JP2023170728A - Information processing apparatus, information processing system, program, and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus for supporting article management.SOLUTION: A reader-writer 100 comprises: a reading unit for reading authentication information and article information from a tag management barcode and an article management barcode of an article to which an RF tag in a write restriction state, the tag management barcode including the authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag, and the article management barcode including the article information are attached; an authentication information transition unit for controlling wireless transmission of the authentication information read by the reading unit to the RF tag; and a write control unit for controlling wireless transmission of the article information read by the reading unit or issued identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information to write the article information or the issued identification information to the RF tag.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, a program, an information processing method, and a writing device.

Patent Document 1 describes a wireless tag reading device that can reliably read information within a desired time without missing any information even when there are a large number of wireless tags.
[Prior art documents]
[Patent document]
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-182018

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing device is provided. The information processing device includes an RF (Radio Frequency) tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode that includes authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag, and an article management bar that includes article information. The present invention may include a reading unit that reads the authentication information and the article information from the tag management barcode and the article management barcode of the article to which the code is attached. The information processing device may include an authentication information transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the authentication information read by the reader to the RF tag. The information processing device wirelessly transmits the article information read by the reading unit or issued identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information. The RF tag may include a write control unit that controls writing the article information or the issue identification information to the RF tag.

The tag management barcode may include tag identification information that can identify the RF tag. The reading unit may read the authentication information and the tag identification information from the tag management barcode. The information processing device may include a registration unit that registers the tag identification information read by the reading unit and the article information or the issue identification information in association with each other. The registration unit may transmit the tag identification information read by the reading unit and the article information or the issue identification information to an article management server that manages the article.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing device is provided. The information processing device stores the tag management barcode of an article attached with an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode including tag identification information, and an article management barcode including article information. and a reading unit that reads the tag identification information and the article information from the article management barcode. The information processing device is a server that stores authentication registration information in which the tag identification information and authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags. The device may further include an authentication information acquisition unit that transmits the tag identification information read by the reading unit and receives the authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the server. The information processing device may include an authentication information transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the authentication information acquired by the authentication information acquirer to the RF tag. The information processing device wirelessly transmits the article information read by the reading unit or issued identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information. The RF tag may include a write control unit that controls writing the article information or the issue identification information to the RF tag.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing system is provided. The information processing system may include the information processing device and a writing device. The writing device may include a storage unit that stores the authentication information corresponding to the RF tag. The writing device may include a tag management unit that writes the authentication information corresponding to the RF tag stored in the storage unit into the RF tag to place the RF tag in a write-restricted state.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program is provided. The program is attached to an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode that includes authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag, and an article management barcode that includes article information. The authentication information read by the reading section is wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag by an information processing device including a reading section that reads the authentication information and the article information from the tag management barcode and the article management barcode of the article. The authentication information transmission step may be performed to control the authentication information to be transmitted. The program causes the information processing device to transmit the article information read by the reading unit or issue identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information. It may be for executing a write control step of controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag and writing the article information or the issue identification information to the RF tag.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program is provided. The program includes the tag management barcode and the tag management barcode of an article attached with an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode containing tag identification information, and an article management barcode containing article information. For each of the plurality of RF tags, the tag identification information and the writing restriction state of the RF tag are sent to an information processing device including a reading unit that reads the tag identification information and the article information from the article management barcode. The tag identification information read by the reader is transmitted to a server that stores authentication registration information registered in association with the authentication information to be canceled, and the authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information is transferred to the server. It may be for executing a step of acquiring authentication information received from a server. The program may be for causing the information processing apparatus to execute an authentication information transmission step of controlling the information processing apparatus to wirelessly transmit the authentication information acquired in the authentication information acquisition step to the RF tag. The program causes the information processing device to transmit the article information read by the reading unit or issue identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information. It may be for executing a write control step of controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag and writing the article information or the issue identification information to the RF tag.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing method is provided. The information processing method is a method executed by an information processing device. A computer-implemented information processing method is provided. The information processing method includes an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode including authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag, and an article management barcode including article information. The method may include a reading step of reading the authentication information and the article information from the tag management barcode and the article management barcode of the article. The information processing method may include an authentication information transmitting step of controlling the authentication information read in the reading step to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag. The information processing method includes wirelessly transmitting the article information read in the reading step or issued identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information. The method may include a write control step of controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be written in the RF tag.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing method is provided. The information processing method includes processing the tag management barcode of an article attached with an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode including tag identification information, and an article management barcode including article information. and a reading step of reading the tag identification information and the article information from the article management barcode. The information processing method includes a server storing authentication registration information in which the tag identification information and authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags. The method may further include an authentication information acquisition step of transmitting the tag identification information read in the reading step and receiving the authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the server. The information processing method may include an authentication information transmitting step of controlling the authentication information acquired in the authentication information acquiring step to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag. The information processing method includes wirelessly transmitting the article information read in the reading step or issued identification information issued based on the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information. The method may include a write control step of controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be written in the RF tag.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a writing device is provided. The writing device may include a storage unit that stores tag identification information that allows identification of the RF tag and article information regarding the article to which the RF tag is attached in association with each other. The writing device reads the article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag from the storage unit, writes it to the RF tag as authentication information for canceling the write restriction of the RF tag, and writes the article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag to the RF tag. The tag management unit may be provided to place the tag in a write-restricted state.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a program for causing a computer to function as the writing device is provided.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing system is provided. The information processing system may include the writing device and the information processing device. The information processing device includes a reading unit that reads the article information from the article management barcode of an article to which the RF tag in a write-restricted state and the article management barcode including the article information are attached. You may do so. The information processing device may include an article information transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the article information read by the reader to the RF tag. The information processing device may include a write control unit that wirelessly transmits the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction has been canceled by the article information, and controls the article information to be written in the RF tag. .

According to one embodiment of the present invention, an information processing method executed by a computer is provided. The information processing method may include a storing step of storing in a storage unit tag identification information that allows identification of the RF tag and article information regarding the article to which the RF tag is attached in association with each other. The information processing method reads the article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag from the storage unit, writes it to the RF tag as authentication information for canceling the write restriction of the RF tag, and reads the article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag. A tag management step may be provided to place the tag in a write-restricted state.

Note that the above summary of the invention does not list all the necessary features of the invention. Furthermore, subcombinations of these features may also constitute inventions.

An example of an information processing system 10 is schematically shown. An example of the functional configuration of the reader/writer 100 is schematically shown. An example of the flow of processing by the reader/writer 100 is schematically shown. An example of the flow of processing by the reader/writer 100 is schematically shown. An example of the flow of processing by the reader/writer 100 is schematically shown. An example of the functional configuration of the writing device 300 is schematically shown. An example of the flow of processing by the writing device 300 is schematically shown. An example of the functional configuration of the article management server 200 is schematically shown. An example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 functioning as a reader/writer 100, an article management server 200, or a writing device 300 is schematically shown.

In an environment where there are multiple RF tags, there are cases where it is desired to write information only to a specific RF tag by OTA (Over The Air). However, selecting a specific tag in a wireless environment is difficult, and information may be written to tags other than the target tag. There is a way to lower the output of the reader/writer so that only the target tag receives an electric field, but this is complicated and not very reliable. On the other hand, in the information processing system 10 according to the present embodiment, for example, a specification that allows information to be written only to RF tags with matching passwords is used, and a unique password for each RF tag is used instead of a common password. That is, the information processing system 10 is configured so that information can be written only to RF tags with matching passwords.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential to the solution of the invention.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of an information processing system 10. The information processing system 10 includes a reader/writer 100. The information processing system 10 may include a plurality of RF tags 30. The information processing system 10 may include an article management server 200.

In this example, each of the plurality of articles 20 includes an article management barcode 22 containing article information related to the article 20, and an RF tag 30 in a write-restricted state in which writing of information is restricted. , and a tag management barcode 32 containing authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag 30.

FIG. 1 illustrates a case where the article 20 is a product placed in a box. The article information is information related to the article 20. The article information may be information that allows the article 20 to be uniquely identified. The article information includes, for example, an article ID and a serial number that can identify the type of article. The article ID may be any ID that can identify the type of article. The article ID may be, for example, the JAN (Japanese Article Number) code of the article 20. The article ID may be, for example, the EAN (European Article Number) code of the article 20. The article ID may be, for example, the UPC (Universal Product Code) of the article 20. The article ID may be, for example, a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) code of the article 20. The article information may be any information as long as the article 20 can be uniquely identified. For example, the article information may be a character string indicating the article 20 or the like.

The article information may be information that cannot uniquely identify the article 20. For example, the article information may be only the article ID. For example, the article information may be a character string or the like indicating the type of article 20.

The authentication information may be a password unique to the RF tag 30. That is, the authentication information may be different for each of the plurality of RF tags 30.

Although FIG. 1 shows a one-dimensional barcode as an example of the article management barcode 22 and the tag management barcode 32, the present invention is not limited to this. The article management barcode 22 and the tag management barcode 32 may be two-dimensional barcodes (QR codes (registered trademark)). The article management barcode 22 and the tag management barcode 32 may be three-dimensional barcodes.

The reader/writer 100 has a function of reading barcodes and a function of writing information to the RF tag 30. Further, the reader/writer 100 may have a function of reading information from the RF tag 30. The reader/writer 100 may be a so-called handy type reader/writer. The reader/writer 100 may be an example of an information processing device.

When the article information is information that can uniquely identify the article 20, the reader/writer 100 uses the authentication information included in the tag management barcode 32 to release the write restriction state of the RF tag 30, and Article information included in the management barcode 22 is written to the RF tag 30. For example, first, the reader/writer 100 reads article information from the article management barcode 22 attached to one of the plurality of articles 20 in accordance with the operation of the user using the reader/writer 100 . Next, according to the user's operation, the reader/writer 100 reads authentication information from the tag management barcode 32 attached to the one item 20. Then, the reader/writer 100 wirelessly transmits the read authentication information, and then wirelessly transmits the read article information.

When the reader/writer 100 wirelessly transmits authentication information, the write-restricted state of only one of the plurality of RF tags 30 is released, and when the reader/writer 100 wirelessly transmits article information, the write-restricted state is released. The article information is written only to the one RF tag 30 for which the RF tag 30 has been released. Such a mechanism prevents the article information of a certain article 20 from being written to the RF tag 30 attached to another article 20 even in an environment where a plurality of articles 20 are placed together. At the same time, it is possible to write the article information of the article 20 to the RF tag 30 attached to the article 20.

The tag management barcode 32 may include tag identification information that allows the RF tag 30 attached to the article 20 to be identified. The reader/writer 100 may read authentication information and tag identification information from the tag management barcode 32.

The reader/writer 100 may register the article information of the article management barcode 22 read continuously and the tag identification information of the tag management barcode 32 in association with each other. The reader/writer 100 may register with the article management server 200 by transmitting the article information and tag identification information to the article management server 200. For example, the reader/writer 100 successively reads article information, authentication information, and tag identification information from the article management barcode 22 and the tag management barcode 32, wirelessly transmits the authentication information, and then reads the article information. After writing the article information into the RF tag 30 by wirelessly transmitting the information, the article information and the tag identification information are transmitted to the article management server 200. This allows the article management server 200 to manage the correspondence between the RF tags 30 and the articles 20.

The reader/writer 100 may communicate with the article management server 200 via the relay device 50 and the network 40. The relay device 50 is, for example, a Wi-Fi (registered trademark) access point, and the reader/writer 100 may include a Wi-Fi communication function. The relay device 50 is, for example, a wireless base station, and the reader/writer 100 may have a mobile communication function. The mobile communication function may be compliant with at least one of an LTE (Long Term Evolution) communication method, a 5G (5th Generation) communication method, a 3G (3rd Generation) communication method, and a 6G (6th Generation) communication method. . The network 40 may include a LAN (Local Area Network) such as an in-house network and a factory network, a mobile communication network, the Internet, and the like.

When the article information is information that cannot uniquely identify the article 20, for example, when the article information includes only the article ID, the reader/writer 100 may be set to the issue request mode. The reader/writer 100 set to the issue request mode may transmit article information read from the article management barcode 22 to the article management server 200 via the relay device 50. The article management server 200 issues issued identification information that can uniquely identify the article 20 based on the received article information, registers the issued identification information in association with the article information, and transmits the issued identification information to the reader/writer. Send to 100. The reader/writer 100 uses the authentication information included in the tag management barcode 32 to release the write restriction state of the RF tag 30 and writes issue identification information to the RF tag 30. The reader/writer 100 may write the issue identification information into the RF tag 30 and then transmit the issue identification information and tag identification information to the article management server 200.

As a result, even if the article information included in the article management barcode 22 is information that cannot uniquely identify the article 20, it is possible to write information that can uniquely identify the article 20 into the RF tag 30. The management of the articles 20 can be supported.

As another example, the article management server 200 stores authentication registration information in which tag identification information and authentication information are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags 30, and the reader/writer 100 stores a tag management bar. The tag identification information read from the code 32 may be transmitted to the article management server 200, and authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information may be received from the article management server 200. In this case, the tag management barcode 32 does not include authentication information.

In this case, authentication registration information is registered in advance in the article management server 200, and the article 20 includes an RF tag 30, a tag management barcode 32 containing tag identification information corresponding to the RF tag 30, and an article management barcode. 22 is attached.

In this embodiment, a case will be mainly described in which the article management server 200 stores authentication registration information, but the present invention is not limited to this. The information processing system 10 may include a server that stores authentication registration information separately from the article management server 200. In this case, the reader/writer 100 transmits the tag identification information read from the tag management barcode 32 to the server, and receives authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the server.

FIG. 2 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the reader/writer 100. The reader/writer 100 includes a storage section 102, a reading section 110, a read information acquisition section 112, a tag communication section 120, an authentication information transmission section 122, a write control section 124, a read control section 126, a communication section 132, a display control section 140, It includes a display section 142, an issue request section 144, and an authentication information acquisition section 146. Note that it is not essential that the reader/writer 100 include all of these.

The reading unit 110 reads barcodes. The reading unit 110 may read barcodes using a CCD method. The reading unit 110 may read barcodes using a laser method. The reading unit 110 reads article information from the article management barcode 22, for example. The reading unit 110 reads authentication information from the tag management barcode 32, for example. The reading unit 110 reads tag identification information from the tag management barcode 32, for example.

The read information acquisition unit 112 acquires the information read by the reading unit 110 and stores it in the storage unit 102. The read information acquisition unit 112 acquires, for example, article information that the reading unit 110 reads from the article management barcode 22. The reading information acquisition unit 112 acquires, for example, the authentication information that the reading unit 110 reads from the tag management barcode 32. The read information acquisition unit 112 acquires, for example, tag identification information that the reading unit 110 reads from the tag management barcode 32.

The tag communication unit 120 communicates with the RF tag 30. The tag communication unit 120 may communicate with the RF tag 30 using a radio wave method. According to the radio wave method, the tag communication unit 120 supplies power to the RF tag 30 and transmits and receives information by radiating electromagnetic waves from an antenna. Note that the tag communication unit 120 may communicate with the RF tag 30 using an electromagnetic induction method.

The authentication information transmitter 122 controls the authentication information read by the reader 110 to be wirelessly transmitted. The authentication information transmitter 122 may cause the tag communication unit 120 to wirelessly transmit the authentication information. For example, when the read information acquisition section 112 successively acquires article information and authentication information, the authentication information transmission section 122 causes the tag communication section 120 to wirelessly transmit the authentication information.

The authentication information transmitter 122 may wirelessly transmit the authentication information together with a command to release the write-restricted state of the RF tag 30. This command may be called a WriteLock release command. Among the RF tags 30 that have received the command and authentication information, the write restriction state of the RF tag 30 whose authentication information matches is canceled. A state in which the write restriction state is canceled and information can be written is sometimes referred to as a Secured state.

The write control unit 124 controls writing of information to the RF tag 30 by wirelessly transmitting the information using the tag communication unit 120. The write control unit 124 causes the tag communication unit 120 to send the reading information acquisition unit 112 to the RF tag 30 whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information wirelessly transmitted by the authentication information transmission unit 122 to the tag communication unit 120. Control may be performed such that the acquired article information is wirelessly transmitted and written in the RF tag 30.

The write control unit 124 may control the tag communication unit 120 to wirelessly transmit article information together with a command to write information to the RF tag 30. This command is sometimes called a Write command.

The reading control unit 126 controls the tag communication unit 120 to read information from the RF tag 30. The reading control unit 126 stores information read from the RF tag 30 in the storage unit 102. For example, after the write control unit 124 writes the article information to the RF tag 30, the read control unit 126 reads the article information from the RF tag 30 in accordance with the operation of the user of the reader/writer 100.

The registration unit 130 registers the tag identification information and article information read by the reading unit 110 in association with each other. For example, when the read information acquisition section 112 successively acquires article information and tag identification information, the registration section 130 registers the article information and the tag identification information in association with each other. The registration unit 130 may register the item information and the tag identification information by transmitting the item information and the tag identification information to the item management server 200 via the communication unit 132. The communication unit 132 may communicate with the article management server 200 via the relay device 50 and the network 40.

The display control unit 140 controls the display of information stored in the storage unit 102. For example, the display control unit 140 causes the display unit 142 to display information stored in the storage unit 102. The display unit 142 may be a display provided in the reader/writer 100. The display control unit 140 may cause the other device to display the information by transmitting the information stored in the storage unit 102 to the other device via the communication unit 132.

For example, the display control unit 140 causes the reading control unit 126 to read the article information read from the RF tag 30 according to the user's operation of the reader/writer 100 after the write control unit 124 writes the article information to the RF tag 30. Control what to display. This allows the user to confirm that the article information has been appropriately written to the RF tag 30.

The issue requesting unit 144 requests issuance of issue identification information. For example, when the article information read from the article management barcode 22 by the read information acquisition section 112 is not information that can uniquely identify the article 20, the issuance request section 144 sends an issuance request containing article information to the communication section. 132 to the article management server 200. For example, when the reader/writer 100 is set to the issue request mode, the issue request unit 144 transmits an issue request including article information to the article management server 200 via the communication unit 132. The issuance request unit 144 obtains, via the communication unit 132, the issuance identification information issued by the article management server 200 in response to the transmitted issuance request.

The write control unit 124 causes the tag communication unit 120 to send the issuance request unit 144 to the RF tag 30 whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information wirelessly transmitted by the authentication information transmission unit 122 to the tag communication unit 120. The issue identification information received from the management server 200 may be controlled to be written in the RF tag 30 by wirelessly transmitting the issue identification information.

The registration unit 130 may register the tag identification information read by the reading unit 110 and the issue identification information in association with each other. For example, after the issuance identification information is written to the RF tag 30 by the write control unit 124, the registration unit 130 transmits the tag identification information and the issuance identification information to the article management server 200 via the communication unit 132. , tag identification information and issue identification information may be registered.

Instead of the reading information acquisition unit 112 acquiring the authentication information read from the tag management barcode 32 by the reading unit 110, the authentication information acquisition unit 146 may acquire the authentication information. The authentication information acquisition unit 146 transmits the tag identification information read from the tag management barcode 32 by the reading unit 110 to the article management server 200, and receives authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the article management server 200. Authentication information may be obtained by The authentication information acquisition unit 146 stores the acquired authentication information in the storage unit 102.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an example of the flow of processing by the reader/writer 100. Here, we will explain the processing content of the reader/writer 100 when the user of the reader/writer 100 continuously reads the article management barcode 22 and tag management barcode 32 attached to one article 20. .

In step (step may be abbreviated as S) 102, the read information acquisition unit 112 acquires article information read from the article management barcode 22 by the reading unit 110 according to the user's operation. In S104, the read information acquisition unit 112 acquires the authentication information read from the tag management barcode 32 by the reading unit 110 according to the user's operation. The order of S102 and S104 may be reversed.

In S106, in response to the read information acquisition unit 112 successively acquiring article information and authentication information in S102 and S104, the authentication information transmission unit 122 transmits the authentication information acquired by the read information acquisition unit 112 in S104. Wireless transmission is performed using the tag communication unit 120. As a result, the writing restriction state of the RF tag 30 attached to the one article 20 is released.

In S108, in response to the authentication information transmission unit 122 wirelessly transmitting authentication information using the tag communication unit 120 in S106, the write control unit 124 uses the tag communication unit 120 to transmit the read information acquisition unit in S104. 112 wirelessly transmits the acquired article information. As a result, the article information is written to the RF tag 30 whose write-restricted state was released in S106.

The information processing system 10 in the embodiment described above may further include a writing device 300 that writes authentication information to the RF tag 30.

FIG. 4 schematically shows an example of the flow of processing by the reader/writer 100. Here, the flow of processing when the reader/writer 100 is set to the issue request mode will be described.

In S202, the read information acquisition unit 112 acquires article information read from the article management barcode 22 by the reading unit 110 according to the user's operation. In S204, the read information acquisition unit 112 acquires the authentication information read from the tag management barcode 32 by the reading unit 110 according to the user's operation. The order of S202 and S204 may be reversed.

In S206, in response to the read information acquisition unit 112 successively acquiring article information and authentication information in S202 and S204, the issuance request unit 144 sends an issuance request including article information to article management via the communication unit 132. Send to server 200. In S208, the issuance request unit 144 acquires, via the communication unit 132, the issuance identification information sent by the article management server 200 in response to the issuance request sent in S206.

In S210, the authentication information transmitting unit 122 wirelessly transmits the authentication information acquired by the read information acquiring unit 112 in S204 using the tag communication unit 120. As a result, the writing restriction state of the RF tag 30 attached to the one article 20 is released.

In S212, in response to the authentication information transmission unit 122 wirelessly transmitting authentication information using the tag communication unit 120 in S210, the write control unit 124 uses the tag communication unit 120 to transmit the authentication information to the issuance request unit 144 in S208. wirelessly transmits the issued issue identification information that it has acquired. As a result, the issuance identification information is written to the RF tag 30 whose write-restricted state was released in S210.

FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of the flow of processing by the reader/writer 100. Here, the processing contents of the reader/writer 100 when the tag management barcode 32 does not include authentication information will be described.

In S302, the read information acquisition unit 112 acquires the article information read from the article management barcode 22 by the reading unit 110 according to the user's operation. In S304, the read information acquisition unit 112 acquires the tag identification information read from the tag management barcode 32 by the reading unit 110 according to the user's operation. The order of S302 and S304 may be reversed.

In S306, in response to the reading information acquisition unit 112 successively acquiring article information and tag identification information in S302 and S304, the authentication information acquisition unit 146 acquires the tag identification information acquired by the reading information acquisition unit 112 in S304. It is transmitted to the article management server 200. In S308, the authentication information acquisition unit 146 receives authentication information corresponding to the tag identification information transmitted in S306 from the article management server 200.

In S310, the authentication information transmission unit 122 wirelessly transmits the authentication information acquired by the authentication information acquisition unit 146 in S308 using the tag communication unit 120. As a result, the writing restriction state of the RF tag 30 attached to the one article 20 is released.

In S312, in response to the authentication information transmission unit 122 wirelessly transmitting authentication information using the tag communication unit 120 in S310, the write control unit 124 uses the tag communication unit 120 to transmit the read information acquisition unit in S304. 112 wirelessly transmits the acquired article information. As a result, the article information is written to the RF tag 30 whose write-restricted state was released in S310.

FIG. 6 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the writing device 300. The writing device 300 may be, for example, a so-called RFID printer. The writing device 300 includes a writing section 302, a registration section 304, a storage section 306, and a tag management section 308.

The writing unit 302 writes information to the RF tag 30. The writing unit 302 may write information to the RF tag 30 using a radio wave method. The writing unit 302 may write information to the RF tag 30 using an electromagnetic induction method.

The registration unit 304 registers information to be written to the RF tag 30. The registration unit 304 may store the registered information in the storage unit 306. The registration unit 304 may register information input via an input device included in the writing device 300. The registration unit 304 may register information received from other devices.

The registration unit 304 registers, for example, authentication information corresponding to the RF tag 30 to be written. The storage unit 306 stores authentication information corresponding to the RF tag 30. When there are a plurality of RF tags 30 to be written, the registration unit 304 may register a plurality of pieces of authentication information, each of which corresponds to each of the plurality of RF tags 30.

The tag management unit 308 writes the authentication information corresponding to the RF tag 30 stored in the storage unit 306 into the RF tag 30, and controls the RF tag 30 to enter a write-restricted state. The tag management unit 308 may control the writing unit 302 to write the authentication information to the RF tag 30.

The tag management unit 308 controls, for example, to write PasswordWrite in the EPC area or User area of the RF tag 30, and write authentication information in the RESERVED area of the RF tag 30.

Note that the writing device 300 may write the article information of the article 20 to which the RF tag 30 is attached to the RF tag 30 as authentication information for canceling the writing restriction state of the RF tag 30. For example, the storage unit 306 stores the tag identification information of the RF tag 30 and the article information of the article to which the RF tag 30 is attached in association with each other. Then, the tag management unit 308 reads article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag 30 from the storage unit 306, writes it to the RF tag 30 as authentication information, and puts the RF tag 30 in a write-restricted state. control like this.

In this case, there is no need to attach the tag management barcode 32 to the article 20. The reading unit 110 of the reader/writer 100 reads the article from the article management barcode 22 of the article to which the write-restricted RF tag 30 and the article management barcode 22 containing article information are attached, according to the user's operation. Read information. The authentication information transmitter 122 controls the article information read by the reader 110 to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag 30. The authentication information transmission section 122 may cause the tag communication section 120 to wirelessly transmit the article information. The write control unit 124 wirelessly transmits the article information to the RF tag 30 whose writing restriction state has been canceled by the article information wirelessly transmitted by the tag communication unit 120, and controls the RF tag 30 to write the article information. .

As described above, by using the article information as authentication information, it is possible to eliminate the need to attach the tag management barcode 32 to the article 20, and it is possible to reduce work impossibility and management load.

FIG. 7 schematically shows an example of the flow of processing by the writing device 300. Here, a flow will be described in which the article information of the article 20 to which the RF tag 30 is attached is written to a plurality of RF tags 30 as authentication information for canceling the writing restriction state of the RF tag 30.

In S402, the registration unit 304 stores, for each of the plurality of RF tags 30, the tag identification information and the item information of the item 20 to which the RF tag 30 is attached in association with each other in the storage unit 306. In S404, the RF tag 30 to be written is set in the writing unit 302. The writing device 300 may mechanically set the RF tag 30. Furthermore, the RF tag 30 may be set manually.

In S406, the tag management unit 308 reads article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the RF tag 30 set in the writing unit 302 from the storage unit 306, writes it to the RF tag 30 as authentication information, and writes the article information to the RF tag 30 as authentication information. 30 into a write-restricted state. If writing to all tags has not been completed (NO in S408), the process returns to S404 and the next RF tag 30 is set in the writing unit 302. If writing to all tags is completed (YES in S408), the process ends.

FIG. 8 schematically shows an example of the functional configuration of the article management server 200. The article management server 200 includes a storage section 202, a registration section 204, a reception section 206, and a transmission section 208.

The registration unit 204 registers various information. For example, the registration unit 204 registers tag identification information and authentication information in association with each other. The registration unit 204 may store, in the storage unit 202, authentication registration information in which tag identification cormorant information and authentication information are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags 30.

Receiving section 206 receives various information. The receiving unit 206 receives tag identification information from the reader/writer 100, for example.

The transmitter 208 transmits various information. For example, when the receiving unit 206 receives tag identification information from the reader/writer 100, the transmitting unit 208 refers to the authentication registration information stored in the storage unit 202 and transmits the authentication information corresponding to the received tag identification information. is transmitted to the reader/writer 100.

Further, for example, the receiving unit 206 receives article information and tag identification information from the reader/writer 100. The registration unit 204 may register the article information received by the reception unit 206 and the tag identification information in association with each other.

FIG. 9 schematically shows an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1200 that functions as the reader/writer 100, the article management server 200, or the writing device 300. The computer 1200 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 1212, a RAM 1214, and a graphics controller 1216, which are interconnected by a host controller 1210. Computer 1200 also includes input/output units such as a communication interface 1222, a storage device 1224, a DVD drive, and an IC card drive, which are connected to host controller 1210 via input/output controller 1220. The DVD drive may be a DVD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, etc. Storage device 1224 may be a hard disk drive, solid state drive, or the like. Computer 1200 also includes legacy input/output units, such as ROM 1230 and a keyboard, which are connected to input/output controller 1220 via input/output chips 1240.

CPU 1212 operates according to programs stored in ROM 1230 and RAM 1214, thereby controlling each unit. For example, the program may cause a computer 1200 including a reading unit 110, a tag communication unit 120, a communication unit 132, and a display unit 142 to It functions as a reading control section 126, a registration section 130, and a display control section 140. For example, the program causes the computer 1200 including the writing section 302 to function as the registration section 304, the storage section 306, and the tag management section 308. Graphics controller 1216 obtains image data generated by CPU 1212, such as in a frame buffer provided in RAM 1214 or itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on display device 1218.

Communication interface 1222 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. Storage device 1224 stores programs and data used by CPU 1212 within computer 1200. The DVD drive reads a program or data from a DVD-ROM or the like and provides it to the storage device 1224. The IC card drive reads programs and data from and/or writes programs and data to the IC card.

ROM 1230 stores therein programs that are dependent on the computer 1200 hardware, such as a boot program that is executed by the computer 1200 upon activation. I/O chip 1240 may also connect various I/O units to I/O controller 1220 via USB ports, parallel ports, serial ports, keyboard ports, mouse ports, etc.

The program is provided by a computer readable storage medium such as a DVD-ROM or an IC card. The program is read from a computer-readable storage medium, installed in storage device 1224, RAM 1214, or ROM 1230, which are also examples of computer-readable storage media, and executed by CPU 1212. The information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 1200 and provides coordination between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be configured to implement the operation or processing of information according to the use of computer 1200.

For example, when communication is performed between the computer 1200 and an external device, the CPU 1212 executes a communication program loaded into the RAM 1214 and sends communication processing to the communication interface 1222 based on the processing written in the communication program. You may give orders. The communication interface 1222 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer area provided in a recording medium such as a RAM 1214, a storage device 1224, a DVD-ROM, or an IC card under the control of the CPU 1212, and transmits the read transmission data. Data is transmitted to the network, or received data received from the network is written to a reception buffer area provided on the recording medium.

In addition, the CPU 1212 causes the RAM 1214 to read all or a necessary part of a file or database stored in an external recording medium such as a storage device 1224, a DVD drive (DVD-ROM), an IC card, etc. Various types of processing may be performed on the data. CPU 1212 may then write the processed data back to an external storage medium.

Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored on a recording medium and subjected to information processing. CPU 1212 performs various types of operations, information processing, conditional determination, conditional branching, unconditional branching, and information retrieval on data read from RAM 1214 as described elsewhere in this disclosure and specified by the program's instruction sequence. Various types of processing may be performed, including /substitutions, etc., and the results are written back to RAM 1214. Further, the CPU 1212 may search for information in a file in a recording medium, a database, or the like. For example, when a plurality of entries are stored in a recording medium, each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, the CPU 1212 selects the first entry from among the plurality of entries. Search for an entry whose attribute value matches the specified condition, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby set the attribute value to the first attribute that satisfies the predetermined condition. An attribute value of the associated second attribute may be obtained.

The programs or software modules described above may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on or near computer 1200. Also, a storage medium such as a hard disk or RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as a computer-readable storage medium, thereby allowing the program to be transferred to the computer 1200 via the network. provide.

Blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams of the present embodiments may represent stages in a process in which an operation is performed or a "part" of a device responsible for performing the operation. Certain steps and "units" are provided with dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and/or provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. May be implemented by a processor. Dedicated circuitry may include digital and/or analog hardware circuits, and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and/or discrete circuits. Programmable circuits can perform AND, OR, EXCLUSIVE OR, NAND, NOR, and other logical operations, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), etc. , flip-flops, registers, and memory elements.

A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions for execution by a suitable device such that a computer-readable storage medium with instructions stored therein may be illustrated in a flowchart or block diagram. A product will be provided that includes instructions that can be executed to create a means for performing specified operations. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, and the like. More specific examples of computer readable storage media include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM or flash memory), electrically erasable Includes programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), static random access memory (SRAM), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc, memory stick, integrated circuit card, etc. It's fine.

Computer-readable instructions may include assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state configuration data, or instructions such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, etc. any source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages such as may include.

The computer-readable instructions are for producing means for a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, or programmable circuit to perform the operations specified in the flowchart or block diagrams. A general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processor, locally or over a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, to execute the computer readable instructions. It may be provided in a processor or programmable circuit of the device. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, and the like.

Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the range described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the embodiments described above. It is clear from the claims that such modifications or improvements may be included within the technical scope of the present invention.

The execution order of each process, such as an operation, a procedure, a step, and a stage in the apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims, specification, and drawings, specifically refers to "before" or "before". It should be noted that they can be implemented in any order unless the output of the previous process is used in the subsequent process. Even if the claims, specifications, and operational flows in the drawings are explained using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, this does not mean that it is essential to carry out the operations in this order. It's not a thing.

10 information processing system, 20 article, 22 article management barcode, 30 RF tag, 32 tag management barcode, 40 network, 50 relay device, 100 reader/writer, 102 storage section, 110 reading section, 112 read information acquisition section , 120 tag communication section, 122 authentication information transmission section, 124 write control section, 126 reading control section, 130 registration section, 132 communication section, 140 display control section, 142 display section, 144 issuance request section, 146 authentication information acquisition section , 200 article management server, 202 storage unit, 204 registration unit, 206 reception unit, 208 transmission unit, 300 writing device, 302 writing unit, 304 registration unit, 306 storage unit, 308 tag management unit, 1200 computer, 1210 host Controller, 1212 CPU, 1214 RAM, 1216 Graphic controller, 1218 Display device, 1220 Input/output controller, 1222 Communication interface, 1224 Storage device, 1230 ROM, 1240 Input/output chip

Claims (14)

The article has an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode containing authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag, and an article management barcode containing article information. a reading unit that reads the authentication information and the article information from the tag management barcode and the article management barcode;
an authentication information transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the authentication information read by the reader to the RF tag;
The article information read by the reading unit or the issued identification information issued based on the article information is wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information, and the article information is transmitted to the RF tag. and a write control unit that controls writing of the article information or the issue identification information. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the authentication information is different for each of the plurality of RF tags. The tag management barcode includes tag identification information that can identify the RF tag,
The reading unit reads the authentication information and the tag identification information from the tag management barcode,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a registration unit that registers the tag identification information read by the reading unit and the article information or the issue identification information in association with each other. The information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the registration unit transmits the tag identification information read by the reading unit and the article information or the issue identification information to an article management server that manages the article. The tag management barcode and the article management bar of an article to which a write-restricted RF tag, a tag management barcode containing tag identification information, and an article management barcode containing article information are attached. a reading unit that reads the tag identification information and the article information from the code;
The reading unit is stored in a server that stores authentication registration information in which the tag identification information and authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags. an authentication information acquisition unit that transmits the read tag identification information and receives the authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the server;
an authentication information transmitter configured to wirelessly transmit the authentication information acquired by the authentication information acquirer to the RF tag;
The article information read by the reading unit or the issued identification information issued based on the article information is wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information, and the article information is transmitted to the RF tag. and a write control unit that controls writing of the article information or the issue identification information. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Equipped with a writing device and
The writing device includes:
a storage unit that stores the authentication information corresponding to the RF tag;
an information processing system, comprising: a tag management unit that controls the RF tag to write the authentication information corresponding to the RF tag stored in the storage unit into the RF tag and put the RF tag in a write-restricted state. The article has an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode containing authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag, and an article management barcode containing article information. an information processing device including a reading unit that reads the authentication information and the article information from the tag management barcode and the article management barcode;
an authentication information sending step of controlling the authentication information read by the reading unit to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag; and the article information read by the reading unit or issued identification information issued based on the article information. A program for executing a write control step of controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be written in the RF tag by wirelessly transmitting it to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information. The tag management barcode and the article management bar of an article to which a write-restricted RF tag, a tag management barcode containing tag identification information, and an article management barcode containing article information are attached. an information processing device including a reading unit that reads the tag identification information and the article information from the code;
The reading unit is stored in a server that stores authentication registration information in which the tag identification information and authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags. an authentication information acquisition step of transmitting the read tag identification information and receiving the authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the server;
an authentication information transmission step of controlling the authentication information acquired in the authentication information acquisition step to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag;
The article information read by the reading unit or the issued identification information issued based on the article information is wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been released by the authentication information, and the article information is transmitted to the RF tag. and a write control step for controlling writing of the article information or the issue identification information. An information processing method performed by a computer, the method comprising:
The article has an RF tag in a write-restricted state, a tag management barcode containing authentication information for canceling the write-restricted state of the RF tag, and an article management barcode containing article information. a reading step of reading the authentication information and the article information from the tag management barcode and the article management barcode;
an authentication information transmitting step of controlling the authentication information read in the reading step to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag;
The article information read in the reading step or the issued identification information issued based on the article information is wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information, and the RF tag is read. an information processing method, comprising: a write control step for controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be written to the article information; An information processing method performed by a computer, the method comprising:
The tag management barcode and the article management bar of an article to which a write-restricted RF tag, a tag management barcode containing tag identification information, and an article management barcode containing article information are attached. a reading step of reading the tag identification information and the article information from the code;
In the reading step, a server stores authentication registration information in which the tag identification information and authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag are registered in association with each other for each of the plurality of RF tags. an authentication information acquisition step of transmitting the read tag identification information and receiving the authentication information corresponding to the transmitted tag identification information from the server;
an authentication information transmission step of controlling the authentication information acquired in the authentication information acquisition step to be wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag;
The article information read in the reading step or the issued identification information issued based on the article information is wirelessly transmitted to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the authentication information, and the RF tag is read. an information processing method, comprising: a write control step for controlling the article information or the issue identification information to be written to the article information; a storage unit that stores tag identification information that allows identification of the RF tag and article information regarding the article to which the RF tag is attached in association with each other;
The article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag is read from the storage unit, and written to the RF tag as authentication information for canceling the write restriction state of the RF tag, thereby restricting the writing of the RF tag. A writing device comprising: a tag management section for controlling the state; A program for causing a computer to function as the writing device according to claim 11. A writing device according to claim 11;
Equipped with an information processing device and
The information processing device includes:
a reading unit that reads the article information from the article management barcode of an article to which the RF tag in a write-restricted state and the article management barcode including the article information are attached;
an article information transmitting section that controls wirelessly transmitting the article information read by the reading section to the RF tag;
an information processing system comprising: a write control unit configured to wirelessly transmit the article information to the RF tag whose write restriction state has been canceled by the article information, and to write the article information to the RF tag. An information processing method performed by a computer, the method comprising:
a storage step of storing in a storage unit tag identification information that allows identification of the RF tag and article information regarding the article to which the RF tag is attached in association with each other;
The article information corresponding to the tag identification information of the target RF tag is read from the storage unit, and written to the RF tag as authentication information for canceling the writing restriction state of the RF tag, and the RF tag is read from the storage unit. An information processing method comprising: a tag management step of placing the tag in a restricted state;

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