Wireless communication apparatus, wireless communication method and wireless communication media

• US 7,200,361 B2
• Filed: 10/01/2004
• Issued: 04/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Onodera, Shin
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Duc M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Addy; Anthony S.
• Application Number:
  US10/954,608
• Publication Number:
  US 20050090281A1
• Time in Patent Office: 914 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412.1, 455/41.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.3, 455/517, 455/67.14, 455/550.1, 455/556.1, 455/558, 340/5.6, 340/5.61, 340/10.1, 340/10.3, 340/10.34, 340/10.4, 340/10.51, 340/5.64, 235/384, 235/380
• US Class Current: 455/41.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0008 General problems related to the reading of electronic memory record carriers, independent of its reading method, e.g. power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10346 the antenna being of the far field type, e.g. HF types or dipoles

Abstract

A wireless communication apparatus includes a transmitter to transmit a response request signal, a receiver to receives a response transmitted from a wireless communication medium in response to the response request signal, a level detector to detect a response receiving signal level, a memory to store threshold signal level of receiving signal of each type of medium; and a controller to set up a threshold signal level enabling the data writing to a medium to which a response is transmitted based on medium type data included in a response and a threshold signal level of a receiving signal of each type of stored medium, and starts the data writing to a medium to which a response is transmitted when a response receiving signal level is above the threshold signal level.

Claims

1. A wireless communication apparatus for wireless communication with wireless communication media, comprising:

transmitting means for transmitting a response requesting signal to a wireless communication medium;

receiving means for receiving a response transmitted from the wireless communication medium in response to the response requesting signal transmitted by the transmitting means the received response including medium type data indicating the type of wireless communication media;

storage means for storing a plurality of threshold signal levels of received signals for different types of wireless communication media, the respective threshold signal levels being correlated with the medium type data indicating the type of the wireless communication media;

detecting means for detecting a signal level of the received response;

reading means for reading one of the plurality of threshold signal levels from the storage means that corresponds to the medium type data included in the response received by the receiving means;

comparing means for comparing the received response signal level detected by the detecting means with the read threshold signal level read by the reading means; and

control means for commencing the writing of specified data to the wireless communication medium, from which the response was transmitted, when the received response signal level is determined by the comparing means to be larger than or equal to the read threshold signal level.

2. The wireless communication apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the control means,

retransmits the response request signal by the transmitting means without commencing the writing of the specified data to the wireless communication medium when the received response signal level is less than the read threshold signal level as determined by the comparing means, and

commences the writing of the specified data to the wireless communication medium to which the response is transmitted, when the received response signal level received by the receiving means in response to the retransmitted response request signal, is determined by the comparing means to be larger than the corresponding threshold signal level.

3. The wireless communication apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the medium type data includes the name of the manufacturer of the wireless communication media.

4. A wireless communication method, comprising:

transmitting a response requesting signal to a wireless communication medium for requesting a response therefrom, the response requesting signal including a request for medium type data indicating the type of wireless communication medium;

receiving a response transmitted from the wireless communication medium in response to the response requesting signal, the received response including the medium type data;

storing a plurality of threshold signal levels of received signals in a storage means for each type of wireless communication media, wherein the threshold signal levels are correlated with the medium type data indicating the type of the wireless communication media;

detecting a signal level of the received response;

reading one of the plurality of threshold signal levels from the storage means that correspond to the medium type data included in the response received by the receiving means;

comparing the received response signal level with the read threshold signal level; and

commencing the writing of specified data to the wireless communication medium, from which the response was transmitted, when the received response signal level is determined to be larger than or equal to the read threshold signal level.

5. The wireless communication method as set forth in claim 4, wherein:

upon determining that the received response signal level is less than the read threshold signal level, retransmitting the response request signal without commencing the writing of the specified data to the wireless communication medium, and

upon the received response signal level that is received in response to the retransmitted response request signal is determined to be larger or equal to the read threshold signal level, commencing the writing of the specified data to the wireless communication medium, from which the response was transmitted.

6. A wireless communication medium performing wireless communication with a wireless communication apparatus in accordance with the method of claim 4, comprising:

storage means for storing medium type data;

receiving means for receiving a response request signal to request a response transmitted from the wireless communication apparatus, the response request signal including a request for media type data stored in the storage means; and

transmitting means for transmitting a response including the medium type data stored in the storage means to the wireless communication apparatus in response to the response request signal.

7. The wireless communication medium, as set forth in claim 6, wherein the medium type data includes the name of the manufacturer of the wireless communication media.