JP5216732B2 - Wireless tag reading control device, wireless tag reading control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless tag reading control device and a wireless tag reading control program that form a group including a plurality of wireless reading devices that read information from a wireless tag and control reading of the information.

  There is an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that reads information on a wireless tag attached to an article, for example, a product without contact, and passes the read information to a higher-level application. The RFID system acquires a list of RFID tag identifiers as a result of reading from a plurality of wireless readers (readers), and performs processing such as merging (removal of duplicate identifiers) and filtering, and passes them to the application. So-called RFID middleware is included. Regarding the entire RFID system including RFID middleware, as disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1, there is a standard specification by an international organization EPCglobal, which is widely used in the logistics and distribution fields.

In the specifications defined in EPCglobal, the RFID middleware has the following functions.
1. At least one logical group including a part or all of a plurality of wireless readers (specifically, antennas) as members, and reading results (wireless tags) acquired from the wireless readers belonging to the group The list of identifiers) is merged and counted as a reading result of one virtual reader.
2. From the aggregated result, identifiers unnecessary for the application are filtered out.
3. The identifiers that have passed the filtering are classified for each group based on the condition given by the application.
4). The result of the above processing is described in an XML (Extensible Markup Language) document and sent to the application as a report.

  As described above, in order to use the RFID middleware based on the specifications defined in EPCglobal, first, one or more wireless readers (specifically, antennas connected to the reader) are selected and grouped. Need to be configured.

  However, for example, when many antennas are distributed so that they can cover the entire range from the entrance to the back of a large warehouse, they are placed in some areas of the warehouse (for example, near the entrance). When it is desired to read only the wireless tag attached to an article, it is not always clear which antenna should be selected to form a group.

  Since the readable range of the antenna varies depending on the surrounding radio wave environment, selecting only the antenna at the entrance and making it a group does not necessarily read all wireless tags attached to items in a desired area. That said, if you add a group from the entrance to the antenna in the back with a margin for safety, many wireless tags, including those that do not need to be read, will be read, and this will put a load on the system. . Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult and troublesome to determine the antenna to be added to the group.

  The present invention has been made based on such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to create a logical group including a plurality of wireless readers that read information from a wireless tag as an environment for reading information from the wireless tag. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wireless tag reading control device that can be easily set in accordance with the above, and a wireless tag reading control program that allows a computer to function as the wireless tag reading control device.

The present invention relates to a tag reading unit that receives information including an identifier of a wireless tag from a plurality of wireless reading devices as a reading result, and a logical reader that includes a logical group including a plurality of wireless reading devices as members. Logical reader configuration information storage means for storing information indicating the wireless reader belonging to the logical reader as logical reader configuration information, and receiving means for receiving the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader together with a command for generating the logical reader And instructing the tag reading means to acquire a reading result from one or more of the plurality of wireless reading devices in response to the command received by the receiving means, and the logical reader setting wireless Logical reader configuration information whose members are the wireless readers that have returned the reading results including the tag identifiers is generated to generate the logical readers. Configuration information storage means is stored, said logical reader configuration information periodically checks the identifier of the RFID tag logic reader settings are read all by the wireless reader members indicated, unread the identifier And a logical reader configuration information generating means for generating the logical reader configuration information again when there is a problem .

  According to the present invention in which such a measure is taken, an effect that a logical group including a plurality of wireless reading devices that read information from a wireless tag as members can be easily set in accordance with an environment for reading information from the wireless tag. Play.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the RFID system in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the logical reader table in which the setting content of the logical reader in 1st Embodiment was recorded. The figure which shows an example of the logical reader table containing the added logical reader in 1st Embodiment. The figure for demonstrating the outline of the logic reader production | generation process in 1st Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the logic reader creation process by the logic reader production | generation part of the middleware in 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the logical reader table in 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart explaining the whole procedure of the reconfiguration | reconstruction of the logical reader in 2nd Embodiment. The flowchart explaining the detail of the procedure of the reconfiguration | reconstruction process of the logical leader in FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the RFID system in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the RFID system includes a plurality of readers (wireless readers) 1, 2, a reader control PC (personal computer) 10, a management PC (personal computer) 12, and a client PC (personal computer) 14. Is included. The RFID system in the first embodiment is assumed to be configured in accordance with, for example, EPCglobal specifications. The readers 1 and 2 are controlled by a reader control PC 10 (middleware 20 (wireless tag reading control program)), and a tag ID (tag information) recorded on a wireless tag 6 attached to an article (product or the like). ) Without contact. In addition to a header for identifying a code system, for example, the tag ID includes, for example, data representing a company code, a product item code, a product serial number, and the like.

  In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the RFID tag reading control apparatus according to the present invention is realized by executing the middleware 20 (wireless tag reading control program) in the reader control PC 10. In FIG. 1, the reader control PC 10 and the management PC 12 are realized by separate computers, but may be realized by a single computer. A configuration in which the functions of the management PC 12 and the client PC 14 are realized by one computer is also possible.

  For the sake of simplicity, FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which two readers 1 and 2 are connected to one reader control PC 10, but three or more readers can be provided. In FIG. 1, only one reader control PC 10 is shown, but a plurality of reader control PCs 10 may be provided and managed by the management PC 12. Moreover, it can also be set as the structure which provided several client PC14. In FIG. 1, the reader 1 is provided with two antennas A and B, and the reader 2 is provided with two antennas C and D. The number of antennas that can be used is not limited to two.

  The reader control PC 10 implements each functional unit by executing the middleware 20 (program) by a processor. The middleware 20 has a representative functional configuration that complies with, for example, specifications according to the international standard EPCglobal. As shown in FIG. 1, the middleware 20 in the first embodiment includes a control unit 30, a reading setting information storage unit 31, an interface unit 32, a logical reader generation unit 35, a logical reader storage unit 36, a tag reading unit 37, and an aggregation process. Unit 38, filtering processing unit 40, grouping processing unit 41, and report generation unit 42.

  Readers 1 and 2 (antennas A, B, C, and D), which are wireless readers, are connected to the lower part of the middleware 20, and the management software part 24 that operates on the management PC 12 and the RFID application part that operates on the client PC 14 are connected to the upper part. 22 are connected to each other.

  The management software unit 24 of the management PC 12 has a function by executing a management program by a processor. For example, in response to an instruction from a system administrator, a new logical reader is sent to the reader control PC 10 (middleware 20). Execute the process to instruct the creation of. When instructing creation of a logical reader, the management software unit 24 provides the middleware 20 with a list of names of logical readers to be newly created and identifiers of RFID tags for setting logical readers.

  Here, the logical reader means selecting a part or all of a plurality of readers that can be used by the middleware 20 or a plurality of antennas (antennas A to D in FIG. 1) as a logical group. Is a virtual reader composed of In the description of the first embodiment, it is assumed that a logical reader is generated by grouping in units of antennas.

  The RFID application unit 22 of the client PC 14 has a function by executing an RFID application by a processor. By sending read setting information to the reader control PC 10 (middleware 20), the logical reader or the readers 1 and 2 Reading information from the wireless tag 6 is executed.

  The RFID application unit 22 designates, as read setting information, a logical reader (or reader) used for reading the wireless tag 6, filtering and grouping conditions for information read from the wireless tag 6, and a time interval for reading the wireless tag. Information is passed to the middleware 20.

  The antennas belonging to the logical reader need not be connected to the same reader (physically existing reader). For example, a combination of the antenna B of the reader 1 and the antenna C of the reader 2 is combined into one logic. It can also be a reader. An example of a logical reader table (logical reader configuration information) in which setting contents for the logical reader are recorded is shown in FIG.

  In the logical reader table shown in FIG. 2, a total of four logical readers “Leader Left”, “Reader Right”, “Reader Central”, and “All Readers” are recorded. For example, when the RFID application unit 22 wants to perform reading using only antennas B and C located in the center in the array from antennas A to D, “reader center” is designated by the reading setting information as the logical reader name. To do.

  In the RFID middleware 20 according to the first embodiment, not only a logical reader fixed in advance by a system administrator as shown in FIG. 2, but also management software for the management PC 12 by a logical reader generation process described later. A logical reader can be created and added to the logical reader table in accordance with an instruction from the unit 24.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a logical reader table including a logical reader added in addition to a fixedly generated logical reader. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a logical reader including antennas A and B of the reader 1 and C of the reader 2 is added as the logical reader name “custom”, for example. Details of the logical reader generation processing will be described later (FIG. 5).

Next, the operation of the RFID system in the first embodiment will be described.
First, a reading process for reading information from the wireless tag 6 will be described.
When the middleware 20 of the reader control PC 10 receives the read setting information from the RFID application unit 22 of the client PC 14 via the interface unit 32, it stores it in the read setting information storage unit 31. The control unit 30 instructs the tag reading unit 37 to read the wireless tag 6 from the specified logical reader at the reading time interval specified by the reading setting information.

  The tag reading unit 37 reads the logical reader table recorded in the logical reader storage unit 36 to determine which antenna the specified logical reader actually corresponds to. The tag reading unit 37 instructs the readers 1 and 2 to read the wireless tag 6 from the antenna corresponding to the logical reader determined from the logical reader table.

  For example, it is assumed that the RFID application unit 22 designates “leader center” as the logical reader name by the read setting information. The actual devices corresponding to the virtual logical reader name “leader center” are the antenna B of the reader 1 and the antenna C of the reader 2 as shown in the logical reader table shown in FIG. A command is issued to read the wireless tag 6 using the antenna B for the reader 1 and the antenna C for the reader 2 at regular intervals (reading time intervals). When a list of identifiers of the wireless tag 6 is returned as a reading result from each of the readers 1 and 2, it passes it to the totalization processing unit 38.

  The totalization processing unit 38 removes duplicate identifiers from the reading results (such as the identifiers of the wireless tags 6 that are read by the antennas B and C at the same time and are commonly included in the reading results of the readers 1 and 2). hand over.

  The filtering processing unit 40 removes unnecessary identifiers of the wireless tags 6 according to the conditions described in the read setting information passed from the RFID application unit 22 and passes the result to the grouping processing unit 41.

  The grouping processing unit 41 classifies the identifier of the wireless tag 6 for each group based on, for example, the manufacturer of the article to which the wireless tag 6 is attached or the manufacturing date and time, according to the conditions described in the reading setting information passed from the application. Then, it is passed to the report generator 42.

The report generation unit 42 converts the received information into an XML document and sends it to the RFID application unit 22 as a report via the interface unit 32. Thereby, the information reading operation by the control of the RFID middleware 20 is completed.
Note that what has been described as the read setting information and the XML format report in the above description are called ECSpec and ECReports in the EPCglobal standard, respectively.

Next, the logical reader generation process in the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the logical reader generation processing in the first embodiment.
In the wireless tag reading control device (RFID system) in the first embodiment, a plurality of wireless tags having specific IDs (identifiers) for logical reader setting are appropriately distributed and arranged in a range where information is to be read. Thus, a combination of readers that can read information from all of the wireless tags is made into a group, and this group can be generated as one logical reader (logical reader).

  That is, when a logical reader is generated, it is not specified, for example, as “set of reader 1 and reader 2”, but from a higher layer (client PC 14 (RFID application unit 22) in FIG. 1), ) Is designated as “a logical reader capable of reading information from the wireless tags X, Y, and Z”. As a result, the middleware 20 automatically generates a logical reader composed of the readers 1 and 2 as shown in FIG. By providing this logical reader (for example, “name”) to the upper layer, the upper layer can designate read setting information using this logical reader. Thereby, even if the user of the RFID system replaces the physical readers 1 and 2 (hardware), for example, the user can continue to use it without being aware of the change of the setting of the logical reader.

  Hereinafter, a specific example of the logical reader generation process in the first embodiment will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a logical reader creation process by the logical reader generation unit 35 of the middleware 20.
In order to create a new logical reader, the system administrator creates a wireless tag with an identifier α in front of the antenna A, a wireless tag 6 with an identifier β in front of the antenna B, and an identifier γ. The wireless tags 6 are respectively arranged in front of the antennas C. Next, the administrator instructs the middleware 20 to create a new logical reader through the management software unit 24 of the management PC 12.

  The middleware 20 notifies the logical reader generation unit 35 of the command received via the interface unit 32. At this time, the name of the logical reader (here, “custom”) and the list of RFID tags {α, β, γ} used for setting the logical reader are passed to the middleware 20 as arguments of the command. The wireless tag used here is used for logical reader setting, but it does not need to be a special one, and is generally a normal type that is attached to an article and used for inventory management. Wireless tags can be used. The information (identifier) read from the wireless tag used for the logical reader setting only needs to be known.

When receiving the logical reader creation command, the logical reader generation unit 35 executes the logical reader creation process shown in the flowchart of FIG.
First, the logical reader generation unit 35 creates an entry for a new logical reader in the logical reader table stored in the logical reader storage unit 36 (step A1).

  Next, the logical reader generation unit 35 instructs the tag reading unit 37 to execute the wireless tag reading process using all antennas of all connected readers (step A2). In this example, the tag reading unit 37 instructs the reader 1 to perform reading processing using the antennas A and B and the reader 2 using the antennas C and D, respectively.

  In the above description, the RFID tag reading process is executed using all the antennas of all readers. However, for readers (or antennas) that are known in advance that they are not incorporated into the logical reader. May not execute the reading process. In other words, the logical reader generation unit 35 designates one or more readers (or antennas) that are candidate components of the logical reader to the tag reading unit 37. The tag reading unit 37 causes the specified at least one reader (or antenna) to execute a wireless tag reading process. Thereby, useless reading by a reader (or an antenna) that is not incorporated in the logical reader can be avoided.

  Next, the logical reader generation unit 35 acquires the reading result through the tag reading unit 37 (step A3), and for each antenna, the logical reader setting wireless tag passed as an argument to the reading result from the antenna. Check for at least one identifier. When the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader is included (step A4, Yes), the logical reader generation unit 35 adds the antenna as a member of the logical reader to the newly created entry in the logical reader table ( Step A7).

  In this example, it is checked whether or not at least one of the identifiers {α, β, γ} is included in the result of reading from each antenna. The wireless tag with the identifier α is read from the antenna A, the wireless tag with the identifier β is read from the antenna B, and the wireless tag with the identifier γ is read from the antenna C. However, no wireless tag is read from the antenna D. Antennas A, B, and C are added to the logical reader table entry as members of the logical reader.

  When the logical reader generation unit 35 finishes the inspection for the read result (steps A5, A6, Yes), the logical reader is read from any antenna among the wireless tags with identifiers {α, β, γ} used for setting the logical reader. Check for missing wireless tags. If there is even one wireless tag that has not been read from any antenna, this means that it is not possible to configure a logical reader that can read all the wireless tags placed for setting the logical reader. It is assumed that the process has failed (Step A8, No). In the example described here, since all of the wireless tags with the identifiers {α, β, γ} are read, the logical reader setting process is successful (step A8, Yes).

  Since the logical reader generation unit 35 determines that the logical reader has been successfully set, the logical reader table held by the logical reader storage unit 36 has a logical reader name “custom” and a member who is a leader as shown in FIG. An entry which is the antennas A and B of the first antenna and the antenna C of the reader 2 is newly added.

Thereby, the logical reader generation process is completed. After the processing is completed, the wireless tag with the identifier {α, β, γ} for setting the logical reader may be removed from the front of each reader (antenna) or may be left as it is. In the case of leaving it, the RFID application unit 22 needs to set filtering conditions so that those wireless tags are not included in the report.
The RFID application unit 22 of the client PC 14 is provided with a logical reader name “custom” of a logical reader that is newly created by, for example, an instruction from the management software unit 24 by an administrator. Similarly to the reader, it is possible to specify the logical reader name “custom” in the reading setting information and execute reading by a new logical reader.

  In the above description, the system administrator places the RFID tags (identifiers {α, β, γ}) for setting the logical reader in front of each antenna in consideration of the positions of the antennas A, B, and C. However, in practice, the administrator does not need to be aware of the antenna position when creating a logical reader. Wireless tags for logical reader setting are appropriately distributed and arranged within the reading range that is desired to be valid as a logical reader, and their identifiers are passed to the logical reader generation unit 35 through the management software unit 24 to instruct the creation of the logical reader. For example, an appropriate antenna is automatically selected as a member of the logical reader.

  In the above description, the case where a logical reader is newly created has been described. However, there is no change in the arrangement of the reader and antenna for the already created logical reader, but the range to be read by the logical reader is changed. The same processing may be executed when it is desired to do so, or when there is no change in the range to be read but there is a need to change the members of the logical reader due to antenna replacement or the like.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the administrator of the RFID system simply disperses and arranges the wireless tag for setting the logical reader in a place where the logical reader is to be read. A logical reader of a group consisting of an antenna or a reader (wireless reader) can be automatically set. This is simpler than specifying an antenna or reader identifier and adding it to a group member, and it is possible to reliably set a logical reader consisting of a group that covers the intended reading range. .

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, the logical reader can be easily configured by determining the antenna to be a member of the logical reader based on the identifier of the logical reader setting tag. In the case of (changing a member antenna), the administrator needs to explicitly issue an instruction through the management software unit 24.

  On the other hand, there are various situations in which it is desired to reconfigure the logical reader. For example, if the reading range of each antenna changes due to a change in the antenna arrangement, or if the antenna is replaced with another antenna due to a failure, it is already created because the number of items to be managed has increased from the original schedule. If you want to expand the area to be read by a logical reader that has already been read, or if you want to move the area to be read by a logical reader that has already been created by reviewing the arrangement of shelves or warehouses (for example, if a faulty item has Although it was placed in the back, it was changed to be placed in front of the warehouse so that it can be easily repaired, so the reading area of the logical reader that reads the faulty item is changed from the back to the front).

  In the second embodiment, even in such a situation, the logical reader can be reconfigured without an administrator explicitly giving an instruction.

  In the second embodiment, the logical reader generation unit 35 monitors the reading result by the tag reading unit 37, and periodically checks whether the wireless tag for setting the logical reader has been read by the logical reader. When there is no wireless tag, the logical reader is automatically reconfigured.

  In the second embodiment, the basic configuration / operation is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. The first logical reader is generated in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above.

  The second embodiment is different in that the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader is stored in the logical reader table, and a procedure for reconfiguring the logical reader is newly added.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the logical reader table in the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 6, the logical reader table is associated with the logical reader name (in this example, “custom”) of the logical reader created by the logical reader generation process, and the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader ( In this example, {α, β, γ}) is stored.

A procedure for reconfiguring a logical reader different from that of the first embodiment will be described below.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the entire procedure for reconfiguring the logical reader, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the details of the procedure for reconfiguring the logical reader in FIG.

  Here, wireless tags with identifiers {α, β, γ} for setting a logical reader are arranged in front of antennas A, B, C (readable range), and these wireless devices are the same as in the first embodiment. It is assumed that a logical reader “custom” including the antennas A and B of the reader 1 and the antenna C of the reader 2 is created so that all tags can be read. The RFID application unit 22 issues a command to read using this logical reader, and the name of the logical reader to be used (in this example, “custom”), the filtering condition, the grouping condition, and the reading time interval. And the like are stored in the read setting information storage unit 31.

  The control unit 30 issues a reading command for the wireless tag 6 to the tag reading unit 37 at the reading time interval stored in the reading setting information storage unit 31. Since the procedure for generating a report from the read result is the same as that described in the operation of the RFID middleware 20 of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted. In the second embodiment, the tag reading unit 37 passes the reading result to the logical reader generation unit 35 in addition to the reading result to the totaling processing unit 38. At this time, in addition to the list of RFID tag identifiers, the name of the logical reader (in this example, “custom”) is also passed.

  When receiving the list of the logical reader name and the identifier of the wireless tag read by the logical reader from the tag reading unit 37 (step B1), the logical reader generation unit 35 receives the logical reader table recorded in the logical reader storage unit 36. Then, it is determined whether the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader is recorded in association with the logical reader name.

  If the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader is not recorded in association with the logical reader name, the process ends without doing anything. For example, if the logical reader name is “leader center”, as shown in FIG. 6, the setting tag identifier for “leader center” in the logical reader table is “none”. It is determined that the setting is fixed by the administrator, and the process ends without doing anything.

  Next, the logical reader generation unit 35 includes, in the reading result received from the tag reading unit 37, the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader (in this example, “custom”) (α, β, γ in this example). ) Is included (step B2). If all are included, the configuration of the logical reader may remain as it is, and the process is terminated without doing anything (step B3, Yes).

  On the other hand, if not all of the setting wireless tag identifiers (α, β, γ in this example) are included (step B3, No), the logical reader generation unit 35 needs to reconfigure the logical reader. And the logical reader reconfiguration process is executed (step B4).

  First, the logical reader generation unit 35 deletes a member corresponding to the logical reader name received from the tag reading unit 37 (a list of antennas constituting the logical reader) from the logical reader table (FIG. 8, step C1). ).

  Then, it instructs the tag reading unit 37 to execute reading of the wireless tag using all the antennas A to D of all the readers 1 and 2 (step C2). As described in the first embodiment, if there are readers (or antennas) that are known in advance not to be incorporated into the logical reader, avoid reading instructions from these readers (or antennas). You can also give instructions.

  The logical reader generation unit 35 acquires the reading result through the tag reading unit 37 (step C3), and for each antenna, the reading result from the antenna is recorded in the logical reader setting wireless tag recorded in the logical reader table. Check that at least one identifier is included. When the identifier of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader is included (step C4, Yes), the logical reader generation unit 35 uses the antenna that has read the identifier as a member of the logical reader, and sets the logical reader name in the logical reader table. It adds to the corresponding entry (step C7).

  For example, when the wireless tags with the identifiers α and β are read from the antenna C of the reader 2 and the wireless tag with the identifier γ are read from the antenna D of the reader 2, respectively, as members of the logical reader with the logical reader name “custom”, The antennas C and D of the reader 2 are recorded in the logical reader table.

  When the logical reader generation unit 35 finishes the inspection for the read result (steps C6, C7, Yes), the logical reader generation unit 35 reads the data from any antenna among the wireless tags with identifiers {α, β, γ} used for setting the logical reader. Check for missing wireless tags. If there is even one wireless tag that has not been read from any antenna, this means that it is not possible to configure a logical reader that can read all the wireless tags placed for setting the logical reader. It is assumed that the process has failed (Step C8, No). In this case, the logical reader generation unit 35 notifies the management software unit 24 via the interface unit 32 that an error has occurred in the logical reader reconfiguration process. The management software unit 24 notifies the system administrator by outputting a message notifying that an error has occurred.

  On the other hand, if all of the wireless tags with the identifiers {α, β, γ} have been read (step C8, Yes), the logical reader reconfiguration processing is successfully completed and the processing ends normally.

  In the above description, the inspection and reconfiguration of the logical reader by the logical reader generation unit 35 are executed at the reading time interval specified by the setting information stored in the reading setting information storage unit 31. A timer (clocking function) may be provided inside the logic reader generation unit 35 so that the logic reader generation unit 35 performs the measurement at a time interval independent of the reading time interval. As a result, when it is desired to reconfigure the logical reader, the logical reader can be reconfigured in advance before performing reading in accordance with the reading time interval.

  In this way, according to the second embodiment, when a situation that requires reconfiguration of the logical reader occurs, such as failure and replacement of the reader or antenna (wireless reader), the group that configures the logical reader Since the new reader is automatically added to the group again, it is not necessary for the system administrator to explicitly change the setting of the logical reader group, and convenience is improved.

  In the above description, the antennas A to D are grouped to generate the logical reader. However, the logical reader may be generated in units of readers. That is, readers that have been able to read a wireless tag for setting a logical reader are grouped, and readers belonging to this group are defined as logical readers.

  In the embodiment described above, the RFID system conforms to the EPCglobal specification, and the RFID application unit 22 is logically controlled by controlling the creation of the logical reader through the management software unit 24 provided separately from the RFID application unit 22. If the configuration does not follow the EPCglobal specifications, the function of the management software unit 24 of the management PC 12 is provided in the RFID application unit 22 of the client PC 14 so that the RFID application unit 22 is not involved. However, creation of a logical reader and reading setting may be performed.

  Further, in each embodiment, the reader control PC 10 and the management PC 12 have been described as having the middleware 20 and the management software unit 24 for realizing the functions for carrying out the invention recorded in advance. The program for realizing the same function may be downloaded from the network, or the same function stored in the recording medium may be installed in the reader control PC 10 and the management PC 12. The recording medium may be any form as long as the recording medium can store the program and can be read by the apparatus, such as a CD-ROM. In addition, the function obtained by installing or downloading in advance may be realized in cooperation with the OS or the like inside the apparatus.

  In addition, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiment. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, the constituent elements over different embodiments may be combined.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 ... Reader, A, B, C, D ... Antenna, 6 ... Wireless tag, 10 ... Reader control PC, 12 ... Management PC, 14 ... Client PC, 20 ... Middleware, 22 ... RFID application part, 24 ... Management software part, 30 ... Control part, 31 ... Reading setting information storage part, 32 ... Interface part, 35 ... Logical reader generation part, 36 ... Logical reader storage part, 37 ... Tag reading part, 38 ... Total processing part, 40 ... Filtering processing part, 41 ... Grouping processing part, 42 ... Report generation part.

EPCglobal standard specifications, [online], [searched September 4, 2009], Internet <http://www.epcglobalinc.org/standards>

Claims (2)

Tag reading means for receiving information including an identifier of a wireless tag as a reading result from a plurality of wireless reading devices;
Logical reader configuration information storage means for storing, as logical reader configuration information, information indicating the wireless reader belonging to the logical reader for each of logical readers comprising a logical group having a plurality of wireless readers as members; ,
Receiving means for receiving an identifier of a wireless tag for setting a logical reader together with a command for generating the logical reader configuration information ;
In response to the command received by the receiving unit, the tag reading unit is instructed to acquire a reading result from one or more of the plurality of wireless reading devices, and the logical reader setting wireless tag Logical reader configuration information whose member is the wireless reader that returned the reading result including the identifier is generated and stored in the logical reader configuration information storage means, and the wireless reader of the member indicated by the logical reader configuration information A logical reader configuration information generating means for periodically inspecting whether all of the identifiers of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader have been read, and generating the logical reader configuration information again when there is the identifier that has not been read ; A wireless tag reading control device comprising: Computer
Tag reading means for receiving information including an identifier of a wireless tag as a reading result from a plurality of wireless reading devices;
Logical reader configuration information storage means for storing, as logical reader configuration information, information indicating the wireless reader belonging to the logical reader for each logical reader consisting of a logical group having a plurality of wireless readers as members;
Receiving means for receiving an identifier of a wireless tag for setting a logical reader together with a command for generating the logical reader configuration information ;
In response to the command received by the receiving unit, the tag reading unit is instructed to acquire a reading result from one or more of the plurality of wireless reading devices, and the logical reader setting wireless tag Logical reader configuration information whose member is the wireless reader that returned the reading result including the identifier is generated and stored in the logical reader configuration information storage means, and the wireless reader of the member indicated by the logical reader configuration information Functions as logical reader configuration information generation means for periodically checking whether all the identifiers of the wireless tag for setting the logical reader have been read and generating the logical reader configuration information again when there is an identifier that has not been read. Wireless tag reading control program for making

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