Method for Managing a Mode of Operation of a Contactless Tag and Corresponding Tag

• US 20150137954A1
• Filed: 06/27/2013
• Published: 05/21/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orange S.A., Thales DIS France SA
• Original Assignee: Invia Group, Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Fenzy Peyre, Caroline, Moreaux, Christophe
• Granted Patent: US 9,524,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.5
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0724 the arrangement being a circuit for communicating at a plurality of frequencies, e.g. for managing time multiplexed communication over at least two antennas of different types
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07309 Means for preventing undesired reading or writing from or onto record carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/2417 having a radio frequency identification chip

Abstract

A method is provided for managing the operating mode of an electronic tag, including at least one communication module for communicating with at least one control device and a memory for storing at least one tag identifier specific to the tag and transmittable by the tag to the at least one control device. The method includes, following reception of a deactivation instruction upon which the tag goes from an activated state to a deactivated state, a deactivation step, in which the transmission, to the control device, of the tag identifier is inhibited and in which the tag responds to a reactivation instruction by re-enabling the transmission of the tag identifier to the control device.

Claims

1. A method for managing a mode of operation of an electronic tag, comprising at least one communications module to communicate with at least one control apparatus and a memory serving to store at least one tag identifier, proper to said tag, capable of being transmitted by the tag to a said control apparatus, wherein the method comprises:

receiving a deactivation command;

deactivating, following reception of the deactivation command, during which said tag passes from an activated state to a deactivated state in which transmission, to said control apparatus, of said tag identifier is inhibited and in which said tag responds to a reactivation command by again authorizing transmission of this tag identifier to said control apparatus.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said deactivating comprises:

receiving a deactivation command comprising at least one status identifier, called a substitution identifier, and a deactivation password;

comparing said deactivation password with a reference deactivation password; and

if said comparison sub-step is positive;

writing said substitution identifier to a field of data representing the deactivated or non-deactivated state of the tag; and

updating rights of read and write accessibility of at least one part of said memory of said tag containing the tag identifier and updating rights of response of the tag to the commands received, applicable in the deactivated state of said tag.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein deactivating comprises transmission, by said tag, of a reactivation password to an apparatus sending said deactivation command.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein said substitution identifier is transmitted by the tag instead of said tag identifier in a response to a command received in the deactivated state.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises reactivating during which said tag passes from the deactivated state to the activated state, said reactivating comprising:

receiving a reactivation command comprising at least one reactivation password;

comparing said reactivation password with a reference reactivation password; and

if said comparison sub-step is positive;

writing, to a data field representing the deactivated or non-deactivated state of the tag, of a value representing the activated state of said tag; and

updating rights of accessibility in read and write mode of at least one part of said memory containing the tag identifier and updating rights of response of the tag to the received commands, applicable in the activated state of said tag.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein reactivating comprises transmission of a deactivation password by said tag to an apparatus sending said reactivation command.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said tag is configured to communicate via a first channel and via a second channel, said deactivation being a selective deactivation of a communications mode using the first channel and in which, in the deactivated state:

the transmission of said at least one tag identifier to a said control apparatus is inhibited, via the first channel, and authorized via the second channel, and said tag responds to a reactivation command received via the second channel in again authorizing the transmission of said at least one tag identifier via the first channel.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein deactivating is triggered following reception of the deactivation command via the first channel or via the second channel.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein, in the deactivated state, said tag responds to no command received via the first channel.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein deactivating comprises:

receiving a deactivation command comprising at least one status identifier proper to the first channel, denoted as the first substitution identifier, and a deactivation password proper to the first channel;

comparing said deactivation password proper to the first channel with a reference deactivation password proper to the first channel; and

if said comparison sub-step is positive;

writing said first substitution identifier to a data field representing the deactivated or non-deactivated state of the communications mode using the first channel; and

updating rights of read and write accessibility of at least one part of said memory of said tag containing the first tag identifier and updating rights of response of the tag to the commands received via the first channel, applicable in the deactivated state.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the method comprises reactivating during which said tag passes from the deactivated state to the activated state, said reactivating comprising:

receiving a reactivation command sent via the second channel by a control apparatus, said reactivation command comprising at least one reactivation password proper to the first channel;

comparing said reactivation password proper to the first channel with a reference reactivation password proper to the first channel; and

if said sub-step for comparing is positive;

writing a value representing the activated state of said tag to a data field representing the deactivated or non-deactivated state of the communications mode using the first channel; and

updating the rights of read and write accessibility at least one part of said memory of said tag containing the first tag identifier, and updating the rights of response of the tag to the commands received via the first channel, applicable in the activated state of said tag.

12. The method according to claim 1, said memory serving to store also user data, liable to be transmitted by the tag to a said control apparatus, wherein, in the deactivated state, the transmission to a said control apparatus of said user data is inhibited.

13. An electronic tag comprising:

at least one communications module to communicate with at least one control apparatus,

a memory serving to store at least one tag identifier proper to said tag, liable to be transmitted by the tag to a said control apparatus,

a deactivation module configured so that, following reception of a deactivation command, it makes the tag pass into a deactivated state by inhibiting transmission to a said control apparatus of said at least one tag identifier, and

a reactivation module configured so that, following reception of a reactivation command, it makes the tag pass into an activated state by authorizing transmission to a said control apparatus of said at least one tag identifier.

14. The electronic tag according to claim 13, comprising at least one communications module to communicate via a first channel and via a second channel,

the deactivation module being configured to make the tag pass into the deactivated state in inhibiting the transmission of said at least one tag identifier, via the first channel, to a said control apparatus and in authorizing the transmission of said tag identifier, via the second channel, to a said control apparatus,

the reactivation module being configured so that, following the reception of a reactivation command received via the second channel, it makes the tag pass into the activated state in authorizing the transmission of said at least one tag identifier, via the first channel, to a said control apparatus.