Information Managing Unit and Information Managing Method

• US 20080309461A1
• Filed: 04/03/2006
• Published: 12/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Kenichi, Takahashi, Tatsuo, Hagino, Hiroaki, Mizuki, Atsushi, Sugiyama, Toshiharu
• Application Number:
  US11/911,204
• Publication Number:
  US 20080309461A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/00 Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial or supervisory purposes, not involving significant data processing
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/009 the reader being an RFID reader

Abstract

An information managing unit (4) has an ID information storage (41) for receiving and storing ID information (11) from an RFID reader (2) for detecting, from an RFID tag (1) holding variable ID information (11), the ID information (11) and for updating and managing the stored ID information (11) in synchronization with the variable ID information (11) held by the RFID tag (1), by a predetermined method; an event detector (42) for detecting an event to be a trigger to notify another information managing unit (5) of the stored ID information (11); and an ID information requester (43) for, when the event is detected, notifying the other information managing unit (5) of the ID information (11), for acquiring the ID information (11) and managing unit information about the other information managing unit (5) from the other information managing unit (5), and for storing the acquired managing unit information in correspondence to the ID information (11) into the ID information storage (41).

Claims

1. An information managing unit comprising:

an ID information storage for receiving and storing detected ID information from an RFID reader for detecting, from an RFID tag holding variable ID information, the ID information, and for updating and managing the stored ID information in synchronization with the variable ID information held by the RFID tag, by a predetermined method;

an event detector for detecting an event to be a trigger to notify an other information managing unit of the ID information stored in the ID information storage; and

an ID information requester for notifying the other information managing unit of the ID information when the event detector detects the event, for acquiring the ID information and predetermined managing unit information about the other information managing unit from the other information managing unit, and for storing the acquired managing unit information in correspondence to the ID information into the ID information storage.

2. The information managing unit according to claim 1, further comprising:

an inquiry target storage for storing input inquiry target information; and

an inquiry target controller for notifying the ID information requester of ID information and the inquiry target information stored in the inquiry target storage, in correspondence to each other, thereby requesting an inquiry to the inquiry target.

3. The information managing unit according to claim 1, further comprising an ID information controller for notifying the ID information requester of input ID information,

wherein the ID information requester notifies the other information managing unit of the ID information notified of by the ID information controller.

4. The information managing unit according to claim 1, wherein the ID information received from the RFID reader is encrypted ID information resulting from encryption of the ID information,

wherein the ID information requester comprises:

a decryptor for decrypting the received encrypted ID information to acquire the ID information; and

an encryptor for encrypting the ID information decrypted by the decryptor, to acquire encrypted ID information,

wherein when the event detector detects the event, the ID information requester notifies the other information managing unit of the encrypted ID information encrypted by the encryptor, acquires the encrypted ID information and predetermined managing unit information about the other information managing unit from the other information managing unit, and stores the acquired managing unit information in correspondence to the ID information obtained by decryption of the acquired encrypted ID information by the decryptor, into the ID information storage.

5. The information managing unit according to claim 1, further comprising an ID information determiner for determining whether the ID information detected by the RFID reader is stored in the ID information storage, wherein when the ID information determiner determines that the detected ID information is not stored in the ID information storage, the ID information requester notifies an external ID information storage device storing the managing unit information in correspondence to the ID information, of the ID information, acquires the ID information and the managing unit information associated with the ID information from the external ID information storage device, and stores the acquired managing unit information in correspondence to the ID information into the ID information storage.

6. The information managing unit according to claim 1,

wherein the ID information storage further stores predetermined multiple-generation pieces of ID information in updates of the variable ID information, in correspondence to the ID information, and

wherein the ID information requester notifies an ID information responder of the ID information and the multiple-generation pieces of ID information.

7. An information managing unit comprising:

an ID information storage for receiving and storing detected ID information from an RFID reader for detecting, from an RFID tag holding variable ID information, the ID information;

a managing unit information storage for storing predetermined managing unit information about the host information managing unit; and

an ID information responder for, when ID information is notified of by an other information managing unit, checking whether the ID information is stored in the ID information storage, and for, when the ID information is stored, notifying the other information managing unit of the managing unit information stored in the managing unit information storage, and the ID information.

8. The information managing unit according to claim 7, wherein the ID information received from the RFID reader is encrypted ID information resulting from encryption of the ID information,

wherein the ID information responder further comprises:

a decryptor for decrypting the received encrypted ID information to acquire the ID information; and

an encryptor for encrypting the ID information decrypted by the decryptor, to acquire encrypted ID information,

wherein when the encrypted ID information is notified of by the other information managing unit, the ID information responder decrypts the encrypted ID information by the decryptor to acquire the ID information, and checks whether the ID information is stored in the ID information storage, and, when the ID information is stored, the ID information responder notifies the other information managing unit of the managing unit information stored in the managing unit information storage and the encrypted ID information obtained by encryption by the encryptor.

9. An information managing method in an information managing unit with an ID information storage for receiving and storing detected ID information from an RFID reader for detecting, from an RFID tag holding variable ID information, the ID information and for updating and managing the stored ID information in synchronization with the variable ID information held by the RFID tag, by a predetermined method, the information managing method comprising:

an event detecting step of detecting an event to be a trigger to notify an other information managing unit of the ID information stored in the ID information storage;

an ID information notifying step of, when the event is detected in the event detecting step, notifying the other information managing unit of the ID information;

a managing unit information acquiring step of acquiring the ID information, and predetermined managing unit information about the other information managing unit from the other information managing unit; and

a managing unit information storing step of storing the acquired managing unit information in correspondence to the ID information into the ID information storage.

10. An information managing method in an information managing unit with an ID information storage for receiving and storing detected ID information from an RFID reader for detecting, from an RFID tag holding variable ID information, the ID information, and a managing unit information storage for storing predetermined managing unit information about the host information managing unit, the information managing method comprising:

a checking step of, when ID information is notified of by an other information managing unit, checking whether the ID information is stored in the ID information storage; and

an ID information responding step of, when the ID information is stored, notifying the other information managing unit of the managing unit information stored in the managing unit information storage, and the ID information.