RF tag reader and RF tag information acquisition method

• US 9,177,180 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): Brown, Vernal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Adnan, Muhammad
• Application Number:
  US13/025,561
• Publication Number:
  US 20110199190A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,726 Days
• Field of Search: 340 101- 106
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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:

a communication section having a first communication mode in which processing of acquiring identification ID of an RF tag, is executed for an RE tag whose identification ID is not acquired yet in a predetermined group;

an omission-in-reading determining section determining that an RF tag belonging to the group might be unread when identification ID is not acquired by the communication section from the RF tag, within a predetermined time after identification ID of any one of other RF tags belonging to the group is acquired;

a marking section matching identification information, which is stored in advance in a predetermined storage region and corresponds to the 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;

a common information generator generating tag selection data used for performing selective communication with an RF tag, in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, on the basis of the identification information of the RE tag, in response to a user'"'"'s request;

an omission-in-reading reference acquisition section which acquires an information regarding an omission-in-reading reference, which is a reference for the number of RF tags whose identification ID might be unread;

an omission-in-reading number determining section which determines whether or not the number of RF tags in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, in one group is smaller than the omission-in-reading reference using the information regarding the omission-in-reading reference acquired by the omission-in-reading reference acquisition section;

wherein communication section further has a second communication mode in which identification ID acquisition processing is selectively executed for an RF tag which belongs to the one group and in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, and an RF tag which belongs to another group associated with the one group and in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, using the tag selection data, if the omission-in-reading number determining section determines that the number of RF tags in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, in the one group is smaller than the omission-in-reading reference; and

wherein the RF tag reader further comprises 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.

2. The reader according to claim 1,

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.

3. The reader according to claim 1,

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.

4. An RF tag information acquisition method comprising:

executing tag information acquisition processing in a first communication mode in which processing of acquiring identification ID of an RF tag, is executed for an RF tag whose identification ID is not acquired yet in a predetermined group;

marking an identification ID acquired last in the first communication mode;

determining that an RF tag belonging to the group might be unread when identification ID is not acquired from the RE tag, within a predetermined time after identification ID of any one of other RF tags belonging to the group is acquired;

matching identification information, which is stored in advance in a predetermined storage region and corresponds to the 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;

generating tag selection data used for performing selective communication with the RF tag, in which the identification information is matched to the mark information, on the basis of the identification information of the RF tag, in response to a user'"'"'s request;

acquiring an information regarding an omission-in-reading reference, which is a reference for the number of RF tags whose identification ID might be unread;

determining whether or not the number of RF tags in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, in one group is smaller than the omission-in-reading reference using the information regarding the omission-in-reading reference;

executing tag information acquisition processing in a second communication mode in which identification ID acquisition processing is selectively executed for an RF tag which belongs to the one group and in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, and an RF tag which belongs to another group associated with the one group and in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, using the tag selection data, if it is determined that the number of RF tags in which the identification ID is matched to the mark information, in the one group is smaller than the omission-in-reading reference; and

acquiring an identification ID as tag information of an RF tag by using the marked identification ID after the end of the second communication mode.

5. The method according to claim 4,

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.

6. The method according to claim 4,

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.

7. An RF tag reader comprising:

a communication section having a first communication mode in which processing of acquiring RF tag information of an RF tag is executed in a predetermined group;

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

an omission-in-reading reference acquisition section which acquires an information regarding an omission-in-reading reference, which is a reference for the number of RF tags whose RF tag information might be unread; and

an omission-in-reading number determining section which determines whether or not the number of RF tags in which the RF tag information is matched to a mark information indicating that there is a possibility of an omission in reading, in one group is smaller than the omission-in-reading reference using the information regarding the omission-in-reading reference acquired by the omission-in-reading reference acquisition section,

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

wherein the communication section further has a second communication mode in which processing of acquiring the RF tag information of the RF tag is selectively executed for an RF tag which belongs to the one group and in which the RF tag information is matched to the mark information, and an RF tag which belongs to another group associated with the one group and in which the RF tag information is matched to the mark information, using a tag selection data, if the omission-in-reading number determining section determines that the number of RF tags in which the RF tag information is matched to the mark information, in the one group is smaller than the omission-in-reading reference, and

wherein the tag selection data is used for performing selective communication with an RF tag, in which the RF tag information is matched to the mark information, on the basis of the RF tag information of the RF tag, in response to a user'"'"'s request.

8. The reader according to claim 7, further comprising

a marking section which matches the RE tag information, to the mark-information.

9. The reader according to claim 7,

wherein when the communication section executes the tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode, the omission-in-reading determining section does not execute determination processing regarding a possibility of an omission-in-reading.

10. The reader according to claim 7, wherein before executing the RF tag information acquisition processing in the second communication mode, the communication section executes information acquisition processing on an RF tag in the predetermined group including the RF tag which is regarded as an omission-in-reading.

11. The reader according to claim 7, further comprising

a last acquisition marking section which marks an RF tag information which is acquired last in the first communication mode before the second communication mode is executed,

wherein the communication section acquires the RF tag information marked by the last acquisition marking section after acquisition of the RF tag information in the second communication mode is completed.