WO2022190513A1

WO2022190513A1 - Communication control device, communication control program, rfid reader system, and data storage method

Info

Publication number: WO2022190513A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/046853
Authority: WO
Inventors: 健太川上
Original assignee: オムロン株式会社
Priority date: 2021-03-08
Filing date: 2021-12-17
Publication date: 2022-09-15
Also published as: JP2022136797A

Abstract

The present invention prevents errors caused by a rewrite exceeding an upper limit of a memory even if a limit of a number of rewrites of the memory cannot be estimated. A R/W (1) comprises: a memory region management unit (13) that designates, in a non-volatile memory (T10) of an RFID tag (T), a rewrite region (T60), a first designated region (T11), and a second designated region (T12); a data rewrite unit (14) that rewrites the first designated region (T11); a dummy data rewrite unit (15) that rewrites the second designated region (T12) multiple times in the case of the above-mentioned rewrite; and a rewrite success/failure determination unit (16) that determines a success/failure of the rewrite of the dummy data.

Description

COMMUNICATION CONTROL DEVICE, COMMUNICATION CONTROL PROGRAM, RFID READER SYSTEM AND DATA STORAGE METHOD

The present invention relates to a communication control device that writes to an RFID tag, a communication control program, an RFID reader system that includes the communication control device and the RFID tag, and a method of storing data in the RFID tag.

In recent years, the method of managing objects using RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) tags has become widespread. For example, it is used for production management in factories, equipment management for passenger aircraft, and equipment management in warehouses. . The RFID tag incorporates a rewritable non-volatile memory. A non-volatile memory deteriorates in its ability to store data as data is repeatedly rewritten. Therefore, in order to properly manage objects using RFID tags, it is necessary to manage the number of times the nonvolatile memory is rewritten.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-14530

The following methods are conceivable in order to prevent the rewriting of non-volatile memory in RFID tags from exceeding the upper limit. For example, by setting an upper limit on the number of rewrites in advance in the RFID tag, counting each rewrite, issuing a warning when the number of rewrites reaches the set value, and urging the user to take action, the rewriting does not reach the upper limit. This is a way to prevent overshoot.

However, there are various environments in which RFID tags are exposed, and it is difficult to appropriately determine the upper limit of the number of rewrites. In particular, when rewriting is performed under high temperature conditions, the number of rewritable times decreases.

In one aspect, the present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its object is to prevent errors due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit in the memory even when the limit of the number of rewriting times of the memory cannot be estimated in advance. to prevent

The present invention adopts the following configuration in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

That is, a communication control device according to one aspect of the present invention is a communication control device that performs wireless communication with a tag having a nonvolatile memory and controls storage of data in the nonvolatile memory, a memory area management unit for specifying a part of the memory area of the rewriting area as a rewriting area, and further specifying a first specified area and a second specified area in the rewriting area; a data rewriting unit for storing the data in a memory, and when the data rewriting unit rewrites the first specified area and stores the data in the nonvolatile memory, the second specified area is rewritten a plurality of times by dummy data. A dummy data rewriting unit for rewriting, and a rewriting success/failure determination unit for determining success or failure of rewriting of the dummy data are provided.

A data storage method according to one aspect of the present invention is a data storage method for controlling storage of data in the nonvolatile memory by performing wireless communication with a tag having the nonvolatile memory. a memory area management step of designating a part of the memory area of as a rewriting area and further designating a first designated area and a second designated area in the rewriting area; a data rewriting step of storing the data in a memory; and in the data rewriting step, when the first designated region is rewritten and the data is stored in the nonvolatile memory, a plurality of the second designated regions are rewritten by dummy data. and a rewrite success/failure determination step of determining success or failure of rewriting of the dummy data.

According to one aspect of the present invention, even when the limit of the number of times of rewriting of the memory cannot be estimated, it is possible to prevent errors due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit of the memory.

1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a main part of an RFID reader system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the production line to which the said RFID reader system is applied. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing another example of a production line to which the RFID reader system is applied; 4 is a perspective view showing an example of an RFID tag of the RFID reader system; FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4; 4 is a perspective view showing an example of an antenna of the RFID reader system; FIG. 4 is a memory map illustrating an example of a write area of the RFID tag; 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow of processing of the RFID reader system; FIG.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, an embodiment (hereinafter also referred to as "this embodiment") according to one aspect of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In addition, below, it demonstrates based on the example which applied this invention to the production line. However, the configuration of the present invention described in the claims can be applied to various industrial fields other than production lines.

§1 Application Example An example of a scene to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the main part of an RFID reader system 100 according to this embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a production line to which the RFID reader system 100 is applied. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing another example of a production line to which RFID reader system 100 is applied. 2 and 3, wireless communication within the RFID reader system 100 and between the RFID reader system 100 and the host device 200 are indicated by double arrows. Note that the communication between the RFID reader system 100 and the host device 200 may be wired communication.

As shown in FIG. 2, the RFID reader system 100 includes an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag T that is attached to a pallet 50 on which each product 40 is placed and moves along a production line 60, and the production line 60 It includes an R/W (reader/writer) 1 having an antenna 2 and a controller 3 arranged along. Here, R/W1 is an example of the "communication control device" of the present invention.

According to this RFID reader system 100, each product can be appropriately managed by writing data to the RFID tag T and reading data from the RFID tag T by R/W1.

Such an RFID reader system 100 is required to be used in various environments, for example, it is also required to be used in a production line 60 equipped with a high-temperature drying oven as shown in FIG. In FIG. 3 R/W1 is shown communicating with the RFID tag T of the product 40 just flowing out of the drying oven H. FIG. In FIG. 3, the RFID tag T is moving through the production line 60 in a hot state.

Here, the non-volatile memory T10 of the RFID tag T has an upper limit on the number of times it can be rewritten by the manufacturer. The upper limit of the number of rewritable times determined by the manufacturer is a regulation for use at room temperature, such as 100,000 times at 25° C. for each block. However, there is a possibility that the actual upper limit of the rewritable number of times may be lower than the number of times indicated by the manufacturer due to the effect of temperature. Furthermore, there is no means for a user who wants to rewrite the nonvolatile memory T10 under high temperature conditions to estimate the limit (lifetime) of the number of rewrites of the nonvolatile memory T under high temperature conditions. Therefore, when the production line 60 is in operation, an error that the number of rewrites exceeds the upper limit may occur.

Therefore, the R/W 1 according to this embodiment performs wireless communication with the RFID tag T having the nonvolatile memory T10, and controls storage of data in the nonvolatile memory T10 as follows. That is, the memory area management unit 13 designates a part of the memory area T50 of the nonvolatile memory T10 as the rewriting area T60, and further designates the first designated area T11 and the second designated area T12 in the rewriting area T60. . Further, the data rewriting section 14 rewrites the first designated area T11 to store the data in the nonvolatile memory T10. Furthermore, when the data rewriting section 14 rewrites the first designated area T11 and stores the data in the nonvolatile memory T10, the dummy data rewriting section 15 rewrites the second designated area T12 with the dummy data a plurality of times. Then, the rewrite success/failure determination unit 16 determines whether or not the dummy data has been successfully rewritten, and if the rewrite of the dummy data has not succeeded, it is determined that the rewrite area T60 has reached the rewrite limit.

As a result, the number of times of rewriting in the second specified area T12 is always greater than that in the first specified area T11, and the number of times of rewriting in the second specified area T12 reaches the upper limit before the number of times of rewriting in the first specified area T11.

Also, by determining whether the dummy data has been rewritten successfully by the rewrite success/failure determination unit 16, it can be determined that the number of rewrites in the rewrite area T60 has reached the upper limit.

As a result, the R/W1 can determine that the rewrite area T60 has reached the rewrite limit before the number of rewrites in the first designated area T11 where data is rewritten reaches the upper limit and an error occurs. Therefore, some action can be taken to avoid the error before it occurs.

As a result, even if it is not possible to estimate the limit of the number of times of rewriting of the storage unit, such as when the tag is used under high temperature conditions, it is possible to prevent errors due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit in the nonvolatile memory T10 of the tag.

In other words, according to the R/W 1 according to the present embodiment, even if the temperature of the RFID tag T is high immediately after coming out of a high-temperature drying oven or the like, the upper limit of the number of times the RFID tag T can be rewritten is taken care of. wireless communication with the RFID tag T can be performed. Therefore, the product can be immediately sent to the next process without waiting for the temperature of the RFID tag T to drop, so it can be used in the production line 60 equipped with a high-temperature drying oven.

§2 Configuration example (RFID reader system)
As shown in FIG. 1, the RFID reader system 100 has an R/W 1 and a plurality of RFID tags T. As shown in FIG. The RFID reader system 100 is a system that reads data from the RFID tag T and writes data to the RFID tag T by performing wireless communication between the R/W 1 and the RFID tag T. FIG. The number of R/Ws 1 and RFID tags T included in the RFID reader system 100 is arbitrary.

(RFID tag)
The RFID tag T will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 to 6. FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of the RFID tag T of the RFID reader system 100. As shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 to 6, the RFID tag (tag) T includes an exterior T20, an antenna coil T21, a circuit board T22, an IC chip T24, and a resistor T23.

The exterior part T20 covers the antenna coil T21, the circuit board T22, the resistor T23, and the IC chip T24. The antenna coil T21 is provided on the circuit board T22 along the outer circumference of the circuit board T22, and transmits and receives radio waves to and from the R/W1. Resistor T23 adjusts the current generated by antenna coil T21. The IC chip T24 is provided on the circuit board T22 and has a nonvolatile memory T10.

The nonvolatile memory T10 stores various data used by the RFID tag T. Flash memory, EEPROM (registered trademark), FeRAM (ferroelectric memory), ReRAM (resistance change memory), MRAM (magnetic memory), etc., can be appropriately adopted as the nonvolatile memory T10, for example. The memory area of the nonvolatile memory T10 will be described later in detail.

(R/W)
R/W1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 and 7. FIG. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of the antenna 2 of the RFID reader system 100. As shown in FIG. The R/W1 performs wireless communication with an RFID tag T having a nonvolatile memory T10 to control storage of data in the nonvolatile memory T10. As shown in FIG. 1, R/W 1 has antenna 2 and controller 3 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the antenna 2 is installed, for example, at a position facing the RFID tags T, and performs wireless communication with a plurality of RFID tags T using RFID technology. The arrangement position of the antenna 2 is not limited to the above, and may be arranged so that the RFID tag T with which communication is desired is located within the communicable range of the antenna 2 .

The antenna 2 can perform multi-access to sequentially communicate with a plurality of RFID tags T existing simultaneously within a communicable range. Antenna 2 may comprise a transmitter and a receiver. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 7, the antenna 2 has, for example, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing, and is connected to the controller 3 via a communication line 2a.

(controller)
The controller 3 controls storage of data in the non-volatile memory T10 of the RFID tag T via the antenna 2. FIG. Specifically, for example, the controller 3 writes data to each RFID tag T or reads data from each RFID tag T via the antenna 2 . The controller 3 includes a storage unit 4, a communication unit 5, and a control unit 10, as shown in FIG.

The storage unit 4 is, for example, an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk drive or solid state drive. The storage unit 4 stores various programs executed by the control unit 10 and data used by the programs. The storage unit 4 also stores, for example, the UID (user identifier) of each RFID tag T, the update data included in the RW command with the estimation function, dummy data, and the like.

The communication unit 5 transmits and receives information to and from the R/W 1 host device 200 such as a server. Information may be transmitted and received between the antenna 2 and the control unit 10 via the communication unit 5, or the information may be transmitted and received directly between the antenna 2 and the control unit 10. Also, the role of the communication unit 5 may be played by the antenna 2 .

(control part)
The control unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and controls each component according to information processing. As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 10 includes a command acquisition unit 11, a UID determination unit 12, a memory area management unit 13, a data rewrite unit 14, a dummy data rewrite unit 15, a rewrite success/failure determination unit 16, A notification unit 17 is provided.

The command acquisition unit 11 receives a command from the host device 200 of R/W1 such as a server. The commands are, for example, a tag search command and an RW command with an estimation function. The tag search command is a signal for confirming whether or not the RFID tag T to which the user wishes to write is located within the communicable area of the antenna 2 . When the command acquisition unit 11 acquires the tag search command, it reads the UID (user identifier) of the RFID tag T positioned within the communicable area of the antenna 2 from the RFID tag T. FIG.

The RW command with estimation function is a signal that instructs the rewriting of data to the RFID tag T. The RW command with estimation function includes update data (data) to be written to the RFID tag T and information indicating the position to write the update data. Specifically, when the RW command with estimation function is acquired, the command acquisition unit 11 transmits a command acquisition signal indicating that the RW command with estimation function has been acquired to the data rewriting unit 14 .

The UID determination unit 12 refers to the storage unit 4 and determines whether the UID read from the RFID tag T by the command acquisition unit 11 is the desired RFID tag T. If the UID read from the RFID tag T by the command acquisition unit 11 is the desired RFID tag T, the UID determination unit 12 outputs the search result indicating that the RFID tag T is located within the communicable area of the antenna 2 to the host device. 200. If the UID read from the RFID tag T by the command acquisition unit 11 is not the desired RFID tag T, the UID determination unit 12 transmits an error result to the host device 200 .

The memory area management unit 13 designates a part of the memory area T50, which is the data storable area of the nonvolatile memory T10, as the rewrite area T60, and further designates a first designated area T11 and a second designated area within the rewrite area T60. and T12. The rewrite area T60 is an area that can be set in any range in the memory area T50. The first specified area T11 is an area in which update data is written. The second designated area T12 is an area in which dummy data, which will be described later, is written. Writing of update data is prohibited in the second designated region T12.

A specific explanation will be given using FIG. FIG. 8 is a memory map illustrating an example of the write area T60 of the RFID tag T. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the memory area management unit 13 designates, for example, block B123 and block B124 in memory area T50 as rewrite area T60. Further, the memory area management unit 13 designates the block B124 in the rewriting area T60 as the second designated area T12, and designates the block B123, which is the area other than the second designated area T12 in the rewriting area T60, as the first designated area T11. do. That is, the second designated area T12 is an arbitrary block in the rewrite area T60, and the first designated area T11 is a block other than the arbitrary block in the rewrite area T60.

For ease of explanation, one block is specified for the first specified region T11 and the second specified region T12, but this is not the only option. The first designated area T11 and the second designated area T12 may be composed of a plurality of blocks. The number of blocks in the rewriting area T60 is equal to the sum of the number of blocks in the first specified area T11 and the number of blocks in the second specified area T12.

Also, the first specified region T11 and the second specified region T12 do not have to be adjacent to each other. For example, when the block B2 and the block B123 are the rewrite area T60, the block B2 may be designated as the first designated area T11 and the block B123 may be designated as the second designated area T12.

The memory area management unit 13 designates the rewriting area T60, the first designated area T11, and the second designated area T12 in advance, and before the RW command with the estimation function is transmitted from the higher-level device 200, the upper-level device 200, the first designated area T11 is transmitted. The timing at which the memory area management unit 13 transmits the first designated area T11 to the higher-level device 200 may be the timing at which the UID determination unit 12 transmits the result of the tag search command to the higher-level device 200, for example. The RW command with estimation function by the host device 200 is generated by determining the position to write the update data in the first designated area T11 transmitted from the memory area management unit 13 .

Further, when the rewrite success/failure determination unit 16, which will be described later, determines that the rewrite area T60 has reached the rewrite limit, the memory area management unit 13 changes the rewrite area T60 in the memory area T50.

A specific explanation will be given using FIG. When the rewrite success/failure determination unit 16 determines that the rewrite area T60 has reached the rewrite limit, the memory area management unit 13 operates as follows. The memory area management unit 13, for example, changes the rewriting area T60 from the blocks B123 and B124 to the blocks B1 and B2. Further, the memory area management unit 13 designates the block B2 in the rewrite area T60 as the second designated area T12, and designates the block B1, which is the area other than the second designated area T12 in the rewrite area T60, as the first designated area T11. to be specified.

In this manner, the memory area management unit 13 divides the memory area T50 into a predetermined number and sets the rewrite area T60, thereby dividing the rewrite area T60 into the rewrite area T60 including the second designated area T12 that has reached the rewrite limit. A new rewrite area T60 can be set in the area.

As a result, even if the second specified area T12 in the rewrite area T60 reaches the rewrite limit, a new rewrite area T60 can be automatically set in a different area within the memory area T50. The same nonvolatile memory T10 can be used repeatedly.

The data rewriting unit 14 rewrites the first designated area T11 and stores the updated data in the nonvolatile memory T10. Specifically, upon receiving the command acquisition signal from the command acquisition unit 11, the data rewriting unit 14 rewrites the data at the position indicated by the RW command with estimation function in the first specified region T11 to the update data, and stores the data in the nonvolatile memory. The rewritten update data is stored in T10.

After the rewriting, the data rewriting unit 14 reads the data at the rewritten position, compares it with the update data included in the RW command with estimation function stored in the storage unit 4, is successfully rewritten. When the data rewriting unit 14 determines that the update data has been successfully rewritten, the data rewriting unit 14 transmits a signal indicating that the update data has been successfully rewritten to the dummy data rewriting unit 15 . When the data rewriting unit 14 determines that the update data has not been successfully rewritten, the data rewriting unit 14 transmits an error to the host device 200 .

When the data rewriting unit 14 rewrites the data at the position in the first specified region T11 and stores the updated data in the nonvolatile memory T10, the dummy data rewriting unit 15 rewrites the second specified region T12 a plurality of times with the dummy data. rewrite. Specifically, when the dummy data rewriting section 15 receives a signal from the data rewriting section 14 indicating that the update data has been successfully rewritten, the dummy data rewriting section 15 rewrites the second designated region T12 with dummy data a plurality of times. The plurality of times may be, for example, three times.

As a result, the number of rewrites in the second specified area T12 is always greater than the number of rewrites in the first specified area T11, and the second specified area T12 reaches the rewrite limit earlier than the first specified area T11. In other words, the number of times of rewriting of the first specified area T11 is always smaller than the number of times of rewriting of the second specified area T12, so the first specified area T11 is always rewritten until the second specified area T12 reaches the upper limit of the number of times of rewriting. .

The dummy data for rewriting the second specified area T12 is different for each of the multiple times. Specifically, different data such as all 0 data (000...), 01 data (010101...), 10 data (101010...) and all 1 data (111...) are used as dummy data. is used to rewrite multiple times. By using such data with different simple patterns as dummy data, it becomes easier to detect errors.

The rewrite success/failure determination unit 16 determines whether the dummy data has been rewritten successfully. Specifically, when the dummy data rewriting section 15 finishes rewriting the dummy data, the data in the predetermined position of the second designated area T12 is read, compared with the dummy data stored in the storage section 4, and the dummy data determines whether the rewriting of is successful or not.

The notification unit 17 notifies the user when the rewrite success/failure determination unit 16 determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten. This can prompt the user to take action. The notification may include a message recommending replacement of the RFID tag T, or a message recommending a change of the writing position of the update data.

Further, when the rewrite success/failure determination unit 16 determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten, the notification unit 17 transmits a signal to that effect to the host device 200 . In other words, in the above case, the notification unit 17 notifies the host device 200 via the communication unit 5 . Thereby, the host device 200 can know that the nonvolatile memory T10 of the RFID tag T has reached the rewrite limit. Therefore, the host device 200 can replace the nonvolatile memory T10 of the RFID tag T, change the writing position of the update data, etc. before an error occurs due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit in the nonvolatile memory T10 of the RFID tag T. can.

On the other hand, when the notification unit 17 determines that the rewriting of the dummy data has succeeded, it transmits a signal to that effect to the host device 200 .

§3 Operation example (flow of data storage processing)
FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing flow of the RFID reader system 100. As shown in FIG. Based on FIG. 9, the flow of data storage processing according to this embodiment will be described.

At time s1, R/W1 acquires a tag search command from host device 200. At time s2, R/W1 executes a UID read operation to retrieve the UID (user identifier) is read from the RFID tag T.

Then, the R/W 1 determines whether the UID read from the RFID tag T is the desired RFID tag T at time s3.

If the read UID contains the desired RFID tag T, the R/W1 designates the rewriting area T60, the first designated area T11, and the second designated area T12 at time s4 ( memory area management step). At time s5, the R/W 1 transmits to the host device 200 the detection search result indicating that the RFID tag T is located within the communicable area of the antenna 2 and the first specified area T11.

When the desired RFID tag T is not included in the read UID, the R/W 1 transmits an error search result to the host device 200.

Upon receiving the detection search result from R/W1, host device 200 transmits an RW command with an estimation function to R/W1 at time s6. When the R/W 1 acquires the RW command with estimation function from the host device 200, at time s7, it executes the update data write operation and performs the following operations. That is, the R/W 1 rewrites the data at the position of the first designated region T11 designated by the RW command with estimation function to update data and stores the update data in the nonvolatile memory T10 (data rewrite step).

After that, the R/W 1 executes an update data rewrite result read operation at time s8, reads the data in the rewritten position at time s7, and determines whether or not the update data has been successfully rewritten at time s9. do.

When the R/W 1 determines at time s9 that the rewriting was successful, at time s10, it executes a dummy data write operation to rewrite the second designated region T12 with dummy data multiple times (dummy data rewriting step).

Thereafter, at time s11, the R/W1 executes a dummy data rewrite result read operation, reads the data at the position where the dummy data was written, and determines whether the dummy data has been rewritten successfully (rewrite success/failure determination) at time s12. step).

When it is determined at time s12 that the dummy data has been successfully rewritten, the R/W 1 transmits to the host device 200 at time s13 a result indicating that the dummy data has been successfully rewritten. Further, when it is determined at time s12 that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten, the R/W 1 determines at time s13 that the rewrite area T60 has reached the rewrite limit (rewrite success/failure determination step). is sent to the host device 200 to notify the user.

Note that if the determination at time s12 is that the dummy data has been successfully rewritten, the operation from time s7 to time s12 may be repeated multiple times. The number of repetitions is set by the RW command with estimation function, for example.

By performing the above-described processing, the number of times of rewriting of the second designated area T12 is always greater than that of the first designated area T11, and the number of times of rewriting of the second designated area T12 reaches the upper limit before the first designated area T11. .

As a result, even when the limit of the number of times the storage unit can be rewritten cannot be estimated in advance, such as when the tag is used under high temperature conditions, errors due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit in the non-volatile memory T10 of the tag can be prevented.

[Example of realization by software]
The function of a communication control device (hereinafter referred to as "device") is a program that causes a computer to function as the device, and causes the computer to function as each control block (especially each part included in the control unit) of the device. It can be realized by a program for

In this case, the device comprises a computer having at least one control device (eg processor) and at least one storage device (eg memory) as hardware for executing the program. Each function described in each of the above embodiments is realized by executing the program using the control device and the storage device.

The program may be recorded on one or more non-temporary, computer-readable recording media. The recording medium may or may not be included in the device. In the latter case, the program may be supplied to the device via any transmission medium, wired or wireless.

Also, part or all of the functions of each control block can be realized by a logic circuit. For example, an integrated circuit in which logic circuits functioning as the respective control blocks are formed is also included in the scope of the present invention. In addition, it is also possible to implement the functions of the respective control blocks by, for example, a quantum computer.

(summary)
That is, a communication control device according to one aspect of the present invention is a communication control device that performs wireless communication with a tag having a nonvolatile memory and controls storage of data in the nonvolatile memory, a memory area management unit for specifying a part of the memory area of the rewriting area as a rewriting area, and further specifying a first specified area and a second specified area in the rewriting area; a data rewriting unit for storing the data in a memory, and when the data rewriting unit rewrites the first specified area and stores the data in the nonvolatile memory, the second specified area is rewritten a plurality of times by dummy data. A dummy data rewriting unit for rewriting, and a rewriting success/failure determination unit for determining success or failure of rewriting of the dummy data are provided.

According to the above configuration, each time data is rewritten and stored once in the first designated area of the non-volatile memory of the tag, the dummy data rewriting section rewrites the dummy data multiple times in the second designated area. Therefore, the number of times of rewriting is always greater in the second specified area than in the first specified area, and the number of times of rewriting reaches the upper limit before the first specified area.

In addition, if the number of rewrites in the second designated area reaches the upper limit, the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the rewrite area has reached the rewrite limit based on whether the rewrite of the dummy data succeeds or fails because the rewrite of the dummy data does not succeed. can.

As a result, it is possible to determine that the rewrite area has reached the rewrite limit before the number of rewrites in the first designated area in which data is rewritten reaches the upper limit and an error occurs, so that the error is avoided before the error occurs. can take some action to

As a result, even if it is not possible to estimate in advance the limit of the number of times the storage unit can be rewritten, such as when used under high temperature conditions, it is possible to prevent errors due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit in the non-volatile memory of the tag.

In the communication control device according to the one aspect, when the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten, the memory area management unit changes the rewrite area in the memory area. good.

According to the above configuration, when the rewrite area reaches the rewrite limit, the memory area management unit can automatically change the rewrite area. As a result, even if the rewrite area reaches the rewrite limit, the same nonvolatile memory can be used repeatedly. In addition, since the change of the rewrite area set in advance by the user is automatically processed in the system, the burden on the user can be eliminated.

In the communication control device according to the one aspect, the dummy data for rewriting the second designated area may be different for each of the plurality of times.

According to the above configuration, different dummy data can be rewritten a plurality of times, so it becomes easy for the rewrite success/failure determination section to determine whether the dummy data has been successfully rewritten.

In the communication control device according to the aspect, the second designated area may be an arbitrary block in the rewriting area, and the first designated area may be a block other than the arbitrary block in the rewriting area. .

According to the above configuration, it is possible to designate a block of the rewrite area as the writing position of the data and dummy data.

In the communication control device according to the one aspect, the rewrite success/failure determination unit may determine that the rewrite area has reached a rewrite limit when the rewrite of the dummy data is not successful.

According to the above configuration, it can be determined that the rewrite area has reached the rewrite limit depending on whether the rewrite of the dummy data is successful or not.

The communication control device according to the one aspect may include a notification unit that notifies a user when the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten.

According to the above configuration, the notification unit notifies the user that the rewrite area has reached the rewrite limit. This allows the user to know that the rewrite area has reached the rewrite limit.

The communication control device according to the above aspect further includes a notification unit that notifies a higher-level device via the communication control device when the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten. may

According to the above configuration, the host device can receive that the rewrite area has reached the rewrite limit. As a result, the host device can know that the tag memory has reached the rewrite limit, and can change the writing position of the update data of the tag before an error occurs due to rewriting exceeding the upper limit in the non-volatile memory of the tag. It can be carried out.

Further, an RFID reader system according to one aspect of the present invention includes the communication control device and the tag.

A communication control program according to one aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as the above-described communication control device, and includes the memory area management unit, the data rewriting unit, the dummy data rewriting unit, and the The computer functions as a rewriting success/failure determination unit.

The communication control device according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the communication control device is implemented by the computer by operating the computer as each part (software element) included in the communication control device. A control program for a communication control device realized by a computer and a computer-readable recording medium recording it are also included in the scope of the present invention.

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

1 R/W (communication control unit)
13 memory area management unit 14 data rewrite unit 15 dummy data rewrite unit 16 rewrite success/failure determination unit 17 notification unit 100 RFID reader system 200 host device T RFID tag (tag)
T10 non-volatile memory T11 first designated area T12 second designated area T50 memory area T60 rewrite area

Claims

A communication control device that performs wireless communication with a tag having a nonvolatile memory and controls storage of data in the nonvolatile memory,
a memory area management unit that designates a part of the memory area of the nonvolatile memory as a rewritable area, and further designates a first designated area and a second designated area within the rewritable area;
a data rewriting unit that rewrites the first specified area and stores the data in the nonvolatile memory;
a dummy data rewriting section that rewrites the second designated area multiple times with dummy data when the data rewriting section rewrites the first designated area and stores the data in the nonvolatile memory;
and a rewrite success/failure determination unit that determines success or failure of rewriting of the dummy data.
The communication control device according to claim 1, wherein the memory area management unit changes the rewrite area in the memory area when the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten.
3. The communication control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the dummy data for rewriting the second specified area is different for each of the plurality of times.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said second designated area is an arbitrary block in said rewriting area, and said first designated area is a block other than said arbitrary block in said rewriting area. communication controller.
The communication control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the rewrite area has reached a rewrite limit when the rewrite of the dummy data is unsuccessful.
6. The communication control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a notification unit that notifies a user when the rewrite success/failure determination unit determines that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten. .
7. The rewriting success/failure determination unit according to claim 1, further comprising a notification unit that notifies a higher-level device via the communication control device when it is determined that the dummy data has not been successfully rewritten. The communication control device according to item 1.
A communication control device according to claim 1;
an RFID reader system comprising: the tag;
2. A program for causing a computer to function as the communication control device according to claim 1, for causing the computer to function as the memory area management section, the data rewriting section, the dummy data rewriting section, and the rewriting success/failure determination section. communication control program.
A data storage method for controlling storage of data in the nonvolatile memory by performing wireless communication with a tag having a nonvolatile memory,
a memory area management step of designating a part of the memory area of the nonvolatile memory as a rewriting area, and further designating a first designated area and a second designated area within the rewriting area;
a data rewriting step of rewriting the first specified area and storing the data in the nonvolatile memory;
a dummy data rewriting step of rewriting the second designated area with dummy data a plurality of times when the data is stored in the nonvolatile memory by rewriting the first designated area in the data rewriting step;
and a rewrite success/failure determination step of determining success or failure of rewriting of the dummy data.