of a terminal, a test module coupled thereto, and a portable object located within a range of activity in the vicinity.

2 is a block diagram of a test module of the FIG. 1 system.

3 is a flow chart showing various steps of automated functional testing of the present system.

4 is a flowchart showing various steps of automatically adjusting transmission parameters of a terminal.

According to the invention, the system consists of a test module comprising, together with the terminal, circuitry suitable for operating with the terminal by inductive coupling to mimic communication with a portable object located within the active range of the terminal, The terminal is provided with functional test means suitable for confirming communication with the test module, for determining complete or incomplete communication with the test module, and for generating a fault signal if the communication is incomplete.

In particular, communication is made by the terminal sending a question message, the portable objects responding to the question message and then the terminal receiving the response; In this environment, the functional test means distinguishes the response received from the test module, detects the test module's correct response or non-response to the question message, and generates a fault signal if it is not.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment in which the terminal has means for adjusting at least one parameter suitable for affecting the inductive coupling, the functional test means is used to qualitatively evaluate the coupling between the terminal and the test module in the case of a test module response. Appropriate measuring means and control means for controlling the adjusting means and operating in response to the indication given by said measuring means.

The circuit of the test module may be structurally similar to the corresponding circuit of the portable object, which may in particular be a circuit powered remotely by the terminal, even the test module may be structurally similar to the portable object.

Advantageously, the functional test means are activated and / or disabled in an iterative manner when a response is detected from the portable object in response to a question message from the terminal, or when a collision between the responses is detected.

In particular, the determination performed by the functional test means can be made by the terminal sending the specific question message identified by the test module and not by the portable objects.

The fault signal can in particular be used as a remote alarm signal for transmission to a remote location.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments of the present invention system, given with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In Fig. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes the induction of a coil that emits an alternating electromagnetic field with respect to portable objects, or "mediums" such as 14, which can be penetrated into the space from which the field from the coil 12 is radiated. Represents a contactless data exchange terminal.

In a conventional method, the terminal generates a modulator / demodulator circuit 16 which generates an AC signal that excites the coil 12 and detects a change in the field caused by the loading modulation performed in the portable object 14. Equipped. Circuitry 16 is connected to a central processing unit 18 which in particular handles various communication protocols and is connected to a remote site to report and send status messages regarding the status of the terminal. do.

In the methodological aspect of the present invention, a special circuit 20 is provided in the housing of the terminal, which is referred to hereinafter as the “test module”, which simulates the presence of a portable object in the field of the coil 12. To do it.

In other words, the test module 20 operates in a similar manner (except for the differences specified below) to the method of the portable object just penetrated into the same space (detecting the field transmitted by the terminal and sending a response).

In this way, the terminal can monitor its capacity quite independently for entering conversations with any handheld object that may be within its range of activity, thus identifying the effect of transmission on reception and allowing the terminal to To ensure it is working. Most advantageously, the circuit of the test module may be structurally similar to the circuit of a standard portable object such as 14. Under these circumstances, it would be beneficial to have a circuit that is remotely powered by the magnetic field generated by the terminal, whereby the test module is complete and thus does not require any connection with the electronic components of the antenna. It becomes a circuit.

In terms of signal exchange, the module should be able to communicate in a manner similar to that of portable objects, at least from the perspective of the physical layer of the communication protocol. It can also selectively generate a programmable form of signal during loading modulation, which can be used to perform various measurements and tests, especially for the purpose of automatically and automatically adjusting terminal parameters (see below). have.

2 is a block diagram of the test module 20, the structure of which is comparable to that of a portable object, for example 14.

In essence, the test module receives the induction coil (operating with the terminal's coil 12), the demodulation circuit 24, the circuit 26 for transmitting and generating signals, and the commands sent by the terminal and receiving the coils. A circuit 28 suitable for operating on the circuit 26 is provided so as to transmit a response message to the terminal by modulating the load of the tuning circuit of 22. In a remotely powered variant, the test module 20 also includes a power steering circuit 30 suitable for generating a DC power supply voltage to the various components of the module to make the module completely independent.

In a variant, only an electrical coupling between the terminals coupled to the test module, for example with an external power supply (wire link for supplying power-supply energy), such as a power supply coupled to the general power supply of the terminal 10 circuits. It is also possible to provide only).

The interaction between the terminal 10 and the test module 20 coupled thereto is described below.

In general, in the exchange between a terminal and a portable object, the terminal is responsible for communication. This means that the terminal waits for a short time for communication with the card and then starts sending a question message or a call message. If the portable object receives a message, it will send a response; The terminal receives this response and then continues the conversation by sending a command to the portable object. Conversely, if the terminal does not receive a response within a predetermined period, it sends back a question message.

This process is the same for the test module 20. That is, the terminal is in charge of communication and initiates a conversation with the test module by sending a question message.

To prevent the interrogation message destined for the test module from being captured by a portable object that can be found in the periphery of the terminal, the message may include a header byte at the beginning of the communication protocol, for example. Indicates that this is a question message for a normal handheld object, or vice versa, this message is for use by the test module only.

If the terminal does not substantially receive a response from the test module, the terminal may operate substantially so that a corresponding status signal may be sent to the management center. This status signal may consist of an “in-service” signal indicating to the user that the terminal in question is actually operating: if there is no reaction by the terminal to the user presenting the portable object, the portable object is consequently a portable object. Will cause a fault within the terminal (a technical fault that appears in the wrong way, etc. after the expiration date), and will not cause a fault within the terminal.

Conversely, if no response is received from the test module, it will indicate that there is a fault in operation, which causes a remote alarm signal to be generated immediately at the remote site, for example a message “out of service”. With the terminal itself is switched off.

The response returned by the test module may still be in the same format and may be limited to the minimum amount of communication information needed to communicate with the terminal and monitor the link. Nevertheless, some types of faults can be captured under the above circumstances, especially when functional tests are performed continuously (10 times per second) by the test module and in the absence of all portable objects.

To overcome all the shortcomings associated with the same “limited handheld objects” that are tested continuously and continuously (even if tested only tens or hundreds of times a day), rely on the most recently presented handheld object to change its nature. By the test module assuming a configuration, the RAM specific to the terminal can temporarily store data contained by the cards of consecutive travelers. Thus, the test module is preferably capable of continuously disguising a portable object, which is not designated once, but instead is a continuous "portable object" corresponding to the travelers or other users presented in succession to the verification means. .

For confidential reasons, no "sensitive" data, i.e. any confidential or private data, need be copied into this RAM (from the IC card's EEPROM).

Test module,

By detecting the presence of any means; or

By detecting a collision, it only stops when it detects the presence of a real user's portable object.

Finally, an indicator or the like permanently displays a substrate called “in-service”, which very clearly means that the device has been in operation for less than one second previously: this is the possibility of a mechanical failure occurring when the user is finished. Very low.

In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the system of the present invention not only detects the functional or non-functional characteristics of the terminal, but also serves to match the transceiver circuitry to the electromagnetic environment specific to the terminal.

For this reason, the terminal 10 has a circuit 32 for adjusting various parameters such as, for example, the transmitter power of the modulator 16 and the fine tuning of the resonator circuit associated with the coil 12.

When the test module responds, the circuit 32 makes a qualitative assessment of the inductive coupling between the coil 12 of the terminal and the coil 22 of the test module 20, thus providing a function of a particular state of the terminal (especially Induction circuits are known to be sensitive to nearby metal masses), which allows for optimal coupling to be found and to selectively recalibrate these settings in the event of environmental changes.

In order to find the combination of optimum conditions, the test module is advantageously in its signal generator module 26 in a manner suitable for making measurements and executing tests, for example in terms of waveforms, duty ratios of square wave signals, etc. Means for varying the response signal. For example, the test module may also vary the amount of energy absorbed to specifically assess the transmit power required from the terminal to ensure that satisfactory data exchange can occur.

3 and 4 are flow charts illustrating in more detail how the various steps of the test are constructed.

The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows how the test module detects whether the terminal is operating.

Steps specific to the present invention are incorporated into a conventional method that includes the transmission of a question message (step 100) to any portable object or “user card” present within the active range of the terminal.

If the portable object is detected, i.e. if the terminal detects a response (step 102), then the data is exchanged with the portable object in the same way as the information is processed in the preferred method (step 104).

Otherwise, steps specific to the present invention are executed. That is, it is executed when no response is detected from the nearby portable object.

In general, the lack of any response is due to the fact that there are no portable objects within the active range of the terminal; Nevertheless, an exception may be due to a failure in the transceiver circuits of the terminal.

The operational test steps are executed after a time delay of, for example, about one second (steps 106 and 108).

The terminal then sends a question message addressed to the test module (step 110), the question message comprising a specific protocol (special header byte), which causes the test module to recognize that the question message has been addressed thereto. Question message can be prevented from being recognized by any nearby portable objects.

If the test is correct (step 112), i.e., if the terminal substantially detects the response from the test module, then the flowchart returns to the starting point, assuming that the test failed during the previous iteration (step 114, 116). -Fault "is displayed.

Otherwise, if the test is incorrect, i.e., if the terminal does not receive a response, or if it receives a non-acknowledged response (e.g., a degrade signal), an alarm is displayed. If the preceding test is likewise inaccurate, the loop in the flowchart tests through steps 110 and 112 and analyzes the results of the test until a satisfactory result is obtained; This loop avoids all attacks in sending query messages, or messages for handling handheld objects until the fault is improved.

4 shows the automatic and adaptive adjustment of the modulator / demodulator circuit 16 of the terminal.

The terminal begins by addressing the command to the test module, generating a special type of first signal, for example a square wave signal of a given duty ratio (step 200).

The terminal's circuit 32 then evaluates this particular signal combination in a qualitative manner (step 202) and if the resulting measurement is not considered satisfactory, the terminal's modulator / demodulator 16 and coil 12 Change one of the settings of the tuning circuit coupled to step (204).

If no adjustment choices remain (step 206), this means that it is impossible to obtain a satisfactory combination despite all possible adjustments, thus the reader is considered as nonfunctional (step 208). The reader is then deactivated and a corresponding status message is sent to the remote site for management.

Otherwise, the terminal repeats the command to the test module which requires the selected special signal to be generated (step 200), the process being repeated until a satisfactory combination is obtained, i. E. It continues until it is obtained.

This process is repeated for other possible settings of the modulator / demodulator in steps 210-216 similar to steps 200-206 described above. If these various settings are terminated by allowing accurate measurements to be obtained (step 212), the combination is satisfied and optimized, and the reader is considered functional (step 218).

Claims (10)

A system for exchanging data without contact, wherein non-metallic two-way communication is achieved by inductive coupling between a terminal 10 forming a data transceiver and one or more portable objects 14 within the active range of the terminal, The system consists of a test module (20) comprising a circuit suitable for operating with the terminal by inductive coupling with the terminal to mimic communication with a portable object located within the range of activity; And said terminal comprises functional test means suitable for confirming communication with said test module, for determining complete or incomplete communication with said test module, and for generating a fault signal if the communication is incomplete. The method of claim 1, Communication occurs by the terminal sending a question message, the portable objects responding to the question message, and then the terminal receiving the response; The functional test means distinguishes the response received from the test module, detects the correct response or non-response of the test module to the question message, and generates a fault signal if it is non-responsive. The method of claim 1, For the terminal having means for adjusting at least one parameter suitable for affecting the inductive coupling, the functional test means may qualitatively evaluate the coupling between the terminal and the test module in the case of a test module response. A suitable measuring means (32) and control means (32) for controlling said adjustment means and operating in response to an indication provided by said measuring means. The method of claim 1, The test module circuit is structurally similar to a corresponding circuit of the portable object. The method of claim 4, wherein And the test module is structurally similar to the portable object. The method of claim 4, wherein The circuit of the test module is a circuit powered remotely by the terminal. The method of claim 1, Said functional test means being operated repeatedly. The method of claim 2, And the functional test means is disabled when a response to a question message from the terminal is detected from the portable object or when a collision between the responses is detected. The method of claim 2, The determination carried out by the functional test means is made by a terminal which transmits the specific question message identified by the test module and not by the portable objects. The method of claim 1, The fault signal is a remote alarm signal for transmission to a remote site.