The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with references to the accompanying drawings.
The contactless data communication system to which the embodiments of the invention are applied is a radio frequency identification (RFID) system that uses radio-electromagnetic waves as a communication media. This system includes three characteristics: (1) the contactless IC tags are easy to carry; (2) the contactless IC tags store information in electric circuits; (3) the contactless IC tags intercommunicate in a contactless communication.
This means that the contactless data communication system is used in order for things such as a person, an object, or a car that are equipped with contactless IC tags to be unified with the information thereof. That is to say, a person, an object, or a car retrieves, as needed, necessary information from a contactless IC tag in a given place. At the same time, new information is written into a contactless IC tag if required.
Four typical methods used for contactless data communication systems include an electromagnetic coupling, an electromagnetic induction, a microwave method and an optical method.
The electromagnetic coupling method mainly utilizes a mutual induction of coils caused by the alternate current magnetic field for the communication of the contactless IC tags.
The electromagnetic induction method utilizes mainly long/middle range microwaves of 250 kHz or less, or of a 13.56 MHz band for the communication of the contactless IC tags.
The microwave method carries out the communication between an antenna 2h of the reader-writer 2 and the contactless IC tag 7, utilizing a microwave of a 2.4 GHz band.
In the optical method, an LED and a device such as a phototransistor are arranged as a light source and a receiver, and an optical space transmission is used for conducting the communication with the contactless IC tag.
The access method mainly includes four modes; a single access mode, a first-in first-out (FIFO) access mode, a multi access mold, and a selective access mode. In the single access mode, a single contactless IC tag is present within a domain of an antenna communication. If a number of contactless IC tags 7 are present in the domain, a communication error occurs such that the communication cannot be performed.
The FIFO access mode allows sequential communications with the contactless IC tag that enters the antenna communication domain. The contactless IC tag that completed its communication is provided with an access prohibition, so that even if a number of contactless IC tags 7 that completed their communication are present in the antenna communication domain, one new contactless IC tag entering the antenna communication domain can conduct the communication. If two or more contactless IC tags simultaneously enter the communication domain, the communication error occurs and therefore the communication cannot be performed.
In the multi-access mode, even when a number of contactless IC tags are present in the antenna communication domain, the communication can be performed with all the contactless IC tags.
The selective access mode allows communication with a specific contactless IC tag among the plurality of contactless IC tags that are present in the communication domain. Such communication is executed with a command for assigning numbers to the contactless IC tags present in the communication domain as well as with a command for conducting communication with the specific contactless IC tag based on the assigned number.
The contactless IC tags are used in an radio frequency identification (RFID) system, and are generally called a data carrier. The data carrier may have various shapes, such as shapes of a label, a card, a coin, and a stick.
These shapes have a close relation to applications. For instance, the tags carried by a person may have a key holder shape formed by fabricating a tag with the shape of a card or a label. Further, a shape of a stick is widely used for a carrier ID of a semiconductor, and a shape of a coin is the widely used for tags tacked to linen related clothes.
The contactless IC tags have storage regions for reading only, or, for reading and writing data. In addition, some contactless identification tags can operate without a battery, through contactless power transfer from the reader-writer.
The first embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to
This contactless data communication system 1 includes, as shown in
Further, this contactless data communication system 1 includes a first contactless IC tag 5 (hereafter referred to as “internal tag 5”) that is adhered to the inside of a container 4, and a second contactless IC tag 6 (hereafter referred to as “external tag 6”) that is adhered to the outside the container 4. The internal tag 5 includes a biosensor for detecting a solution L accommodated in the container 4, and the external tag 6 includes a display device which allows nonvolatile display for displaying the type of the solution L accommodated in the container 4. In the description below, the internal tag 5 and the external tag 6 are combined and treated as a contactless IC tag 7, and the contactless IC tag 7 may include a plurality of contactless IC tags 7.
The reader-writer 2 reads out or writes in data to the contactless IC tag 7 in a contactless state. Referring to
The data receiving unit 2a receives information from the contactless IC tag 7 in a contactless state. The data receiving unit 2a can thereby obtain information units such as administrative information related to the solution L.
The data transmission unit 2b transfers information units to the contactless IC tag 7 in a contactless state. Examples of information units include: commands to read in what is stored in the contactless IC tag 7 such as administrative information; and the administrative information that correlates the contactless IC tags 7 to commodities. In this embodiment, carrier waves for data communication are utilized as a power supply of the contactless IC tag 7.
This embodiment employs the electromagnetic induction method for the data communication between the reader-writer 2 and the contactless IC tag 7, mainly utilizing the long/middle range microwaves of 250 kHz and less, or, a 13.56 MHz band. In the data communication between the reader-writer 2 and the contactless IC tag 7, the selective access mode is employed, allowing communications with a specific contactless IC tag 7 among the plurality of contactless IC tags 7 that are present in the communication domain.
The control unit 2c controls the operations of the reader-writer 2, by executing a control program stored in the ROM 2f in an un-illustrated central processing unit (CPU). The following operations are controlled: the processing of the electromagnetic induction data communication between the data receiving unit 2a and the data transmission unit 2b, such as a data reception from the contactless IC tag 7 and a data transmission to the contactless IC tag 7; the modification processing of a setting used for the execution of the control program, in accordance with the operations in the operating unit 2d; and the display processing for displaying in the display unit 2g the predetermined information such as information obtained from the contactless IC tag 7.
The operating unit 2d is provided with: operational functionalities such as power-on, power-off, and switching for performing a program reset; and a configuration unit of information written into the contactless IC tag 7.
The RAM 2e is a memory unit for temporally storing the data necessary for the CPU of the control unit 2c to execute the control programs stored in the ROM 2f.
The ROM 2f is nonvolatile memory which stores control programs for controlling the reader-writer 2 and UIDs of the test containers and of the contactless IC tag 7 adhered thereto. This nonvolatile memory is formed with one of EEPROM, FeRAM, and FLASH.
The display unit 2g includes a display region such as a liquid crystal display; and is provided with functionalities for displaying the information obtained from the contactless IC tag 7, a current configuration of the reader-writer 2, and an execution status of the processing.
The antenna 2h transmits electromagnetic waves that contain data, from the reader-writer 2 to the contactless IC tag 7.
The reader-writer 2 with above structure sends a command to the internal tag 5 adhered to the container 4 so as to detect the solution L; writes in the information of the solution L to the external tag 6; reads out and displays in the display unit 2g the information written into the contactless TC tag 7; and displays in the display unit 2g the information to be transmitted to the contactless IC tag 7.
As shown in
The contactless IC tag 7 includes a data receiving unit 30, a data transmission unit 31, a control unit 32, a data storage unit 33, a data determination unit 34, a detection unit 35, a display processing unit 36 for display processing, a display unit 37, a power generation unit 38, and a coil antenna 39.
The contactless IC tag 7 does not necessarily include both the detection unit 35 and the display unit 37. However, the detection unit 35 must be mounted in the internal tag 5, and the display unit 37 must be mounted in the external tag 6.
The data receiving unit 30 is provided with a functionality to receive the data transferred from the reader-writer 2 with the electromagnetic induction method.
The data transmission unit 31 is provided with a functionality to transfer the predetermined data stored in the data storage unit 33, with the electromagnetic induction method, from the reader-writer 2 or directly from the internal tag 5 to the external tag 6. Load modulation signals are used for such communications.
The load modulation signal changes a parameter of an oscillation circuit of the contactless IC tag 7, when the coil of the coil antenna 39 is electromagnetically coupled due to the electromagnetic induction of the reader-writer 2 and the contactless IC tag 7, so as to change the impedance magnitude and the phase of the contactless IC tag 7. The reader-writer 2 detects the change in the impedance, and converts the change to a data unit to be transmitted from the contactless IC tag 7, with a conversion into “1” or “0”, depending on the presence of the data unit, so as to perform a contactless data transfer.
The load modulation signal transmitted from the contactless IC tag 7 to the reader-writer 2 is used as is in the direct transfer communication. Here, instead of setting the destination to the reader-writer 2, the destination is set to the contactless IC tag 7. However, if the direct transfer communication between different contactless IC tags 7 is carried out during the data transfer from the reader-writer 2, the signals from the two transfers overlap and cannot be read, since the contactless IC tag 7 present within the communication domain of the reader-writer 2 is load-modulated, based on a frequency such as 13.56 MHz, during the electromagnetic coupling with the reader-writer 2. Therefore, in the direct transfer communication, the reader-writer 2 does not transfer the data and maintain only the state of the electromagnetic coupling with the contactless IC tag 7. In this state, the load modulated signal is transmitted from the internal tag 5 to the external tag 6, so that the external tag 6 can read, at the data receiving unit 30, the data from the internal tag 5 as a change in the load modulation signal. By utilizing this mechanism, the data transfer between different contactless IC tags 7 is carried out utilizing the load modulation signal, without adding an additional receiving circuit for their communication.
The control unit 32 controls the operation of each unit in the contactless IC tag 7 by executing, with a non-illustrated CPU, the control programs corresponding to those units. In this embodiment, the system is configured so that the CPU and the control program modify the functionality of the contactless IC tag 7. However, the configuration is not limited thereto, and a logic circuit may also control these operations. Here, in the present embodiment, the control unit 32 includes the data determination unit 34 and the display processing unit 36.
The data storage unit 33 is provided with a functionality to store into its memory, corresponding to the command from the control unit 32, the predetermined data received from the reader-writer 2, such as administrative information. In this embodiment, the data storage unit 33 also stores the control programs described above. Moreover, the data storage unit 33 stores the access information from the reader-writer 2 to the contactless IC tag 7. The data storage unit 33 may be assembled in the control unit 32, or, attached externally. In this embodiment, the data storage unit 33 is assembled into the control unit 32, and is formed with any one of EEPROM, FLASH, and FeRAM.
The detection unit 35 includes a glucose sensor that detects an enzyme inside the solution L, so as to specify the solution L at the data determination unit 34. The glucose sensor is a typical biosensor, composed with any one of an electrode for detecting oxygen (oxygen electrode) and an electrode for detecting hydrogen peroxide, as well as with glucose oxidase which an enzyme fixed to the electrode. This glucose sensor detects whether or not the glucose is contained in the solution L, by detecting, with the electrode, the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide generated, or, the depreciation of oxygen consumed, when the glucose changes to gluconolactone in a catalyst reaction with the glucose oxidase, so as to measure the glucose concentration within the solution L.
Biosensors are sensors for realizing the functionalities biogenic bodies posses. Applications of the biosensors include sensors such as an enzyme sensor that uses a biogenic substance as a sensor, and sensors such as a taste sensor that imitates biogenic functions by using artificially produced materials. Common biosensors includes the enzyme sensor that detects materials such as glucose and urea by using the oxygen electrodes, and an immunosensor that detects antigen by using the antigen-antibody reaction. In a common detection method, a prescribed voltage is impressed to a biosensor, and the output of the sensor (i.e. a current or a voltage) is measured, so as to check if the output exceeds a certain threshold for a certain period of time, thereby determining the detection of enzyme and the like. In this embodiment, the enzyme sensor is installed on the detection unit 35 of the internal tag 5, for checking the presence of the enzyme that reacts to this enzyme sensor on the solution L. Either a single or plurality of enzyme sensors may be installed in the detection unit 35.
The display processing unit 36 is controlled by the control unit 32, so as to display a predetermined information in the display unit 37.
The display unit 37 is a display device which uses an electrophoresis phenomenon as an operational principal of an electrophoresis display device. Here, an electric filed is impressed onto a dispersed fluid, a resultant of which fine particles are dispersed in a liquid dispersion medium. As a result, electrophoresis particles, which are particles naturally charged by the dispersion, migrate with a coulomb force. Such electrophoresis display device has a display image retention capability (hereafter referred to as “memory capability”) and an image once displayed by impressing the electric field can be retained in a non-power state. Here, the display unit 37 displays the contents of the solution L determined at the data determination unit 34, or, may also indicate the contents of the solution L only with a color, different colors representing different contents, so as to differentiate the solution L by changing the display color in the display.
The power generation unit 38 generates the electric power from the electromagnetic wave received from the reader-writer 2, and supplies it to each unit described above.
The coil antenna 39 receives the electromagnetic wave that includes the data transmitted from the reader-writer 2, with the electromagnetic induction method.
As shown in
The contactless data, communication system 1 shown as the first embodiment is applied to a system in which the contactless IC tag 7 is adhered to the container 4 that contains the solution L, so as to specify the solution L. In this system, the contactless IC tag 7 detects and specifies the contents of the solution L which is displayed in the contactless IC tag 7, so as to manage the container 4 and the solution L.
Hereafter, a detailed operation of the contactless data communication system I will be described.
The contactless IC tag 7 is adhered in advance to the container 4 to which the solution L is to be accommodated. Thereafter, with the operating unit 2d of the reader-writer 2, the system is set so as to detect the solution L with the contactless IC tag 7 adhered to the container 4, and to display the detection result in the display unit 37.
The setting includes information such as: an ID number (hereafter referred to as “UID”) for specifying the internal tag 5 with the glucose sensor adhered inside the container 4; the UID) for specifying the external tag 6 with the display unit 37 adhered outside the container 4 which pairs with the internal tag 5; and the name of the operator.
The settings displayed in the display unit 2g of the reader-writer 2 is selected and input from the operating unit 2d, or, is transferred from an un-illustrated database coupled with the reader-writer 2.
After the setting is completed, the reader-writer 2 assemble the frame of the sensing request command shown in
The internal tag 5, after receiving the sensing request command from the reader-writer 2, generates the drive power from the carrier wave of the signal in the power generation unlit 38, and supplies the power to each unit in the internal tag 5. Thereafter, the control unit 32 supplied with power controls the transmission of information from the reader-writer 2 through the data receiving unit 30 to the nonvolatile memory at the data storage unit 33, so as to store the information therein. Subsequently, the detection unit 35 performs the sensing of the solution L, and the data determination unit 34 specifies the content of the solution L. Finally, the internal tag 5 sets the information of the solution specified by the data determination unit 34 as a display data of the display command shown in
Thereafter, the external tag 6, after receiving the display command shown in
Finally, the external tag 6 assembles the sensing response commands shown in
The frame formats of each of the commands shown in
The data communication between the reader-writer 2 and the contactless IC tag 7 is carried out in the frame format compliant with ISO/IEC18000-3 or ISO/IEC15693 as shown in
The frame format of the sensing request command shown in
The frame format of the display command shown in
The frame format of the sensing response command (with an error) shown in
Each frame format is not limited thereto, and may include other configuration. The frames are formed in a frame format surrounded by the SOF and the EOR The CRC includes a result of a frame calculation between the SOF and the CRC, calculated with compliance to the definition of ISO/IEC13239. FLINGS sets the functionality of the frame.
Other types of commands include commands such as a data write-in command, a tag response command, and a tag response start/end command. In the first embodiment, these commands are processed as normal commands.
The data write-in command writes in the data such as administration information into the contactless IC tag 7. The information written into the contactless IC tag 7 may be, for instance, the data which the reader-writer 2 transmits to the rewritable ROM of the data storage unit 33.
The tag response command transmits the UID of the contactless IC tag 7 to the reader-writer 2. All the contactless IC tags 7 that received this command transmit the UIDs stored therein.
The tag response start/end command is a control command for deciding whether or not to reply the information to the reader-writer 2. After receiving a command transmitted from the reader-writer 2, this command decides whether or not the contactless IC tag 7 sends back the data to the reader-writer 2 as a response to the command. If the contents of the command is set to a start state, then the contactless IC tag 7 replies and sends back the data, after receiving this command from the reader-writer 2. If the contents of the command is set to a stop state, then the contactless IC tag 7 does not respond after receiving the command from the reader-writer 2.
Table 1 enlists the names of the test containers and the UIDs of the contactless IC tags adhered to those test containers.
In step S11, the pre-registered test container is selected. As shown in Table 1, the test containers have the UIDs registered in ROM 2f of the reader-writer 2 as a database, including the UIDs of the internal tag 5 and the UIDs of the external tag 6, respectively serving as the sensing tag to which the glucose sensor is mounted, and as the display tag to which the display unit 37 is mounted. The container 4 is selected by moving a cursor of the operating unit 2d so as to select the test container displayed in the display unit 2g.
In step S12, a sensing request command frame shown in
In step S13, the data of the sensing request command assembled in step S12 is sent to the data transmission unit 2b, and transmitted to the contactless IC tag 7.
In step S14, the reader-writer 2 receives and analyzes a response from the contactless IC tag 7 responding to the transmitted sensing request command. A response frame is illustrated in
If there is no response received in step S14, the process proceeds to step S15 and confirms if it is caused by the timeout. If a timeout had occurred, then the process proceeds to step S17, displays the error content in the display unit; 2g, thereafter proceeding to the end of the process. If no timeout had occurred, the process returns again to step S14 and repeat the process of confirming the response.
In step S21, the data receiving unit 30 receives the command sent from the reader-writer 2 addressed thereto, and thereafter the process proceeds to step S29. In step S29, the frame is checked whether or not a CRC error is included therein.
If the CRC error is found in step S29, then the process proceeds to step S30, and sets a code indicating the CRC error to an error code 410 of the sensing response command shown in
If no CRC error is included in the frame in step S29, the process proceeds to step S22. In step S22, the process decides whether or not the received command in step S21 is the sensing request command.
If the command is not the sensing request command, the process proceeds to step S23 where the command is processed as a normal command, proceeding afterwards to the end of the process. The normal command process complies with ISO/IEC18000-3 or ISO/IEC15693.
If the command is decided to be the sensing request command in step S22, then the process proceeds to step S24, and the control unit 32 applies a given voltage to the detection unit 35 so as to initiate the measurement. An enzyme is provided as a sensor in the detection unit 35. Enzymes reacts only to specific substances. If there is a specific substance that the enzyme reacts to, then a pulse voltage is generated from the enzyme sensor. This pulse voltage has a certain peak in its output value (voltage level). This is utilized as a sensor in order to test the presence of a specific substance.
The process proceeds to step S25 after completing step S24. In step S25, the process decides whether or not the enzyme had reacted to the specific substance, by an output voltage of the enzyme sensor, i.e., the detection unit 35. Similarly, utilizing the output voltage also applies to the case where there is a plurality of enzyme sensors provided to the detection unit 35. The process compares the output voltage of the detection unit 35 with the preset output voltage values, and analyzes if the pulse voltage is obtained, proceeding afterwards to step S26.
In step S26, if the prescribed output is obtained from the enzyme sensor of the detection unit 35, then the name of the enzyme that reacted to the specific substance is retrieved from the names stored in advance in the data storage unit 33, and is set as the display data in the display unit 37. Similarly, the display data is set for plurality of sensors. If the prescribed output is not obtained, then the display such as “no reaction” is set. After setting the display data, the process proceeds to step S27. Other display data that may be retrieved from the data storage unit 33 includes a date of purchase of the solution L, a purchaser, and an expiration date.
The process proceeds to step S27 after completing step S26. In step S27, a display command frame shown in
In step S28, the internal tag 5 transfers the display command assembled in step S27 to the data transmission unit 31, so that the display command is transmitted to the external tag 6 using a load modulation signs, proceeding afterwards to the end of the process.
In step S31, the external tag 6 confirms that the command is addressed thereto and receives the command, proceeding afterwards to step S38.
In step S38, the external tag 6 confirms whether or not the received command includes the CRC error. If the command includes the CRC error, then the process proceeds to step S39 so as to set the indication of the error in the error code 410 as well as in the FLAGS 409, proceeding afterwards to step S36. If no CRC error is included, the process proceeds to step S32.
In step S32, the external tag 6 confirms whether or not the received command is the display command. If the command is not the display command, the process proceeds to step S33 where the command is processed as a normal command, proceeding afterwards to the end of the process. The processing in step S33 complies with ISO/IEC18000-3 or ISO/IEC15693. If the command is the display command, the process proceeds to step S34.
In step S34, the data to be displayed in the display unit 37 is retrieved from the display data 408 within the display command illustrated in
In step S37, the sensing response command assembled in step S36 is transferred to the data transmission unit 31, transmitting the data to the reader-writer 2, thereafter proceeding to the end of the process.
The contactless data communication system 1 according to the first embodiment as described above provides the following effects.
The second embodiment of the invention will now be described with references to
The same signs and numerals are used for the parts equivalent to those in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.
The contactless data communication system 1 shown as the second embodiment sets an access code from the reader-writer 2 to the contactless IC tag 7, so as to check if the access code matches the code set in advance in the contactless IC tag 7, prior to retrieving the data from the detection unit 35 serving as a sensor. If the access code does not match, the system displays the access record of the reader-writer 2 as a display data in the display unit 37. This is where the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment. The structures of the reader-writer 2 and the contactless IC tag 7 are the same as those of the first embodiment.
In step S41 through step S44, the internal tag 5 receives, at the data receiving unit 30, the sensing request command from the reader-writer 2. At this time, the access record is also received (not shown), and if no CRC error is included therein, the access record is stored at the data storage unit 33.
In step S46, the access code is retrieved. The access code is set in the sensing command code 401 of the sensing request command shown in
In step S47, it is determined that the reader-writer 2 made the unauthorized access, and the access record is retrieved from the data storage unit 33, so as to be set as the display data 408 illustrated in
In step S51, the display command frame shown in
The contactless data communication system 1 according to the second embodiment as described above provides the following effects.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2006-245167 | Sep 2006 | JP | national |
2007-208973 | Aug 2007 | JP | national |