KR20090052788A - Information processing system, identification information specification method, and recording medium for storing program - Google Patents

Abstract

Even when an ID other than the ID from the IC tag of the article to be read is incorrectly read at the same time due to a multipath or the like, the ID of the article to be read is precisely specified among the plurality of read IDs.

The read / write device 1 continuously receives an ID from the IC tag 6 of the article passing through the reading section, stores the received ID, measures the received signal strength for each ID reception, and measures the The received signal strength is stored in association with the ID, and the control PC 3 is notified of the ID and the received signal strength. In the control PC 3, after the ID whose reception signal strength is less than a predetermined level is removed from the analysis target, the regression analysis is performed on the trend of the reception signal strength of the remaining ID. As a result of the regression analysis, the absolute value of the slope of the regression line is It is determined that the minimum ID is an ID sent from the IC tag of the article to be read.

Description

Information processing system and recording medium recording identification information specific method and program {INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM, IDENTIFICATION INFORMATION SPECIFICATION METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM FOR STORING PROGRAM}

The present invention relates to a technology for managing an article using an integrated circuit (IC) tag such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification).

Recently, RFID technology, which is a non-contact recognition technology using radio waves, has been used in various fields.

In particular, the 950 MHz band RFID, which is characterized by a longer communication distance compared to the conventional RFID system, is attracting attention, and is expected to spread rapidly in the future.

Taking advantage of the long-distance communication performance of this 950 MHz RFID, application to the field of logistics and production management is particularly expected.

In order to apply RFID technology to the field of logistics / production management, a system for identifying the contents of articles in the order of passage is required when the article to be managed that is automatically conveyed by a belt conveyor or the like passes through a specific point.

An automatic sorting system is mentioned as an example of such a moving object passage order identification system.

In the case of reading the identification tag attached to identify the item to be managed, that is, the IC tag corresponding to the RFID via the antenna installed in the gate, if the IC tag of the item other than the missing reading or the passage of the gate is read incorrectly, The classification work is wrong and the whole work is pushed.

Therefore, it is necessary to accurately identify the object to be managed that has passed through the gate in the order of passage.

However, due to the influence of multipath due to reflection and diffraction of radio waves, there is a possibility that reading of IC tags other than the gate passing, that is, IC tags other than the article to be read, may occur.

Therefore, when a plurality of IC tags are read at the same time, accurate identification of the object to be managed is a new problem.

Regarding this problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a method that enables a record of passage of an article to be managed with high probability by using an RFID antenna and a photoelectric sensor arranged in close proximity.

(Patent Document 1)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-298570

According to the system disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when an antenna of RFID and a photoelectric sensor are disposed in close proximity and one of the pieces of information acquired by the photoelectric sensor and the antenna is not acquired when an article to be managed with an IC tag passes. On, it is determined that a read miss has occurred and a warning is issued.

Therefore, it becomes possible to reliably read the article to be managed.

However, when a plurality of articles are conveyed at regular intervals, such as in an automatic sorting system, in particular, when the interval between articles is narrow or when the attachment position of the IC tag is close to each article, a management target other than the reading target is caused by a multipath or the like. There is a possibility that the IC tag of the article can also be read at the same time.

In such a case, in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that it is impossible to accurately identify the object to be managed, and the wrong information is transmitted to the classification work of the subsequent process.

The present invention is one of the main objectives of solving the above-described problems, and even when identification information other than the identification information of the management target of the reading object is also incorrectly read simultaneously due to a multipath or the like, a plurality of these read data The main object of the identification information is to realize an information processing system or the like capable of accurately identifying the identification information of the management object to be read.

The information processing system according to the present invention,

An identification information receiver for receiving identification information sent from the identification tag when the moving management object passes a predetermined reading section in an environment in which one or more management objects in which identification tags for transmitting identification information are installed are present; ,

A received signal strength measuring unit for measuring received signal strength at the time of receiving the identification information for each reception of the identification information by the identification information receiving unit;

For each identification information, an identification information specifying section for analyzing the received signal strength measured by the received signal strength measuring section and specifying identification information sent from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section is provided. do.

According to the present invention, since the received signal strength at the time of reception of the identification information is measured and the received signal strength is analyzed, identification information other than the management target to be read is also incorrectly read simultaneously due to, for example, multipath. Even in this case, identification information of the management object to be read can be accurately specified based on the analysis result.

Hereinafter, two moving object passing order identification systems are shown as a specific embodiment concerning this invention.

In addition, the Example shown below is a part of Example concerning this invention, and the technical scope of this invention is not limited only to a following example.

First, the automatic classification system using RFID technology to which the moving object passing order identification system is applied is demonstrated using FIG. 1 and FIG.

1 shows the components of an automatic classification system.

Fig. 2 shows a relationship between a sensor input for detecting gate entry of articles in the automatic sorting system and a transmission period (= IC tag reading period) of the read / write device.

In Fig. 1, 1 is an antenna that communicates with an IC tag connected to a read / write device and 2 is a read / write device.

3 is a control PC (Personal Computer) for controlling the writer device 1, 4 is a gate through which the article on the belt conveyor is passed through the antenna 2 is installed, 5 is a gate (4) for the article to be managed on the belt conveyor A gate entry sensor that detects entering.

6-1 is an IC tag attached to the managed object to be read while passing through the gate 4, 6-2 is an IC tag attached to the managed object that has already been read through the gate 4 and 6-3 is a gate. IC tag attached to the managed object to be read out after the end of reading the tag 6-1 which is passing through the gate just before passing (4), 6-4 is outside the sorting object which has not passed through the gate 4; IC tag attached to the managed object placed near the gate 4, 6-5 are outside the classification target not passing through the gate 4, and the IC attached to the managed object moving near the gate 4 Tag.

7 is a belt conveyor for moving the article to be managed and its control device.

The IC tag 6 is an RFID tag in the 950 MHz band, for example. The IC tag 6 is an example of an identification tag, and an ID (Identifier) transmitted from the IC tag 6 is an example of identification information.

The article to which the IC tag 6 is attached is referred to as an article to be managed (hereinafter, simply referred to as an article).

In the belt conveyor, the section in which the ID is read from the IC tag 6 by the read / write device 1 is called an ID reading section (reading section). As described later, the ID reading section has a predetermined position after the passage of the gate 4 from the position where the article with the IC tag 6 is detected by the gate entry sensor 5 (the article is effective in detecting the gate entry sensor). After the range is exceeded, a predetermined waiting time progresses).

In addition, the article located in the ID reading section is the article to be read.

The moving object passing order identification system means a mechanism that reads identification information of a moving article and specifies the article based on the reading result, and mainly includes a reader / writer device 1, a reader device antenna 2, It is realized by the control PC 3.

The automatic sorting system means a mechanism for classifying articles by applying a moving passage order identification system. As shown in FIG. 1, the gate 4, the gate entry sensor 5, the belt conveyor, and a control device thereof. Also includes (7).

Next, in this system, after the article enters the gate 4, the reading of the IC tag, identification of the article passing through the gate 4, and transmission of the identification result to the belt conveyor and its control device 7 are performed. Explain a series of flows.

When the gate entry sensor 5 detects the entry of the article, the reader / writer device 1 receives a signal from the gate entry sensor 5 (the signal reception from the gate entry sensor 5 is controlled by a control PC ( 3) may be performed).

2, the time from the detection by the gate entry sensor 5 to actually entering the tag reading effective range in the antenna 2 of the gate 4 installation as shown in FIG. ((2) in Fig. 2) The tag read processing is started after that.

When the gate entry sensor 5 detects the end of passage of the article, the reader / writer device 1 receives a signal from the gate entry sensor 5 (the signal reception from the gate entry sensor 5 is controlled by the control PC). (3)).

As shown in FIG. 2, the IC device reads effective in the reader device antenna 2 actually installed in the gate 4 from the passage end detection by the gate entry sensor 5, as shown in FIG. 2. Waiting for time out of range ((3) in FIG. 2), and IC tag reading process is complete | finished after that.

In addition, the waiting time ((2), (3) in FIG. 3) is arbitrarily determined according to the installation position of the gate entrance sensor 5 and the antenna 2. As shown in FIG.

Thereafter, the IC tag 6-1 attached to the article passing through the gate 4 is identified from the read result of the ID, and transmitted to the belt conveyor and its control device 7.

Hereinafter, two embodiments in which the IC tag 6-1 attached to the article passing through the gate 4 is identified will be described.

(Example 1)

The moving object passing order identification system according to the present embodiment responds from the IC tag to each IC tag (per ID) read by the reader / writer device associated with the sensor that detects the entry of the managed object (managed object). By measuring the received signal strength at the time of signal reception and regression analysis of these values, even if the IC tags of articles other than the read target are also incorrectly read at the same time due to a multipath or the like, the plurality of read IC tags Among them, it becomes possible to accurately identify the IC tag of the article to be read.

And by this, the goods conveyed by a belt conveyor etc. can be identified in order of conveyance, and accurate information etc. can be conveyed to the sorting operation of a following process, and the like.

3 shows components of the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 in the moving object passing order identification system according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 3, 1a is a control PC interface unit for controlling data transmission and reception with the control PC 3.

1b is a transmission / reception control unit that controls data transmission and reception with an IC tag in response to a request from the control PC 3 and an input from the gate entry sensor 5.

1c is a transmitting unit for modulating and transmitting a command to the IC tag when the article to be managed passes through the reading section.

1d is a receiving unit that receives and demodulates a response (ID: identification information) from the IC tag when the article to be managed passes through the reading section. The receiving unit 1d is an example of the identification information receiving unit.

1e is an ID storage unit that stores the ID of the IC tag received by the reception unit 1d.

1f is a reception signal strength measurement unit that measures the reception signal strength of the response signal of the IC tag received by the reception unit 1d. The reception signal strength measurement unit 1f measures the reception signal strength at the time of reception for each reception of the response signal ID (identification information) by the reception unit 1d.

1g is a reception signal strength storage part which stores the reception signal strength for every IC tag (per ID) measured by the reception signal strength measurement part 1f.

1h is a sensor interface unit that receives a signal from the gate entry sensor 5.

In addition, in the control PC 3, 3a is a reader / writer interface unit for controlling data transmission and reception with the reader / writer device 1.

3b is a read / write device control unit which controls the read / write device.

3c performs regression analysis of the received signal strength for each IC tag (for each ID) measured by the reader / writer device 1, and identifies the IC tag 6-1 attached to the article passing through the gate 4. Is a received signal strength analysis unit. The received signal strength analyzer 3c is an example of the identification information specifying unit.

3d is a belt conveyor interface part which controls data transmission / reception when transmitting the analysis result in the received signal strength analysis part 3c from the read-write apparatus control part 3b to the belt conveyor and the control apparatus 7.

Moreover, the receiver 1d shown in FIG. 3, the received signal strength measurement part 1f, and the received signal strength analysis part 3c become a component of the information processing system which concerns on this application.

4 shows an example of the received signal strength table stored in the received signal strength storage unit 1g.

The received signal strength storage unit 1g stores the received signal strength (received signal power value) for each read time for each ID of the IC tag.

In the received signal strength table of Fig. 4, the IC tag column is added for explanation, and the content stored in the received signal strength storage unit 1g is the ID column and the received signal power value / time column. Information is only.

Next, in the automatic sorting system shown in FIG. 1, an IC tag (IC tag 6-1) that is passing through a gate existing on the belt conveyor, and an IC tag (IC tag 6-2 that has already been passed through) is already present. IC tag (IC tag 6-3) passing through the gate from this, and IC tag (IC tag 6-4) stationary in the vicinity of the antenna without being present on the belt conveyor outside of the classification object. For example, if there is an IC tag (IC tag 6-5) moving near the antenna without being present on the belt conveyor, the IC tag (IC tag 6-1) passing through the gate is correctly identified. The operations of the read / write device 1 and control PC 3 for the following will be described with reference to FIGS.

5 shows an example of the received signal strength (receive power) for each read time read by the read / write device 1.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a method for regression analysis of the received signal strength for each IC tag (for each ID) read by the read / write device 1.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a series of operations for identifying the IC tag (IC tag 6-1) passing through the gate in the present embodiment.

The following describes the processing flow for identifying the IC tag (IC tag 6-1) passing through the gate using FIG.

(1) IC tag read request step

First, a step (step S101 in FIG. 7) of sending an IC tag read request from the control PC 3 to the read / write device 1 will be described.

In step S 101, an IC tag read request is sent from the read / write device control unit 3b of the control PC 3 to the read / write device 1 via the read / write device interface unit 3a.

The read / write device 1 receives the IC tag read request via the control PC interface unit 1a, and proceeds to step S102.

(2) gate entry detection step

Next, the step of detecting that the article has entered the gate in the read / write device 1 via the gate entry sensor 5 (step S102 in FIG. 7) will be described.

In step S 102, the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article has entered the sensor effective range, and transmits the entrance detection signal shown in FIG. 2 to the reader / writer device 1.

The transmission / reception control unit 1b in the read / write device 1 receives the entrance detection signal via the sensor interface unit 1h, and then in the antenna 2 actually installed in the gate 4 from the sensor detection. The time until the article enters the IC tag read valid range (Fig. 2 (2)) is waited, and the flow proceeds to step S103.

The process of this step may be performed by the control PC 3 by connecting the gate entry sensor 5 to the control PC 3 instead of the read / write device 1. In that case, the IC tag read request in step S 101 is sent after the control PC 3 receives the entrance detection signal.

(3) IC tag reading step (identification information receiving step)

Next, the step (reading step S 103-104 of FIG. 7) which the read-write apparatus 1 reads an IC tag is demonstrated.

In step S 103, the read / write device 1 transmits an ID read command to the IC tag from the transmission / reception control unit 1b via the transmitter 1c and the antenna 2, and proceeds to step S 104.

In step S104, when there is a response from the IC tag, the transmission / reception control unit 1b receives the ID and transmits the ID received to the ID storage unit 1e via the antenna 2 and the reception unit 1d. Remember and proceed to step S 105.

If there is no response from the IC tag, or if reception of the response from the IC tag fails, the flow advances to step S106.

(4) receiving signal strength measurement step

Next, the step (step S105 in FIG. 7) of measuring the received signal strength when the read / write device 1 receives the response from the IC tag will be described.

In step S 105, the read / write device 1 measures the received signal strength by the received signal strength measuring unit 1f for each IC tag (for each ID) with a response, and receives the measurement result in the received signal strength storage unit ( 1g), the flow advances to step S106.

(5) Gate pass completion detection step

Next, the step (step S106 of FIG. 7) of detecting that the article has completed passage through the gate in the reader / writer device 1 via the gate entry sensor 5 will be described.

In step S 106, the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article is out of the sensor effective range, and transmits the passage completion detection signal shown in FIG. 2 to the reader / writer device 1.

After the transmission / reception control unit 1b in the reader / writer device 1 receives the passage completion detection signal through the sensor interface unit 1h, the IC in the antenna actually installed in the gate 4 from the sensor detection. If the time elapses from the tag read valid range until the article deviates ((3) in FIG. 2), the flow proceeds to step S 103, and the IC tag is continued to be read. The process then proceeds to step S107.

If the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article does not deviate from the sensor effective range, the flow advances to step S103.

The process of this step may be performed by the control PC 3 by connecting the gate entry sensor 5 to the control PC 3 instead of the read / write device 1. In that case, in the case where the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article does not deviate from the sensor effective range, the IC tag is again provided to the read / write device 1 from the control PC 3 before step S 103. The read request is issued.

In this manner, in the read / write device 1, the reception unit 1d continuously receives an ID from the IC tag 6 of the management target article passing through the reading section, and the ID storage unit 1e receives the ID. Remember. In addition, the reception signal strength measurement unit 1f measures the reception signal strength for each ID reception by the reception unit 1d, and the reception signal strength storage unit 1g stores the measured reception signal strength in association with the ID. do.

(6) IC tag read result sending step

Next, a step (step S107 of FIG. 7) of transmitting the IC tag reading result by the read / write device 1 to the control PC 3 will be described.

In step S107, the read / write device 1 reads out the ID and received signal strength for each IC tag stored in the ID storage unit 1e and the received signal strength storage unit 1g, and the transmission / reception control unit 1b. Transmits to the control PC 3 via the control PC interface unit 1a.

The control PC 3 receives the writer device control section 3b via the writer device interface section 3a to receive IDs and received signal strengths (e.g., the received signal strength table in Fig. 4) for each IC tag. Proceed to step S 108.

(7) Gate Pass IC Tag Identification Step

Next, based on the received signal strength for each IC tag (per ID), the IC tag which has passed through the gate 4 is identified, and the identification result is transmitted to the belt conveyor and the control device (Fig. 7 step S). 108-110).

In step S 108, the IC tag (tags 4 and 5 in Fig. 5) in which the peak of the received signal strength is lower than the predetermined threshold level in the received signal strength analysis unit 3c does not exist on the belt conveyor. That is, it is determined that the IC tag is not classified, and is deleted from the candidate of the gate passing IC tag, and the flow proceeds to step S109. The threshold level of the received signal strength is set in advance in consideration of the signal transmission power value of the IC tag.

In step S109, the received signal strength analysis unit 3c performs a regression analysis on the change in the received signal strength of the remaining IC tags.

As shown in Fig. 6A, since the received signal strength of the IC tag (IC tag 1 in Fig. 5) passing through the gate approximates a normal distribution, the slope of the regression line is close to zero.

On the other hand, reception of the IC tag (IC tag 2 of FIG. 5) after the gate passing shown in FIG. 6B, and the IC tag (IC tag 3 of FIG. 5) before the gate passing shown in FIG. 6C. Since the signal strength does not become a normal distribution, the absolute value of the slope of the regression line is larger than that of the IC tag (IC tag 1 in Fig. 5) passing through the gate.

Therefore, as a result of the regression analysis on the received signal strength for each IC tag (per ID), the received signal strength analysis unit 3c judges that the IC tag passing through the IC tag having the slope of the regression line closest to 0 as the gate. The flow proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, the received signal strength analysis unit 3c transmits the ID of the IC tag passing through the gate identified in step S109 to the belt conveyor and the control device 7 via the belt conveyor interface unit 3d. .

In this way, the reception signal strength analysis unit 3c removes the ID whose reception signal strength is less than the predetermined level from the analysis target, and then performs regression analysis on the trend of the reception signal strength of the remaining ID. It is determined that the ID of which the absolute value of the inclination of is minimized is the ID transmitted from the IC tag of the managed object that is passing through the reading section.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, a plurality of received signal strengths at the time of receiving a response from the IC tag are measured by the read / write device, and the peak values are compared and regressed to analyze the gates under the influence of multipath or the like. Even if the ID of not only the IC tag passing but also the IDs of other IC tags is read out, the IC tag passing through the gate can be identified correctly, and the classification of subsequent steps can be performed accurately.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the object to be automatically conveyed by the belt conveyor or the like passes through the specific point, the system identifies the contents of the article in the order of passage.

An identification tag attached to the article to be managed and having an ID for identifying the article,

A passage detection device that detects a period during which the article to be managed passes a specific point;

A read / write device for performing ID reading processing of the identification tag in synchronization with the passage detection of the management object article by the passage detecting device;

A reader / writer control device for issuing an ID read processing request of the identification tag to the reader / writer device;

The read / write device comprising: received signal strength measuring means for measuring received signal strength at the time of receiving a response signal from the identification tag;

The moving object passage order identification system which has the management object article identification means which analyzes the reception signal strength for every said identification tag acquired with the said reception signal intensity measurement means, and identifies the said managed object which passed, was demonstrated.

In the present embodiment, the read / write device is configured to continuously read the identification tag and measure the received signal strength by the received signal strength measuring means while the article to be managed passes through a specific location. The moving object passage order identification system for recognizing the received signal strength for each of the identification tags read out to identify the managed object passing through a specific location has been described.

Further, in the read / write device, when the identification tag having an extremely low reception signal strength measured by the reception signal strength measurement means exists as a result of the reading processing of the identification tag, it is determined that the article to be managed is not present. The moving object passage order identification system which reduces the load on the identification process of the said management object article passing through the specific location by making it out of the regression analysis object was demonstrated.

(Example 2)

In the moving object passing order identification system according to the present embodiment, the received signal strength and the number of readings at the time of receiving the response signal from the IC tag for each IC tag read by the reader / writer device associated with the sensor detecting the entry of the object to be managed. By measuring the values and analyzing these values, even if the IC tags of articles other than the reading target are incorrectly read at the same time due to a multipath or the like, the IC tags of the articles to be read are read from among the plurality of read IC tags. It is possible to identify correctly.

And by this, the goods conveyed by a belt conveyor etc. can be identified in order of conveyance, and accurate information can be conveyed to the sorting operation of a subsequent process, etc.

In Example 2, the IC tag attached to the article passing through the gate 4 by analyzing the received signal strength and the number of readings of the ID at the time of receiving the response signal from the IC tags 6-1 to 6-5. A method of identifying (6-1) will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 12.

8 shows components of the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 according to the present embodiment.

In Fig. 8, 1a to 1h of the read / write device 1 are the same elements as those shown in Fig. 3, and a read count storage unit 1i is added.

In addition, in the control PC 3, instead of the reception signal strength analysis section 3c, the reception signal strength / read count analysis section 3e is used, and a threshold value storage section 3f is added.

Hereinafter, each element of the read / write device 1 will be described.

1a is a control PC interface unit for controlling data transmission and reception with the control PC 3.

1b is a transmission / reception control unit that controls data transmission and reception with an IC tag in response to a request from the control PC 3 and an input from the gate entry sensor 5. In addition, as will be described later, the transmission / reception control unit 1b counts the number of times of ID reception by the reception unit 1d for each ID. In the present embodiment, the transmission / reception control unit 1b functions as an example of the reception count counter.

1c is a transmitter for modulating and transmitting a command to the IC tag.

1d is a receiver that receives and demodulates a response from the IC tag.

1e is an ID storage unit that stores the IC tag ID received by the reception unit 1d.

1f is a reception signal strength measurement unit that measures the reception signal strength of the response signal of the IC tag received by the reception unit 1d.

1g is a reception signal strength storage part which stores the reception signal strength for every IC tag (per ID) measured by the reception signal strength measurement part 1f.

1h is a sensor interface unit that receives a signal from the gate entry sensor 5.

1i is a read count storage unit that stores the read count counted for each IC tag (for each ID) by the transmission / reception control unit 1b.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the control PC 3 uses the received signal strength / read count analysis section 3e instead of the received signal strength analysis section 3c. The received signal strength / read count analysis section 3e is an example of the identification information specifying section. In addition, in the present embodiment, the threshold value storage section 3f is added.

Hereinafter, each element of the control PC 3 will be described.

3a is a reader / writer interface unit for controlling data transmission and reception with the reader / writer device 1.

3b is a read / write device control unit which controls the read / write device.

3e analyzes the received signal strength and the number of readings for each IC tag (for each ID) measured by the reader / writer device 1, and the IC tag 6-1 attached to the article passing through the gate 4 Received signal strength / number of times analysis unit for identifying the.

3d is a belt conveyor interface unit which controls data transmission and reception when transmitting the analysis result in the received signal strength / read count analysis unit 3e from the read / write device control unit 3b to the belt conveyor and the control device 7. .

3f denotes a received signal strength used by the received signal strength / read count analysis section 3e to distinguish the IC tag 6-1 attached to the article passing through the gate 4 and other IC tags. It is a threshold storage unit that stores a threshold for the number of readings.

In this threshold value, for example, a threshold input unit (not shown) is provided in FIG. 8, a system administrator or the like is set from the outside, and the threshold input unit inputs a threshold value from the system administrator so that the threshold storage unit 3f is provided. It may be stored in. Alternatively, a threshold calculation unit (not shown) may be provided in FIG. 8, and the threshold calculation unit may automatically calculate from past IC tag reading histories and set the threshold storage unit 3f. Here, the threshold calculating unit grasps the distribution range of the received signal strength and the number of readings in the IC tag and other IC tags passing through the gate 4 from the statistics of the IC tags read in the past, and these distributions. Adjust the initial value of the threshold to fit the boundaries of the range.

In Fig. 8, the transmission / reception control unit 1b, the reception unit 1d, the reception signal strength measurement unit 1f, and the reception signal strength / read count analysis unit 3e become components of the information processing system according to the present application.

Next, in the automatic sorting system shown in FIG. 1, an IC tag (IC tag 6-1) that is passing through a gate existing on the belt conveyor, and an IC tag (IC tag 6-2 that has already been passed through) is already present. IC tag (IC tag 6-3) passing through the gate from this, and IC tag (IC tag 6-4) which is stopped on the antenna without being present on the belt conveyor outside of the classification object. For example, if there is an IC tag (IC tag 6-5) moving near the antenna without being present on the belt conveyor, the IC tag (IC tag 6-1) passing through the gate is correctly identified. The operations of the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 for the following will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 12.

9 shows an average value of received signal power (received signal strength) for each IC tag (per ID) read by the writer.

Fig. 10 shows the number of readings (number of receptions) for each IC tag (per ID) read by the read / write device.

Fig. 11 shows the relationship between the average value of the received signal power (received signal strength) and the number of reads for each IC tag (per ID) read by the read / write device.

The average value of the received signal power (received signal strength) shown in FIG. 9 is the total of the received signal power values (received signal strength table in FIG. 4) of the IC tag (for each ID) stored in the received signal strength storage unit 1g. Is the average value obtained by dividing by the number of readings of the IC tag (for each ID) in FIG.

As will be described later, when the article with the IC tag 6 passes through the gate 4, the transmission / reception control unit 1b calculates an average value of the received signal power to generate the received signal power average value table shown in FIG. 10 is transmitted to the control PC 3 via the control PC interface unit 1a together with the read count table shown in FIG. 10.

In addition, the reading count table of FIG. 10 shows the number of readings (number of receptions) counted by the transmission / reception control section 1b for each IC tag (for each ID), and is stored in the reading count storage section 1i.

In addition, in each table of FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the IC tag column is added for description.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a series of operations for identifying the IC tag (the IC tag 6-1) passing through the gate in this embodiment.

The processing flow for identifying the IC tag (IC tag 6-1) passing through the gate using FIG. 12 will be described below.

(1) IC tag read request step

First, the step of sending an IC tag read request from the control PC 3 to the read / write device 1 (step S201 in FIG. 12) will be described.

In step S 201, an IC tag read request is sent from the read / write device control unit 3b of the control PC 3 to the read / write device 1 via the read / write device interface unit 3a. The read / write device 1 receives the IC tag read request via the control PC interface unit 1a, and proceeds to step S202.

(2) gate entry detection step

Next, the step (step S202 of FIG. 12) of detecting that the article enters the gate in the reader / writer device 1 via the gate entry sensor 5 will be described.

In step S202, the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article has entered the sensor effective range, and transmits the entrance detection signal shown in FIG. 2 to the reader / writer device 1. The transmission / reception control unit 1b in the read / write device 1 receives the entrance detection signal via the sensor interface unit 1h, and then in the antenna 2 actually installed in the gate 4 from the sensor detection. It waits for a minute (2 (FIG. 2)) before an article enters an IC tag read effective range, and progresses to step S203.

The process of this step may be performed by the control PC 3 by connecting the gate entry sensor 5 to the control PC 3 instead of the read / write device 1. In that case, the IC tag read request is sent in step S 201 after the control PC 3 receives the entrance detection signal.

(3) IC tag reading step (identification information receiving step)

Next, the step of the IC device 1 reading the IC tag (step S 203-204 in FIG. 12) will be described.

In step S203, the read / write device 1 transmits an ID read command to the IC tag from the transmission / reception control unit 1b via the transmitter 1c and the antenna 2, and proceeds to step S204. In step S204, when there is a response from the IC tag, the transmission / reception control unit 1b receives the ID via the antenna 2 and the reception unit 1d, and sends the ID received to the ID storage unit 1e. The memory proceeds to step S205. If there is no response from the IC tag, or if reception of the response from the IC tag has failed, the flow proceeds to step S207.

(4) receiving signal strength measurement step

Next, when the read / write device 1 receives a response from the IC tag, a step (step S205 in Fig. 12) of measuring the received signal strength for each IC tag (per ID) will be described.

In step S205, the read / write device 1 measures the received signal strength by the received signal strength measuring unit 1f for each IC tag (for each ID) that has been responded, and receives the measurement result in the received signal strength storage unit ( 1g), the flow advances to step S206.

(5) count count

Next, the step of counting the number of readings per IC tag (per ID) when the read / write device 1 receives a response from the IC tag will be described (step S206 of FIG. 12).

In step S206, the read / write device 1 counts the number of reads by the transmission / reception control section 1b for each IC tag (for each ID) that has been replied, and stores the result in the read count storage section 1i, and the step Proceed to S 207.

(6) gate pass completion detection step

Next, the step (step S207 of FIG. 12) of detecting that the article has completed the passage of the gate in the read / write device 1 via the gate entry sensor 5 will be described.

In step S 207, the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article is out of the sensor effective range, and transmits the passage completion detection signal shown in FIG. 2 to the reader / writer 1. After the transmission / reception control unit 1b in the reader / writer device 1 receives the passage completion detection signal through the sensor interface unit 1h, the IC in the antenna actually installed in the gate 4 from the sensor detection. If the amount of time from the tag read valid range until the article is released ((3) in FIG. 2) does not elapse, the flow proceeds to step S203 to continue reading the IC tag. The process then advances to step S208.

If the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article is not out of the sensor effective range, the flow advances to step S203.

The process of this step may be performed by the control PC 3 by connecting the gate entry sensor 5 to the control PC 3 instead of the read / write device 1. In that case, when the gate entry sensor 5 detects that the article does not deviate from the sensor effective range, the IC tag is read again from the control PC 3 to the reader / writer device 1 before step S203. The request is sent.

(7) IC tag read result transmission step

Next, a step (step S208 of FIG. 12) of transmitting the IC tag reading result by the read / write device 1 to the control PC 3 will be described.

In step S208, the ID and reception for each IC tag read by the read / write device 1 and stored in the ID storage unit 1e, the received signal strength storage unit 1g, and the read count storage unit 1i are received. The transmission and reception control section 1b transmits the signal strength and the number of readings to the control PC 3 via the control PC interface section 1a.

Specifically, the transmission / reception control unit 1b stores the total of the received signal power values (Fig. 4) for each IC tag (per ID) stored in the reception signal strength storage unit 1g in the read count storage unit 1i. The average value of the received signal power is calculated by dividing by the number of readings for each IC tag (for each ID) stored, and the received signal power average value table shown in FIG. 9 is generated, and the control PC interface with the reading number table shown in FIG. It transmits to the control PC 3 via the part 1a. In addition, a table in which the received signal power average value table and the read count table are integrated may be transmitted.

The control PC 3 receives the writer device control section 3b via the writer device interface section 3a, receives the ID for each IC tag, the received signal power average value table and the read count table, and proceeds to step S209. Proceed.

(8) Gate Pass IC Tag Identification Step (Identification Information Specific Step)

Next, the step of identifying the IC tag passing through the gate (steps S209-210 in Fig. 12) on the basis of the received signal strength and the number of readings for each IC tag read (for each ID) will be described.

In step S209, the received signal strength / read count analysis section 3e analyzes the received signal strength and the read count of each IC tag.

As shown in Fig. 11, since the IC tag (IC tag 1 in Fig. 11) that has passed through the gate passes near the tag reading effective range in the maximum antenna, the received signal strength is high and the gate entry sensor As a result, since the read timing of the read / write device is synchronized with the pass timing of the IC tag, the number of reads is large.

On the other hand, the other IC tags (IC tag 2 to IC tag 5 in Fig. 11) have a low received signal strength because they are separated from the read effective range of the antenna.

Further, the read timing of the read / write device 1 and the pass timing to the gate are not synchronized, so the number of reads is reduced.

Therefore, the received signal strength / read count analysis section 3e uses a threshold value for identifying the IC tag that is passing through the gate from the correlation between the received signal strength stored in the threshold storage section 3f and the read count. In step S210, the IC tag exceeding the threshold value is determined to be an IC tag passing through the gate.

The threshold value stored in the threshold storage unit 3f is set externally by a system administrator, but the system automatically calculates and sets the past IC tag reading history.

As shown in Fig. 11, the threshold value stored in the threshold value storage section 3f is composed of a pair of the threshold value for the received signal strength and the threshold value for the number of receptions. A plurality of pairs of the threshold of the received signal strength and the threshold of the number of reception are provided according to the degree of high accuracy and the degree of refreshment of the number of reception. As shown in Fig. 11, an ID is selected in which the received signal strength exceeds the threshold of the received signal strength and the number of receptions exceeds the threshold of the number of reception.

In step S210, the received signal strength / read count analysis unit 3e passes through the belt conveyor interface unit 3d the ID of the IC tag passing through the gate identified in step S209, via the belt conveyor and its control means 7 Send to).

As described above, in the present embodiment, the transmission / reception control unit 1b counts the number of times of ID reading by the reception unit 1d for each ID, and the reception signal strength / read count analysis unit 3e receives the reception signal strength for each ID. And the number of readings are compared with a predetermined threshold value, and both the received signal strength and the number of receiving times determine that the ID exceeding the threshold is the ID sent from the IC tag of the managed object passing through the reading section.

In the threshold value, a threshold value input unit not shown in FIG. 8 may input a threshold value for the received signal strength and a threshold value for the number of receptions from the outside, and the threshold value calculation unit not shown in FIG. The threshold value for the received signal strength and the threshold for the number of reception may be calculated on the basis of the measurement history of the received signal strength and the coefficient history of the past reception count.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the IC tag which is passing through the gate under the influence of multipath or the like by measuring the received signal strength and the number of readings when the response is received from the IC tag by the read / write device and analyzing the relationship thereof. In addition, even if the ID of the other IC tag is read, the IC tag which is passing through the gate can be identified correctly, and the classification of the subsequent steps can be performed accurately.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the read / write device has read count recording means for recording the number of times of reading for each read identification tag during the read processing of the identification tag.

By analyzing the relationship between the number of readings for each of the identification tags acquired by the reading count recording means and the received signal strength for each of the identification tags measured by the received signal strength measuring means, the management target article passing through a specific location is analyzed. The moving object passage order identification system for identification was described.

Further, in the present embodiment, the number of times of passing through a specific point is determined from the relationship between the number of readings for each of the identification tags acquired by the reading count recording means and the received signal strength for each of the identification tags acquired by the reception signal strength measuring means. The moving object passing order identification system having a threshold setting means for setting a threshold for identifying the object to be managed from the outside has been described.

Further, in the present embodiment, the number of times of passing through a specific point is determined from the relationship between the number of readings for each of the identification tags acquired by the reading count recording means and the received signal strength for each of the identification tags acquired by the reception signal strength measuring means. The moving object passing order identification system which has a threshold value calculation means which automatically calculates the threshold value for identifying the object to be managed from the past reading results was demonstrated.

Finally, an example of the hardware configuration of the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 shown in the first and second embodiments will be described.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of hardware resources of the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 shown in the first and second embodiments.

In addition, the structure of FIG. 13 shows an example of the hardware structure of the read-write apparatus 1 and the control PC 3 to the last, and the hardware structure of the read-write apparatus 1 and the control PC 3 is shown in FIG. It is not limited to the structure of 13, It may be another structure.

In FIG. 13, the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 include a CPU 911 (Central Processing Unit, central processing unit, processing unit, computing unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, processor) that executes a program. Is called).

The CPU 911 is via a bus 912, for example, a read only memory (ROM) 913, a random access memory (RAM) 914, a communication board 915, a display device 901, and a keyboard 902. ), A mouse 903, and a magnetic disk device 920 may be connected, and these hardware devices are controlled.

The CPU 911 may be connected to the FDD 904 (Flexible Disk Drive), the compact disk device 905 (CDD), the printer device 906, and the scanner device 907. Instead of the magnetic disk device 920, a storage device such as an optical disk device or a memory card (registered trademark) writing and reading device may be used.

RAM 914 is an example of volatile memory. The storage medium of the ROM 913, the FDD 904, the CDD 905, and the magnetic disk device 920 is an example of a nonvolatile memory. These are examples of storage devices. The ID storage unit 1e, the received signal strength storage unit 1g, and the read count storage unit 1i are realized by these storage devices.

The communication board 915, the keyboard 902, the mouse 903, the scanner device 907, the FDD 904, and the like are examples of input devices.

In addition, the communication board 915, the display apparatus 901, the printer apparatus 906, etc. are an example of an output apparatus.

The communication board 915 is connected to the control PC 3, the reader device antenna 2, and the gate entry sensor 5 in the case of the read / write device 1 as shown in FIGS. 1, 3, and the like. The control PC 3 is connected to the reader / writer device 1 and the belt conveyor 7. For example, the communication board 915 may be connected to a LAN (local area network), the Internet, a WAN (wide area network), or the like.

In the magnetic disk device 920, an operating system 921 (OS), a window system 922, a program group 923, and a file group 924 are stored.

The program of the program group 923 is executed by the CPU 911 using the operating system 921 and the window system 922.

In the RAM 914, at least a part of a program or an application program of the operating system 921 to be executed by the CPU 911 is temporarily stored.

The RAM 914 also stores various data necessary for processing by the CPU 911.

In addition, a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) program is stored in the ROM 913, and a boot program is stored in the magnetic disk device 920.

At startup of the reader / writer device 1 and the control PC 3, the BIOS program of the ROM 913 and the boot program of the magnetic disk device 920 are executed, and the operating system 921 is executed by the BIOS program and the boot program. ) Is activated.

The program group 923 includes functions (ID storage unit 1e, received signal strength storage unit 1g, number of readings) that are described as "-part" and "-means" in the description of the first and second embodiments. The program for executing the storage unit 1i) is stored. The program is read and executed by the CPU 911.

In the file group 924, in the descriptions of Examples 1 and 2, "determination of", "calculation of", "compare of", "measurement of", "analysis of", "of Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters indicating the results of the processing described as "Setting", "Registration of", "Selection of ...", etc. are referred to as items of "~ File" or "~ Database". I remember.

"-File" and "-database" are stored in a recording medium such as a disk or a memory. Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters stored in a storage medium such as a disk or a memory are read into the main memory or the cache memory by the CPU 911 via a write read circuit, and extracted, searched, referenced, and compared. Used for CPU operation such as calculation, calculation, processing, editing, output, printing, and display.

The information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters between the CPU operations of extraction, searching, referencing, comparison, calculation, calculation, processing, editing, output, printing, and display are stored in the main memory, registers, cache memory, and buffer memory. It is temporarily stored in the back.

In addition, the part of the arrow of the flowchart demonstrated in Embodiment 1, 2 mainly shows the input / output of data or a signal, and the data or signal value shows the memory of RAM 914, the flexible disk of FDD 904, and CDD ( A recording medium such as a compact disk of 905, a magnetic disk of the magnetic disk device 920, another optical disk, a mini disk, a DVD, and the like. Data and signals are also transmitted online by the bus 912, signal lines, cables or other transmission media.

In addition, in the description of Examples 1 and 2, what is described as "parts" and "means" may be "a circuit", "a device", "a device", and "a step", "... order" and "-process" may be sufficient. That is, what is described as "-part" and "-means" may be implemented by the firmware stored in the ROM 913. Alternatively, the software may be implemented only by hardware, such as a device, a device, a board, or a wiring, or a combination of software and hardware, or in combination with firmware. The firmware and software are stored in recording media such as a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, and a DVD as a program. The program is read by the CPU 911 and executed by the CPU 911. That is, the program causes the computer to function as "parts" and "means" in the first and second embodiments. Alternatively, the computer executes the procedures and methods of the "parts" and "means" of the first and second embodiments.

As described above, the read / write device 1 and the control PC 3 shown in the first and second embodiments are a CPU, a processing device, a memory, a magnetic disk, a keyboard, a mouse, a communication board, and the like. A computer equipped with a display device, a communication board, or the like, which is an output device, and as described above, the functions indicated as "parts" and "means" are implemented using these processing devices, storage devices, input devices, and output devices. will be.

1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an automatic classification system according to the first embodiment;

2 shows the output timing of the gate entry sensor signal and the reader device transmission output signal according to Embodiment 1,

3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a read / write device and a control PC according to the first embodiment;

4 is a diagram showing an example of a received signal strength table according to the first embodiment;

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a measurement result of received power value according to the first embodiment;

6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a regression analysis result according to Example 1;

7 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the read / write device and control PC according to the first embodiment;

8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a read / write device and a control PC according to the second embodiment;

9 is a diagram showing an example of a received signal power average value table according to the second embodiment;

10 is a view showing an example of a read count table according to the second embodiment;

11 is a diagram showing a relationship between a received signal strength and a read count according to the second embodiment;

12 is a flowchart showing an example of operations of a read / write device and a control PC according to the second embodiment;

Fig. 13 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a read / write device and a control PC according to the first and second embodiments.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: writer device 1a: control PC interface unit

1b: transmission and reception control unit 1c: transmission unit

1d: receiving unit 1e: ID storing unit

1f: reception signal strength measurement unit 1g: reception signal strength storage unit

1h: sensor interface unit 1i: reading count storage unit

2: reader device antenna 3: control PC

3a: writer device interface unit

3b: writer device control unit 3c: received signal strength analysis unit

3d: Belt conveyor interface

3e: received signal strength / read count analysis unit

3f: threshold memory 4: gate

5: gate entry sensor 6: IC tag

7: belt conveyor and its control unit

Claims (10)

In an environment in which one or more managed objects to which identification information for transmitting identification information is attached exist, the identification information receiver for receiving identification information sent from the identification tag when the moving management object passes a predetermined reading section; , A received signal strength measuring unit for measuring received signal strength at the time of receiving the identification information for each reception of the identification information by the identification information receiving unit; An identification information specifying unit that analyzes the received signal strength measured by the received signal strength measuring unit for each identification information and specifies the identification information sent from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section. An information processing system having a. The method of claim 1, The identification information receiver may receive the identification information continuously from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section and receive the identification information sent from the identification tag of the other managed object, The identification information specifying unit performs regression analysis on the trend of the reception signal strength measured by the reception signal strength measurement unit for each identification information to specify identification information sent from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section. To do Information processing system, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, The identification information specifying unit determines, as a result of the regression analysis, identification information for which the absolute value of the slope of the regression line is minimized as identification information sent from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section. Information processing system, characterized in that. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The identification information specifying unit analyzes the received signal strength by excluding identification information having a received signal strength below a predetermined level from the analysis target. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The identification information receiver may receive the identification information continuously from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section and receive the identification information sent from the identification tag of the other managed object, The information processing system further has a reception count counting unit that counts the reception count of identification information by the identification information receiving unit for each identification information, The identification information specifying unit analyzes the received signal strength measured by the received signal strength measuring unit and the number of receptions counted by the received number counting unit for each identification information, and passes through the reading section. Specifying identification information sent from identification tags Information processing system, characterized in that. The method of claim 5, wherein The identification information specifying unit compares the threshold values for the received signal strength and the received signal strength for each identification information, compares the threshold values for the number of receptions and the number of receptions, and both the received signal strength and the number of receptions exceed the threshold values. And identification information is identification information sent from an identification tag of a management object passing through the read section. The method of claim 6, And the information processing system further comprises a threshold value input section for inputting a threshold value for the received signal strength and a threshold value for the number of receptions from the outside. The method of claim 6, The information processing system is based on the history of past received signal strength of the received signal strength measurement unit and the count of past received number of times of the reception frequency count unit, and the threshold value for the received signal strength and the number of received times. An information processing system, characterized by further comprising a threshold calculating section for calculating a threshold for the signal. In an environment in which one or more managed objects to which identification information sending identification information is attached exist, the computer receives identification information sent from the identification tag when the moving management object passes a predetermined reading section. Receiving information, A reception signal strength measurement step of the computer measuring the reception signal strength at the time of reception of the identification information for each reception of the identification information by the identification information reception step; The identification information specifying step of, for each identification information, analyzing the received signal strength measured by the received signal strength measurement step to specify identification information sent from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the reading section. Identification information specifying method, characterized in that having a. In an environment in which one or more managed objects to which identification information for transmitting identification information is attached exist, the identification information reception process of receiving identification information sent from the identification tag when the moving management object passes a predetermined reading section. Wow, A received signal strength measurement process of measuring a received signal strength at the time of receiving the identification information for each reception of the identification information by the identification information reception process; For each identification information, an identification information specifying process for analyzing the received signal strength measured by the received signal strength measurement process to specify identification information sent from the identification tag of the managed object passing through the read section. A recording medium for recording a program, characterized by causing the computer to execute.

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