WO2020090269A1

WO2020090269A1 - Reader/writer, reader/writer control method, and program

Info

Publication number: WO2020090269A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/036539
Authority: WO
Inventors: 八尋肥塚
Original assignee: オムロン株式会社
Priority date: 2018-10-30
Filing date: 2019-09-18
Publication date: 2020-05-07
Also published as: JP7155879B2; CN112639716B; CN112639716A; DE112019005456T5; JP2020071612A

Abstract

According to the present invention, an increase in cost is suppressed, and the amount of information that can be managed by an RF tag is increased. The present invention comprises: an RF tag specifying unit (21) which specifies a plurality of predetermined RF tags (40) as target RF tags (40); and a memory processing unit (22) which integrates memories included in a plurality of the target RF tags (40), and performs at least one memory process among reading and writing by using the integrated memories as one virtual memory space.

Description

Reader / writer, reader / writer control method, and program

The present invention relates to a reader / writer that reads and / or writes data from / to an RF tag, a control method for the reader / writer, and a program.

Conventionally, for solid-state management at manufacturing sites and logistics sites, data is read from and written to RF tags that are attached to individual objects, and it is used with industrial control devices such as programmable controllers (Programmable Logic Controllers, hereinafter abbreviated as “PLC”). A reader / writer that exchanges data is known.

In these reader / writers, communication with the RF tag is generally performed via wireless communication, and in order to improve the reliability of wireless communication, CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Code) is added to the data from the RF tag. ) Is added to detect an abnormality (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Gazette "Patent No. 3007926 (registered December 3, 1999)"

By the way, in recent years, the amount of information used for individual management at the production site is increasing. However, there is a problem that the memory capacity of a general off-the-shelf RF tag is small and the memory capacity of the RF tag is insufficient for the required data capacity. On the other hand, an RF tag with a large memory capacity has a high unit price, which leads to an increase in cost.

An aspect of the present invention is to realize a technology capable of suppressing an increase in cost and increasing the amount of information that can be managed by an RF tag.

In order to solve the above problems, a reader / writer according to one embodiment of the present invention is a reader / writer that performs at least one of reading and writing of data by wireless communication with an RF tag, and a predetermined plurality of reader / writers are provided. The RF tag identification unit that identifies the RF tag as the target RF tag and the memories included in the plurality of target RF tags are integrated to perform at least one memory processing of reading and writing as one virtual memory space. And a memory processing unit.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a control method of a reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention includes a step of specifying a predetermined plurality of RF tags as target RF tags, and the plurality of target RF tags. Integrating the memories to perform at least one memory processing of reading and writing as one virtual memory space.

In order to solve the above problems, a program according to an aspect of the present invention is a program for operating the reader / writer, which causes a computer to function as the RF tag specifying unit and the memory processing unit. is there.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and increase the amount of information that can be managed by the RF tag.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a reader / writer according to the embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the system environment using a reader / writer. (A) And (b) is a block diagram which shows the structure of the system using a reader / writer. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of the data between a reader / writer and an RF tag. 9 is a flowchart showing a specific example 1 of the flow of the reading process of the reader / writer. 9 is a flowchart showing a specific example 2 of the flow of the reading process of the reader / writer. It is a figure which shows an example of the flow of data among PLC, a reader / writer, and an RF tag. It is a flowchart which shows the application example of the flow of the reading process of a reader / writer.

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention (hereinafter, also referred to as “this embodiment”) will be described with reference to the drawings.

§1 Application Example First, an example of a scene to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a reader / writer 10 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a system environment in which the reader / writer 10 according to the present embodiment is used.

As shown in FIG. 2, an RF tag 40 is used for individual management of articles such as parts and products at a production site, for example. A plurality of RF tags 40 (a predetermined number, three in this embodiment (

RF tags

40A, 40B, 40C)) are attached to one pallet 100 on which a work 101 such as a part or a product is placed, and used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the reader / writer 10 is provided with an antenna 35 that realizes wireless communication with each of the plurality of RF tags 40 (40A, 40B, 40C), and within the communication area via the antenna 35. At least one of reading and writing of data is performed with respect to a predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 (40A, 40B, 40C). When the reader / writer 10 reads and / or writes data from / to a predetermined plurality of RF tags 40, the reader / writer 10 integrates memories included in the predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 to form one Memory processing is performed as a virtual memory space.

As described above, the reader / writer 10 integrates the memories of the predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 and performs the memory processing as one virtual memory space, so that the memory capacity of each of the RF tags 40 is small, for example, 2 KB. Also, the memory capacity can be virtually increased. Therefore, even if the amount of information required for individual management of articles such as parts and products increases, it is possible to disperse the information in a plurality of predetermined RF tags 40 and perform at least one of reading and writing. it can.

§2 Configuration Example The configuration of the reader / writer 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the reader / writer 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a system environment using the reader / writer 10. 3A and 3B are block diagrams showing the configuration of a system using the reader / writer 10.

[Configuration of reader / writer 10]
As shown in FIG. 1, the reader / writer 10 performs at least one of reading and writing of data by wireless communication with the RF tag 40. Further, the reader / writer 10 is used as an input device of a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) 50 that is a higher-level device.

The reader / writer 10 includes a host communication control unit 11, an RF communication control unit 20, a storage unit 30, and an antenna 35.

The upper communication control unit 11 controls communication with the PLC 50. The upper communication control unit 11 performs wireless communication with the PLC 50 or wired communication via a bus or a network. The higher-level communication control unit 11 can exchange data with the PLC 50 at a high speed of several microseconds to several milliseconds per byte.

The reader / writer 10 communicates with the PLC 50 under the control of the host communication control unit 11, and at least one of reading and writing of data from the PLC 50 to the RF tag 40 via the host communication control unit 11. Receive a command to do one.

The antenna 35 realizes wireless communication with a plurality of predetermined RF tags 40. Under the control of the RF communication control unit 20, the antenna 35 sends out an electromagnetic wave including a command signal to a predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 and receives response signals from the predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 to the command. ..

The RF communication control unit 20 performs at least one of reading and writing of data with a predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 via the antenna 35. Note that the RF communication control unit 20 may be an arithmetic device having a function of integrally controlling each unit of the reader / writer 10. The RF communication control unit 20 controls each unit of the reader / writer 10 by executing a program stored in one or more memories (such as RAM and ROM) by one or more processors (such as CPU), for example. You may.

The RF communication control unit 20 decodes the command received from the PLC 50 by the function of the host communication control unit 11. The commands received from the PLC 50 include a write command that specifies writing of data with the RF tag 40 and a read command that specifies reading of data with the RF tag 40. The write command and the read command include data regarding the data exchange size between the PLC 50 and the reader / writer 10.

The PLC 50 does not need to recognize the number of RF tags 40 that the reader / writer 10 communicates with in order to read or write data according to one command. Although details will be described later, the RF communication control unit 20 executes a read or write process on each memory of a predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 according to the amount of data to be read or written.

Also, the RF communication control unit 20 converts the data included in the write command received from the PLC 50 into data writable in the RF tag 40. The RF communication control unit 20 converts, for example, data such as an octal code, a hexadecimal code, and a hexadecimal code included in the write command received from the PLC 50 into ASCII code data.

The RF communication control unit 20 also converts the data read with the RF tag 40 into data that can be transferred to the PLC 50 as a response to the read command received from the PLC 50. The RF communication control unit 20, for example, converts the digit string data read with the RF tag 40 into data such as an octal code, a hexadecimal code, and a hexadecimal code.

The RF communication control unit 20 sends a command signal to a predetermined plurality of RF tags 40 and receives response signals via the antenna 35. Further, the RF communication control unit 20 may be configured to be able to execute the decoding process of the response signal received from the RF tag 40. The wireless communication with the RF tag 40 via the antenna 35 is a communication at a speed of several milliseconds to several tens of milliseconds per byte.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the reader / writer 10 may be composed of a plurality of separate units. For example, the reader / writer 10 includes a control unit 120 having the function of the higher-level communication control unit 11 and a part of the function of the RF communication control unit 20, an amplifier unit 130 for amplifying a signal, and an antenna 35, which are separate units. The configuration may be

Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the reader / writer 10 may be configured such that the host communication control unit 11, the RF communication control unit 20, and the antenna 35 are integrally formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the RF communication control unit 20 includes an RF tag identification unit 21 and a memory processing unit 22.

The RF tag identification unit 21 identifies a plurality of predetermined RF tags as target RF tags. The RF tag identification unit 21 reads, via the antenna 35, the identification information stored in the memory of the RF tag 40 from each of the plurality of communicable RF tags 40 existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35. The RF tag identification unit 21 performs anti-collision processing to identify the communicable RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C corresponding to the read identification information as the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C.

The identification information of the RF tags 40 includes a set of a plurality of predetermined RF tags 40 that holds individual information of one work 101 (see FIG. 1) in addition to information for identifying the individual of each RF tag 40. The identification information of the other RF tag 40 included in the above may be included. In the anti-collision process, the RF tag identification unit 21 refers to the identification information of each of the plurality of communicable RF tags 40 and stores the individual information of one work 101 (see FIG. 1). By specifying the set, the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C are specified.

The RF communication control unit 20 causes the storage unit 30 to store the identification information read by the RF communication control unit 20 from each of the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C via the antenna 35. The RF tag identification unit 21 manages the identification information of the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C stored in the storage unit 30 as an index, so that the respective target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C in the virtual memory space are provided. Set the memory address. The RF tag identifying unit 21 manages the identification information as an index, and stores the memory blocks of the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C in the virtual memory space according to the order in which the index is sorted. Set the address as if it were the third address.

The identification information of the RF tag 40 is, for example, an identification number set individually for each RF tag 40. These identification numbers are a combination of alphabets and numbers, and the RF tag identification unit 21 sorts the identification numbers in at least one of an alphabetical order and a numerical order to read or write data. Determine the order of.

As described above, the reader / writer 10 performs reading and / or writing of data with the memories included in the plurality of target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C, respectively. The order of reading when 40B and 40C are detected is predetermined as the order of sorting using the identification number as an index. As a result, the reader / writer 10 records information relating to the order of reading the plurality of target RF tags 40 or the order of writing to the plurality of target RF tags 40 in association with, for example, the identification number of each RF tag 40. No processing is required. Therefore, the reader / writer 10 can efficiently integrate the data to be read or written with the plurality of target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C.

Note that the PLC 50 may be configured to recognize the number of target RF tags that issue instructions to the reader / writer 10 to read or write data. In this case, the PLC 50 transmits to the reader / writer 10 a command to read or write data including information related to the number of target RF tags. The RF tag identification unit 21 acquires the number information indicating the number of target RF tags received from the PLC 50 via the upper communication control unit 11. When the acquired solid-state information matches the number of communicable RF tags 40 existing in the communicable area, the RF tag identifying unit 21 targets the communicable RF tags 40 to the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C. May be specified as

Also, the PLC 50 may be capable of transmitting a command including identification information for identifying the target RF tag that issues a data read or write command to the reader / writer 10. The RF tag identification unit 21 determines whether or not to identify the target RF tag received from the PLC 50 via the upper communication control unit 11 and the identification information read from each of the communicable RF tags 40. You may perform a collision process.

The memory processing unit 22 integrates the memories included in the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C identified by the RF tag identifying unit 21 into one virtual memory space. For example, when the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C each have a memory capacity of 2 KB, the memory processing unit 22 integrates these memories to virtually generate one virtual memory having a memory capacity of 6 KB. At least one of read and write memory processing is performed as the memory space.

As a result, the user uses a plurality of general off-the-shelf RF tags 40 each having a small memory capacity, so that the information of the capacity that cannot be stored in the memory of one RF tag 40 is stored in the memory of the plurality of RF tags 40. Can be stored in one integrated virtual memory space. Therefore, since it is not necessary to use an expensive RF tag having a large memory capacity, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost and increase the capacity of information that can be managed by the RF tag 40.

The RF tag identification unit 21 calculates the total memory capacity of the communicable RF tags 40 existing in the communicable area, and the amount of data required for the memory processing by the memory processing unit 22 is equal to or less than the total memory capacity. In this case, the communicable RF tag 40 may be specified as the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C. The storage unit 30 may previously store identification information of a plurality of RF tags 40 that may communicate with the reader / writer 10 and the memory capacity of each RF tag 40. The RF tag identification unit 21 calculates the total memory capacity of the RF tags 40 to which the identification information stored in the storage unit 30 corresponds, based on the identification information read from the plurality of communicable RF tags 40. The total memory capacity of the communicable RF tag 40 is calculated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the flow of data between the reader / writer 10 and the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C. FIG. 4 shows a data flow when the reader / writer 10 reads data from the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C in response to a command from the PLC 50 that reads 4000 bytes of data from address 1000 of the virtual memory space of 6 KB. ing.

First, the RF communication control unit 20 of the reader / writer 10 stores in the memory of the RF tag 40 from each of the plurality of communicable RF tags 40 existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35 by the function of the RF tag specifying unit 21. The stored identification information is read out via the antenna 35. The RF tag identification unit 21 refers to the identification information read from each of the communicable RF tags 40, performs anti-collision processing, and identifies the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C. The RF tag identification unit 21 sets an address in the virtual memory space in each of the identified memories of the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C.

The RF communication control unit 20 uses the function of the memory processing unit 22 to send to the first RF tag 40A a read command requesting reading of 1000 bytes of data from address 1000 of the memory. The memory processing unit 22 acquires 1000 bytes of data transferred from the RF tag 40A as a response to the transmitted read command.

Subsequently, the memory processing unit 22 sends a read command requesting reading of 2000 bytes of data from the address 0000 of the memory to the second RF tag 40B. The memory processing unit 22 acquires 2000 bytes of data transferred from the RF tag 40B as a response to the transmitted read command.

Next, the memory processing unit 22 transmits to the third RF tag 40C a read command requesting reading of 1000 bytes of data from the address 0000 of the memory. The memory processing unit 22 acquires 1000 bytes of data transferred from the RF tag 40C as a response to the transmitted read command.

Although the example shown in FIG. 4 shows reading of data, the same applies to the case where the memory processing unit 22 writes data by wireless communication with a predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40. It is possible to perform writing as one virtual memory space by integrating the memories respectively provided in the target RF tags. The reader / writer 10, for example, responds to a command from the PLC 50 that writes 4000 bytes of data from the 1000th address of the virtual memory space of 6 KB, in a flow reverse to the process of reading the data to the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C. Data can be written.

When writing data with a predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40, the RF communication control unit 20 specifies the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C by the function of the RF tag specifying unit 21 and specifies the specified target. An address in the virtual memory space is set in each of the memories of the RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C.

By the function of the memory processing unit 22, the RF communication control unit 20 first transmits a write command for writing 1000 bytes of data from the address 1000 of the memory to the RF tag 40A that is the first processing target, and then the RF tag 40A. Write 1000 bytes of data.

Next, the memory processing unit 22 sends a write command for writing 2000 bytes of data from the address 0000 of the memory to the RF tag 40B that is the second processing target, and writes 2000 bytes of data to the RF tag 40B.

Next, the memory processing unit 22 sends a write command for writing 1000 bytes of data from the address 0000 of the memory to the RF tag 40C that is the third processing target, and writes 1000 bytes of data to the RF tag 40C.

As described above, the reader / writer 10 can increase the capacity of information that can be managed by the RF tag 40 by integrating the memories included in the plurality of target RF tags 40 into one virtual memory space.

[Specific Example 1 of Flow of Data Reading Process of Reader / Writer 10]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a specific example 1 of the flow of the data reading process of the reader / writer 10.

When the RF communication control unit 20 of the reader / writer 10 obtains the data read command received from the PLC 50 via the upper communication control unit 11, first, the function of the RF tag identification unit 21 executes the anti-collision process (step S1). ).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether or not the anti-collision process has been normally completed (step S2). The RF communication control unit 20 determines that the anti-collision process has been normally completed when the predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C can be identified by the RF tag identification unit 21 (YES in step S2). , And proceeds to step S3. The RF communication control unit 20 determines that the anti-collision process has not ended normally when the predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C cannot be specified by the RF tag specifying unit 21 (at step S2). NO), the fact that the process corresponding to the command has ended abnormally is transmitted to the PLC 50.

The RF communication control unit 20 uses the address of the memory included in each of the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C in the virtual memory space set by the RF tag identification unit 21 and performs the read memory process by the function of the memory processing unit 22. I do. The memory processing unit 22 first transmits a read command to the first RF tag 40A to be processed among the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C (step S3).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether or not the read command has been successfully passed by wireless communication with the first RF tag 40A to be processed (step S4). For example, when the target RF tag 40A is out of the communicable area of the antenna 35, the read command cannot be delivered, and it is determined that there is an abnormality. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the read command has been successfully delivered to the RF tag 40A (YES in step S4), the process proceeds to step S5. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the read command cannot be normally delivered to the RF tag 40A (NO in step S4), it transmits to the PLC 50 that the process corresponding to the command has ended abnormally.

The RF communication control unit 20 reads data from the first RF tag 40A to be processed by the function of the memory processing unit 22 (step S5). When the data read command received from the PLC 50 is a command to read 4000 bytes of data from the address 1000 in the virtual memory space of 6 KB, the memory processing unit 22 returns 1000 bytes of data from the address 1000 of the RF tag 40A as a response. To receive.

Next, the memory processing unit 22 transmits a read command to the second RF tag 40B to be processed among the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C (step S6).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether or not the read command has been successfully delivered by wireless communication with the RF tag 40B that is the second processing target (step S7). For example, when the target RF tag 40B is out of the communicable area of the antenna 35, the read command cannot be delivered, and it is determined that there is an abnormality. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the read command has been successfully delivered to the RF tag 40B (YES in step S7), the process proceeds to step S8. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the read command cannot be normally delivered to the RF tag 40B (NO in step S7), the RF communication control unit 20 transmits to the PLC 50 a message indicating that the process corresponding to the command has ended abnormally.

The RF communication control unit 20 reads data from the second processing target RF tag 40B by the function of the memory processing unit 22 (step S8). When the data read command received from the PLC 50 is a command to read 4000 bytes of data from address 1000 of the virtual memory space of 6 KB, the memory processing unit 22 returns 2000 bytes of data from address 0000 of the RF tag 40B as a response. To receive.

Next, the memory processing unit 22 sends a read command to the third RF tag 40C to be processed among the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C (step S9).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether or not the read command has been successfully delivered by wireless communication with the RF tag 40C that is the third processing target (step S10). For example, when the target RF tag 40C is out of the communicable area of the antenna 35, the read command cannot be delivered, and it is determined that there is an abnormality. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the read command has been successfully delivered to the RF tag 40C (YES in step S10), the process proceeds to step S11. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the read command cannot be normally delivered to the RF tag 40C (NO in step S10), the RF communication control unit 20 transmits to the PLC 50 a message indicating that the process corresponding to the command has ended abnormally.

The RF communication control unit 20 uses the function of the memory processing unit 22 to read data from the third processing target RF tag 40C (step S11). When the data read command received from the PLC 50 is a command to read 4000 bytes of data from address 1000 of the virtual memory space of 6 KB, the memory processing unit 22 returns 1000 bytes of data from address 0000 of the RF tag 40C as a response. It receives and transmits to the PLC 50 the fact that the process corresponding to the command has ended normally.

The RF communication control unit 20 integrates the 4000-byte data received from the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C by the function of the memory processing unit 22, and transmits the data to the PLC 50.

In this way, the memory processing unit 22 has all the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C in the communicable area of the antenna 35 at the time of performing the memory processing, and all the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C are When it is specified by the RF tag specification unit 21, memory processing is sequentially performed on all the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C.

[Specific Example 2 of Flow of Data Reading Process of Reader / Writer 10]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a specific example 2 of the flow of the data read processing by the reader / writer 10. As shown in FIG. 6, when the RF communication control unit 20 of the reader / writer 10 acquires the data read command received from the PLC 50 via the higher-level communication control unit 11, the function of the RF tag identification unit 21 performs anti-collision processing. While executing, the target RF tag set is confirmed (step S21).

The RF tag identification unit 21 writes the identification information of each of the plurality of target RF tags included in one set, which is written in the memory of at least one of the plurality of target RF tags existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35. May be read to confirm the target RF tag set. For example, in the memory of the RF tag 40A, the identification information of the RF tag 40A and the identification information of the RF tag 40B and the RF tag 40C are written in advance. The RF tag identification unit 21 confirms that the target RF tag set is composed of the RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C based on the identification information of the RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C read from the memory of the RF tag 40A. can do.

Even if the information indicating the reading order of each target RF tag is recorded in the memory of at least one of the plurality of target RF tags together with the identification information of each of the plurality of target RF tags included in one set. Good. In this case, the sorting process using the above-mentioned identification number as an index can be omitted.

Further, the RF tag identification unit 21 confirms that the target RF tag set is composed of the RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C based on the information of the target RF tag set included in the data read command received from the PLC 50. You may be able to. In this case, the command from the PLC 50 includes information indicating that the RF tag set from which data is to be read is composed of the RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C. For example, the command from the PLC 50 may include the identification information of each of the RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C included in the RF tag set.

Note that the data read command received from the PLC 50 may include information indicating the read order of each target RF tag. In this case, the sorting process using the identification number as the index can be omitted.

The RF communication control unit 20 performs the anti-collision process and the confirmation of the target RF tag set in step S21 by the function of the RF tag identification unit 21, and then executes the processes of steps S22 to S31. Since the processing of steps S22 to S31 is the same as the processing of steps S2 to S11 described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

[Application Example of Data Reading Process of Reader / Writer 10]
By the way, at the time when the memory processing is performed by the memory processing unit 22, all the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C may not exist in the communicable area of the antenna 35. In such a case, the memory processing unit 22 sequentially performs the memory processing on the target RF tags existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35, and the communicable area of the antenna 35 for the remaining target RF tags. Memory processing may be sequentially performed at the time of entering. For example, in a production line in which the pallet 100 to which the RF tag 40 is attached is conveyed by a conveyor, there is a case where the RF tag 40 sequentially enters the communicable area of the antenna 35 due to the movement of the pallet 100. is assumed.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of data between the PLC 50, the reader / writer 10, and the RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C when all the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C do not exist within the communicable area of the antenna 35. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 7, the RF communication control unit 20 of the reader / writer 10 acquires the read command received from the PLC 50 via the upper communication control unit 11. The RF communication control unit 20 uses the function of the RF tag identification unit 21 to identify a plurality of predetermined target RF tags 40. The RF tag identification unit 21 may identify the plurality of target RF tags 40 by referring to the content of the instruction from the PLC 50.

The RF tag identification unit 21 may identify the plurality of target RF tags 40 by referring to the identification information read from the RF tag 40A existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35. The RF tag identification unit 21 refers to the identification information of the predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40 included in the identification information read from the RF tag 40 existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35, and the target RF tag 40A. , 40B, 40C are specified.

If the RF tag 40 does not exist within the communicable area of the antenna 35, the RF tag identifying unit 21 waits until the RF tag 40 arrives within the communicable area of the antenna 35, and within the communicable area of the antenna 35. After confirming that the RF tag 40 has arrived at, the identification information may be read from the RF tag 40.

The memory processing unit 22 has a function of confirming whether or not each of the predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C specified by the RF tag specifying unit 21 exists within the communicable area of the antenna 35. .. In addition, the memory processing unit 22 determines that if the plurality of target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C specified by the RF tag specifying unit 21 do not exist within the communicable area of the antenna 35, the memory processing unit 22 operates as follows. It has a function to confirm whether or not it has arrived within the communicable area. The memory processing unit 22 executes the data reading process in order from the target RF tag 40 that is present within the communicable area of the antenna 35 or has arrived.

For example, in the memory processing unit 22, after the read instruction from the PLC 50 is acquired by the RF communication control unit 20 and the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C are identified, the target RF tag existing in the communicable area of the antenna 35. First, data is read from 40A. When the read command acquired from the PLC 50 is a command to read 4000 bytes from the address 1000 of the memory, the memory processing unit 22 first reads 1000 bytes of data from the address 1000 of the memory of the target RF tag 40A.

Next, the memory processing unit 22 confirms that the target RF tag 40B has arrived within the communicable area of the antenna 35, and reads 2000 bytes of data from the address 0000 of the memory of the target RF tag 40B. After that, the memory processing unit 22 confirms that the target RF tag 40C has arrived within the communicable area of the antenna 35, and reads 1000 bytes of data from the address 0000 of the memory of the target RF tag 40C.

In this way, the reader / writer 10 can extend the read range of the target RF tag 40 outside the communicable area of the antenna 35 and sequentially read data from a plurality of target RF tags 40. As a result, by integrating the memories included in the plurality of target RF tags 40 and using them as one virtual memory space, it is possible to increase the amount of information that can be managed by the RF tag 40.

Note that the memory processing unit 22 also integrates the memories included in the target RF tags in the same manner even when data is written by wireless communication with a predetermined plurality of target RF tags 40, thereby creating one virtual memory space. As a result, data can be written in a plurality of target RF tags 40. The reader / writer 10 can write data in the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C in a flow reverse to the data reading process in response to a command from the PLC 50. That is, the memory processing unit 22 can confirm that the target RF tag 40 has arrived within the communicable area of the antenna 35, and can write a predetermined amount of data in a predetermined position in the memory of the target RF tag 40.

[Regarding Flow of Processing by Memory Processing Unit 22]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of data reading processing by the memory processing unit 22 when all target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C do not exist within the communicable area of the antenna 35.

The RF communication control unit 20 sets the target RF tag 40A from which the data is read first among the target RF tags 40A, 40B, and 40C specified by the function of the RF tag specifying unit 21 within the communicable area of the antenna 35. Waiting for the arrival, the function of the memory processing unit 22 reads a predetermined amount of data from a predetermined position of the memory of the target RF tag 40A (step S41).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether the memory processing unit 22 has successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40A (step S42). When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the memory processing unit 22 has successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40A (YES in step S42), the process proceeds to step S43. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the memory processing unit 22 has not normally read the data from the target RF tag 40A (NO in step S42), it notifies the PLC 50 that the data reading has abnormally ended, and executes the processing. To finish.

The RF communication control unit 20 notifies the PLC that the response has been received from the target RF tag 40A (step S43).

The RF communication control unit 20 waits for the second target RF tag 40B from which data is read to arrive within the communicable area of the antenna 35, and the function of the memory processing unit 22 causes the target RF tag 40B to move from a predetermined position in the memory of the target RF tag 40B. , A predetermined amount of data is read (step S44).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether the memory processing unit 22 has successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40B (step S45). When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the memory processing unit 22 has successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40B (YES in step S45), the process proceeds to step S46. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the memory processing unit 22 has not successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40B (NO in step S45), the RF communication control unit 20 notifies the PLC 50 that the data reading has abnormally ended, and executes the processing. To finish.

The RF communication control unit 20 notifies the PLC that the response has been received from the target RF tag 40B (step S46).

The RF communication control unit 20 waits for arrival of the target RF tag 40C from which data is read out third within the communicable area of the antenna 35, and the function of the memory processing unit 22 causes the target RF tag 40C to read from a predetermined position in the memory of the target RF tag 40C. , A predetermined amount of data is read (step S47).

The RF communication control unit 20 determines whether the memory processing unit 22 has successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40C (step S48). When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the memory processing unit 22 has successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40C (YES in step S48), the process proceeds to step S49. When the RF communication control unit 20 determines that the memory processing unit 22 has not successfully read the data from the target RF tag 40C (NO in step S48), the RF communication control unit 20 notifies the PLC 50 that the data reading has abnormally ended, and executes the processing. To finish.

The RF communication control unit 20 notifies the PLC that the response has been received from the target RF tag 40C, integrates the data read from each of the target RF tags 40A, 40B, 40C, and transmits all the data to the PLC 50. As a result (step S49), the PLC 50 is notified that the processing corresponding to the command has normally ended, and the processing ends.

[Example of software implementation]
The control block of the reader / writer 10 (in particular, the higher-level communication control unit 11 and the RF communication control unit 20) may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or by software. May be realized.

In the latter case, the reader / writer 10 includes a computer that executes the instructions of a program that is software that realizes each function. The computer includes, for example, one or more processors and a computer-readable recording medium that stores the program. Then, in the computer, the processor reads the program from the recording medium and executes the program to achieve the object of the present invention. As the processor, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) can be used. As the recording medium, a “non-transitory tangible medium”, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. Further, a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program may be further provided. Further, the program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (communication network, broadcast wave, or the like) capable of transmitting the program. Note that one aspect of the present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Summary]
A reader / writer according to one embodiment of the present invention is a reader / writer that performs at least one of reading and writing of data by wireless communication with an RF tag, and specifies a plurality of predetermined RF tags as target RF tags. And a memory processing unit that integrates memories included in each of the plurality of target RF tags to perform at least one memory processing of reading and writing as one virtual memory space. is there.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to integrate memories included in a plurality of target RF tags and perform at least one of read and write memory processing as one virtual memory space. As a result, by using a plurality of general off-the-shelf RF tags having a small memory capacity, necessary information having a capacity that cannot be stored in the memory of one RF tag is stored in one virtual memory space for use. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost of the RF tag and increase the amount of information that can be managed by the RF tag.

In the reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention, the RF tag identification unit manages the identification information of the target RF tag as an index, so that each of the target RF tags in the virtual memory space is provided. The memory address may be set.

According to the above configuration, when performing reading and / or writing of data with the memories respectively provided in the plurality of target RF tags, the order of reading when the plurality of target RF tags is detected is set to: The order can be determined in advance according to the identification number managed as an index. As a result, it is not necessary to separately perform processing such as reading a plurality of target RF tags or recording information regarding the order of writing to the plurality of target RF tags. Therefore, data integration can be performed efficiently. Therefore, even if the memories of the plurality of target RF tags are used as one virtual memory space, the data processing can be made efficient and the data capacity can be increased.

Further, in the reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention, the RF tag identification unit receives the number information indicating the number of the target RF tags from an external higher-level device and exists in the communication range with the number information. When the number of communicable RF tags corresponding to each other matches, the communicable RF tag may be specified as the target RF tag.

According to the above configuration, the reader / writer can appropriately identify the number of communicable RF tags according to the instruction from the host device as the target RF tags.

Further, in the reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention, the RF tag identification unit calculates a total memory capacity of the communicable RF tags existing in the communicable area, and the data amount required for the memory processing is calculated. When the total memory capacity is equal to or less than the total memory capacity, the communicable RF tag may be specified as the target RF tag.

According to the above configuration, the reader / writer confirms that the total memory capacity of the plurality of target RF tags has reached the capacity required for memory processing, and then performs at least one of reading and writing of data. It can be carried out. As a result, when the memories of a plurality of target RF tags are used as one virtual memory space, the capacity required for reading or writing data does not run short during the memory processing and abnormal termination does not occur. Therefore, the reader / writer can efficiently perform at least one of reading and writing of data on a plurality of target RF tags.

Further, in the reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention, the RF tag specifying unit is capable of performing communication in which identification information of a plurality of the target RF tags among the communicable RF tags existing in the communicable area is recorded. The identification information may be read from the RF tag, and the communicable RF tag corresponding to the read identification information may be specified as the target RF tag.

According to the above configuration, a plurality of target RF tags can be identified by referring to the identification information read from the communicable RF tag, and the target RF tag can be efficiently specified.

Further, in the reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention, the memory processing unit, when all the target RF tags exist in a communicable area at the time of performing the memory processing, all the target RF tags. While the memory processing is sequentially performed on the tags, if all the target RF tags do not exist in the communicable area at the time of performing the memory processing, the target RF tag existing in the communicable area. May be sequentially subjected to memory processing, and when the remaining target RF tags enter the communicable area, the memory processing may be sequentially performed.

According to the above configuration, the identifiable area of the plurality of target RF tags can be expanded to the outside of the communicable area, and the memories of the plurality of RF tags that cannot fit in the communicable area are also regarded as one virtual memory space. At least one of reading and writing of data can be performed by using the data.

Further, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a control method of a reader / writer according to an aspect of the present invention includes a step of specifying a predetermined plurality of RF tags as target RF tags, and a plurality of the target RF tags. Integrating the memories to perform at least one memory processing of reading and writing as one virtual memory space.

According to the above method, it is possible to integrate memories included in a plurality of target RF tags and perform at least one of read and write memory processing as one virtual memory space. As a result, by using a plurality of general off-the-shelf RF tags having a small memory capacity, necessary information having a capacity that cannot be stored in the memory of one RF tag is stored in one virtual memory space for use. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost of the RF tag and increase the amount of information that can be managed by the RF tag.

With the above configuration, it is possible to suppress an increase in the cost of the RF tag and increase the amount of information that can be managed by the RF tag.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in the different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

10 Reader / Writer 11 Upper Communication Control Section 20 RF Communication Control Section 21 RF Tag Specification Section 22 Memory Processing Section 30 Storage Section 50 PLC (Upper Device)
40 (40A, 40B, 40C) RF tag

Claims

A reader / writer that performs at least one of reading and writing of data by wireless communication with an RF tag,
An RF tag specifying unit that specifies a plurality of predetermined RF tags as target RF tags;
A memory processing unit that integrates memories included in each of the plurality of target RF tags to perform at least one of read and write memory processing as one virtual memory space;
A reader / writer equipped with.
The reader according to claim 1, wherein the RF tag specifying unit sets an address of a memory included in each of the target RF tags in the virtual memory space by managing identification information of the target RF tag as an index. lighter.
The RF tag specifying unit receives the number information indicating the number of the target RF tags from an external host device, and when the number information matches the number of communicable RF tags existing in the communicable area, The reader / writer according to claim 2, wherein the communicable RF tag is specified as the target RF tag.
The RF tag specifying unit calculates the total memory capacity of the communicable RF tags existing in the communicable area, and when the amount of data required for the memory processing is equal to or less than the total memory capacity, the communication is possible. The reader / writer according to claim 2, wherein an RF tag is specified as the target RF tag.
The RF tag identifying unit reads the identification information from the communicable RF tags in which the identification information of the plurality of target RF tags is recorded among the communicable RF tags existing in the communicable area, and the read identification information is read. The reader / writer according to claim 2, wherein a communicable RF tag corresponding to is specified as the target RF tag.
The memory processing unit,
When all the target RF tags are present in the communicable area at the time of performing the memory processing, the memory processing is sequentially performed on all the target RF tags,
When not all the target RF tags are present in the communicable area at the time of performing the memory processing, the target RF tags existing in the communicable area are sequentially subjected to the memory processing and the remaining The reader / writer according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 5, wherein the memory processing is sequentially performed when the target RF tag of (1) enters the communicable area.
Specifying a plurality of predetermined RF tags as target RF tags;
A method of controlling a reader / writer, comprising: integrating memories included in a plurality of target RF tags, and performing at least one memory processing of reading and writing as one virtual memory space.
A program for operating the reader / writer according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which causes a computer to function as the RF tag specifying unit and the memory processing unit.