IC tag, IC tag system, and method of executing command of the IC tag

• US 20070069860A1
• Filed: 09/26/2006
• Published: 03/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Renesas Electronics Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Electronics Corporation (Renesas Electronics Corporation)
• Inventors: Akiyama, Kazuhiro, Uchino, Tatsuya, Seki, Kazumi, Okamoto, Seiichi, Igarashi, Hatsuhide, Miyashita, Toshiyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,889,055 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.100
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs

Abstract

An IC tag according to an embodiment of the invention includes: a storage circuit having a plurality of memory cells; and a memory control circuit receiving commands by use of a radio signal to control the storage circuit based on the commands, the commands including a specific command to collectively control the plurality of memory cells, and the memory control circuit executing control corresponding to the specific command on the storage circuit based on the specific command and first key data received in association with the specific command.

Claims

1. An IC tag, comprising:

a storage circuit including a plurality of memory cells; and

a memory control circuit receiving commands by use of a radio signal to control the storage circuit based on the commands,

the commands including a specific command to collectively control the plurality of memory cells, and

the memory control circuit executing control corresponding to the specific command on the storage circuit based on the specific command and first key data received in association with the specific command.

2. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the specific command is an erase all command to collectively erase information in the plurality of memory cells.

3. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the specific command is a write all command to collectively write information to the plurality of memory cells.

4. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the specific command is a command that does not require address data for selecting one memory cell from among the plurality of memory cells.

5. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the storage circuit includes a user area that can be rewritten by a user, the user area includes at least one batch-controllable area, and the specific command is executed by collectively controlling the plurality of memory cells in the batch-controllable area.

6. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the memory control circuit executes the specific command when a value of a power supply voltage generated based on a radio signal is a predetermined voltage or higher.

7. The IC tag according to claim 1, wherein the memory control circuit executes the specific command based on a result of comparing the first key data with second key data stored separately from the first key data.

8. The IC tag according to claim 7, wherein the first key data is stored in a first storage circuit temporarily storing data, and the second key data is stored in a second storage circuit continuously storing data.

9. The IC tag according to claim 7, wherein a logic type of the first key data and a logic type of the second key data are inverted with respect to each other.

10. The IC tag according to claims 7, wherein a bit length of a bit string of the first key data and the second key data is longer than the address data or write data.

11. The IC tag according to claim 7, wherein the first key data is stored in a first storage circuit storing address data for selecting one of the plurality of memory cells or in a second storage circuit storing write data to be written to the memory cell.

12. The IC tag according to claim 7, wherein the second key data is stored in a first storage circuit storing address data for selecting one of the plurality of memory cells or in a second storage circuit storing write data to be written to the memory cell.

13. An IC tag system, comprising:

a reader/writer transmitting command data by use of a radio signal; and

an IC tag receiving the radio signal sent from the reader/writer,

the IC tag comprising;

a storage circuit including a plurality of memory cells storing data; and

a memory control circuit receiving a command based on the command data to control the storage circuit,

the commands including a specific command to collectively control the plurality of memory cells, and

the memory control circuit executing control corresponding to the specific command on the storage circuit based on the specific command and first key data received in association with the specific command.

14. A method of executing a command of an IC tag that includes a storage circuit including a plurality of memory cells storing data, and a memory control circuit receiving commands by use of a radio signal and executing the commands to control the storage circuit,

wherein the commands includes a specific command to collectively control the plurality of memory cells, and

the memory control circuit executes control corresponding to the specific command on the storage circuit based on the specific command and first key data received in association with the specific command.