JP7558820B2 - Station service system - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a station service system, a station service device, a control method for a station service system, and a control program for a station service system.

Automated ticket gates (hereafter simply referred to as ticket gates) that use IC (Integrated Circuit) cards to check tickets are widely used in railways and other public transport. When a user such as a passenger passes through a ticket gate, they hold their IC card over the ticket gate's reader, which reads the information recorded on the IC card (hereafter referred to as recorded information), and based on the read recorded information, a control unit within the ticket gate determines whether the user can pass through (whether they can enter or exit), i.e., whether the IC card can be checked.

If it is determined that the ticket can be passed through, the control unit creates detailed data (hereinafter referred to as "individual details") as the processing history, such as the date of use, user ID, card issue ID, station used, device ID, start time of use, end time of use, SF (stored fare) balance, use category, and status, in other words, detailed data showing the ticket passing details on the IC card. The control unit saves the created individual details in the memory unit (disk device) of the ticket gate, and writes record information corresponding to the individual details to the IC card. The ticket gate is then opened, allowing the user to pass through the ticket gate. The control unit then sends the individual details to a higher-level server (for example, a station service server installed at each station), and notifies a management server that manages multiple station service servers that the ticket passing process has been completed. This series of ticket passing processes is performed by a station service system consisting of ticket gates, station service servers, management servers, etc.

In a station service system, if the control unit of the ticket gate determines whether a person can pass through, the processing load on the ticket gate increases and the structure of the ticket gate tends to become complicated. For this reason, one idea for reducing the processing load on the ticket gate and simplifying the structure further is, for example, to have the pass-through determination and the storage of the details on each item performed by a higher-level server rather than by the ticket gate. However, even if such a determination is performed by a higher-level server, the speed at which the details are stored on the server's disk device is slower than the determination processing speed, and this point must be taken into consideration in order to speed up the series of processes. For example, it is possible to speed up processing by writing the record information corresponding to each item detail to an IC card without waiting for the details to be stored on the disk device.

On the other hand, if a failure occurs in the upper server while the details are being saved to a disk device, there is a risk that the details written to the IC card will not be properly backed up.

JP 2011-8588 A

The problem that this embodiment aims to solve is to provide a station service system, station service equipment, a control method for a station service system, and a control program for a station service system that can properly back up individual details while reducing the processing load of the ticket gates, simplifying their structure, and speeding up ticket gate processing.

The station service system of the embodiment includes a ticket gate and a plurality of first devices. The ticket gate reads information recorded on a medium, and performs a ticket gate of the medium based on the read information to permit or prohibit the passage of the user. The plurality of first devices acquire the information read from the medium from the ticket gate, judge whether the user can pass through, and perform a process of generating detailed data indicating the ticket gate contents of the medium in accordance with the judgment result in parallel. The first device notifies the ticket gate of the judgment result. The ticket gate writes record information indicating the ticket gate contents corresponding to the judgment result notified earliest among the plurality of judgment results notified from the plurality of first devices to the medium, notifies the plurality of first devices of the completion of writing, and permits the passage of the user. On the other hand, the ticket gate discards the judgment result of the same pass-through judgment of the user received after receiving the earliest judgment result, and does not write record information indicating the ticket gate contents corresponding to the discarded judgment result to the medium.

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a station service system according to an embodiment. A figure showing example items and example item values of detailed data (single item details) used in the station service system according to the embodiment. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of a pass-through permission/prohibition determination process in the station service system according to the embodiment.

The embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a station service system 1 according to this embodiment. The station service system 1 performs the process of entering and exiting a user from a station, in other words, performs ticket gate processing using a medium carried by the user. As shown in FIG. 1, the station service system 1 is configured with an automatic ticket gate 2, a first device 4, a second device 6, and a third device 8. The first device 4, the second device 6, and the third device 8 are located in a remote area away from the automatic ticket gate 2. These devices 4, 6, and 8 may be located in separate remote areas, or may be located in the same local area. The automatic ticket gate 2 and the first, second, and third devices 4, 6, and 8 correspond to station service devices that constitute the station service system 1. The first device 4, the second device 6, and the third device 8 correspond to station service devices 3 that are higher than the automatic ticket gate 2, and perform ticket gate processing together with the automatic ticket gate 2.

An automated ticket gate (hereafter simply referred to as a ticket gate) 2 is a device that is installed at ticket gates at railway stations and performs ticket gate processing, permitting or prohibiting a user from passing through (entering or exiting). In doing so, the ticket gate 2 reads information recorded on a medium C held by the user, and gates the medium C based on the read information. The ticket gate 2 also specifies specific paths through which the user can pass, and permits or prohibits the user from passing through the paths depending on the results of the ticket gate processing on the medium C. Users include passengers using the railway (passengers boarding and alighting), people entering and exiting the station premises, station staff, maintenance workers, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, the ticket gate 2 has a medium control unit 21, a main control unit 22, a communication control unit 23, and a door opening/closing control unit 24.
The medium control unit 21 reads information (hereinafter, referred to as recorded information) recorded on a medium C possessed by a user. In this embodiment, the medium control unit 21 reads the recorded information through wireless communication with the medium C.
The medium C may be, for example, an IC card with an embedded IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, or may be realized as a function provided in an electronic device such as a smartphone. The medium C includes, for example, a control circuit, a memory, a transmitting/receiving unit for wireless communication with the medium control unit 21, an antenna, and the like. The recorded information is, for example, a combination of various information such as the date of use, user identification information (user ID), identification information unique to the medium C (card issuing ID), the station of use, the device ID of use, the start time of use, the end time of use, the SF balance, the use category, the validity period, the validity section, and the status. The recorded information is recorded in the memory of the medium C.

In addition, the media control unit 21 writes record information (detailed data described later) indicating the ticket gate details of media C to media C according to the result of the determination by the first device 4 described later of whether the user can pass through (whether media C can pass through the ticket gate). For example, when ticket gate processing is performed on media C at the time of entry and the user is allowed to pass through the ticket gate 2, the media control unit 21 writes entry information including the entry date, user ID, card issue ID, entry station, entry device ID, entry start time, entry end time, SF balance, usage category, and status to media C. In addition, when ticket gate processing is performed on media C at the time of exit and the user is allowed to pass through the ticket gate 2, the media control unit 21 writes exit information including the exit date, user ID, card issue ID, exit station, exit device ID, entry start time, entry end time, SF balance, usage category, and status to media C. When the media control unit 21 writes this recording information (detailed data, described later) to the medium C, it notifies the determination processing unit 41 of the determination device 4, described later, of the completion.

The medium control unit 21 has an area in which it can communicate with a medium C held by a user. When the medium C is held within this area, the medium control unit 21 transmits a command to read or write recorded information to the medium C via wireless communication, and reads or writes recorded information from or to the medium C.

The main control unit 22 includes a CPU, memory, storage device (non-volatile memory), input/output circuits, a timer, etc., and executes predetermined calculation processing. For example, the main control unit 22 reads various data via the input/output circuit, performs calculation processing in the CPU using a program read from the storage device to the memory, and controls the operation of the media control unit 21, communication control unit 23, door opening/closing control unit 24, etc. based on the processing results. Through such operation control, ticket gate processing in the ticket gate 2 is executed.

The communication control unit 23 transmits and receives various data necessary for the ticket gate process to and from the first device 4, specifically the communication control unit 42 described below, and provides notification of data transmission and reception and received data to the main control unit 22. The communication control unit 23 transmits and receives various data necessary for the ticket gate process and notifies the user in accordance with the operation of the medium control unit 21, whose operation is controlled by the main control unit 22, for example. The communication control unit 23 and the communication control unit 42 of the first device 4 are connected by wire. However, the two may be connected wirelessly in part or in whole.

The door opening/closing control unit 24 appropriately opens and closes the doors (not shown) of the ticket gate 2 upon receiving notification of the results of the ticket gate processing by the main control unit 22, in short, the results of the ticket gate permission/prohibition judgment (passage permission/prohibition judgment) by the first device 4 described below. The doors of the ticket gate 2 are provided, for example, rotatably with respect to the housing (not shown) of the ticket gate 2 on the upstream side (entrance side) and downstream side (exit side) of the direction in which the user passes through the ticket gate 2. The door opening/closing control unit 24 opens the ticket gate 2 when allowing the user to pass through, and closes the ticket gate 2 when prohibiting the user from passing through. When opening or closing the doors, the door opening/closing control unit 24 operates an opening/closing mechanism (not shown) for opening and closing the doors of the ticket gate 2, such as an actuator such as a motor or solenoid.

The first device 4, second device 6, and third device 8 are each configured to include a CPU, memory, storage device (non-volatile memory), input/output circuitry, a timer, etc. Each of these devices 4, 6, and 8, for example, reads various data via the input/output circuitry, and executes predetermined arithmetic processing in the CPU using a program read from the storage device to the memory, thereby realizing the desired function.

The first device 4 is a device (hereinafter referred to as the determination device 4) that acquires the recorded information read from the medium C by the medium control unit 21 of the ticket gate 2 and determines whether or not to permit the user to pass through the ticket gate 2 (user's passability). In determining whether or not the user can pass through the ticket gate 2, the determination device 4 determines, for example, whether or not a specific item recorded in the recorded information satisfies a specific condition (hereinafter referred to as the pass permission condition). In other words, such a determination of whether or not the user can pass corresponds to a determination of whether or not the ticket gate 2 can pass through the medium C (ticket passability).

The determination device 4 has a determination processing unit 41 and a communication control unit 42 to perform a process of determining whether or not a user can pass through, that is, whether or not the medium C can pass through the ticket gate.
The judgment processing unit 41 judges whether the user can pass through, and generates detail data indicating whether the user can pass through, i.e., the ticket gate details of the medium C, based on the judgment result. The detail data is data (single detail) indicating usage details of the medium C corresponding to the most recent judgment of whether or not the user can pass through. Fig. 2 shows an example of items of the detail data D and an example of the item values. In the example shown in Fig. 2, specific items applied to the detail data D are the date of use, user ID, card issue ID, station used, device used ID, start time of use, end time of use, SF balance, usage category, and status.

For example, when performing ticket gate processing at the time of entry (determination of whether or not passing through) the determination processing unit 41 generates entry information including the entry date, user ID, card issuing ID, entry station, entry device ID, entry start time, entry end time, SF balance, usage category, and status as detailed data. Such entry information is data indicating the ticket gate contents at the time of entry. Among these, the entry date, entry station, entry device ID, entry start time, and entry end time correspond to the use date, use station, usage device ID, use start time, and use end time, respectively. Also, when performing ticket gate processing at the time of exit (determination of whether or not passing through) the determination processing unit 41 generates exit information including the exit date, user ID, card issuing ID, exit station, exit device ID, exit start time, exit end time, SF balance, usage category, and status as detailed data. Such exit information is data indicating the ticket gate contents at the time of exit. Among these, the exit date, exit station, exit device ID, exit start time, and exit end time correspond to the use date, use station, usage device ID, use start time, and use end time, respectively. In the case of entry and exit, for example, the usage category contains a value indicating the ticket gate, and the status contains a value indicating the result of the decision on whether or not passage is permitted (e.g., OK or NG).

When determining whether a user can pass through the ticket gate 2, the determination processing unit 41 determines whether the passing permission condition is met. For example, if the SF remaining amount applicable to the fare from the entrance station to the exit station is recorded as recorded information, and the section from the entrance station to the exit station is included in the valid section of the recorded information, and the use is within the valid period, etc., this corresponds to a case where the user is permitted to pass through. Therefore, in this case, the determination processing unit 41 determines that the passing permission condition is met. On the other hand, if the SF remaining amount applicable to the fare is not recorded, or if the use is outside the valid section or the validity period has expired, this corresponds to a case where the user is not permitted to pass through. Therefore, in this case, the determination processing unit 41 determines that the passing permission condition is not met.

The communication control unit 42 transmits and receives various data necessary for ticket gate processing between the communication control unit 23 of the ticket gate 2 and the communication control unit 62 of the second device 6 described later. Specifically, when the medium control unit 21 reads recorded information from the medium C, the communication control unit 42 receives the recorded information via the communication control unit 23 and gives it to the judgment processing unit 41. When the judgment processing unit 41 performs a judgment process on whether the user can pass through, the communication control unit 42 transmits the judgment result, that is, a notification of either passage permission or passage denial, to the medium control unit 21 via the communication control unit 23. Furthermore, when the judgment processing unit 41 generates detailed data, the communication control unit 42 transmits the detailed data via the communication control unit 62 to the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 of the second device 6 described later.

In this embodiment, the station service system 1 is equipped with multiple judgment devices 4. FIG. 1 shows an example of the configuration of the station service system 1 equipped with two judgment devices 4a and 4b. However, the number of judgment devices 4 may be three or more. The two judgment devices 4a and 4b each have a judgment processing unit 41a, 41b and a communication control unit 42a, 42b, and independently judge whether a user can pass through, and generate detailed data (indicating whether the medium C can pass through the ticket gate) corresponding to the user's pass-through or not according to the judgment result. That is, the two judgment devices 4a and 4b each perform the process of judging whether a user can pass through and generating detailed data in parallel. In this way, the two judgment devices 4a and 4b do not have a master-slave relationship, and each can perform the same pass-through or not judgment in parallel. However, one of them may be the main and the other may be the sub to perform the pass-through or not judgment.

The judgment processing units 41a and 41b therefore independently judge whether the user can pass through and generate detailed data (indicating whether the ticket gate for medium C can be passed through) corresponding to the user's pass-through depending on the judgment result. When the medium control unit 21 reads the recorded information from medium C, the communication control units 42a and 42b independently obtain the recorded information via the communication control unit 23 and provide it to the judgment processing units 41a and 41b, respectively. Then, when the detailed data is generated by the judgment processing units 41a and 41b, the communication control units 42a and 42b transmit the judgment result to the medium control unit 21 via the communication control unit 23 and transmit the detailed data to the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 via the communication control unit 62.

The second device 6 is a device that acquires detailed data from the multiple determination devices 4a, 4b during the ticket gate process (processing to determine whether the user can pass through) for medium C, and selects the earliest acquired detailed data from the acquired detailed data (hereinafter referred to as the backup device). The earliest detailed data is the detailed data sent from the multiple determination devices 4a, 4b to the backup device 6 during the same ticket gate process for medium C, in this case the detailed data that was sent to the backup device 6 the earliest of the two detailed data (hereinafter referred to as the earliest detailed data).

The backup device 6 has an earliest detailed data selection unit 61 and a communication control unit 62 to select the earliest detailed data for the medium C in the same ticket gate processing.
The earliest detailed data selection unit 61 acquires the detailed data generated by the judgment processing units 41a and 41b via the communication control unit 62, and selects the earliest detailed data from the acquired detailed data. The earliest detailed data selection unit 61 also discards the detailed data of the medium C other than the earliest detailed data acquired in the same ticket gate process.

For example, if detailed data is acquired from the judgment processing unit 41a before the judgment processing unit 41b, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 selects the detailed data acquired from the judgment processing unit 41a as the earliest detailed data. On the other hand, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 discards the detailed data of medium C acquired from the judgment processing unit 41b, assuming that detailed data of medium C in the same ticket gate process (earliest detailed data) has already been acquired from the judgment processing unit 41a. Conversely, if detailed data of medium C is acquired from the judgment processing unit 41b before the judgment processing unit 41a, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 selects the detailed data acquired from the judgment processing unit 41b as the earliest detailed data, and discards the detailed data of medium C acquired from the judgment processing unit 41a.

The communication control unit 62 transmits and receives various data necessary for ticket gate processing between the communication control units 42a, 42b of the judgment devices 4a, 4b and the communication control unit 82 of the third device 8 described later. Specifically, when detailed data is generated by the judgment processing units 41a, 41b, the communication control unit 62 receives the detailed data via the communication control unit 42 and provides it to the earliest detailed data selection unit 61. In addition, when the earliest detailed data is selected by the earliest detailed data selection unit 61, the communication control unit 62 transmits the earliest detailed data via the communication control unit 82 to the detailed data storage unit 81 described later.

The third device 8 is a device that acquires the earliest detailed data from the backup device 6, and stores and manages the acquired earliest detailed data (hereinafter, referred to as the management device). The management device 8 has a detailed data storage unit 81 and a communication control unit 82 in order to perform storage processing of the earliest detailed data.
The detailed data storage unit 81 is configured to include a magnetic disk device and a non-volatile memory device for storing the earliest detailed data, an input/output interface, etc. The earliest detailed data here is the most recent detailed data of medium C where the ticket gate process has been performed, and is detailed data corresponding to the recorded information most recently written to medium C. Therefore, by storing the earliest detailed data in the detailed data storage unit 81, the detailed data corresponding to the recorded information written to medium C during the ticket gate process is backed up. In other words, the earliest detailed data is uniquely linked to the detailed data corresponding to the recorded information written to medium C, and is stored in the detailed data storage unit 81.

The communication control unit 82 transmits and receives various data necessary for ticket gate processing between the communication control unit 62 of the backup device 6. Specifically, when the earliest detailed data is selected by the earliest detailed data selection unit 61, the communication control unit 82 receives the earliest detailed data via the communication control unit 62 and provides it to the detailed data storage unit 81.

Here, the ticket gate process performed in the station service system 1, or more simply, the process of determining whether a user can pass through, will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the process of determining whether a user can pass through in the station service system 1. Such a process of determining whether a user can pass through is executed in the station service system 1 by a predetermined program (a control program for the station service system).

The passage permission determination process begins when a user carrying medium C enters a specific passageway defined by ticket gate 2.

When a user passes through the ticket gate 2, the user holds the medium C over the medium control unit 21, which reads the recorded information from the medium C (S101).

When the recording information is read from the medium C, the medium control unit 21 transmits the recording information to the judgment processing unit 41 of the judgment device 4 via the communication control units 23 and 42 (S102). In this embodiment, the same recording information is transmitted to the two judgment processing units 41a and 41b.

When the recorded information is transmitted, the determination processing unit 41 determines whether the user is allowed to pass (S103). That is, the transmission of the recorded information from the medium control unit 21 corresponds to a request (trigger) to start the determination of whether the user is allowed to pass in the determination processing unit 41. In determining whether the user is allowed to pass, the determination processing unit 41 determines, for example, whether the passing permission condition is satisfied. As described above, the passing permission condition is a determination condition for whether the user is allowed to pass through the ticket gate 2. For example, the determination processing unit 41 determines that the passing permission condition is satisfied when the SF remaining amount that can be applied to the initial fare at the time of entry, or to the fare (boarding fare) from the entry station to the exit station at the time of exit is recorded as the recorded information. In contrast, the determination processing unit 41 determines that the passing permission condition is not satisfied when the SF remaining amount that can be applied to the initial fare at the time of entry, or to the boarding fare at the time of exit is not recorded as the recorded information.

In this embodiment, such pass/fail determination is performed in parallel by two determination processing units 41a and 41b. Because the recorded information is the same, the two determination processing units 41a and 41b obtain the same determination result.

When the passing permission condition is met, that is, when medium C can be passed through the ticket gate 2 and the user is permitted to pass through the ticket gate 2, the determination processing unit 41 issues a passing permission notification (S104). That is, the determination processing units 41a and 41b each send a signal indicating the determination result that the user can pass through (medium C can be passed through the ticket gate) to the medium control unit 21 via the communication control units 42a and 42b and the communication control unit 23.

When the passing permission condition is satisfied, the above-mentioned passing permission notification is issued, and the judgment processing unit 41 generates detailed data (S105). For example, when a passing permission determination is made at the time of entry (ticket gate permission determination), the judgment processing unit 41 generates entry information including the entry date, user ID, card issuing ID, entry station, entry device ID, entry start time, entry end time, SF remaining amount, usage category, and status as detailed data. When a passing permission determination is made at the time of exit (ticket gate permission determination), the judgment processing unit 41 generates exit information including the exit date, user ID, card issuing ID, exit station, exit device ID, exit start time, exit end time, SF remaining amount, usage category, and status as detailed data. In this embodiment, detailed data showing the same ticket gate contents are generated in parallel by the two judgment processing units 41a and 41b. Note that the passing permission notification (S104) and the detailed data generation (S105) may be reversed or may be performed simultaneously.

When the result of the determination that the user can pass through is transmitted, the media control unit 21 writes the record information corresponding to the determination result, specifically, the record information indicating the ticket gate contents, to the media C (S106). The record information here corresponds to the following detailed data. For example, when the result of the ticket gate process (passing/not passing determination) at the time of entry for the media C is transmitted, the media control unit 21 writes the entry information including the entry date, user ID, card issuing ID, entry station, entry device ID, entry start time, entry end time, SF remaining amount, usage category, and status to the media C. Also, when the result of the ticket gate process (ticket gate possible/not passing determination) at the time of exit for the media C is transmitted, the media control unit 21 writes the exit information including the exit date, user ID, card issuing ID, exit station, exit device ID, exit start time, exit end time, SF remaining amount, usage category, and status to the media C. At both the time of entry and exit, the media control unit 21 writes the status according to the transmitted determination result, that is, a value indicating that the ticket gate is possible (for example, OK) to the media C. Writing to these media C (including the cases described below) is performed by the main control unit 22 controlling the operation of the media control unit 21.

Here, the two judgment processing units 41a, 41b each notify the media control unit 21 of a judgment result indicating that passage is possible (passing through the ticket gate is possible). The media control unit 21 is triggered by receiving the earliest of the two notified judgment results, and writes record information indicating the ticket gate details corresponding to that judgment result onto the medium C. On the other hand, the media control unit 21 discards any judgment results received thereafter for the same ticket gate process (passing through or not) and does not write record information corresponding to that judgment result.

For example, if the media control unit 21 receives a judgment result from the judgment processing unit 41a before the judgment processing unit 41b, the media control unit 21 writes the recording information to the medium C using the judgment result received from the judgment processing unit 41a as a trigger. On the other hand, the media control unit 21 discards the judgment result received from the judgment processing unit 41b, assuming that the most recent judgment result for the same medium C has already been received from the judgment processing unit 41a. Conversely, if the media control unit 21 receives a judgment result from the judgment processing unit 41b before the judgment processing unit 41a, the media control unit 21 writes the recording information to the medium C using the judgment result received from the judgment processing unit 41b as a trigger, and discards the judgment result received from the judgment processing unit 41a.

When the recording information is written to the medium C, the medium control unit 21 notifies the judgment processing unit 41 of the judgment device 4 of the completion of writing of the recording information via the communication control units 23 and 42 (S107). In this embodiment, a writing completion notification for the same recording information is sent to each of the two judgment processing units 41a and 41b.

When the media control unit 21 notifies the completion of writing, the main control unit 22 operates the door opening/closing control unit 24 to open the ticket gate 2 (S108). This opens the specified passage defined by the ticket gate 2, allowing the user to pass through the passage. Note that here, the ticket gate 2 is opened on the assumption that the ticket gate 2 is in a closed state (e.g., the upstream side is open and the downstream side is closed) at the start of this ticket gate process. However, if the ticket gate 2 is in an open state (e.g., both the upstream and downstream sides are open) at the start of this ticket gate process, this state needs to be maintained here, and the ticket gate 2 does not need to open the door.

When the write completion notification is sent, the determination processing unit 41 provides the generated detailed data to the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 of the backup device 6 via the communication control units 42, 62 (S109). In this embodiment, the same detailed data is sent from the two determination processing units 41a, 41b to the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 via the communication control units 42a, 42b and the communication control unit 62. Note that the opening of the ticket gate 2 (S108) and the sending of the detailed data (S109) may be reversed or may occur simultaneously.

When the detailed data is transmitted, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 selects the earliest detailed data from the transmitted detailed data (S110). Of the multiple pieces of detailed data transmitted (two in this embodiment), the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 selects the detailed data of medium C that was received first as the earliest detailed data. On the other hand, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 discards the detailed data of medium C in the same ticket gate processing that is received thereafter.

For example, if detailed data is received from the judgment processing unit 41a before it is received from the judgment processing unit 41b, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 selects the detailed data received from the judgment processing unit 41a as the earliest detailed data. On the other hand, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 discards the detailed data of medium C received from the judgment processing unit 41b in the same ticket gate processing, assuming that the detailed data of medium C already received from the judgment processing unit 41a has been selected as the earliest detailed data. Conversely, if detailed data of medium C is received from the judgment processing unit 41b before it is received from the judgment processing unit 41a, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 selects the detailed data received from the judgment processing unit 41b as the earliest detailed data, and discards the detailed data of medium C received from the judgment processing unit 41a.

When the earliest detailed data is selected, the earliest detailed data selection unit 61 transmits the earliest detailed data to the detailed data storage unit 81 of the management device 8 via the communication control units 62, 82 (S111).

When the earliest detailed data is transmitted, the detailed data storage unit 81 stores the earliest detailed data, in other words, the detailed data generated in this ticket gate process (S112). As a result, the earliest detailed data corresponding to the recorded information written to medium C in this ticket gate process is backed up in a magnetic disk device, a non-volatile memory device, or the like. In other words, the earliest detailed data is stored in a unique association with the detailed data corresponding to the recorded information written to medium C.

If the passage permission condition is not met in S103, that is, if medium C is not permitted to pass through the ticket gate 2 and the user is not permitted to pass through the ticket gate 2, the determination processing unit 41 issues a notice of non-passage (S113). That is, the determination processing units 41a and 41b transmit the determination result indicating non-passage to the medium control unit 21 via the communication control units 42a and 42b and the communication control unit 23, respectively.

When the no-passage notification is sent, the door opening/closing control unit 24 closes the ticket gate 2 (S114). This closes the specified passage defined by the ticket gate 2, making it impossible for the user to pass through that passage.

When the ticket gate 2 is in the door-closed state, if a user leaves a specific passageway defined by the ticket gate 2, the station service system 1 transitions to a state in which a series of ticket gate processes for medium C, that is, the process of determining whether a user carrying medium C can pass through, can be executed again (S115: Yes). When the ticket gate process for medium C is executed again, the station service system 1 executes the ticket gate process in sequence from S101. In this case, the door opening/closing control unit 24 may set the ticket gate 2 to an open door state (for example, a state in which both the upstream and downstream doors are open). The main control unit 22 determines whether a user has left, for example, based on the detection results of a sensor installed in the ticket gate 2.

On the other hand, if the user does not leave the passage, the station service system 1 ends the series of ticket gate processes for medium C, that is, the process of determining whether the user carrying medium C can pass through (S115: No). In this case, a separate measure is taken to resolve the situation in which the user is not permitted to pass through the ticket gate 2. For example, the user charges (deposits) money into medium C so that the SF balance is sufficient to cover the specified fare. Also in this case, when the user leaves the passage, the door opening/closing control unit 24 sets the ticket gate 2 to an open door state (for example, a state in which both the upstream and downstream doors are open).

When the ticket gate 2 is in the open or closed state, the series of ticket gate processes for medium C in the station service system 1, that is, the process of determining whether a user carrying medium C can pass through, is completed. The station service system 1 then transitions to a state in which it can start a new ticket gate process for a different medium, that is, the process of determining whether a new user carrying a different medium can pass through.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the determination of passability is performed by the determination device 4, not the ticket gate 2. Therefore, the resources required for such a determination can be transferred from the ticket gate 2 to the determination device 4, simplifying the structure of the ticket gate 2 and reducing the processing load on the ticket gate 2. Furthermore, the writing of detailed data in the same ticket gate process, i.e., the individual details in the passability determination process, to medium C is performed independently of the backup of such detailed data (individual details) in the management device 8. Therefore, the detailed data (individual details) can be written to medium C without waiting for the backup in the management device 8. This makes it possible to speed up the entire ticket gate process.

The passage possibility determination process is also executed by multiple (for example, two) determination devices 4. Therefore, even if a malfunction occurs in one determination device 4, the passage possibility determination process can be continued by another determination device 4. Therefore, even if the passage possibility determination is executed by the determination device 4 instead of the ticket gate 2, detailed data (individual details) for the passage determination process can be generated, and the generated individual details can be appropriately backed up by the management device 8. This allows the recorded information written to the medium C corresponding to the individual details to be uniquely linked to the individual details backed up by the management device 8.

In other words, this embodiment reduces the processing load on the ticket gate 2, simplifies the structure, and speeds up the processing required for ticket gate processing, specifically the generation and storage of details when determining whether or not a ticket can be passed, while also properly backing up details and preventing them from being lost.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-mentioned embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

For example, in step S113 shown in FIG. 3, when a notice of impossibility of passage is sent, the media control unit 21 may write record information (entry information or exit information) including a status according to the sent judgment result, i.e., a value indicating impossibility of passage (e.g., NG), to the medium C. In this case, as in the case of possible passage, the judgment processing units 41a and 41b may each send a judgment result indicating impossibility of passage to the media control unit 21. For example, the media control unit 21 may write record information indicating the details of the ticket gate to the medium C when triggered by receiving the earliest judgment result of the two judgment results sent. On the other hand, the media control unit 21 may discard the judgment result received thereafter for the same ticket gate process (judgment of whether or not passage is possible), and omit writing record information indicating the details of the ticket gate corresponding to such judgment result.

Then, the same control as S106 and S107 in FIG. 3 is executed, then the ticket gate 2 is closed in S114, and after further execution of the same control as S109 to S112, it may be determined whether the user has left (S115).

1...Station service system, 2...Automatic ticket gate (ticket gate), 3...Station service equipment, 4, 4a, 4b...First device (determination device), 6...Second device (backup device), 8...Third device (management device), 21...Media control unit, 22...Main control unit, 23...Communication control unit, 24...Door opening/closing control unit, 41, 41a, 41b...Determination processing unit, 42, 42a, 42b...Communication control unit, 61...First detailed data selection unit, 62...Communication control unit, 81...Detailed data storage unit, 82...Communication control unit, C...Medium, D...Detailed data (single item details).

Claims (3)

a ticket gate that reads information recorded on a medium and performs ticket gate checking of the medium based on the read information to permit or prohibit passage of a user;
a plurality of first devices each performing a process in parallel of acquiring the information read from the medium from the ticket gate, determining whether the user can pass through, and generating detailed data showing the ticket gate details of the medium in accordance with the determination result ;
The first device notifies the ticket gate of the determination result,
The ticket gate writes, to the medium, record information indicating the ticket gate contents corresponding to the determination result notified earliest among the plurality of determination results notified from the plurality of first devices, notifies the plurality of first devices of completion of writing, permits the passage of the user, discards the determination result in the same passage possibility determination of the user received after receiving the earliest determination result, and does not write, to the medium, record information indicating the ticket gate contents corresponding to the discarded determination result.
Station service system. a second device that acquires the detailed data from each of the first devices and selects the earliest acquired detailed data from among the acquired detailed data;
The station service system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a third device that acquires the earliest detailed data selected by the second device and stores the acquired detailed data. The station service system described in claim 2, wherein the multiple first devices provide the detailed data to the second device in response to recording information indicating the ticket gate contents corresponding to the judgment result notified first at the ticket gate being written to the medium.

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