JP4954645B2 - Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method - Google Patents

Description

  In the present invention, data stored in a storage unit of a data carrier called RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is read and written to the storage unit by wireless communication using radio waves such as UHF band. The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus performed in

  In recent years, attention has been focused on a small data carrier capable of reading and writing data by transmitting and receiving data in a memory without contact with a wireless communication device using a medium such as radio waves. Each such data carrier stores a unique ID in a memory and is used by being attached to various articles one by one. By doing so, the individual identification of the article can be performed in a non-contact manner by recognizing the ID of the data carrier attached to each article via the wireless communication device. This small data carrier is generally called an RFID, an RF tag, a wireless tag or the like. The wireless communication device is called a reader / writer, an interrogator, or the like.

Conventionally, an antenna and a carrier supply means for sequentially supplying the data carrier in a radio wave arrival area radiated from the antenna are provided, and the data carrier supplied in the radio wave arrival area of the antenna and the antenna Wireless communication apparatuses that transmit and receive radio waves and write data to the IC chip memory of the data carrier and read data stored in the IC chip memory are already known. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-150914 A

  By the way, the time required for the wireless communication device to write data to the memory of the data carrier in a contactless manner is longer than the time required to read the data from the memory in a contactless manner. For example, in the case of a data carrier having a specification in which 2 bytes are defined as 1 word and a data block is read / written in units of words, reading takes only about 1 ms, whereas writing takes about 20 ms. In addition, if the wireless communication apparatus transmits a 1-word data write command to the data carrier, it waits for a reply (reply) from the data carrier, and after receiving a reply for completion of normal writing, writes the next 1-word data. A command was created and sent to the data carrier.

  For this reason, for example, when writing 14 bytes (7 words) of data, the write operation time for 7 times and the reply waiting time are alternately generated for one data carrier, and the wireless communication device The radio wave was interrupted with the data carrier, resulting in a write error.

  In particular, in a wireless communication device that writes data by accessing a moving data carrier, since the distance between the antenna of the wireless communication device and the data carrier changes every moment, a write error is likely to occur, resulting in an error. In some cases, the write processing had to be performed again from the beginning each time, so the processing efficiency was poor.

  The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to reduce the time required for the write process by creating the next write command while waiting for a reply from the data carrier. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless communication apparatus that can increase the operation speed.

The wireless communication device of the present invention performs reading of data stored in a data carrier called RFID, RF tag, wireless tag, etc. and writing of data to the data carrier in a contactless manner by wireless communication, so-called reader- In the writer, a write command creation means for creating a write command to the data carrier, a command storage section for storing the write command, a command transfer means for transferring the write command created by the write command creation means to the command storage section, Transmission execution means for executing wireless transmission of the write command stored in the command storage unit, and the write command creation means divides the write data into units that can be written to the data carrier in response to a data write request to the data carrier. , For each divided unit write data Create a write command to A, the command transfer means transfers, after wireless transmission execution by transmission execution unit, the next write command created by a write command preparation unit without waiting for a response from the data carrier in the command storage unit It is what you do.

Further, the wireless communication method of the present invention is a wireless communication in which data stored in a data carrier called RFID, RF tag, wireless tag, etc. is read and written to the data carrier in a contactless manner by wireless communication. A wireless communication method for a device, so-called reader / writer, which divides write data into units that can be written to the data carrier in response to a data write request to the data carrier, and writes the divided unit write data to the data carrier. Write command creation step for creating a command, command transfer step for transferring the write command created by the write command creation step to the command storage unit, and transmission execution for executing wireless transmission of the write command stored in the command storage unit After the process and wireless transmission execution by this transmission execution process, It is obtained by a next command transfer step of transferring the next write command without waiting for a response from the rear to the command storage section.

  According to the present invention in which such measures are taken, it is possible to reduce the time required for the write process by creating the next write command while waiting for a reply from the data carrier, and to achieve a high-speed write operation. An apparatus and a wireless communication method thereof can be provided.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a wireless communication apparatus that accesses a moving data carrier and writes data in a contactless manner. In this embodiment, the data carrier is referred to as RFID, and the wireless communication device is referred to as a reader / writer.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a reader / writer according to the present embodiment. The reader / writer includes an antenna 1, a motor 4 that is a drive source of an RFID supply unit 3 that sequentially supplies RFID 2 within the reach of radio waves radiated from the antenna 1, and a reader / writer main body 5. Yes.

  The reader / writer body 5 includes a communication interface 51 for transmitting / receiving data to / from a host device such as a personal computer, a read only memory (ROM) 52, and a random access memory (RAM). 53, a display unit 54 for displaying an error, a motor driver 55 for controlling the driving of the motor 4, a digital modulation / demodulation circuit 56 connected to the antenna 1, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 57 for controlling them. ing.

  The digital modulation / demodulation circuit 56 includes an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) 60, a modulation unit 61, a transmission amplifier 62, a reception amplifier 63, a demodulation unit 64, and the like.

  The FPGA 60 is an LSI (Large Scale Integration) that can be programmed, and a transmission buffer 601 and a reception buffer 602 are formed therein.

  The CPU 57 has a function of encoding transmission data for the RFID 2 and transferring it to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60. The modulation unit 61 modulates a carrier wave by performing predetermined modulation processing using digital data stored in the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60, and provides a signal of the modulated wave to the transmission amplifier 62. The transmission amplifier 62 amplifies the modulated wave signal output from the modulation unit 61 and supplies the amplified signal to the antenna 1. Thereby, a radio wave corresponding to transmission data is radiated from the antenna 1.

  On the other hand, the reception amplifier 63 amplifies a signal corresponding to the radio wave received by the antenna 1 and then gives the signal to the demodulation unit 64. The demodulator 64 demodulates the digital data from the signal amplified by the reception amplifier 63 and writes it into the reception buffer 602 of the FPGA 60. The CPU 57 decodes the digital data stored in the reception buffer 602 and acquires it as data read from the RFID 2.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the RFID 2. The RFID 2 includes an antenna 21 and an IC chip 22. The IC chip 22 is provided with a power generation unit 23, a demodulation unit 24, a modulation unit 25, a memory unit 27, a control unit 26 that controls these, and the like. The power generation unit 23 supplies power to each part of the IC chip 22 by rectifying and stabilizing the modulated wave received by the antenna 21. The demodulator 24 demodulates the modulated wave received by the antenna 21 and sends it to the controller 26. The modulation unit 25 performs a predetermined modulation process on the data transmitted from the control unit 26 and supplies the modulated wave to the antenna 21. The control unit 26 performs a process of writing the data demodulated by the demodulating unit 24 into the memory unit 27, a process of reading the data from the memory unit 27 and sending the data to the modulating unit 25.

  The memory unit 27 includes an ID area 271 in which an ID for individually identifying each RFID 2 is stored, and a user area 272 in which arbitrary data can be written. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the ID of each RFID 2 is composed of 14 bytes. The RFID 2 is assumed to have 2 bytes as one word, and perform a data block read / write operation on the memory unit 27 in units of the word. Therefore, since the ID is 7 words, reading and writing of the ID usually requires 7 processes.

  Also, the first word of the ID indicates the number of remaining words, and the code unique to each RFID is indicated by data corresponding to the remaining number of words. That is, in this embodiment, since the ID is 7 words, the first word of the ID is fixed to 2-byte data “0006” indicating the number of words “6”. A common ID “0006000000000000000000000000” is recorded in advance in each RFID 2 before being supplied to the radio wave arrival area of the antenna 1 by the RFID supply unit 3. Each ID is rewritten to a unique ID “0006xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx” (where x is an arbitrary value from 0 to 9). The ID data writing process will be described in detail below.

  In the RAM 53 of the reader / writer main unit 5, as shown in FIG. 3, a write data memory 71, a size data memory 72, a word number counter memory 73, and a read ID memory are provided as memory areas for realizing ID data write processing. 74 is formed.

  When the CPU 57 of the reader / writer main unit 5 receives the data write request command together with the ID data for writing to the RFID 2 from the host device such as a personal computer connected via the communication interface 51, the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. The program is configured to execute the writing process.

  First, the CPU 57 stores the ID data received from the host machine as ST (step) 1 in the write data memory 71. Next, the CPU 57 acquires the number A of words corresponding to the size of the ID data as ST2. In the present embodiment, since the ID data is composed of 7 words, the number of words A = 7 is acquired. Then, the number of words A (= 7) is stored as the value S of the size data memory 72 as ST3. Further, the count value n of the word number counter memory 73 is reset to “0”.

  Next, the CPU 57 detects the RFID 2 to be written as ST4. That is, the CPU 57 creates an ID inquiry command, encodes it, and transfers it to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60 in the digital modulation / demodulation circuit 56. As a result, the carrier wave is modulated and amplified according to the ID inquiry command, and a radio wave corresponding to the ID inquiry command is transmitted from the antenna 1. At this time, the RFID 2 exists in the radio wave arrival area of the antenna 1. When this RFID 2 responds to the radio wave from the antenna 1, the radio wave corresponding to the ID stored in the ID area 271 of the memory unit 27 is transmitted to the RFID 2. Is transmitted from the antenna 21. When a radio wave corresponding to this ID is received by the antenna 1, the received signal is amplified and demodulated, and the demodulated digital data is stored in the reception buffer 602 of the FPGA 60. Thus, this digital data is decrypted by the CPU 57 and read as the ID of RFID2.

  Therefore, the CPU 57 determines whether or not the ID of the RFID 2 is detected as ST5. Here, for example, if the RFID 2 does not exist in the radio wave arrival area of the antenna 1 or is broken even if it exists, and the ID cannot be read from the RFID 2, an RFID detection error is generated and an error notification is sent to the host device. To end the current process.

  On the other hand, when the ID of the RFID 2 is normally read, since the RFID 2 having this ID is detected as the RFID to be written, the CPU 57 stores the ID of the RFID 2 in the read ID memory 74, and then performs ST6 to ST8. A write command creation process and a transfer process are executed.

  That is, the CPU 57 counts up the word number counter memory 73 by “1” as ST6. If the data block of the nth word (n is the count value of the word number counter memory 73) from the top of the ID data stored in the write data memory 71 is acquired, the CPU 57 reads the read ID memory as ST7. The ID of the RFID 2 stored in 74 is designated as the transmission destination ID, and a write command is created using the acquired data block of the nth word as write data (write command creation means). After encoding the created write command, the CPU 57 transfers the encoded write command to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60 (command transfer means) as ST8.

  Thereafter, the CPU 57 executes the transmission execution process of ST9. That is, it instructs the digital modulation / demodulation circuit 56 to start transmitting a write command. Thereby, in the digital modulation / demodulation circuit 56, the carrier wave is modulated by the write command stored in the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60, further amplified, and then the radio wave corresponding to the write command is transmitted from the antenna 1 (transmission execution means). .

  At this time, the RFID 2 having the transmission destination ID in the write command exists in the radio wave arrival area of the antenna 1. When the RFID 2 receives the radio wave from the antenna 1, the RFID 2 is stored in the ID area 271 of the memory unit 27. The nth word of ID is rewritten to the write data in the write command. Then, a radio wave indicating a response command to end normal writing is transmitted from the antenna 21 of the RFID 2.

  On the other hand, the CPU 57 of the reader / writer main unit 5 executes the next command transfer process of ST10 to ST13 without waiting for a response from the RFID 2 after the transmission start command.

  That is, the CPU 57 further counts up the word number counter memory 73 by “1” as ST10. Then, it is determined whether or not the count value n of the word number counter memory 73 counted up as ST11 exceeds the size data S stored in the size data memory 72.

  If the count value n does not exceed the size data S, the CPU 57 determines the nth word from the beginning of the ID data stored in the write data memory 71 as ST12 (n is the number in the word counter memory 73). (Count value) data block is acquired. Then, the ID of the RFID 2 stored in the read ID memory 74 is designated as a transmission destination ID, and a write command using the acquired data block as write data is created (write command creation means). After encoding the created write command, the CPU 57 transfers the encoded write command to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60 (command transfer means) as ST13.

  On the other hand, when the count value n exceeds the size data S, the data block of the nth word does not exist in the ID data stored in the write data memory 71, and therefore the CPU 57 performs the processes of ST12 to ST13. To skip.

  Thereafter, the CPU 57 waits for a response from the RFID 2 to be written as ST14. Here, when the antenna 1 receives a radio wave corresponding to a normal write end response command transmitted from the RFID 2 to be written, the received signal is amplified and demodulated, and the demodulated digital data is received by the reception buffer of the FPGA 60. 602 is stored. Thus, the digital data is decoded by the CPU 57, and a response indicating completion of normal writing is detected.

  Therefore, when the CPU 57 detects that a normal write end response has been received from the RFID 2 to be written (YES in ST14), the count value n of the word number counter memory 73 and the size data S of the size data memory 72 are obtained as ST15. Check again. As a result, if the count value n is equal to or smaller than the size data S, the process returns to ST9. That is, it instructs the digital modulation / demodulation circuit 56 to start transmission of a write command (transmission execution means).

  On the other hand, when the count value n is larger than the size data S, the CPU 57 waits for a response from the RFID 2 to the final write command in ST16. If it is detected that there has been a normal write end response (YES in ST16), the current write process is terminated.

  If there is no response of normal writing end from the RFID 2 to be written (NO in ST16 and ST18), a writing error is determined at that time, an error notification is sent to the host machine, and the current process is terminated. .

  Now, as shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the write data to the RFID commanded from the host device is ID data consisting of 7 words “0006000100020003000400050006”. In this case, the reader / writer 1 divides the write data into units that can be written to the RFID 2, that is, in this embodiment, is divided into 2-byte words, and creates a write command to the RFID 2 for each divided unit write data. To do.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, when the count value n of the word number counter memory 73 is “1”, the unit write data of the write command (1) is “0006” of the first word from the head, and the count value n is The unit write data of the write command (2) when “2” is “0001” in the second word from the top, and the unit write data of the write command (3) when the count value n is “3” is 3 from the top. When the word is “0002”, the unit write data of the write command (4) when the count value n is “4” is set to “0003” of the fourth word from the top, and the write when the count value n is “5” The unit write data of command (5) is set to “0004” in the fifth word from the top, and the unit write data of write command (6) when the count value n is “6” is 6 words from the top. And "0005" of de eyes, the count value n is set to "0006" write command of the seventh word from the head of the unit writing data (7) at the time of the "7".

  Then, in the reader / writer main body 5, when the data writing to the RFID is instructed from the host device, the above-described writing process is executed. That is, the size data S = 7 is stored in the size data memory 72. In addition, the RFID 2 to be written is detected. If the RFID 2 to be written is detected, the first write command (1) is created for the RFID 2, encoded, and then transferred to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60. Then, the start of transmission of the write command (1) is instructed in the process of ST9. As a result, the write command (1) is wirelessly transmitted to the RFID2.

  Next, in the reader / writer body 5, the next write command (2) is created and encoded without waiting for a response from the RFID 2, and then transferred to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60.

  Here, when a response command for normal write end is transmitted from the RFID 2 in response to the write command (1), the reader / writer main body 5 is instructed to start transmission of the write command (2). As a result, the write command (2) is wirelessly transmitted to the RFID2. The next write command (3) is generated and encoded, and then transferred to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60. When a response command for normal write end is transmitted from the RFID 2 in response to the write command (2), the reader / writer main body 5 is instructed to start transmission of the write command (3). The next write command (4) is created and encoded, and then transferred to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60. Thereafter, the writing commands (5), (6), (7) are created, encoded, transferred to the FPGA 60, and wirelessly transmitted from the antenna 1 in the same procedure.

  Then, when a response command indicating completion of normal writing is transmitted from the RFID 2 in response to the write command (2), the current write processing is completed. Thus, the ID data “0006000100020003000400050006” is written in a non-contact manner in the ID area 271 in the memory unit 27 of the RFID 2.

  As described above, in the reader / writer of the present embodiment, after transmitting a write command to the RFID 2 to be written, without waiting for a response from the RFID 2, the next write command is created and encoded, The data is transferred to the transmission buffer 601 of the FPGA 60. Then, when a response command for normal write end is received from the RFID 2 to be written, the next write command is instructed to be transmitted. In this case, since the next write command is stored in the transmission buffer 601 in an encoded state, modulation is immediately performed according to this write command, and a radio wave corresponding to the write command is transmitted from the antenna 1. The

  Therefore, the time required for command creation and encoding can be shortened compared to the prior art in which the next write command is created after waiting for a response from the RFID 2 to be written, so that the write operation can be speeded up. Can do.

  Incidentally, in the present embodiment, the RFID 2 to be written is sequentially transferred from the upstream side to the downstream side of the antenna 1 by the RFID supply unit 3 while the writing process to the RFID 2 is being executed. For this reason, if the time required for the writing process becomes long, the RFID 2 moves out of the radio wave arrival area of the antenna 1 during the writing process, resulting in a writing error. If a write error occurs, the write process must be repeated from the first process for detecting RFID2.

  In this embodiment, as described above, the speed of the write operation can be increased, so that the frequency of write errors can be reduced. As a result, the number of times of rewriting the writing process is reduced, so that the processing efficiency can be improved.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the write data for the RFID 2 is ID data. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the write processing of arbitrary write data for the user area 272.

  In the above embodiment, the transmission buffer 601 formed in the FPGA 60 is applied as a command storage unit for storing an encoded write command. However, the command storage unit is not limited to this, and a dedicated storage unit is used. An LSI may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the RFID 2 to be written is sequentially transferred from the upstream side to the downstream side of the antenna 1 by the RFID supply unit 3 while the data writing process is being executed. The present invention can also be applied to a type of reader / writer. The present invention can also be applied to a reader / writer of the type that prints on the surface of the RFID 2 on the upstream side or downstream side of the antenna 1.

  In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, the constituent elements over different embodiments may be combined.

1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a reader / writer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the principal part structure of RFID used by the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing main memory areas formed in a reader / writer RAM according to the embodiment; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a correspondence relationship between a count value of a word number counter memory and unit write data corresponding to the count value in the embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing a main part processing procedure of a writing process executed by the CPU of the reader / writer in the embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Antenna, 2 ... RFID, 3 ... RFID supply part, 4 ... Motor, 5 ... Reader / writer main body, 56 ... Digital modulation / demodulation circuit, 57 ... CPU, 60 ... FPGA, 71 ... Write data memory, 72 ... Size data memory 73 ... Word number counter memory, 74 ... Read ID memory.

Claims (3)

In a wireless communication device for reading data stored in a data carrier and writing data to the data carrier in a contactless manner by wireless communication,
Write command creating means for creating a write command to the data carrier;
A command storage unit for storing the write command;
Command transfer means for transferring the write command created by the write command creation means to the command storage unit;
Transmission execution means for performing wireless transmission of the write command stored in the command storage unit,
The write command creation means divides write data into units that can be written to the data carrier in response to a data write request for a data carrier, creates a write command to the data carrier for each divided unit write data,
The command transfer means transfers the next write command created by the write command creation means to the command storage unit without waiting for a response from the data carrier after wireless transmission is executed by the transmission execution means. A wireless communication device.   The wireless communication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the command storage unit uses an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). A wireless communication method of a wireless communication device for reading data stored in a data carrier and writing data to the data carrier in a contactless manner by wireless communication,
The wireless communication device
A write command creation step of dividing write data into units that can be written to the data carrier according to a data write request for the data carrier, and creating a write command to the data carrier for each divided unit write data ;
A command transfer step of transferring the write command created by the write command creation step to the command storage unit;
A transmission execution step of performing wireless transmission of the write command stored in the command storage unit;
After wireless transmission execution by this transmission execution step, a next command transfer step of transferring a next write command to the command storage unit without waiting for a response from the data carrier;
A wireless communication method comprising:

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