RF TAG READER AND RF TAG INFORMATION ACQUISITION METHOD

• US 20110199190A1
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Published: 08/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Sano, Kouichi
• Granted Patent: US 9,177,180 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.5
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10019 resolving collision on the communication channels between simultaneously or concurrently interrogated record carriers. collision between the communication channels used by wireless communication devices, where the solution is not particularly adapted for RFIDs or the like, H04W74/08
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10029 the collision being resolved in the time domain, e.g. using binary tree search or RFID responses allocated to a random time slot
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10039 interrogator driven, i.e. synchronous

Abstract

There is provided an RF tag reader including an omission-in-reading determining section which determines that an RF tag belonging to a predetermined group might be unread when tag information is not acquired from an RF tag, which belongs to the group and whose tag information is not acquired yet, within a predetermined time after tag information corresponding to any one of a plurality of RF tags grouped as the predetermined group is acquired.

Claims

1. An RF tag reader comprising:

an omission-in-reading determining section which determines that an RF tag belonging to a predetermined group might be unread when tag information is not acquired from an RF tag, which belongs to the group and whose tag information is not acquired yet, within a predetermined time after tag information corresponding to any one of a plurality of RF tags grouped as the predetermined group is acquired.

2. The reader according to claim 1, further comprising:

a marking section which matches identification information, which is stored in advance in a predetermined storage region and corresponds to an RF tag that might be unread, to mark information, which indicates that there is a possibility of an omission in reading, when the omission-in-reading determining section determines that there is a possibility of an omission in reading.

3. The reader according to claim 2, further comprising:

a common information generator which generates tag selection data used to perform selective communication with an RF tag, which belongs to one or a plurality of groups and in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, on the basis of the identification information of an RF tag, in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, in response to a user'"'"'s request; and

a communication section having a first communication mode in which processing of acquiring tag information of an RF tag, whose tag information is not acquired yet, in one group is executed and a second communication mode in which tag information acquisition processing is selectively executed only for an RF tag in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, among the plurality of RF tags grouped, using the tag selection data.

4. The reader according to claim 3,

wherein when the communication section executes the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode using the tag selection data, the omission-in-reading determining section does not perform determination processing regarding a possibility of an omission in reading for an RF tag whose tag information is to be acquired in the second communication mode.

5. The reader according to claim 3,

wherein when executing tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode, the communication section executes information acquisition processing on an RF tag of a group, to which an RF tag whose information is to be acquired belongs, before executing the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode.

6. The reader according to claim 3, further comprising:

a last acquisition marking section which marks an identification ID acquired last in the first communication mode before the second communication mode is executed,

wherein the communication section acquires an identification ID as tag information of an RF tag, and executes processing of acquiring the same identification ID as the marked identification ID using the identification ID marked by the last acquisition marking section at the end of the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode.

7. An RF tag information acquisition method comprising:

determining that an RF tag belonging to a predetermined group might be unread when tag information is not acquired from an RF tag, which belongs to the group and whose tag information is not acquired yet, within a predetermined time after tag information corresponding to any one of a plurality of RF tags grouped as the predetermined group is acquired.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

matching identification information, which is stored in advance in a predetermined storage region and corresponds to an RF tag that might be unread, to mark information, which indicates that there is a possibility of an omission in reading, when it is determined that there is a possibility of an omission in reading.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

generating tag selection data used to perform selective communication with an RF tag, which belongs to one or a plurality of groups and in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, on the basis of the identification information of an RF tag, in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, in response to a user'"'"'s request; and

executing tag information acquisition processing in a first communication mode in which processing of acquiring tag information of an RF tag, whose tag information is not acquired yet, in one group is executed and a second communication mode in which tag information acquisition processing is selectively executed only for an RF tag in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, among the plurality of RF tags grouped, using the tag selection data.

10. The method according to claim 9,

wherein when executing the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode using the tag selection data, determination processing regarding a possibility of an omission in reading is not performed for an RF tag whose tag information is to be acquired in the second communication mode.

11. The method according to claim 9,

wherein when executing tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode, information acquisition processing on an RF tag of a group, to which an RF tag whose information is to be acquired belongs, is executed before executing the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode.

12. The method according to claim 9,

wherein an identification ID is acquired as tag information of an RF tag, an identification ID acquired last in the first communication mode is marked before the second communication mode is executed, and processing of acquiring the same identification ID as the marked identification ID is executed using the marked identification ID acquired last in the first communication mode at the end of the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode.