HK1097124B

HK1097124B - Communications system, communications apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: HK1097124B
Application number: HK07101818.1A
Authority: HK
Inventors: 石桥义人; 日下部进; 久保野文夫
Original assignee: 索尼株式会社
Priority date: 2005-06-17
Filing date: 2007-02-15
Publication date: 2012-03-02

Description

Communication system, communication device and method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a communication system, a communication apparatus and method, and a program, and more particularly, to a communication system, a communication apparatus and method, and a program that can suppress a speed reduction by efficiently performing communication processing.

Background

In recent years, with the development of information processing technology, communication systems providing various services using short-range wireless communication have become widespread, and are used for various purposes such as payment of a fare for public transportation facilities, purchase of a commodity in a shop, personal authentication such as ticket purchase, employee id, and admission, opening of a security system such as a door lock, and payment in a clerk cafeteria.

In such a system, when a user carries a portable device such as an IC card having a communication function for performing short-range wireless communication and a storage medium storing personal information or held amount information and receives services such as payment of a fee or personal authentication, the user can receive the services by bringing the portable device into proximity or contact with a reader/writer on the service provider side and performing communication.

While a service system of such a communication system is widely used to provide a plurality of services in various places, it is difficult to receive all the services with 1 mobile device due to differences in service providers and system configurations. Therefore, even if the communication devices are the same (even if communication is performed with other devices such as a reader/writer by the same communication method), there are a plurality of types of portable devices that support different services.

Therefore, for example, an IC card that can pay a bus fee of a public transportation facility but cannot open a door of a company, an IC card that can pay a meal fee in a staff canteen but cannot purchase goods in a convenience store, and the like have resulted in a portable device that a user needs to select for use in accordance with a service to be accepted.

However, in this case, every time a user who has a plurality of portable devices receives a service, it is necessary to select a portable device corresponding to the service and perform a complicated operation such as communication with a reader/writer as much as possible.

Therefore, there is the following method: a reader/writer that provides a service searches for a portable device corresponding to the service from among a plurality of portable devices, and communicates with the portable device to provide the service (see, for example, patent document 1). That is, the user brings all the portable devices close to, for example, the reader/writer to communicate with the reader/writer, and the reader/writer automatically selects a portable device corresponding to the service. In this way, the user can receive the service without performing a troublesome work.

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2003-317042

Disclosure of Invention

However, when the reader/writer selects a portable device corresponding to a service from a plurality of portable devices as described above, the reader/writer must communicate with all the presented portable devices at a time and select a portable device corresponding to the service from the plurality of portable devices. Such search processing, which is not directly related to communication related to the original service provision, may cause a reduction in efficiency of communication processing, and increase in load and processing time.

Particularly, when a service is required to be provided quickly, such as automatic ticket checking, it is desirable to reduce unnecessary search processing as much as possible.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and suppresses a decrease in speed by efficiently performing communication processing.

A communication system according to the present invention includes a communication device that communicates with another communication device via a communication medium, the communication device including: identification information request responding means for performing response processing for transmitting identification information to another communication device in response to a request for identification information of the communication device transmitted from the other communication device; an application processing unit that communicates with another communication device that has transmitted the identification information via the identification information request responding unit, and performs processing relating to a predetermined application; and a learning unit that learns a tendency of success or failure of the processing relating to the application program executed by the application program processing unit with respect to a predetermined condition, the identification information request responding unit controlling output of the identification information with respect to the request based on a learning result of the learning unit.

A communication device according to the present invention communicates with another communication device via a communication medium, and includes: identification information request responding means for performing response processing for transmitting identification information to another communication device in response to a request for identification information of the communication device transmitted from the other communication device; an application processing unit that communicates with another communication device that has transmitted the identification information via the identification information request responding unit, and performs processing relating to a predetermined application; and learning means for learning a tendency of success or failure of the processing relating to the application program executed by the application program processing means for a predetermined condition, wherein the identification information request responding means controls output of the identification information for the request based on a learning result of the learning means.

The information request response unit may be caused to have: a request acquisition unit that acquires a request transmitted by another communication device; an identification information providing unit that provides the identification information to the other communication device as a response to the request acquired by the request acquisition unit; an output control unit for controlling the supply timing of the identification information supplied by the identification information supply unit according to the learning result

The learning means may learn a tendency of success or failure of processing relating to the application for each predetermined time band determined in advance, create time-based priority information indicating a priority of the identification information in the other communication device for each time band corresponding to the tendency as a learning result, and the output control means may control the supply timing of the identification information based on the time-based priority information created as the learning result by the learning means.

The output control means may be controlled so that the supply timing of the identification information is earlier in time in a time zone with a high priority and so that the supply timing of the identification information is later in time in a time zone with a low priority.

The learning means may be caused to learn a tendency of success or failure of processing relating to the application for each device type of the other device, the learning means may create, as a result of the learning, device-type-specific priority information indicating a priority of the identification information in the other communication device for each device type of the other device corresponding to the tendency, and the output control means may control a supply timing of the identification information based on the device-type-specific priority information created as a result of the learning by the learning means

The output control means may control the timing of providing the identification information to be earlier in time when the other communication apparatus is of a high-priority device type, and may control the timing of providing the identification information to be later in time when the other communication apparatus is of a low-priority device type.

The information processing apparatus may further include a holding means for temporarily holding the learning result of the learning means, and the output control means may control the supply timing of the identification information based on the learning result held by the holding means.

The communication method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: an application processing step of communicating with another communication device and executing processing relating to a predetermined application; a learning step of learning a tendency of success or failure of the processing relating to the application program executed by the application program processing step for a predetermined condition; and an identification information request responding step of performing a response process of transmitting identification information to the other communication device in response to the request for the identification information of the communication device transmitted by the other communication device, based on the learning result of the processing in the learning step.

The program of the present invention is characterized by comprising: an application processing step of communicating with another communication device and executing processing relating to a predetermined application; a learning step of learning a tendency of success or failure of a process relating to the application executed by the process of the application processing step for a predetermined condition; and an identification information request responding step of performing a response process of transmitting identification information to the other communication device in response to the request for the identification information of the communication device transmitted by the other communication device, based on the learning result of the processing in the learning step.

A communication system of the present invention includes a communication device that communicates with another communication device via a communication medium, wherein the communication device performs response processing for transmitting identification information to the other communication device in response to a request for the identification information of the communication device transmitted from the other communication device, performs communication with the other communication device that has transmitted the identification information, performs processing related to a predetermined application, learns a tendency of success or failure of the processing related to the application for a predetermined condition, and controls output of the identification information for the request based on the learning result.

In a communication apparatus, a method, and a program according to the present invention, a response process of transmitting identification information to another communication apparatus is performed for a request for identification information of the communication apparatus transmitted from the other communication apparatus, a communication is performed with the other communication apparatus that has transmitted the identification information, a process related to a predetermined application is executed, a tendency of success or failure of the process related to the application with respect to a predetermined condition is learned, and output of the identification information with respect to the request is controlled based on a result of the learning.

According to the present invention, a reduction in speed can be suppressed by efficiently performing communication processing.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an equivalent circuit of the communication system of fig. 1 in an ideal state.

Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a calculation result of receiving an effective value of a voltage generated across the load resistance in the model of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a physical configuration model of the communication system of fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of each parameter model generated in the model of fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the distribution of the electric field lines to the electrodes.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the distribution of the electric flux lines to the electrodes.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating another example of the electrode model in the transmission device.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an equivalent circuit of the model of fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing an example of frequency characteristics of the communication system of fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a signal received by the receiving apparatus.

Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the electrode arrangement place.

FIG. 13 is a view showing another example of the electrode arrangement site.

FIG. 14 is a view showing still another example of the electrode arrangement site.

FIG. 15 is a view showing still another example of the electrode arrangement site.

Fig. 16A and 16B are views showing still another example of the electrode arrangement site.

Fig. 17A and 17B are views showing still another example of the electrode arrangement site.

Fig. 18A and 18B are views showing still another example of the electrode arrangement site.

Fig. 19A, 19B, and 19C are diagrams showing examples of electrode structures.

Fig. 20 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the electrode.

Fig. 21 is a diagram showing another example of the equivalent circuit of the model of fig. 5.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the communication system of fig. 1.

Fig. 23 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 24 is a diagram showing an example of practical use in relation to an embodiment of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 25 is a diagram showing another use example relating to an embodiment of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 26 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 27 is a diagram showing an example of the spectrum distribution.

Fig. 28 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 29 is a diagram showing an example of the spectrum distribution.

Fig. 30 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 31 is a diagram showing an example of signal time distribution.

Fig. 32 is a flowchart showing an example of the communication processing flow.

Fig. 33 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 34 is a diagram showing an actual use example of the communication system according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 35 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the reader/writer of fig. 34.

Fig. 36 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the structure of the UD in fig. 34.

Fig. 37 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the priority information by time.

Fig. 38 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the output TS control unit in fig. 36.

Fig. 39 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the learning unit shown in fig. 36.

Fig. 40 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of the communication process until the application process of the communication system of fig. 34 is ended.

Fig. 41 is a sequence diagram continuing to fig. 40 for explaining an example of the flow of the communication process until the application process of the communication system of fig. 34 is completed.

Fig. 42 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of the ID request processing.

Fig. 43 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the flow of the ID authentication process.

Fig. 44 is a sequence diagram continuing to fig. 43, illustrating an example of the flow of the ID authentication process.

Fig. 45 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the learning process.

Fig. 46 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the ID request response processing.

Fig. 47 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the output TS control process.

Fig. 48 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the reader/writer of fig. 34.

Fig. 49 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example of the flow of the ID request processing.

Fig. 50 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the UD of fig. 34.

Fig. 51 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of priority information for each device type.

Fig. 52 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the learning unit shown in fig. 50.

Fig. 53 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the output TS control unit in fig. 50.

Fig. 54 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the learning process.

Fig. 55 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the output TS control processing.

Fig. 56A, 56B, and 56C are diagrams showing still another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

Fig. 57 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a personal computer to which the present invention is applied.

Description of the reference numerals

1000: a communication system; 1001: a reader/writer; 1002 to 1004: UD; 1011: a communication unit; 1012: a reference electrode; 1013: a signal electrode; 1014: a service providing unit; 1021 to 1023: a user; 1071: an ID request response unit; 1073: an application processing response unit; 1074: a learning unit; 1075: a priority information holding unit; 1075A: priority information by time; 1075B: priority information by machine type; 1082: an output TS control unit; 1091: a random number generation weighting information generation unit; 1096: a current time information acquisition unit; 1097: a priority information generation unit for each time; 1102: an information holding unit for each type of equipment; 1101: an ID acquisition processing unit; 1111: a learning unit; 1112: an output TS control unit; 1121: a device type identification information acquisition unit; 1122: a priority information creation unit for each device type; 1131: a random number generation weighting information generation unit.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are described below, and the correspondence between the invention described in the present specification and the embodiments of the invention is as follows. This description is provided to confirm that embodiments supporting the inventions in the claims are described in the present specification. Therefore, even if there is an embodiment described in the embodiment of the invention but not described as a content corresponding to the invention, it does not mean that the embodiment does not correspond to the invention. On the contrary, even if the embodiment is described herein as a content corresponding to the invention, it does not mean that the embodiment does not correspond to the invention other than the invention.

This description does not represent all of the inventions described in this specification. In other words, the present description is an invention described in the present specification, and does not deny the existence of an invention not claimed in the present application, that is, an invention which is applied by division and added by correction in the future.

The present invention provides a communication system (e.g., a communication system of fig. 34) including a communication device (e.g., UD of fig. 34) that communicates with another communication device (e.g., a reader/writer of fig. 34) via a communication medium (e.g., a user of fig. 34). In the communication system, a communication device includes: identification information request responding means (for example, an ID request responding unit in fig. 36) for performing response processing for transmitting identification information to another communication device in response to a request for identification information of a communication device transmitted from another communication device; an application processing unit (for example, an application processing responding unit in fig. 36) that performs processing related to a predetermined application by communicating with another communication device that has transmitted the identification information by the identification information request responding unit; and learning means (for example, a learning unit in fig. 36) for learning a tendency of success or failure of processing relating to the application program executed by the application program processing means with respect to a predetermined condition, and the identification information request responding means controls output of identification information with respect to the request based on a learning result of the learning means.

The identification information request response unit may be caused to have: a request acquisition unit (for example, an ID request acquisition section of fig. 36) that acquires a request transmitted by another communication apparatus; an identification information providing unit (for example, an ID request providing section of fig. 36) that provides identification information to the other communication device as a response to the request acquired by the request acquiring unit; the output control unit (e.g., an output TS control section of fig. 36) controls the supply timing of the identification information supplied from the identification information supply unit, based on the learning result.

The learning means may be caused to learn a tendency of the processing relating to the application for each predetermined time zone, the tendency indicating the success or failure of the processing relating to the application may be learned, time-wise priority information (for example, time-wise priority information in fig. 36) indicating the priority of the identification information in the other communication device for each time zone corresponding to the tendency may be created as a result of the learning, and the output control means may control the supply timing of the identification information based on the time-wise priority information created as a result of the learning by the learning means.

The learning means may be caused to learn the tendency of each device type of the other device regarding the success or failure of the processing relating to the application, create, as a learning result, device type-specific priority information (for example, device type-specific priority information in fig. 50) indicating the priority of the identification information in the other communication device for each device type of the other device corresponding to the tendency, and the output control means may control the supply timing of the identification information based on the device type-specific priority information created as the learning result by the learning means.

The communication device may further include a holding means (for example, a priority information holding unit in fig. 36) for temporarily holding the learning result of the learning means, and the output control means may control the supply timing of the identification information based on the learning result held by the holding means.

The present invention provides a communication method of a communication device (e.g., UD of fig. 34) that communicates with another communication device (e.g., reader/writer of fig. 34) through a communication medium (e.g., user of fig. 34). The communication method is characterized by comprising: an application processing step (for example, step S123 in fig. 40) of communicating with another communication device and executing processing relating to a predetermined application; a learning step (for example, step S124 of fig. 40) of learning a tendency of success or failure of processing regarding the application executed by the processing of the application processing step for a predetermined condition; an identification information request responding step (for example, step S324 in fig. 46) of performing a response process of transmitting identification information to another communication device in response to a request for identification information of a communication device transmitted by another communication device, based on a learning result of the process in the learning step.

In the program of the present invention, the embodiment (an example thereof) corresponding to each step is the same as the communication method of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the drawings. First, referring to fig. 1 to 33, as an example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied, the following communication system will be described: the communication using only the communication signal transmission path is realized without requiring a physical reference point path, and is not limited by the use environment.

Fig. 1 shows a configuration example of an embodiment of a communication system that performs communication only via a communication signal transmission path without using a physical reference point path.

In fig. 1, a communication system 100 is composed of a transmission device 110, a reception device 120, and a communication medium 130, and the transmission device 110 and the reception device 120 are systems for transmitting and receiving signals via the communication medium 130. That is, in the communication system 100, a signal transmitted by the transmitter 110 is transmitted through the communication medium 130 and received by the receiver 120.

The transmission device 110 includes a transmission signal electrode 111, a transmission reference electrode 112, and a transmission unit 113. The transmission signal electrode 111 is one electrode of an electrode pair provided to transmit a signal transmitted through the communication medium 130, and is provided to have a stronger electrostatic bond with the communication medium 130 than the transmission reference electrode 112, which is the other electrode of the electrode pair, and the transmission reference electrode 112 is an electrode for acquiring a reference point for determining a signal level difference. The transmission unit 113 is provided between the transmission signal electrode 111 and the transmission reference electrode 112, and supplies an electric signal (potential difference) to be transmitted to the reception device 120 between these electrodes.

The receiving device 120 includes a reception signal electrode 121, a reception reference electrode 122, and a receiving unit 123. The reception signal electrode 121 is one electrode of an electrode pair provided to receive a signal transmitted through the communication medium 130, and is provided so as to be electrostatically bonded to the communication medium 130 and stronger than the reception reference electrode 122, which is the other electrode of the electrode pair. The receiving unit 123 is provided between the reception signal electrode 121 and the reception reference electrode 122, detects an electric signal (potential difference) generated between these electrodes based on a signal transmitted through the communication medium 130, converts the electric signal into a desired electric signal, and restores the electric signal generated by the transmitting unit 113 of the transmitting device 110.

The communication medium 130 is made of a material having physical properties capable of transmitting an electric signal, for example, a conductor, a dielectric, or the like. For example, the communication medium 130 is made of a conductor typified by a metal such as copper, iron, or aluminum, a dielectric typified by pure water, rubber, or glass, a composite of these, or a material such as an electrolyte such as saline in which the properties of a conductor and the properties of a dielectric are combined. The communication medium 130 may have any shape, for example, a linear shape, a plate shape, a spherical shape, a square column, a cylindrical shape, or any other shape.

In such a communication system 100, first, the relationship between each electrode and a communication medium or a space around the device will be described. In the following, the communication medium 130 is a complete conductor for the sake of convenience of explanation. In addition, it is assumed that there are spaces between the transmission signal electrode 111 and the communication medium 130 and between the reception signal electrode 121 and the communication medium 130, and there is no electrical coupling. That is, the transmission signal electrode 111 or the reception signal electrode 121 and the communication medium 130 form electrostatic capacitances.

In addition, the transmission reference electrode 112 is provided so as to face the space around the transmission device 110, and the reception reference electrode 122 is provided so as to face the space around the reception device 120. In general, when a conductor ball exists in a space, an electrostatic capacitance is formed between the conductor ball and the space. For example, when the conductor is shaped as a sphere having a radius r [ m ], the capacitance C is obtained from the following equation (1).

Formula 1

C＝4πεr[F]...(1)

In the formula (1), π represents the circumference ratio. In addition,. epsilon.represents a dielectric constant, and is obtained from the following formula (2).

Formula 2

ε＝ε_r×ε₀...(2)

However, in the formula (2), ε₀The dielectric constant in vacuum was 8.854X 10^-12[F/m]. In addition,. epsilon_rRepresents a relative dielectric constant, and represents a dielectric constant ε with respect to a vacuum₀The ratio of (a) to (b).

As shown in the above equation (1), the larger the radius r, the larger the capacitance C. The size of the capacitance C of a conductor having a complicated shape other than a sphere cannot be expressed simply as in the above formula (1), but obviously varies depending on the size of the surface area of the conductor.

As described above, the transmission reference electrode 112 forms capacitance in the space around the transmission device 110, and the transmission reference electrode 122 forms capacitance in the space around the reception device 120. That is, it is shown that the potentials of the transmission reference electrode 112 and the reception reference electrode 122 are hard to change as the capacitance increases when viewed from a virtual infinity point outside the transmission device 110 and the reception device 120.

The principle of communication in the communication system 100 is explained next. In the following description, for convenience of explanation, or depending on the front-rear relationship, the capacitor may be simply expressed as an electrostatic capacitance, but they have the same meaning.

In the following, the transmitting apparatus 110 and the receiving apparatus 120 in fig. 1 are arranged so that a sufficient distance is maintained between the apparatuses and the mutual influence can be ignored. In the transmitting device 110, the transmission signal electrode 111 is electrostatically bonded only to the communication medium 130, and the transmission reference electrode 112 is spaced apart from the transmission signal electrode 111 by a sufficient distance so as to be able to ignore the mutual influence (not electrostatically bonded). Similarly, in the receiving apparatus 120, the reception signal electrode 121 is electrostatically coupled only to the communication medium 130, and the reception reference electrode 122 is spaced apart from the reception signal electrode 121 by a sufficient distance to be able to ignore the mutual influence (without electrostatic coupling). In practice, the transmission signal electrode 111, the reception signal electrode 121, and the communication medium 130 are disposed in a space and have electrostatic capacitances to the space, but these can be omitted here for convenience of explanation.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the communication system 100 of fig. 1 by an equivalent circuit. The communication system 200 is a system in which the communication system 100 is represented by an equivalent circuit, and is substantially equivalent to the communication system 100.

That is, the communication system 200 includes a transmission device 210, a reception device 220, and a connection line 230, but the transmission device 210 corresponds to the transmission device 110 of the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1, the reception device 220 corresponds to the reception device 120 of the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1, and the connection line 230 corresponds to the communication medium 130 of the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1.

In the transmission device 210 of fig. 2, the signal source 213-1 and the intra-transmission-device reference point 213-2 correspond to the transmission unit 113 of fig. 1. The signal source 213-1 generates a sine wave of a specific period ω × t [ rad ] as a signal for transmission. Here, t [ s ] represents time. ω [ rad/s ] represents an angular frequency, and can be expressed by the following formula (3).

Formula 3

ω＝2πf [rad/s] ...(3)

In equation (3), π represents the circumferential ratio, and f [ Hz ] represents the frequency of the signal generated by signal source 213-1. The intra-transmission-device reference point 213-2 is a point connected to the ground of the circuit within the transmission device 210. That is, one terminal of the signal source 213-1 is set to a predetermined reference potential of a circuit in the transmission device 210.

Cte214 denotes a capacitor, which represents the capacitance between the transmission signal electrode 111 and the communication medium 130 in fig. 1. That is, Cte214 is provided between the terminal on the opposite side of reference point 213-2 in the transmission device of signal source 213-1 and ground line 230. Ctg215 is a capacitor and represents capacitance to the space of transmission reference electrode 112 in fig. 1. Ctg215 is provided between a terminal on the transmitting device internal reference point 213-2 side of signal source 213-1 and reference point 216 representing an infinite point (virtual point) spatially with reference to transmitting device 210.

In the receiver 220 of fig. 2, Rr223-1, detector 223-2, and reference point within the receiver 223-3 correspond to the receiver 123 of fig. 1. Rr223-1 is a load resistor (reception load) for extracting a reception signal. A detector 223-2 composed of an amplifier detects and amplifies the potential difference between the terminals on both sides of the Rr 223-1. Reference point 223-3 in the receiving device is a point connected to the ground of the circuit in the receiving device 220. That is, one of the terminals of Rr223-1 (the input terminal of the detector 223-2) is set to a predetermined reference potential of the circuit in the receiver 220.

The detector 223-2 may also have the following functions: for example, the detected modulated signal is decoded, or the encoded information included in the detected signal is decoded.

Cre224 is a capacitor, and represents the capacitance between the reception signal electrode 121 and the communication medium 130 in fig. 1. That is, the Cre224 is provided between the terminal on the opposite side of the reference point 223-3 in the receiving device of the Rr223-1 and the connection line 230. Crg225 is a capacitor, and represents capacitance to the space of reception reference electrode 122 in fig. 1. Crg225 is provided between the terminal on the reference point 223-3 side in the receiver of Rr223-1 and a reference point 226 representing an infinite point (imaginary point) spatially with respect to the receiver 120.

The connection line 230 represents the communication medium 130 as a complete conductor. In the communication system 200 of fig. 2, although the Ctg215 and the Crg225 are electrically connected to each other via the reference point 216 and the reference point 226 in the equivalent circuit, they do not need to be electrically connected to each other in practice, and a capacitance may be formed in a space around the transmission device 210 or the reception device 220. In the case of a conductor, it is important for the surrounding space to have an electrostatic capacitance proportional to the size of the surface area. In addition, the reference points 216 and 226 may be independent from each other without being electrically connected to each other.

In addition, when the communication medium 130 of fig. 1 is a complete conductor, the conductivity of the connection line 230 can be considered infinite, and thus, the length of the connection line 230 of fig. 2 does not affect communication. Further, if the communication medium 130 is a conductor having sufficient conductivity, the distance between the transmitting device and the receiving device does not affect the communication stability in practice. Therefore, in such a case, the distance between the transmitting device 210 and the receiving device 220 may be arbitrarily long.

In the communication system 200, a circuit including the signal source 213-1, the Rr223-1, the Cte214, the Ctg215, the Cre capacitor 224, and the Crg225 is formed. The combined capacitance C of four capacitors (Cte214, Ctg215, Cre capacitor 224, and Crg225) connected in series_xAnd can be represented by the following formula (4).

Formula (4)

In addition, the sine wave V generated by the signal source 213-1_t(t) is represented by the following formula (5).

Formula 5

V_t(t)＝V_m×sin(ωt+θ)[V] ...(5)

Here, V_m[V]Representing the maximum amplitude voltage, theta rad, of the signal source voltage]Representing the initial phase angle. At this time, the effective voltage value V of the signal source 213-1_trms[V]This can be obtained by the following formula (6).

Formula 6

The combined impedance Z of the entire circuit can be obtained by the following equation (7).

Formula 7

That is, the effective value V of the voltage generated across Rr223-1_rrmsCan be obtained as shown in the formula (8).

Formula 8

Thus, as shown in the formula (8), the larger the resistance value of Rr223-1 is, the larger the capacitance C is_xThe larger the frequency f [ Hz ] of the signal source 213-1]The higher, 1/((2X π. times. f. times.C)_x)²) The smaller the term, the greater the signal that can thereby be generated across Rr 223-1.

For example, when the effective voltage value V of the signal source 213-1 of the transmitting device 210_trmsFixed to 2[ V ]]The frequency f of the signal generated by the signal source 213-1 is set to 1[ MHz []、10[MHz]Or 100[ MHz ]]The resistance value of Rr223-1 is set to 10K [ omega ]]、100K[Ω]Or 1M [ omega ]]Electrostatic capacity C of the whole circuit_xIs set to 0.1[ pF ]]、1[pF]Or 10[ pF ]]Effective value V of voltage generated across Rr223-1 of time_rrmsThe calculation results are shown in FIG. 3Table 250.

As shown in Table 250, the effective value of the voltage V_rrmsWhen other conditions are the same, the frequency f is 10[ MHz ]]Time ratio 1[ MHz]The time is large, and the resistance value of the receiving load Rr223-1 is 1M [ omega ]]Time ratio of 10K omega]Time-dependent capacitance C_xIs 10[ pF]Time-to-time ratio of 0.1[ pF ]]A large value. That is, the value of the frequency f, the resistance value of Rr223-1, and the capacitance C_xThe larger the effective value V of the voltage is, the larger the effective value V of the voltage can be obtained_rrms。

In addition, as can be seen from table 250: even a capacitance of not more than the picofarad generates an electric signal at Rr 223-1. That is, when the signal level of the transmitted signal is minute, if the signal detected by the detector 223-2 of the receiving device 220 is amplified or the like, communication can be performed.

An example of calculating the parameters of the equivalent circuit communication system 200 shown above will be specifically described with reference to fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining an operation example including an influence of the physical configuration of the communication system 100.

The communication system 300 shown in fig. 4 corresponds to the communication system 100 of fig. 1, and information on the physical configuration of the communication system 100 is added to the communication system 200 of fig. 2. That is, the communication system 300 includes a transmission device 310, a reception device 320, and a communication medium 330. In the description of the communication system 100 of fig. 1, the transmission device 310 corresponds to the transmission device 110, the reception device 320 corresponds to the reception device 120, and the communication medium 330 corresponds to the communication medium 130.

The transmission device 310 includes: a transmission signal electrode 311 corresponding to the transmission signal electrode 111, a transmission reference electrode 312 corresponding to the transmission reference electrode 112, and a signal source 313-1 corresponding to the transmission unit 113. That is, one of the terminals on both sides of the signal source 313-1 is connected to the transmission signal electrode 311, and the other is connected to the transmission reference electrode 312. And a transmission signal electrode 311 disposed close to the communication medium 330. The transmission reference electrode 312 is provided apart from the communication medium 330 to such an extent as not to be affected by the communication medium 330, and is configured to have a capacitance to an external space of the transmission device 310. In fig. 2, the signal source 213-1 and the intra-transmission-device reference point 213-2 are described in correspondence with the transmission unit 113, but in fig. 4, the intra-transmission-device reference point is omitted for convenience of description.

As in the case of the transmission device 310, the reception device 320 includes: a reception signal electrode 321 corresponding to the reception signal electrode 121, a reception reference electrode 322 corresponding to the reception reference electrode 122, and Rr323-1 and a detector 323-2 corresponding to the reception unit 123. That is, one of the terminals on both sides of Rr323-1 is connected to the reception signal electrode 321, and the other is connected to the reception reference electrode 322. And a reception signal electrode 321 disposed close to the communication medium 330. The reception reference electrode 322 is provided so as to be separated from the communication medium 330 to such an extent that it is not affected by the communication medium 330, and is configured to have a capacitance to the external space of the reception device 320. In fig. 2, Rr223-1, detector 223-2, and receiver internal reference point 223-3 are described in correspondence with the receiver 123, but in fig. 4, the receiver internal reference point is omitted for the sake of convenience of description.

Note that the communication medium 330 is a complete conductor as in the case of fig. 1 and 2. The transmitting device 310 and the receiving device 320 are arranged at a sufficient distance from each other to be able to ignore the mutual influence. The transmission signal electrode 311 is electrostatically bonded only to the communication medium 330. Further, the transmission reference electrode 312 is disposed so as to leave a sufficient distance to the transmission signal electrode 311 and to be able to ignore the mutual influence. Similarly, the reception signal electrode 321 is electrostatically bonded only to the communication medium 330. The reception reference electrode 322 is disposed at a sufficient distance from the reception signal electrode 321 so as to be able to ignore the mutual influence. It is to be noted that, strictly speaking, the transmission signal electrode 311, the reception signal electrode 321, and the communication medium 330 have electrostatic capacitances to the space, but these can be omitted here for convenience of explanation.

As shown in fig. 4, in the communication system 300, a transmission device 310 is disposed at one end of a communication medium 330, and a reception device 320 is disposed at the other end.

A distance dte m between the transmitting electrode 311 and the communication medium 330]The interval of (c). When the transmission signal electrode 311 has a single-side surface area of Ste [ m ]²]The capacitance Cte314 formed between the conductor disk and the communication medium 330 can be obtained by the following equation (9).

Formula 9

Equation (9) is a calculation equation generally known as the electrostatic capacitance of a parallel plate. In the above equation, ε represents the dielectric constant, but when communication system 300 is currently placed in air, the relative dielectric constant ε_rAlmost 1, the dielectric constant ε can be considered as the dielectric constant ε in a vacuum₀And (4) equivalence. The surface area Ste of the transmission signal electrode 311 is set to 2X 10^-3[m²](diameter about 5[ cm ] m]) And an interval dte of 5 × 10^-3[m](5[mm]) The capacitance Cte314 is obtained by the following equation (10).

Formula 10

3.5[pF]...(10)

In addition, as an actual physical phenomenon, the above expression (9) is strictly satisfied when the relation of Ste > dte is satisfied, but here, it is assumed that the expression (9) can be approximated.

Next, an electrostatic capacitance Ctg315 formed by the transmission reference electrode 312 and the space (electrostatic capacitance between the transmission reference electrode 312 and a reference point 316 indicating a virtual infinity point from the transmission reference electrode 312) will be described. In general, when a disk having a radius r [ m ] is placed in a space, the electrostatic capacitance CF formed between the disk and the space can be obtained by the following equation (11).

Formula 11

C＝8εr [F]...(11)

When the radius rtg of the transmission reference electrode 312 is 2.5 × 10^-2[m](radius 2.5[ cm ]]) In the case of the conductive disk of (3), the capacitance Ctg315 formed by the transmission reference electrode 317 and the space is obtained by using the following equation (11) as the following equation (12). In addition, the communication system 300 is placed in air and the space dielectric constant can be set to be the vacuum dielectric constant ∈₀And (4) approximation.

Formula 12

Ctg＝8×8.854×10^-12×2.5×10^-2

1.8[pF]...(12)

If the size of the reception signal electrode 321 is the same as that of the transmission signal electrode 311 (Sre [ m2] ═ Ste [ m2] conductor disk) and the distance from the communication medium 330 is also the same (dre [ m ] ═ dte [ m ]), the capacitance Cre324 formed by the reception signal electrode 321 and the communication medium 330 is 3.5[ pF ] as the same as that of the transmission side. If the size of the reception reference electrode 322 is set to be the same as that of the transmission reference electrode 312 (a conductor disk having a radius rrg [ m ] rtg [ m ]), the capacitance Crg325 formed by the reception reference electrode 322 and the space (capacitance between the reception reference electrode 322 and the reference point 326 indicating a virtual infinity point from the reception reference electrode 322) is 1.8[ pF ] as that of the transmission side. As is clear from the above, the combined capacitance Cx composed of the four capacitances Cte314, Ctg315, Cre324, and Crg325 can be obtained by the following equation (13) using the above equation (4).

Formula 13

0.6[pF]...(13)

When the frequency f of the signal source 313-1 is set to 1[ MHz [ ]]Effective value of voltage V_trmsIs set to be 2[ V ]]And Rr323-1 is set to 100K [ omega ]]The voltage V generated across Rr323-1_rrmsThis can be obtained by the following equation (14).

Formula 14

0.71[V]...(14)

As a basic principle, the above results allow a signal to be exchanged from the transmitting device to the receiving device by using the electrostatic capacitance formed with the space.

If a space exists at each electrode position, the capacitance of the transmission reference electrode and the reception reference electrode described above with respect to the space can be formed. Therefore, if the transmitting device and the receiving device are coupled to the transmission signal electrode and the reception signal electrode via the communication medium, the stability of communication can be obtained without depending on the mutual distance.

The following describes a case where the communication system is physically constructed in practice. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a model for calculating each parameter generated in the system in the actual physical configuration of the communication system described above.

That is, the communication system 400 includes the transmitting apparatus 410, the receiving apparatus 420, and the communication medium 430, is a system corresponding to the communication system 100 (the communication system 200 and the communication system 300) described above, and has basically the same configuration as the communication system 100 or the communication system 300 except for the evaluation parameter.

That is, in the description of communication system 300, transmission device 410 corresponds to transmission device 310, transmission signal electrode 411 of transmission device 410 corresponds to transmission signal electrode 311, transmission reference electrode 412 corresponds to transmission reference electrode 312, and signal source 431-1 corresponds to signal source 331-1. The receiver device 420 corresponds to the receiver device 320, the reception signal electrode 421 of the receiver device 420 corresponds to the reception signal electrode 321, the reception reference electrode 422 corresponds to the reception reference electrode 322, Rr423-1 corresponds to Rr323-1, and the detector 423-2 corresponds to the detector 323-2. And, communication medium 430 corresponds to communication medium 330.

In addition, when the parameters are explained, static electricity between the signal-sending electrode 411 and the communication medium 430 is sentThe capacitance Cte414 corresponds to Cte314 of the communication system 300, the capacitance Ctg415 of the transmission reference electrode 412 with respect to space corresponds to Ctg315 of the communication system 300, and the reference point 416-1 and reference point 416-2, which represent virtual infinity points in space from the transmission device 410, correspond to the reference point 316 of the communication system 300. The transmitting signal electrode 411 has an area Ste [ m ]²]Is provided at a minute distance dte m from the communication medium 430]The position of (a). The transmission reference electrode 412 is also a disk-shaped electrode with a radius rtg m]。

On the receiver 420 side, the capacitance Cre424 between the reception signal electrode 421 and the communication medium 430 corresponds to the Cre324 of the communication system 300, the capacitance Crg425 of the reception reference electrode 422 with respect to the space corresponds to the Crg325 of the communication system 300, and the reference point 426-1 and the reference point 426-2 indicating virtual infinity points in the space from the receiver 420 correspond to the reference point 326 of the communication system 300. The reception signal electrode 421 has an area Sre [ m ]²]Is disposed at a minute distance dre [ m ] from the communication medium 430]In the position of (a). The reception reference electrode 422 is also a disk-shaped electrode having a radius rrg m]。

The communication system 400 of fig. 5 is a model in which the following new parameters are added in addition to the above parameters.

For example, the transmission device 410 has, as new parameters, the following: an electrostatic capacitance Ctb417-1 formed between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the transmission reference electrode 412, an electrostatic capacitance Cth417-2 formed between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the space, and an electrostatic capacitance Cti417-3 formed between the transmission reference electrode 412 and the communication medium 430.

In addition, the receiving apparatus 420 has, as new parameters, the following: an electrostatic capacitance Crb427-1 formed between the reception signal electrode 421 and the reception reference electrode 422, an electrostatic capacitance Crh427-2 formed between the reception signal electrode 421 and the space, and an electrostatic capacitance Cri427-3 formed between the reception reference electrode 422 and the communication medium 430.

Further, as new parameters, the following are added to the communication medium 430: an electrostatic capacitance (electrostatic capacitance between the communication medium 430 and a reference point 436 representing a virtual point of infinity from the communication medium 430) Cm432 formed between the communication medium 430 and the space. In addition, since the communication medium 430 actually has a resistance according to its size, material, or the like, the resistance values Rm431 and Rm433 are added as new parameters as resistance components.

Although omitted in the communication system 400 of fig. 5, when the communication medium has not only conductivity but also dielectric properties, an electrostatic capacitance according to its dielectric constant is also formed. In addition, when the communication medium is formed to have only dielectric properties without conductivity, the transmission signal electrode 411 and the reception signal electrode 421 are coupled to each other by electrostatic capacitance determined by the dielectric constant, distance, size, and arrangement of the dielectric materials.

Here, a case is assumed where the distance between the transmission device 410 and the reception device 420 is such that the elements that are electrostatically coupled to each other can be ignored (a case where the influence of electrostatic coupling between the transmission device 410 and the reception device 420 can be ignored). If the distance is short, the capacitance between the electrodes may need to be considered according to the positional relationship between the electrodes in the transmitter 410 and the electrodes in the receiver 420, in accordance with the above-described consideration method.

The operation of the communication system 400 of fig. 5 will be described below using a power line. Fig. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams showing relationships between electrodes or between an electrode and the communication medium 130 of the transmission device 410 of the communication system 400 using power lines.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of power line distribution when the communication medium 430 is not present in the transmission device 410 of the communication system 400. Currently, it is assumed that the transmission signal electrode 411 has a positive charge (positive charge) and the transmission reference electrode 412 has a negative charge (negative charge). The arrows in the figure indicate lines of electric force, the direction of which is from positive charges towards negative charges. The electric line of force has a property of not suddenly disappearing in the middle, or reaching an object having a different sign of charge, or reaching an imaginary infinite point.

Here, the electric flux lines 451 represent electric flux lines reaching the point of infinity among the electric flux lines emitted from the transmission signal electrode 411. The electric flux lines 452 represent electric flux lines reaching the virtual infinite origin among the electric flux lines directed to the transmission reference electrode 412. The electric field lines 453 represent electric field lines generated between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the transmission reference electrode 412. The distribution of these electric field lines is affected by the size and positional relationship of the electrodes.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an example of power line distribution when the communication medium 430 is close to the transmitting device 410. Since the communication medium 430 is close to the transmission signal electrode 411, the coupling between the two becomes strong, and the electric flux lines 451 reaching the point of infinity in fig. 6 become the electric flux lines 461 reaching the communication medium 430 in many cases, and the electric flux lines 463 (the electric flux lines 451 in fig. 6) toward the point of infinity decrease. At the same time, the capacitance (Cth 417-2 in fig. 5) at the point of infinity as seen from the communication signal electrode 411 becomes weak, and the capacitance (Cte 414 in fig. 5) with the communication medium 430 becomes large. In reality, the electrostatic coupling (Cti 417-3 in fig. 5) between the transmission reference electrode 412 and the communication medium 430 also exists, but is negligible here.

According to gauss' S law, the number N of lines of electric force exiting through an arbitrary closed curved surface S, equal to the total charge contained in the closed curved surface S divided by the dielectric constant epsilon, is not affected by the charges located outside the closed curved surface S. Currently, when n charges exist in the closed curved surface S, the following equation holds.

Formula 15

Here, i is an integer. Variable q_iRepresenting the amount of charge of each charge. This rule shows that: the electric flux lines that exit from the closed curved surface S are determined only by the electric flux lines that emanate from the electric charges existing in the closed curved surface S and enter from the outsideWill go out from other locations.

According to this law, in fig. 7, when the communication medium 430 is not grounded, since no charge generation source is present in the closed curved surface 471 near the communication medium 430, a charge Q3 is induced by electrostatic induction in the region 472 of the communication medium near the electric flux lines 461. Since the communication medium 430 is not grounded, the total charge amount of the communication medium 430 is not changed, and therefore, in the region 473 outside the region 472 where the charge Q3 is induced, the charge Q4 of the same amount and different sign from the charge Q3 is induced, and the electric flux lines 464 generated thereby exit from the closed surface 471. Since the charge Q4 is diffused and the charge density is reduced as the communication medium is larger, the number of power lines per unit area is reduced.

When the communication medium 430 is a complete conductor, there is a property that the charge density is almost equal regardless of the location in addition to the property that the potential is the same regardless of the location, depending on the property of the complete conductor. When the communication medium 430 is a conductive body having a resistance component, the number of electric lines of force is also reduced according to the distance according to the resistance component. In addition, when the communication medium 430 is a dielectric having no conductivity, electric lines of force are diffused and propagated according to the polarization thereof. When n conductors are present in space, the charge Q of each conductor_iThis can be obtained by the following equation.

Formula 16

Where i and j are integers, C_ijThe capacitance coefficient represented by the conductor i and the conductor j may be considered to have the same property as that of the electrostatic capacitance. The capacitance coefficient is determined only by the shape of the conductors and their positional relationship. Coefficient of capacitance C_iiThis results in a capacitance formed by the conductor i itself with respect to the space. In addition, C_ij＝C_ji. In the equation (16), a case where a system composed of a plurality of conductors operates according to the superposition theorem is shown, and a case where the charge of the conductor is determined by the sum of the products of the capacitance between the conductors and the potentials of the conductors is shown.

Currently, the parameters associated with each other in fig. 7 and equation (16) are determined as follows. For example, let Q1 denote the charge induced on the transmission signal electrode 411, Q2 denote the charge induced on the transmission reference electrode 412, Q3 denote the charge induced to the communication medium 430 by the transmission signal electrode 411, and Q4 denote the charge on the communication medium 430 of the same amount and different sign from the charge Q3.

Further, let V1 denote the potential with reference to the point of infinity of the transmission signal electrode 411, V2 denote the potential with reference to the point of infinity of the transmission reference electrode 412, V3 denote the potential with reference to the point of infinity of the communication medium 430, C12 denote the capacitance coefficient between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the transmission reference electrode 412, C13 denote the capacitance coefficient between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the communication medium 430, C15 denote the capacitance coefficient between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the space, C25 denote the capacitance coefficient between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the space, and C45 denote the capacitance coefficients between the communication medium 430 and the space.

At this time, the charge Q₃The calculation can be performed as follows.

Formula 17

Q₃＝C13×V1[C]...(17)

In order to inject a plurality of electric fields through the communication medium 430, the electric charge Q3 may be increased, and for this reason, the capacitance coefficient C13 between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the communication medium 430 may be increased and the sufficient potential V1 may be provided. The capacitance coefficient C13 is determined only by the shape and the positional relationship, but the closer the distance between them, the larger the facing area, and the larger the electrostatic capacitance. Next, although the potential V1 is set, the potential needs to be sufficient when viewed from the point of infinity. Although a potential difference is applied between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the transmission reference electrode 412 by the signal source when viewed from the transmission device 410, the behavior of the transmission reference electrode 412 becomes important in order that the potential difference is generated as a sufficient potential difference even when viewed from the point of infinity.

If the transmission reference electrode 412 is minute and the transmission signal electrode 411 is sufficiently large, the capacitance coefficients C12 and C25 are assumed to be small. On the other hand, since the capacitance coefficients C13, C15, and C45 have large capacitances, electrical changes are less likely to occur, and most of the potential difference generated by the signal source appears as the potential V2 of the transmission reference electrode 412, and the potential V1 of the transmission signal electrode 411 becomes small.

This situation is shown in fig. 8. Since the transmission reference electrode 481 is minute, it does not bind to any conductor or infinite point. The transmission signal electrode 411 and the communication medium 430 form an electrostatic capacitance Cte therebetween, and an electrostatic capacitance Cth417-2 is formed for a space. In addition, the communication medium 430 has a capacitance Cm432 for a space. Even if potentials occur on the transmission signal electrode 411 and the transmission reference electrode 412, the capacitances Cte414, Cth417-2, and Cm432 of the transmission signal electrode 411 are overwhelmingly large, and therefore, a large energy is required to fluctuate the potentials, but since the capacitance of the transmission reference electrode 481 on the side opposite to the signal source 413-1 is small, the potential of the transmission signal electrode 411 hardly changes, and the fluctuation of the potential of the signal source 413-1 is mostly expressed on the side of the transmission reference electrode 481.

On the other hand, if the transmission signal electrode 411 is small and the transmission reference electrode 481 is sufficiently large, the capacitance of the transmission reference electrode 481 increases, and it is difficult for the transmission signal electrode 411 to generate an electric potential V1, but the electrostatic bond with the communication medium 430 becomes weak, and a sufficient electric field cannot be injected.

Therefore, in the overall balance, it is necessary to provide a transmission reference electrode capable of supplying a sufficient potential while injecting an electric field necessary for communication from the transmission signal electrode to the communication medium. Although only the transmitting side is considered here, the same can be considered between the electrode of the receiving device 420 and the communication medium 430 in fig. 5.

The point of infinity is not necessarily physically distant, and practically, a space around the apparatus may be considered, but it is more preferable that the system as a whole be more stable and have less potential variation. In an actual usage environment, although there is noise generated from an AC power line, a lighting fixture, other electric devices, or the like, the noise may not be superimposed or may be at a level that is negligible at least in a frequency band used by a signal source.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the model (communication system 400) shown in fig. 5 by an equivalent circuit. That is, as shown in the relationship between fig. 2 and 4, the communication system 500 shown in fig. 9 corresponds to the communication system 400 shown in fig. 5, the transmission device 510 of the communication system 500 corresponds to the transmission device 410 of the communication system 400, the reception device 520 of the communication system 500 corresponds to the reception device 420 of the communication system 400, and the connection line 530 of the communication system 500 corresponds to the communication medium 430 of the communication system 400.

Similarly, in the transmitting device 510 of FIG. 9, signal source 513-1 corresponds to signal source 413-1. In addition, the transmission device 510 of fig. 9 shows the transmission device internal reference point 513-2 indicating the ground in the internal circuit of the transmission unit 113 of fig. 1, which corresponds to the transmission device internal reference point 213-2 of fig. 2 omitted in fig. 5.

In fig. 9, Cte514 denotes a capacitance corresponding to Cte414 in fig. 5, Ctg515 denotes a capacitance corresponding to Ctg415 in fig. 5, and reference points 516-1 and 516-2 denote reference points 416-1 and 416-2, respectively. Ctb517-1, Cth517-2, and Cti517-3 are electrostatic capacitances corresponding to Ctb417-1, Cth417-2, and Cti417-3, respectively.

Similarly, Rr523-1 and detector 523-2 as reception resistors in each part of the reception device 520 correspond to Rr423-1 and detector 423-2 in FIG. 5, respectively. In addition, the receiver 520 of fig. 9 shows the receiver internal reference point 523-3 corresponding to the receiver internal reference point 223-3 of fig. 2, which is omitted in fig. 5, and showing the ground in the internal circuit of the receiver 123 of fig. 1.

In addition, Cre524 in fig. 9 is a capacitance corresponding to Cre424 in fig. 5, Crg525 is a capacitance corresponding to Crg425 in fig. 5, and reference points 526-1 and 526-2 correspond to reference points 426-1 and 426-2, respectively. Crb527-1, Crh527-2, and Cri527-3 are capacitances corresponding to Crb427-1, Crh427-2, and Cri427-3, respectively.

Similarly, Rm531 and Rm533 which are resistance components of the connection line 530 correspond to Rm431 and Rm433, Cm532 corresponds to Cm432, and reference point 536 corresponds to reference point 436.

Such a communication system 500 has the following properties.

For example, the larger the value of Cte514 (the higher the capacitance), the more capable the transmitting device 510 can apply a large signal to the connection line 530 corresponding to the communication medium 430. The larger the value of Ctg515 (the higher the capacitance), the more the transmission device 510 can apply a large signal to the connection line 530. Further, the smaller the value of Ctb517-1, the more the transmission device 510 can apply a large signal to the connection line 530. In addition, the smaller the value of Cth517-2 (the lower the capacitance), the more the transmission device 510 can apply a large signal to the connection line 530. The smaller the value of Cti517-3 (the lower the capacitance), the more the transmission device 510 can apply a large signal to the connection line 530.

The larger the value Cre524 is (the higher the capacitance), the more the receiving device 520 can take out a large signal from the connection line 530 corresponding to the communication medium 430. The larger the value of Crg525 (the higher the capacitance), the larger the signal that can be extracted from the connection line 530 by the receiver 520. The smaller the value of Crb527-1 (the lower the capacitance), the larger the signal that can be extracted from the connection line 530 by the receiving device 520. The smaller the value of Crh527-2 (the lower the capacitance), the larger the signal that can be taken out from the connection line 530 by the receiving device 520. The smaller the value of Cri527-3 (the lower the capacitance), the more the reception device 520 can extract a large signal from the connection line 530. The lower the value of R523-1 (the higher the resistance), the more the receiver 520 can take out a large signal from the connection line 530.

As the values of Rm531 and Rm533 which are resistance components of the connection line 530 are lower (resistance is low), the transmission device 510 can apply a large signal to the connection line 530. The smaller the value of Cm532, which is the capacitance of the connection line 530 with respect to space (the lower the capacitance), the larger the transmission device 510 can apply to the connection line 530.

The size of the capacitance of the capacitor is approximately proportional to the size of the surface area of the electrodes, and therefore, it is generally preferable that the size of each electrode is larger, but when the size of the electrodes is simply made larger, the capacitance between the electrodes may be increased. In addition, the size ratio of the electrode may be extremely low, which may reduce the efficiency. Therefore, the size of the electrodes, the arrangement location, and the like need to be determined in the overall balance.

Further, the above-described communication device 500 has a property that the equivalent circuit is obtained by a method of considering impedance matching in a frequency band having a high frequency of the signal source 513-1, and efficient communication can be performed by determining each parameter. By increasing the frequency, the reactance can be secured even with a small capacitance, and each device can be easily downsized.

In addition, the reactance of the capacitor generally increases as the frequency decreases. In contrast, since the communication system 500 operates by the electrostatic capacitance coupling, the lower limit of the frequency of the signal generated by the signal source 513-1 is determined by this operation. Since Rm531, Cm532, and Rm533 form a low-pass filter by this arrangement, the upper frequency limit is determined by this characteristic.

That is, the frequency characteristic of the communication system 500 is a curve 551 of the graph shown in fig. 10. In fig. 10, the horizontal axis represents frequency, and the vertical axis represents the gain of the entire system.

Specific values for various parameters of the communication system 400 of fig. 5, and the communication system 500 of fig. 9 are discussed below. In addition, hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the communication system 400 (communication system 500) is disposed in the air. Further, the transmission signal electrode 411, the transmission reference electrode 412, the reception signal electrode 421, and the reception reference electrode 422 (the transmission signal electrode 511, the transmission reference electrode 512, the reception signal electrode 521, and the reception reference electrode 522 of the communication system 500) of the communication system 400 are all conductor disks having a diameter of 5 cm.

In the communication system 400 of fig. 5, when the mutual distance dte between the capacitance Cte414(Cte514 of fig. 9) formed by the transmission signal electrode 411 and the communication medium 430 is 5mm, the value is obtained as in the following equation (18) by using the above equation (9).

Formula 18

3.5[pF]...(18)

The capacitance Ctb417-1 (Ctb 517-1 in FIG. 9) which is the capacitance between electrodes can be applied (formula 9). The equation is basically established when the electrode area ratio is sufficiently large as described above, but this can be approximated without affecting the results. When the inter-electrode gap was set to 5cm, Ctb417-1 (Ctb 517-1 in FIG. 9) was as follows (19).

Formula 19

0.35[pF]...(19)

Here, it is assumed that, if the distance between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the communication medium 430 is narrowed, the coupling with the space is weakened, and therefore, the value of Cth417-2 (Cth 517-2 in fig. 9) is sufficiently smaller than the value of Cte (Cte), and is set to one tenth of the value of 63414 (Cte) as in equation (20).

Formula 20

Ctg415 (Ctg 515 in fig. 9) indicating the capacitance formed by the transmission reference electrode 412 and the space can be obtained as in the case of fig. 4 by the following equation (21).

Formula 21

Ctg＝8×8.854×10^-12×2.5×10^-21.8[pF]...(21)

The value of Cti417-3 (Cti 517-3 in FIG. 9) is considered to be equal to Ctb417-1 (Ctb 517-1 in FIG. 9) as follows.

Cti＝Ctb＝0.35[pF]

As for the parameters of the receiving device 420 (receiving device 520 in fig. 9), if the configuration (size, installation position, etc.) of each electrode is the same as that of the transmitting device 410, the parameters are set in the same manner as those of the transmitting device 410 as described below.

Cre＝Cte＝3.5[pF]

Crb＝Ctb＝0.35[pF]

Crh＝Cth＝0.35[pF]

Crg＝Ctg＝1.8[pF]

Cri＝Cti＝0.35[pF]

For convenience of explanation, the communication medium 430 (connection line 530 in fig. 9) is assumed to be an object having characteristics similar to those of a living body having a size similar to that of a human body. The resistance from the position of the transmission signal electrode 411 to the position of the reception signal electrode 421 of the communication medium 430 (from the position of the transmission signal electrode 511 to the position of the reception signal electrode 521 in fig. 9) is set to 1M [ Ω ], and the values of Rm431 and Rm433 (Rm 531 and Rm533 in fig. 9) are set to 500K [ Ω ], respectively. In addition, the value of the electrostatic capacitance Cm432 (Cm 532 of fig. 9) formed between the communication medium 430 and the space is set to 100[ pF ].

Also, signal source 413-1 (signal source 513-1 in FIG. 9) is assumed to be a sine wave with a maximum value of 1[ V ] and a frequency of 10M [ Hz ].

When simulation is performed using the above parameters, a received signal having a waveform as shown in fig. 11 is obtained as a result of the simulation. In the graph shown in fig. 11, the vertical axis represents the voltage across Rr423-1(Rr523-1) as the reception load of the receiver 420 (receiver 520 in fig. 9), and the horizontal axis represents time. As shown by a two-headed arrow 552 in fig. 11, it is observed that the difference (peak difference) between the maximum value a and the minimum value B of the waveform of the received signal is about 10 μ V degrees. Accordingly, the signal on the transmission side (the signal generated by the signal source 413-1) can be restored on the reception side by amplifying the signal in the amplifier (the detector 423-2) having a sufficient gain.

Thus, the communication system to which the present invention is applied as described above can realize communication only through the communication signal transmission path without the physical reference point path, and therefore, can easily provide a communication environment free from restrictions on the use environment.

The arrangement of the electrodes in each device is described below. As described above, the electrodes have different roles and form electrostatic capacitances for the communication medium, the space, and the like. That is, each electrode is electrostatically bonded to a different partner, and functions by using the electrostatic bonding. Therefore, the method of disposing the electrodes is a very important factor for efficiently electrostatically bonding the electrodes to the target object.

For example, in the communication system 400 of fig. 5, in order to efficiently perform communication between the transmission device 410 and the reception device 420, it is necessary to arrange the electrodes under the following conditions. That is, each apparatus needs to satisfy: for example, the electrostatic capacitance between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the communication medium 430 and the electrostatic capacitance between the reception signal electrode 421 and the communication medium 422 are sufficient in magnitude; the electrostatic capacitance of the transmission reference electrode 412 and the space, and the electrostatic capacitance of the reception reference electrode 422 and the space are sufficient in magnitude; the capacitance between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the transmission reference electrode 412 and between the reception signal electrode 421 and the reception reference electrode 422 are smaller in magnitude; further, the capacitance between the transmission signal electrode 411 and the space and the capacitance between the reception signal electrode 421 and the space are smaller in size.

Examples of the arrangement of the electrodes are shown in fig. 12 to 18A and 18B. The following examples of the electrode arrangement are also applicable to either the transmission device or the reception device. Therefore, the following description of the receiving apparatus is omitted, and only the transmitting apparatus will be described. In addition, when the following examples are applied to the receiving apparatus, the transmission signal electrode is made to correspond to the reception signal electrode, and the transmission reference electrode is made to correspond to the reception signal electrode.

In fig. 12, two electrodes, a transmission signal electrode 554 and a transmission reference electrode 555, are disposed on the same plane of the case 553. With this configuration, the capacitance between the electrodes can be reduced as compared with a case where two electrodes (the transmission signal electrode 554 and the transmission reference electrode 555) are arranged to face each other. When the transmission device of such a structure is used, only one of the two electrodes is brought close to the communication medium. For example, the following folding-type mobile phones: case 553 is constituted by two units and a hinge portion, and the hinge portion connects the two units so that the relative angle of the two units is variable, and when viewed as a whole of case 553, case 553 can be folded near the center in the longitudinal direction by the hinge portion. In such a folding cellular phone, by applying the electrode arrangement shown in fig. 12, one electrode can be arranged on the back surface of the cell on the operation button side, and the other electrode can be arranged on the back surface of the cell on which the display portion is provided. With this arrangement, the electrodes disposed on the unit on the operation button side are covered with the hand of the user, and the electrodes disposed on the back surface of the display portion are disposed facing the space. That is, two electrodes are arranged so as to satisfy the above condition.

Fig. 13 shows a case 553 in which two electrodes (a transmission signal electrode 554 and a transmission reference electrode 555) are arranged to face each other. In this case, the electrostatic bonding between both electrodes is stronger than in the arrangement of fig. 12, but the case 553 is preferably small. In this case, the two electrodes are preferably disposed in the housing 553 in a direction as far as possible.

Fig. 14 is a diagram in which two electrodes (transmission signal electrode 554 and transmission reference electrode 555) are arranged in case 553 so as not to directly face each other, and the two electrodes are arranged on the faces of case 553 which face each other. In the case of this structure, the electrostatic bonding of the two electrodes is set to be smaller than that in fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is a diagram in which two electrodes (a transmission signal electrode 554 and a transmission reference electrode 555) are arranged perpendicular to each other in a case 553. According to this configuration, in an application in which the surface of the transmission signal electrode 554 and the opposing surface thereof are close to the communication medium, the side surface (the surface on which the transmission reference electrode 555 is disposed) remains electrostatically bonded to the space, and thus communication is possible.

Fig. 16A and 16B are diagrams in which the transmission reference electrode 555, which is one electrode, is disposed inside the case 553 in the arrangement shown in fig. 13. That is, as shown in fig. 16A, only the transmission reference electrode 555 is provided inside the housing 553. Fig. 16B is a diagram showing an example of the electrode position when viewed from the surface 556 of fig. 16A. As shown in fig. 16B, the transmission signal electrode 554 is disposed on the surface of the casing 553, and only the transmission reference electrode 555 is disposed inside the casing 553. According to this configuration, even if the case 553 is widely covered with the communication medium, the communication can be performed because the internal space of the case 553 is provided around one electrode.

Fig. 17A and 17B are diagrams in which the transmission reference electrode 555, which is one electrode, is disposed inside the case 553 in the arrangement shown in fig. 12 or 14. That is, as shown in fig. 17A, only the transmission reference electrode 555 is provided inside the housing 553. Fig. 17B is a diagram showing an example of the electrode position when viewed from the surface 556 of fig. 17A. As shown in fig. 17B, the transmission signal electrode 554 is disposed on the surface of the casing 553, and only the transmission reference electrode 555 is disposed inside the casing 553. According to this configuration, even if the case 553 is widely covered with the communication medium, a space margin inside the case is provided around one electrode, and thus communication is possible.

Fig. 18A and 18B are diagrams illustrating the arrangement shown in fig. 15, in which one electrode is arranged inside the case. That is, as shown in fig. 18A, only the transmission reference electrode 555 is provided inside the housing 553. Fig. 18B is a diagram showing an example of the electrode position when viewed from the surface 556 of fig. 18A. As shown in fig. 18B, the transmission signal electrode 554 is disposed on the surface of the casing 553, and only the transmission reference electrode 555 is disposed inside the casing 553. According to this configuration, even if the housing is widely covered with the communication medium, a space remaining inside the housing is provided around the transmission reference electrode 555 as one electrode, and thus communication is possible.

Any of the electrode configurations described above is: the other electrode is disposed closer to the communication medium than the one electrode, and the other electrode is more strongly electrostatically bonded to the space. In each arrangement, it is preferable that the electrostatic bonding between the two electrodes is weaker.

The transmitting device or the receiving device may also be combined into any housing. In the device of the invention, there are at least two electrodes, which are in an electrically insulated state, and therefore the housing is also constituted by an insulator having a certain thickness. Fig. 19A, 19B, and 19C are sectional views showing the periphery of the transmission signal electrode. Since any one of the transmission reference electrode, the reception signal electrode, and the reception reference electrode has the same configuration as the transmission signal electrode, the following description can be applied. Thus, description thereof will be omitted.

Fig. 19A shows a cross-sectional view around the electrode. The case 563 and the case 564 must have a physical thickness (d [ m ]) shown by two arrows 565, and therefore, a space corresponding to the thickness is also created at the lowest between the electrode and the communication medium (for example, the transmission electrode 561 and the communication medium 562), or the electrode and the space. As is clear from the description so far, it is generally preferable that the electrostatic capacitance is high between the electrode and the communication medium or between the electrode and the space.

Now, consider the case where the communication medium 562 is secured to the housing 563 and the housing 564. Since the capacitance C between the transmission reference electrode 561 and the communication medium 562 at this time can be obtained by the following equation 9, the following equation 22 is obtained.

Formula 22

Herein, epsilon₀Is a vacuum dielectric constant of 8.854X 10^-12[F/m]A fixed value of (2). Epsilon_rIs the relative permittivity of the field, and S is the surface area of the transmission signal electrode 561. By disposing a dielectric having a high relative permittivity in the space 566 formed above the transmission signal electrode 561, the capacitance can be increased, and performance can be improved.

Similarly, the capacitance can be increased for the surrounding space. In the case of fig. 19A, the dielectric is partially inserted into the thickness (double arrow 565) of the case, but this is not necessarily required, and any position may be used.

In contrast, fig. 19B shows an example in which the electrodes are embedded in the case. In fig. 19B, the transmission signal electrode 561 is embedded in a case 567 (so as to be a part of the case 567). Thereby, the communication medium 562 contacts the case 567 and also contacts the transmission signal electrode 561. Further, by forming an insulating layer on the surface of the transmission signal electrode 561, the communication medium 562 and the transmission signal electrode 561 can be made non-contact.

Fig. 19C is a view of the case 567, which is different from the case of fig. 19B, recessed in a shape with an electrode surface area and a thickness d' and embedded in the transmission signal electrode 561. When the case is integrally molded, the method can suppress the manufacturing cost or the component cost and simply improve the electrostatic capacitance.

As described above, for example, when a plurality of electrodes are arranged on the same plane as shown in fig. 12, by inserting a dielectric into the transmission signal electrode 554 (or by inserting a dielectric having a higher dielectric constant than the transmission reference electrode 555 into the transmission signal electrode 554), even in a situation where both the transmission signal electrode 554 and the transmission reference electrode 555 are coupled to a communication medium, a potential difference can be generated between the electrodes for communication because one of the transmission signal electrodes 554 and the communication medium are strongly coupled.

The electrode size will be described below. In order to obtain a sufficient potential for the communication medium, at least the transmission reference electrode and the reception reference electrode need to have a sufficient capacitance with the space, but the transmission signal electrode and the reception signal electrode may be optimally sized depending on the nature of the signal electrostatically bonded to the communication medium or flowing through the communication medium. Therefore, the size of the transmission reference electrode is generally made larger than the size of the transmission signal electrode, and the size of the reception reference electrode is made larger than the size of the reception signal electrode. However, it is needless to say that a relationship other than this is also acceptable as long as a sufficient signal for performing communication can be obtained.

In particular, when the size of the transmission reference electrode and the size of the transmission signal electrode are made to coincide with each other and the size of the reception reference electrode and the size of the reception signal electrode are made to coincide with each other, these electrodes can be regarded as having characteristics equivalent to each other if viewed from the reference point at the point of infinity. For this purpose, the following features are provided: even if either electrode is used as the reference electrode (signal electrode) (the reference electrode and the signal electrode can be exchanged), the same communication performance can be obtained.

In other words, the following features are provided: when the reference electrode and the signal electrode are designed to have different sizes from each other, communication can be performed only when one of the electrodes (the electrode set as the signal electrode) is brought close to the communication medium.

The circuit shielding is explained below. In the above, the transmitting unit, the receiving unit, and the like other than the electrodes are regarded as being transparent in consideration of the physical configuration of the communication system, but in practice, the transmitting unit, the receiving unit, and the like are generally constituted by electronic components and the like in order to realize the communication system. Electronic components are made of substances having some electrical properties such as conductivity and dielectricity in terms of their properties, but they affect the operation since they are present in the vicinity of electrodes. In the present invention, since various influences are given by the electrostatic capacitance and the like in the space, the electronic circuit itself mounted on the substrate is also influenced by the influence. Therefore, when a more stable operation is desired, it is preferable to shield the entire device with a conductor.

The shielded conductor may be connected to a transmission reference electrode or a reception reference electrode which is a reference potential of the transmission/reception device, but may be connected to a transmission signal electrode or a reception signal electrode if there is no problem in operation. Since the shielded conductor itself also has a physical size, it is necessary to consider a case where the shielded conductor operates in relation to another electrode, a communication medium, or a space in accordance with the principle described above.

Fig. 20 shows an embodiment thereof. In the present example, it is assumed that the device operates by a battery, and electronic components including the battery are housed in the shield case 571 and also serve as a reference electrode. The electrode 572 is a signal electrode.

The following describes the communication medium. In the above examples, the communication medium is mainly exemplified by a conductor, but communication can be performed even with a dielectric having no conductivity. Because in the dielectric medium, the electric field injected from the transmission signal electrode to the communication medium propagates by the polarization action of the dielectric medium.

Specifically, a metal such as a wire can be used as the conductor, and pure water can be used as the dielectric, but a living body having both properties and physiological saline can also communicate with each other. Further, since the dielectric constant is also present in vacuum or air, communication can be performed as a communication medium.

The following explains the noise. In the space, the potential fluctuates due to various factors such as noise from an AC power supply, noise from a fluorescent lamp, various home electric appliances, and influence of charged particles in the air. Although these potential variations are ignored in the foregoing, these noises are present in each part of the transmission device, the communication medium, and the reception device.

Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram showing the communication system 100 of fig. 1 by an equivalent circuit including a noise component. That is, the communication system 600 of fig. 21 corresponds to the communication system 500 of fig. 9, the transmission device 610 of the communication system 600 corresponds to the transmission device 510 of the communication system 500, the reception device 620 corresponds to the reception device 520, and the connection line 630 corresponds to the connection line 630.

In the transmitting device 610, the signal source 613-1, the intra-transmitting-device reference points 613-2, Cte614, Ctg615, reference point 616-1, reference point 616-2, Ctb617-1, Cth617-2, and Cti617-3 correspond to the signal source 513-1, the intra-transmitting-device reference points 513-2, Cte514, Ctg515, reference point 516-1, reference point 516-2, Ctb517-1, Cth517-2, and Cti517-3 of the communication device 510, respectively. However, unlike the case of fig. 9, in the transmission device 610, two signal sources of noise 641 and noise 642 are provided between Ctg615 and the reference point 616-1 and between Cth617-2 and the reference point 616-2, respectively.

In the receiver 620, Rr623-1, the detector 623-2, the intra-receiver reference point 623-3, Cre624, Crg625, the reference point 626-1, the reference point 626-2, Crb627-1, Crh627-2, and Cri627-3 correspond to Rr523-1, the detector 523-2, the intra-receiver reference point 523-3, Cre524, Crg525, the reference point 526-1, the reference point 526-2, Crb527-1, Crh527-2, and Cri527-3 of the receiver 520, respectively. However, unlike the case of FIG. 9, in the reception device 620, two signal sources of the noise 644 and the noise 645 are provided between the Crh627-2 and the reference point 626-2 and between the Crg625 and the reference point 626-1, respectively.

In the connection line 630, Rm631, Cm632, Rm633 and the reference point 636 correspond to Rm531, Cm532, Rm533 and the reference point 536 of the connection line 530, respectively. However, unlike the case of fig. 9, on the connection line 630, the noise 643 formed by the signal source is provided between Cm532 and the reference point 536.

Since each device operates with reference to the transmitting device internal reference point 613-2 or the receiving device internal reference point 623-3, which is the own ground potential, if the noise on these points has relatively the same component on the transmitting device, the communication medium, and the receiving device, there is no influence on the operation. On the other hand, in particular, in a case where the distance between the devices is long or in an environment where noise is large, the possibility of relative difference in noise occurring between the devices becomes high. That is, the actions of the noises 641 to 645 are different from each other. When the difference does not vary in time, there is no problem as long as the relative difference of the signal levels used for transmission is relatively small, but when the variation cycle of noise is superimposed on the frequency band used, the frequency and the signal level used need to be determined in consideration of the noise characteristics thereof, in other words, when the frequency and the signal level used are determined in consideration of the noise characteristics, the communication system 600 has noise immunity to noise components, and communication of the transmission path can be realized only from the communication signal without the need for a physical reference point path, so that it is possible to easily provide a communication environment free from restrictions of the use environment.

Next, the influence of the magnitude of the distance between the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus on the communication will be described. As described above, according to the principle of the present invention, if a sufficient electrostatic capacitance is formed in the space between the transmission reference electrode and the reception reference electrode, a path to the ground near between the transmission and reception devices or another electrical path is not necessary, and thus it is not dependent on the distance between the transmission signal electrode and the reception signal electrode. Therefore, for example, as in the communication system 700 shown in fig. 22, the transmission device 710 and the reception device 720 are placed at a long distance, and the transmission signal electrode 711 and the reception signal electrode 721 are electrostatically bonded to each other via a communication medium 730 having sufficient conductivity or dielectric properties, thereby enabling communication. At this time, the transmission reference electrode 712 is electrostatically coupled to the space outside the transmission device 710, and the reception reference electrode 722 is electrostatically coupled to the space outside the reception device 720. Therefore, the transmission reference electrode 712 and the reception reference electrode 722 do not need to be electrostatically coupled to each other. However, since the capacitance to space is also increased by making the communication medium 730 longer and larger, it is necessary to consider these parameters when determining them.

The communication system 700 in fig. 22 corresponds to the communication system 100 in fig. 1, and the transmission device 710 corresponds to the transmission device 110, the reception device 720 corresponds to the reception device 120, and the communication medium 730 corresponds to the communication medium 130.

In the communication device 710, the transmission signal electrode 711, the transmission reference electrode 712, and the signal source 713-1 correspond to the transmission signal electrode 111, the transmission reference electrode 112, and the transmission unit 113 (or a part thereof), respectively. Similarly, in the receiving device 720, the reception signal electrode 721, the reception reference electrode 722, and the signal source 723-1 correspond to the reception signal electrode 121, the reception reference electrode 122, and the receiving unit 123 (or a part thereof), respectively.

And thus, explanations about their respective parts are omitted.

As described above, since the communication system 700 can realize communication only through the communication signal transmission path without requiring a physical reference point path, it is possible to provide a communication environment free from restrictions on the use environment.

In addition, although the case where the transmission signal electrode and the reception signal electrode are not in contact with the communication medium has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and if sufficient electrostatic capacitance can be obtained between the transmission reference electrode and the reception reference electrode and the space around each device, the transmission signal electrode and the reception signal electrode may be connected by a communication medium having conductivity.

Fig. 23 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a communication system when a transmission reference electrode and a reception reference electrode are connected through a communication medium.

In fig. 23, a communication system 740 is a system corresponding to the communication system 700 of fig. 22. However, in the case of the communication system 740, the transmission electrode 711 is not present in the transmission device 710, and the transmission device 710 and the communication medium 730 are connected at a contact 741. Similarly, the reception device 720 of the communication system 740 does not have the reception signal electrode 721, and the reception device 720 and the communication medium 730 are connected by a contact 742.

In a general wired communication system, there are at least two signal lines which communicate with a relative difference in their signal levels, but according to the present invention, communication can be performed with one signal line.

That is, the communication system 740 can realize communication using only the communication signal transmission path without requiring a physical reference point path, and thus can provide a communication environment free from restrictions on the use environment.

A specific application example of the above-described communication system is described below. For example, in the communication system described above, a living body may be used as a communication medium. Fig. 24 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a communication system for performing communication through a human body. In fig. 24, a communication system 750 is a system that: music data is transmitted from a transmitter 760 attached to the wrist of a human body, and received by a receiver 770 attached to the head of the human body, converted into sound, and output to be viewed by a user. The communication system 750 corresponds to the communication system (for example, the communication system 100) described above, and the transmission device 760 and the reception device 770 correspond to the transmission device 110 and the reception device 120, respectively. In the communication system 750, the human body 780 is a communication medium, and corresponds to the communication medium 130 of fig. 1.

That is, the transmission device 760 includes a transmission signal electrode 761, a transmission reference electrode 762, and a transmission unit 763, and corresponds to the transmission signal electrode 111, the transmission reference electrode 112, and the transmission unit 113 in fig. 1, respectively. The receiving device 770 includes a reception signal electrode 771, a reception reference electrode 772, and a receiving unit 773, and corresponds to the reception signal electrode 121, the reception reference electrode 122, and the receiving unit 123 in fig. 1, respectively.

Accordingly, the transmission apparatus 760 and the reception apparatus 770 are arranged so that the transmission signal electrode 761 and the reception signal electrode 771 are brought into contact with or close to the human body 780 as a communication medium. Since the transmission reference electrode 762 and the reception reference electrode 772 may be in contact with the space, the coupling with the ground or the coupling between the transmission and reception devices (or the electrodes) is not required in the periphery.

Fig. 25 is a diagram illustrating another example of implementing the communication system 750. In fig. 25, the receiving apparatus 770 is configured to communicate with the transmitting apparatus 760 attached to the wrist of the human body 780 while the human body 780 is in contact with (or close to) the arch of the foot. At this time, the transmission signal electrode 761 and the reception signal electrode 771 are disposed so as to be in contact with (or close to) the human body 780 as a communication medium, and the transmission reference electrode 762 and the reception reference electrode 772 are disposed toward the space. In particular, the conventional technique, which uses the ground as one of the communication paths, is an application example which cannot be realized.

That is, the communication system 750 can realize communication using only the communication signal transmission path without requiring a physical reference point path, and thus can provide a communication environment free from restrictions on the use environment.

In the above-described communication system, the modulation scheme of the signal flowing through the communication medium is not particularly limited if it can be applied between the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus, and the optimum scheme may be selected according to the system characteristics of the entire communication system. Specifically, the modulation method may be an analog signal of baseband, amplitude modulation, or frequency modulation, or may be any one of or a mixture of a plurality of digital signals of baseband, amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, or phase modulation.

In the above communication system, full duplex communication for establishing a plurality of communications, communication between a plurality of devices using a single communication medium, and the like can be performed using a single communication medium.

An example of a method of realizing such multiplex communication will be described. The first is a method of applying a spread spectrum approach. In this case, the frequency bandwidth and the specific time-series code are mutually specified between the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus. The transmission device changes the frequency of the original signal in the frequency bandwidth according to the time-series code, and transmits the signal after spreading the signal over the entire frequency bandwidth. The receiving apparatus receives the spread component, and then integrates the received signal to decode the received signal.

The effect obtained from the frequency spreading is explained. The following equation holds according to the channel capacity theorem of shannon and hartley.

Formula 23

Here, C [ bps ] represents a channel capacity, which represents a theoretical maximum data rate that can flow through a communication path. B [ Hz ] represents the channel bandwidth. S/N represents a signal-to-noise power ratio (SN ratio). Furthermore, the above formula is developed in Maxolin (マクロ - リン open/low), and when S/N is low, the formula (23) can be approximated to the following formula (24).

Formula 24

Thus, for example, when S/N is set to a level equal to or lower than the noise floor, S/N < 1 is obtained, but the channel capacity C can be increased to a desired level by enlarging the signal bandwidth B.

If the time-series code is made different for each communication channel and the frequency spreading operation is made different, the frequencies are spread without mutual interference, so that there is no mutual interference any more and a plurality of communications can be simultaneously performed.

Fig. 26 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied. In communication system 800 shown in fig. 26, four transmitting devices 810-1 to 810-4 and five receiving devices 820-1 to 820-5 perform multiplex communication through communication medium 830 using a spread spectrum method.

The transmission device 810-1 corresponds to the transmission device 110 in fig. 1, and includes a transmission signal electrode 811 and a transmission reference electrode 812, and further includes an original signal supply unit 813, a multiplier 814, an extended signal supply unit 815, and an amplifier 816 as a configuration corresponding to the transmission unit 113.

The original signal supply unit 813 supplies an original signal that is a signal before the spread frequency to the multiplier 814. In addition, the spread signal supply section 815 supplies a spread signal for spreading the frequency to the multiplier 814. In addition, as a typical spreading scheme of the spread signal, there are two schemes, a direct sequence scheme (hereinafter, referred to as a DS scheme) and a frequency hopping scheme (hereinafter, referred to as an FH scheme). The DS system multiplies the time-series code having a frequency component at least higher than that of the original signal by a multiplier 814, loads the multiplication result on a predetermined carrier, amplifies the result by an amplifier 815, and outputs the amplified result.

The FH method is a method that includes: the carrier frequency is changed in accordance with the time-series code to be an extension signal, and the extension signal is multiplied by the original signal supplied from the original signal supply unit 813 by the multiplier 814, amplified by the amplifier 815, and output. One output of the amplifier 815 is connected to the transmission signal electrode 811, and the other output is connected to the transmission reference electrode 812.

The same applies to the transmitting apparatus 810-2 to the transmitting apparatus 810-4, and the explanation of the transmitting apparatus 810-1 is applicable, and therefore, the explanation thereof is omitted

The receiving apparatus 820-1 corresponds to the receiving apparatus 120 of fig. 1, and includes a reception signal electrode 821 and a reception reference electrode 822, and further includes an amplifier 823, a multiplier 824, an extended signal supply unit 825, and an original signal output unit 826 as a configuration corresponding to the receiving unit 123.

The receiving apparatus 820-1 first restores the electric signal according to the method of the present invention, and then restores the original signal (the signal supplied from the original signal supplying section 813) by the reverse signal processing of the transmitting apparatus 810-1.

The spectrum according to this mode is shown in fig. 27. The horizontal axis represents frequency and the vertical axis represents energy. Spectrum 841 is a spectrum of fixed frequency means, but concentrates energy at a particular frequency. In this method, when the energy is reduced to below the noise layer 843, the signal cannot be restored. On the other hand, spectrum 842 shows a spectrum of the spread spectrum method, but energy is dispersed in a wide band. Since the rectangular area of the figure can be considered to represent the entire energy, the signal of spectrum 842 can be communicated by integrating the energy over the entire frequency band to restore the original signal even if each frequency component is below noise level 843.

By performing communication using the spread spectrum method described above, the communication system 800 can perform communication simultaneously using the same communication medium 830 as shown in fig. 26. In fig. 26, path 831 through path 835 represent communication paths on communication medium 830. Further, by using the spread spectrum method, the communication system 800 can perform many-to-one communication or many-to-many communication as shown by the path 831 and the path 832.

The second method is a method of applying a frequency division method in which a frequency bandwidth is determined between a transmitting device and a receiving device and the frequency bandwidth is further divided into a plurality of regions. In this case, the transmitting device (or the receiving device) allocates the frequency band according to a specific frequency band allocation rule, or detects the frequency band at the time of communication start, and allocates the frequency band based on the detection result.

Fig. 28 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied. In a communication system 850 shown in fig. 28, four transmitting apparatuses 860-1 to 860-4 and five receiving apparatuses 870-1 to 870-5 perform multiplex communication via a communication medium 880 by using a frequency division method.

The transmission device 860-1 corresponds to the transmission device 110 in fig. 1, and includes a transmission signal electrode 861 and a transmission reference electrode 862, and as a configuration corresponding to the transmission unit 113, includes an original signal supply unit 863, a multiplier 864, a frequency variable oscillation source 865, and an amplifier 866.

The oscillation signal having a specific frequency component generated by the frequency variable oscillation source 865 is multiplied by the original signal supplied from the original signal supply unit 863 in the multiplier 864, amplified in the amplifier 866, and then output (if appropriate filtered). One output of the amplifier 866 is connected to the transmit signal electrode 861 and the other output is connected to the transmit reference electrode 862.

The transmission device 860-2 to the transmission device 860-4 have the same configuration, and the above-described explanation of the transmission device 860-1 can be applied thereto, and therefore, the explanation thereof is omitted

The receiving device 870-1 corresponds to the receiving device 120 in fig. 1, and includes a reception signal electrode 871 and a reception reference electrode 872, and further includes an amplifier 873, a multiplier 874, a frequency variable oscillation source 875, and an original signal output unit 876 as a configuration corresponding to the receiving unit 123.

The receiving apparatus 870-1 first restores the electric signal by the method of the present invention, and then restores the original signal (the signal supplied from the original signal supplying unit 863) by the signal processing reverse to that of the transmitting apparatus 860-1.

An example of a spectrum according to this mode is shown in fig. 29. The horizontal axis represents frequency and the vertical axis represents energy. For convenience of explanation, fig. 29 shows an example in which the entire frequency bandwidth 890(BW) is divided into five bandwidths 891 to 895 (FW). The frequency bands thus divided are used for communication in mutually different communication paths. That is, the transmitting apparatus 860 (receiving apparatus 870) of the communication system 850 can perform a plurality of communications simultaneously in one communication medium 880 by suppressing mutual interference by using a different frequency band for each communication path, as shown in fig. 28. In fig. 28, the communication path over communication medium 880 is represented by the path 881 through 885. Further, by using the frequency division method, the communication system 850 can also perform many-to-one communication and many-to-many communication shown by the path 881 and the path 882.

Although the communication system 850 (the transmission device 860 or the reception device 870) has been described as dividing the entire bandwidth 890 into five bandwidths 891 to 895, the number of divisions may be several, or the sizes of the bandwidths may be different from each other.

The third is a method of applying a time division method of mutually dividing communication time into a plurality of communication times between a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus. In this case, the transmission device (or reception device) divides the communication time according to a specific time division rule, or detects a time region left when the communication is started, and divides the communication time based on the detection result.

Fig. 30 is a diagram showing another configuration example of a communication system to which the present invention is applied. In the communication system 900 shown in fig. 30, four transmitting devices 910-1 to 910-4 and five receiving devices 920-1 to 920-5 perform multiplex communication through a communication medium 930 using a time division method.

The transmission device 910-1 corresponds to the transmission device 110 in fig. 1, and includes a transmission signal electrode 911 and a transmission reference electrode 912, and also includes a time control unit 913, a multiplier 914, an oscillation source 915, and an amplifier 916 as a configuration corresponding to the transmission unit 113.

The time control unit 913 outputs the original signal at a predetermined time. The multiplier 914 multiplies the original signal by the oscillation signal supplied from the oscillation source 915, and outputs the result from the amplifier 916 (if appropriate, performs filtering). One output of the amplifier 916 is connected to the transmission signal electrode 911 and the other is connected to the transmission reference electrode 912.

The transmitting apparatus 910-2 to the transmitting apparatus 910-4 have the same configuration, and the explanation of the transmitting apparatus 910-1 described above can be applied thereto, and therefore, the explanation thereof is omitted.

The receiving device 920-1 corresponds to the receiving device 120 in fig. 1, and includes a received signal electrode 921 and a received reference electrode 922, and further includes an amplifier 923, a multiplier 24, a signal generating source 925, and an original signal output unit 926 as a configuration corresponding to the receiving unit 123.

The receiving apparatus 920-1 first restores the electric signal according to the method of the present invention, and then restores the original signal (the original signal supplied from the time control unit 913) by the reverse signal processing of the transmitting apparatus 920-1.

An example of a spectrum on the time axis according to this mode is shown in fig. 31. The horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents energy. Here, for the convenience of explanation, five time zones 941 to 945 are shown, but in practice, the time zones are continued as well after that. The time zones thus divided are used for communication in mutually different communication paths. That is, the transmitting apparatus 910 (receiving apparatus 920) of the communication system 900 performs communication in a time region different for each communication path, thereby suppressing mutual interference and enabling simultaneous multiple communications in one communication medium 930 as shown in fig. 30. In fig. 30, paths 931 through 935 represent communication paths on the communication medium 930. Further, by using the time division method, the communication system 900 can perform many-to-one communication and many-to-many communication as shown by the path 931 and the path 932.

Here, the time widths of the time bands divided by the communication system 900 (the transmission device 910 or the reception device 920) may be different from each other.

Further, as a method other than the above, two or more of the first to third communication methods may be combined.

The transmitting device and the receiving device can simultaneously communicate with a plurality of other devices, and are particularly important in a specific application. For example, the following convenient uses can be used: when the ticket is assumed to be applied to a vehicle, when a user carrying the device a having a regular ticket and the device B having a digital money function uses an automatic ticket checker, the user can simultaneously communicate with the device a and the device B by using the above-described method, and for example, when a used section includes a section other than the regular ticket, a shortage amount is deducted from the electronic money of the device B.

The flow of the communication process performed in the communication between the transmitting device and the receiving device is described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 32, taking as an example the communication situation between the transmitting device 110 and the receiving device 120 of the communication system 100 of fig. 1.

The transmission unit 113 of the transmission device 110 generates a signal to be transmitted in step S11, and transmits the generated signal to the communication medium 130 via the transmission signal electrode 111 in step S12. When the signal is transmitted, the transmission unit 113 of the transmission device ends the communication process. The signal transmitted by the transmitter 110 is supplied to the receiver 120 via the communication medium 130. The receiving unit 123 of the receiving device 120 receives the signal via the reception signal electrode 121 in step S21, and outputs the received signal in step S22. The receiving unit 123 that outputs the received signal ends the communication process.

As described above, the transmitter 110 and the receiver 120 can easily perform stable communication processing without being affected by the environment by transmitting and receiving signals only through the signal electrode without constructing a closed circuit using the reference electrode. Further, since the configuration of the communication process is simplified, the communication system 100 can easily use a plurality of communication systems such as modulation, coding, encryption, or multiplexing.

In the above-described communication system, the transmission device and the reception device are separately configured, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a communication system may be configured using a transmission/reception device having the functions of both the transmission device and the reception device.

In fig. 33, a communication system 950 includes a transmission/reception device 961, a transmission/reception device 962, and a communication medium 130. The communication system 950 is a system in which the transmitter/receiver 961 and the transmitter/receiver 962 transmit and receive signals in both directions via the communication medium 130.

The transmitting/receiving device 961 has both the same configuration of the transmitting unit 110 as the transmitting device 110 in fig. 1 and the same configuration of the receiving unit 120 as the receiving device 120. That is, the transmitting/receiving device 961 includes the transmission signal electrode 111, the transmission reference electrode 112, the transmitting unit 113, the reception signal electrode 121, the reception reference electrode 122, and the receiving unit 123.

That is, the transmitting/receiving device 961 transmits a signal through the communication medium 130 using the transmitting unit 110, and receives a supplied signal through the communication medium 130 using the receiving unit 120. As described above, since multiplex communication can be performed in the communication method of the present invention, the transmission/reception device 961 in this case can perform communication by the transmission unit 110 and communication by the reception unit 120 at the same time (so as to overlap in time).

The transmission/reception device 962 has the same configuration as the transmission/reception device 961 and operates in the same manner, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted. That is, the transmission/reception device 961 and the transmission/reception device 962 perform bidirectional communication via the communication medium 130 in the same manner as each other.

Thus, the communication system 950 (the transmission/reception device 961 and the transmission/reception device 962) can easily realize bidirectional communication without being restricted by the use environment.

Note that, in the case of the transmission/reception device 961 and the transmission/reception device 962, the same as the case of the transmission device and the reception device described with reference to fig. 23 is applied, and it goes without saying that the transmission signal electrode and the reception signal electrode may be electrically connected to the communication medium (provided as the contact 741 or the contact 742). Further, although the transmission signal electrode 111, the transmission reference electrode 112, the reception signal electrode 121, and the reception reference electrode 122 have been described as being configured as separate units, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the transmission signal electrode 111 and the reception signal electrode 121 may be configured by one electrode, or the transmission reference electrode 112 and the reception reference electrode 122 may be configured by one electrode (the transmission unit 113 and the reception unit 123 share a signal electrode or a reference electrode).

In the above, the reference potential of each device (the transmission device, the reception device, and the communication device) of the communication system to which the present invention is applied is connected to the reference electrode. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the present invention may be configured by a differential circuit that operates based on two signals having different phases from each other, and one signal of the differential circuit may be connected to a signal electrode and transmitted in a communication medium, and the other signal of the differential circuit may be connected to a reference electrode and transmitted.

A communication system to which the present invention is applied is explained below. Fig. 34 is a diagram showing a configuration example related to an embodiment of a communication system to which the present invention is applied.

The communication system 1000 shown in fig. 34 is a communication system in which devices communicate with each other through a human body, and it is not necessary to construct a closed circuit using a reference electrode as described above, and stable communication processing can be performed without being affected by the environment by transmitting and receiving signals through a signal electrode.

In fig. 34, a communication system 1000 includes: a reader/writer 1001; user devices (hereinafter referred to as UDs) 1002-1004. The reader/writer 1001 communicates with UDs 1002 to 1004 via a communication medium made of a conductor or a dielectric, such as a human body.

The reader/writer 1001 includes: a communication unit 1011 that performs processing related to communication; a reference electrode 1012 and a signal electrode 1013 for transmitting and receiving signals; the service providing unit 1014 performs processing related to providing a service for a user having a UD, and the communication system 1000 is a communication system that performs communication by the same method as the communication system 100 of fig. 1. The communication unit 1011 corresponds to, for example, the transmission unit 113 and the reception unit 123, the reference electrode 1012 corresponds to, for example, the transmission reference electrode 112 and the reception reference electrode 122, and the signal electrode 1013 corresponds to, for example, the transmission signal electrode 111 and the reception signal electrode 121. That is, the electrostatic capacitance formed between the signal electrode 1013 and the communication medium is larger than the electrostatic capacitance formed between the reference electrode 1012 and the communication medium.

In fig. 34, user 1021 has UD1002, user 1022 has UD1003, and user 1023 has UD 1004. Each of the UDs 1002 to 1004 is a device that communicates with the reader/writer 1001 by the same method as the communication system 100 of fig. 1.

The communication unit 1011 of the reader/writer 1001 communicates with the UDs 1002 to 1004 by human bodies of the users 1021 to 1023 located on the signal electrode 1013 provided on the ground. Each of the UDs 1002 to 1004 has unique identification information, and the communication unit 1011 uses the identification information to specify a communication partner (a partner that transmits/receives a signal). In fig. 34, the identification information of UD1002 is "ID 1", the identification information of UD1003 is "ID 2", and the value of the identification information of UD1004 is "ID 3". The identification information may be different in value for each device, and the number of bits is arbitrary.

The service providing unit 1014 controls the communication unit 1011 to communicate with the UDs 1002 to 1004 via the communication unit 1011, thereby providing predetermined services such as settlement of a vehicle charge, a product purchase procedure, and personal authentication to the users 1021 to 1023 on the signal electrodes 1013.

In fig. 34, although 1 reader/writer and 3 UDs are used, the number of these devices is arbitrary. The number and size of the reference electrodes 1012 and the signal electrodes 1013 are also arbitrary. Further, as the communication system 1000, 1 user may have a plurality of UDs, or a plurality of users may have 1 UD. However, for example, when the relationship between the UD and the number and position of users violates the service rule provided by the service providing unit 1014, the service may not be provided.

As described above, the reader/writer 1001 communicates with UDs 1002 to 1004 independently of each other using identification information of the UDs and provides them with services, but for this purpose, it is first necessary to determine UDs that may exist in a range corresponding to the services. Therefore, the communication unit 1011 of the reader/writer 1001 first searches for a UD (acquires identification information of the UD) in a current communicable state in order to communicate with the UD. Then, the communication unit 1011 of the reader/writer 1001 performs authentication processing of the acquired identification information, identifies a UD that is a partner of application processing for providing a service, and performs application processing on the UD using the service providing unit 1014. If the application processing is successful, the communication processing is ended, and if the application processing is failed, the processing such as acquisition of the identification information is repeated again for the other UDs.

The specific structure of each apparatus is explained below.

Fig. 35 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the internal configuration of the reader/writer 1001 in fig. 34.

In fig. 35, the communication unit 1011 of the reader/writer 1001 includes: a communication control unit 1031 that performs communication control processing; the transmitting/receiving unit 1032 is connected to the reference electrode 1012 and the signal electrode 1013, and transmits/receives a signal via the signal electrode 1013. The communication control unit 1031 controls transmission and reception of signals by the transmission and reception unit 1032, and performs communication with UDs 1002 to 1004.

The communication control unit 1031 includes: an ID acquisition processing unit 1041; an ID authentication processing section 1042; and an application processing unit 1043. The ID acquisition processing unit 1041 performs processing related to acquisition of Identification information (Identification) of a communicable UD. The ID authentication processing unit 1042 performs authentication processing of the ID acquired by the ID acquisition processing unit 1041, and specifies the UD to be the communication partner. The application processing unit 1043 performs communication processing on the service provided by the service providing unit 1014 on the UD corresponding to the ID authenticated by the ID authentication processing unit 1042, and instructs the processing or performs data exchange.

Fig. 36 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an internal configuration of UD1002 of fig. 34.

In fig. 36, UD1002 has: a communication unit 1051 that performs processing related to communication; a reference electrode 1052 and a signal electrode 1053 for transmitting and receiving signals; and a service processing unit 1054 that performs processing related to the service provided by the reader/writer 1001.

The communication unit 1051 corresponds to, for example, the transmission unit 113 and the reception unit 123 in fig. 1, the reference electrode 1052 corresponds to, for example, the transmission reference electrode 112 and the reception reference electrode 122 in fig. 1, and the signal electrode 1053 corresponds to, for example, the transmission signal electrode 111 and the reception signal electrode 121 in fig. 1. That is, the electrostatic capacitance formed between the signal electrode 1053 and the communication medium is larger than the electrostatic capacitance formed between the reference electrode 1052 and the communication medium.

The communication unit 1051 includes: a communication control unit 1061 that performs communication control processing; a transmitting/receiving unit 1062 connected to the reference electrode 1052 and the signal electrode 1053, and transmitting/receiving a signal via the signal electrode 1053; and a timer 1063 that provides time information to each part of the communication control unit 1061. The communication control unit 1061 controls transmission and reception of signals by the transmission and reception unit 1062 based on the time information provided by the timer 1063, and performs communication with the reader/writer 1001.

The communication control unit 1061 includes: an ID request response section 1071; an ID authentication response unit 1072; an application processing response section 1073; a learning section 1074; and a priority information holding unit 1075.

The ID request responding section 1071 controls communication processing for an ID request which is request information requesting an ID supplied from the reader/writer 1001. The ID authentication response unit 1072 controls communication processing related to authentication processing of an ID of an UD serving as a service providing partner. The application processing responding section 1073 controls the processing related to the communication with the service processing section 1054 with respect to the response processing of the processing related to the service provision from the reader/writer 1001.

That is, the application processing responding unit 1073 executes processing corresponding to the processing of the application processing unit 1043 in fig. 35. The learning unit 1074 learns whether or not the communication of the UD1002 should be preferentially performed, based on the tendency of success or failure of the application process by the application process responding unit 1073. That is, the learning unit 1074 sets the priority of the communication of the UD1002 for each predetermined time band based on the application processing result, and generates priority information for each time described later. The learning unit 1074 supplies the time-based priority information to the priority information holding unit 1075. The priority information holding unit 1075 is configured by a storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a flash Memory, or a hard disk, and holds information indicating the communication priority of the UD1002, that is, information for controlling the method of allocating slots to output IDs (time-by-time priority information 1075A in the case of fig. 35). The priority information holding unit 1075 supplies the output TS control unit 1082 with the priority information (time-by-time priority information 1075A in the case of fig. 35) in response to a request from the output TS control unit 1082, which will be described later.

The ID request responding unit 1071 includes: an ID request acquisition section 1081; an output TS control section 1082; and an ID answer providing section 1083.

The ID request acquisition unit 1081 acquires the ID request transmitted from the reader/writer 1001 via the transmission/reception unit 1062, and supplies the ID request to the output TS control unit 1082. The output TS control section 1082 specifies (controls) the Time Slot (TS) of the output ID. At this time, the output TS control unit 1082 acquires the time-wise priority information 1075A held in the priority information holding unit 1075, and refers to this information. When the Time Slot (TS) of the output ID is determined, the output TS control portion 1082 supplies the information to the ID reply supply portion 1083. The ID reply providing unit 1083 controls the transmission/reception unit 1062 to transmit the ID of the UD1002 to the reader/writer 1001 as an ID reply in the time slot instructed by the output TS control unit 1082.

That is, the time-based priority information 1075A is a learning result of the learning unit 1074 learning the service provided by the UD1002 in which time band. For example, UD1002 is a device used as a regular ticket for a train, and is often used in a time zone of commuting, school, and leaving in the morning and evening at ordinary times. That is, in the time zone of morning and evening at ordinary times, when the UD1002 communicates with the reader/writer 1001, there is a high possibility that the reader/writer 1001 is a reader/writer provided at a ticket gate of a train station (the user 1021 of the UD1002 passes through the ticket gate). That is, UD1002 is in a normal early-late time slot, and has a high possibility of successful application processing.

The learning unit 1074 of the UD1002 determines a time zone in which the application processing has succeeded, learns that the number of times of the morning and evening successes is large at ordinary times, and creates priority information 1075A for each time to increase the priority of the time zone.

The output TS control unit 1082 sets, in response to a request from the reader/writer 1001, to transmit an ID in a time slot that is earlier in time only in a time slot that is usually early and late, based on the time priority information 1075A, and sets to transmit an ID in a time slot that is later in time in the case of other time slots.

In this way, the UD1002 can provide the ID to the reader/writer 1001 in preference to the other UDs only in the time slot of the morning and the evening at ordinary times, and execute the application process. Conversely, in time-bands other than morning and evening, UD1002 may prioritize other UDs.

That is, the learning unit 1074 learns the success or failure of the application process, generates the priority information 1075A for each time, and the output TS control unit 1082 controls the timing of ID output based on the priority information 1075A for each time, so that the UD1002 can grasp the usage tendency (when and with a high possibility of receiving what service) of the user 1021 for each time slot, and control the priority of ID output based on the tendency. Therefore, even when there are a plurality of UDs, depending on the time slot, a UD having a high possibility of successful application processing (a UD having a high possibility of corresponding to the service provided by the reader/writer 1001) can preferentially provide the ID to the reader/writer 1001.

This can suppress the number of failures in the application process, and hence the UD1002 (communication system 1000) can more efficiently perform the communication process and suppress a reduction in speed.

Fig. 37 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the priority information 1075A for each time.

As shown in fig. 37, time-by-time priority information 1075A is priority information indicating ID transmission of the UD for each predetermined time zone. For example, in the case of fig. 37, the period of one week from monday to sunday is divided into 56 time slots every 3 hours, and priorities are assigned to the time slots. The priority is information indicating whether the ID of the UD is assigned to a temporally preceding slot or a temporally succeeding slot when the ID is transmitted.

The priority may have any value, and as shown in fig. 37, may be an integer, a fraction, a decimal, or a proportion (ratio). The priority may be any parameter, and for example, the priority may be assigned to a time slot earlier as the priority value is larger, or may be assigned to a time slot earlier as the priority value is smaller. The priority value may indicate the number of the slot to which the ID transmission is assigned, or may be the probability (weight) of the ID transmission being assigned for each slot.

For example, when the number of slots is 4 and the generated random number value is 2 bits (i.e., a value from "0" to "3"), the high bit having a small priority (low priority) is fixed to "1", and the high bit having a high priority is fixed to "0". Thus, a device with a low priority generates only 2 or 3 as a random number, whereas a device with a high priority generates only 0 or 1. That is, the higher priority devices are assigned to the temporally earlier time slots. Thus, communication system 1000 (or each device thereof) can bias the random numbers generated according to the priority levels toward one party.

For example, when the output TS control unit 1082 outputs the values "0" to "3" as random numerical values, values are first randomly obtained within a range from the value "0" to the value "1", the values (the values "0" to "3") output as random numerical values are assigned to the obtained values, and the output TS control unit 1082 may be weighted according to the priority in the assignment.

Specifically, for example, in a state where no weighting is performed, the output TS control section 1082 assigns a value "0" to the output random number value when the randomly found value is "0" to "0.25", assigns a value "1" to the output random number value when the randomly found value is "0.25" to "0.5", assigns a value "2" to the output random number value when the randomly found value is "0.5" to "0.75", and assigns a value "3" to the output random number value when the randomly found value is "0.75" to "1".

For example, when the priority is high, the output TS control unit 1082 assigns a value "0" to the output random number value by weighting according to the priority, assigns a value "1" to the output random number value when the randomly obtained value is "0" to "0.5", assigns a value "2" to the output random number value when the randomly obtained value is "0.75" to "0.9", and assigns a value "3" to the output random number value when the randomly obtained value is "0.9" to "1".

Thus, the communication system 1000 (or each device thereof) can change (control) the probability of occurrence of each value of the random numerical value.

The time zone shown in fig. 37 is an example, and other time zones may be used. For example, the priority may be assigned every 1 hour, or 1 month may be used instead of 1 week period as a whole (or as priority information of a 1 month period), and the lengths of the time zones may not be all uniform, or may be the lengths of some time zones, or may be long or short.

Fig. 38 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the output TS control unit 1082 shown in fig. 36.

In fig. 38, the output TS control unit 1082 includes: a random number generation weighting information generation unit 1091, a random number generation unit 1092, and an output TS setting unit 1093.

The random number generation weighting information generator 1091 determines the priority of the current time based on the time information supplied from the timer 1063 and the time-based priority information 1075A supplied from the priority information holder 1075, and generates the random number generation weighting information (information for weighting the generation probability of each value generated as a random number) based on the priority. The random number generator 1092 generates a random number based on the weight by using the weight information for random number generation generated by the weight information generator 1091. The output TS setting unit 1093 assigns the ID output processing to the time slot corresponding to the random number value generated by the random number generation unit 1092. When the ID output process is assigned to the time slot, the output TS setting unit 1093 supplies the setting to the ID reply supply unit 1083.

Fig. 39 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the learning unit 1074 in fig. 36.

In fig. 39, the learning unit 1074 includes: a current time information acquisition unit 1096, a time-based priority information creation unit 1097, and a time-based priority information storage control unit 1098.

The current time information acquiring unit 1096 acquires current time information by the timer 1063 and supplies the current time information to the time-based priority information creating unit 1097. The time-based priority information creation unit 1097 recognizes a time zone corresponding to the current time from the current time information supplied from the current time information acquisition unit 1096, sets the priority of ID output of the time zone based on the processing result (success or failure) of the application processing response unit 1073, and creates the time-based priority information 1075A. When the time-based priority information 1075A is created, the time-based priority information creation unit 1097 supplies this to the time-based priority information storage control unit 1098. The time-based priority information storage control unit 1098 supplies the supplied time-based priority information 1075A to the priority information holding unit 1075 and holds it.

UD1003 and UD1004 also have the same configuration as UD1002, and perform the same processing. That is, the structure of UD1002 shown in fig. 36 to 39 and the above description with reference to these drawings can be applied to UD1003 and UD 1004. Therefore, the descriptions of UD1003 and UD1004 are omitted.

Next, a flow of processing until the reader/writer 1001 provides services to users having UDs 1002 to 1004 will be described with reference to the sequence charts of fig. 40 and 41.

First, in step S101 of fig. 40, the reader/writer 1001 starts the ID request processing, and the UDs 1002 to 1004 perform response processing for the ID request processing in step S111, step S121, and step S131, respectively. The details of the response processing will be described later with reference to fig. 42. Through this processing, the reader/writer 1001 first acquires the ID2 of the UD 1003.

Next, in step S102, the reader/writer 1001 which has acquired the ID2 performs an ID2 authentication process for determining the UD corresponding to the ID 2. The UDs 1002 to 1004 perform ID2 authentication processing as processing corresponding to the authentication processing of the ID2 of the reader/writer 1001 in step S112, step S122, and step S132, respectively. As UDs 1002 and 1004 that do not correspond to ID2 fail in authentication of ID2, only UD1003 succeeds.

Therefore, in step S103, the reader/writer 1001 executes application processing for the UD1003(ID 2). UD1003 corresponds to the processing of the reader/writer 1001 and performs application processing in step S123, but UD1003 does not correspond to the service provided by the reader/writer 1001, and therefore the application processing (step S123) fails. The UD1003 performs a learning process in step S124, learns that the application process has failed in the time slot (does not correspond to the service provided in the time slot), creates and saves time-specific priority information 1075A.

Since the application process fails, the reader/writer 1001 advances the process to step S141 in fig. 41, and performs the same ID request process as step S101. UD1002 and UD1004 perform response processing corresponding to the ID request processing in step S151 and step S171, respectively. Since UD1003 fails in the application process, it is set to ignore the request from the reader/writer 1001 for a predetermined time, for example, so as not to respond to the ID request process. UD1003 does not respond to the ID request processing in step S141 according to the setting.

As a specific example, first, as a premise, basically, all UDs are caused to respond (reply ID) to an ID reply request command (ID request processing) in advance with exception, and UDs other than UDs for which authentication has not succeeded are caused not to respond to commands subsequent to the ID reply request command. At this time, the application is caused to process the terminated UD (including success and failure), and is caused to exceptionally not respond to the ID reply request and not respond to the subsequent command. In this case, the UD that does not respond to the ID reply request resets the setting after a predetermined time or after detecting that the UD is out of the area accessible to the reader/writer by a predetermined method, and the setting is changed so that the UD can respond to the ID reply request again.

The above-described processing is only one example, and other processing methods may be used to perform the processing for the ID reply request. Through this processing, the reader/writer 1001 first acquires the ID3 of the UD 1004.

Next, in step S142, the reader/writer 1001 which has acquired the ID3 performs the ID3 authentication process for determining the UD corresponding to the ID3 again. UD1002 and UD1004 perform ID3 authentication processing as processing corresponding to ID3 authentication processing of reader/writer 1001 in step S152 and step S172, respectively. UDs 1002 that do not correspond to ID3 fail ID3 authentication, only UD1004 succeeds.

Therefore, in step S143, the reader/writer 1001 executes application processing on the UD1004(ID 3). The UD1004 also corresponds to the processing of the reader/writer 1001 and performs the application processing in step S173, but since the UD1004 does not correspond to the service provided by the reader/writer 1001, the application processing (step S173) fails. The UD1004 performs a learning process in step S174, learns that the application process has failed in the time slot (does not correspond to the service provided in the time slot), creates and stores time-specific priority information 1075A.

Since the application process fails, the reader/writer 1001 advances the process to step S144, and performs the same ID request process as step S101 again. UD1002 performs response processing corresponding to the ID request processing in step S153. Since UD1004 fails in the application processing, it is set to ignore the request from reader/writer 1001 for a predetermined time, for example, so as not to respond to the ID request processing. Therefore, UD1004 does not respond to the ID request processing of step S144 in the same manner as UD1003, according to the setting. By this processing, the reader/writer 1001 acquires the ID1 of the UD 1002.

The reader/writer 1001 having acquired the ID1 performs the ID1 authentication process for determining the UD corresponding to the ID1 again in step S145. In step S154, UD1002 performs ID1 authentication processing as processing corresponding to the ID1 authentication processing of reader/writer 1001. The UD1002 corresponding to ID1 succeeds in this authentication process.

Therefore, the reader/writer 1001 executes application processing on the UD1002(ID1) in step S146. The UD1002 also corresponds to the processing of the reader/writer 1001, and executes application processing in step S155. Since the UD1002 corresponds to the service provided by the reader/writer 1001, the application processing (step S155) succeeds. The UD1002 performs a learning process in step S156, learns that the application process has succeeded in the time slot (corresponding to the service provided in the time slot), creates and stores time-specific priority information 1075A.

The devices (reader/writer 1001 and UDs 1002 to 1004) in fig. 34 perform communication processing as described above for providing services. By performing the processing in this way, for example, in the ID request processing of the reader/writer 1001 in step S101 of fig. 40, step S141 of fig. 41, or step S144 of fig. 41, each UD can control (to some extent) the ID that the reader/writer 1001 preferentially acquires (that the reader/writer 1001 acquires first). That is, each UD can cause the reader/writer 1001 to preferentially acquire the ID of the UD having a high possibility of success of the application processing.

Next, details of the ID request processing of the reader/writer 1001 and the response processing of the UDs 1002 to 1004 to the ID request processing will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of fig. 42.

The reader/writer 1001 performs ID reply request processing in step S181, and when requesting IDs from the UDs 1002 to 1004, the UDs 1002 to 1004 acquire the requests in step S191, step S201, and step S211, respectively.

Upon acquiring the ID reply request, UDs 1002 to 1004 generate random numbers in step S192, step S202 and step S212, respectively, and perform ID1 reply processing, ID2 reply processing and ID3 reply processing in step S193, step S203 and step S213, respectively, based on the random numbers. For example, as in the example shown in fig. 42, UD1003 performs ID2 response processing in step S203 in the first slot (TS ═ 0) among 4 slots (TS ═ 0 to 3), and transmits ID2 to reader/writer 1001. In the 2 nd slot (TS ═ 1), UD1004 performs ID3 reply processing in step S213, and transmits ID3 to reader/writer 1001. Then, in the last slot (TS — 3), the UD1002 performs ID1 reply processing of step S193, and transmits the ID1 to the reader/writer 1001.

That is, in the case of the example of fig. 42, the reader/writer 1001 preferentially acquires the ID 2.

In the example of fig. 42, for convenience of explanation, the ID replies of respective UDs are explained as to the case where collision (signal collision) occurs without exception (the time slots in which the ID replies are made are different from each other). Assuming that there are at least 2 ID replies in 1 slot, the reader/writer 1001 receives these ID replies in an interference state (because of collision in the ID replies), and thus cannot receive the correct ID. That is, since the IDs of the UDs are different from each other, bits having different values interfere with each other, and the reader/writer 1001 cannot determine whether "0" or "1" is received, and the received ID becomes ambiguous.

For example, when the same slot reply value is "00000000" ID and the same slot reply value is "FFFFFFFF" ID, the reader/writer 1001 arbitrarily determines that the ID having the value "AAAAAAAA" is received, and performs authentication by generating a key based on the received ID. When the ID response conflicts in this manner, the reader/writer 1001 cannot correctly receive the ID, and an authentication error may occur. Although the reader/writer 1001 has been described above as determining the value of the received ID as "AAAAAAAA", this value is merely an example, and may be determined as "555555", determined as all 0 s, determined as all F s, or determined as a value other than these. If the ID value arbitrarily determined by the reader/writer 1001 matches the correct ID value, the reader/writer 1001 can normally perform the subsequent processing because no authentication error occurs.

Next, the ID authentication processing of the reader/writer 1001, UD1002 to UD1004 will be described in detail with reference to the timing charts of fig. 43 and 44. The examples shown in fig. 43 and 44 are examples of the authentication processing of the ID2 corresponding to step S102, step S112, step S122, and step S132 in fig. 40. The same applies to other ID authentication processes.

However, it is assumed hereinafter that all the readers/writers (including the reader/writer 1001) corresponding to the communication system 1000 have a key (master key) K as a common encryption key in advance_mUDs 1002 to 1004 have keys K as encryption keys different from each other_Card1、K_Card2Or K_Card3. In addition, the key K_Card1Using a secret key K_mThe ID1 is encrypted by a predetermined method (for example, DES (Data Encryption Standard) or the like). Likewise, the key K_Card2Using a secret key K_mID2 is encrypted, key K_Card3Using a secret key K_mID3 is encrypted.

When the ID2 authentication process is started, the reader 1001 first passes the acquired ID2 and the key K held in advance in step S221_mGeneration of K_Card2. In step S222, the reader/writer 1001 generates a random number R1 having a predetermined number of bits.

Next, in step S223, the reader/writer 1001 creates an encrypted message D1 as an encrypted message (D1 ═ Funk (R1+ ID2, K)_Card2))。Funk(R1+ID2，K_Card2) Is by using a secret key K_Card2The random number R1 is encrypted (R1') with the key K_Card2The exclusive or of R1 'and ID2 is encrypted (ID 2'), and information obtained by connecting ID2 'and R1' (for example, information in which the upper bits are R1 'and the lower bits are ID 2') is concatenated. In step S224, the reader/writer 1001 transmits the generated encrypted message D1 to the UDs 1002 to 1004. UDs 1002 to 1004 acquire the encrypted message D1 in step S231, step S241, and step S251, respectively.

Upon acquiring encrypted message D1, UDs 1002 to UD1004 use respective keys K in step S232, step S242, and step S252, respectively_Card1、K_Card2、K_Card3The encrypted message D1 is decoded. Then, for these decoding processes, UDs 1002 to UD1004 respectively perform step S233, step S243, and step S253An ID matching process is performed in which the obtained ID (ID2 provided by the reader/writer 1001) is matched with each ID.

In the example of fig. 43, the reader/writer 1001 uses the key K of the UD1003_Card2Since ID2 is transmitted as encrypted message D1, only the ID obtained by UD1003 matches its own ID. If the IDs match, the UD1003 advances the process to step S244 to generate a random number R2 with a predetermined number of bits, and in step S245, an encrypted message D2 is created using this R2 (D2 ═ Funk (R2+ R1, K)_Card2) The encrypted message D2 is sent to the reader/writer 1001 in step S246.

The reader/writer 1001 acquires the encrypted message D2 in step S225.

When acquiring the encrypted message D2, in step S261 of fig. 44, the reader/writer 1001 uses the key K_Card2The encrypted message D2 is decoded and compared to the resulting random number R1. As shown in the example of fig. 44, when the obtained R1 matches the random number R1 generated in step S222 of fig. 43, the reader/writer 1001 generates a random number R3 having a predetermined number of bits in step S263 of fig. 44, and creates an encrypted message D3 using the random number R3 in step S264 (D3 ═ Funk (R3+ R2, K)_Card2) The encrypted message D3 is sent to UD1002 to UD1004 in step S265.

The UDs 1002 to 1004 acquire the encrypted message D3 in step S271, step S281, and step S291, respectively.

Upon acquiring the encrypted message D3, UD1003 uses the key K in step S282_Card2The encrypted message D3 is decoded. Furthermore, since the IDs do not match in steps S233 and S253 of fig. 43, UDs 1002 and 1004 terminate the ID authentication process and do not perform the other processes. Therefore, UD1002 and UD1004 do not perform this decoding process even if encrypted message D3 is acquired.

In step S283, UD1003 performs collation processing (R2 collation) of random number R2 obtained by the decoding processing in step S282. If it is determined that the random number R2 obtained by the decoding process matches the random number R2 generated in step S244 of fig. 43, the UD1003 performs encrypted communication using the random number R3 as a key and performs application processing in step S284. In response to this processing, the reader/writer 1001 performs encrypted communication using the random number R3 as a key in step S266, and performs application processing.

The ID authentication process is performed as described above.

Next, an example of the learning process of the result of the application process by the application process responding unit 1073 executed by the learning unit 1074 of the UD1002 will be described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 45.

When the learning process is started, in step S301, the current time information acquiring unit 1096 of the learning unit 1074 acquires the current time information and supplies it to the time-based priority information creating unit 1097. In step S302, the time-based priority information creation unit 1097 determines whether or not the application processing by the application processing response unit 1073 succeeded. When it is determined that the application processing has succeeded, the time-based priority information creation unit 1097 advances the processing to step S303, creates the time-based priority information 1075A so as to increase the priority of the current time, supplies the priority information to the time-based priority information storage control unit 1098, and advances the processing to step S305.

In addition, when it is determined in step S302 that the application processing by the application processing responding unit 1073 has failed, the time-based priority information creating unit 1097 proceeds to step S304, creates the time-based priority information 1075A to lower the priority of the current time, supplies the time-based priority information to the time-based priority information storage control unit 1098, and proceeds to step S305.

In step S305, the chronological priority information storage control unit 1098 supplies the chronological priority information 1075A to the priority information holding unit 1075, stores the same, and ends the learning process.

Since the learning unit 1074 learns the application processing result for each time slot and creates the time-based priority information 1075A, the ID request responding unit 1071 can perform the response processing for the ID request using the time-based priority information 1075A, and the number of failures of the application processing can be suppressed.

An example of the ID request response process executed by the ID request response section 1071 will be described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 46.

When the ID request response process is started, the ID request acquisition unit 1081 starts reception of the ID request in step S321, and determines whether or not the ID request has been acquired in step S322. When determining that the ID request has been acquired, the ID request acquisition unit 1081 advances the process to step S323. In step S323, the output TS control unit 1082 executes output TS control processing. The details of the output TS control processing will be described later. When the output TS control process is finished, the ID reply providing unit 1083 provides an ID reply at the time slot set by the output TS control unit 1082, and the ID request response process is finished.

In addition, in step S322, when determining that the ID request is not acquired, the ID request acquisition unit 1081 ends the ID request response process.

Next, an example of the details of the output TS control process executed in step S323 in fig. 46 will be described with reference to the flowchart in fig. 47.

In step S341 in fig. 47, the random number generation weighting information generation unit 1091 generates random number generation weighting information based on the priority information 1075A for each time period acquired by the priority information holding unit 1075 and the current time acquired by the timer 1063, and supplies the generated random number generation weighting information to the random number generation unit 1092. In step S342, the random number generator 1092 generates a random number using the weighting information for random number generation, and supplies the generated random number to the output TS setter 1093. In step S343, the output TS setting unit 1093 generates a time slot for the output ID reply based on the generated random number value, supplies the time slot to the ID reply providing unit 1083, ends the output TS control processing, returns the processing to step S323 in fig. 46, and executes the processing after step S324.

As described above, since UD1002 to UD1004 (communication system 1000) control the allocation of slots for performing ID provision processing according to the possibility of success of application processing, it is possible to more efficiently perform communication processing and suppress a reduction in speed due to failure of application processing or the like.

For example, in the communication system 1000, the reader/writer 1001 assigns different IDs to each reader/writer 1001, and when the reader/writer 1001 requests IDs from UDs 1002 to 1004, it transmits its own ID, and thus the UDs 1002 to 1004 can determine whether or not to respond based on the ID.

However, in this case, since the number of readers 1001 is large, when the number of bits of the ID is small, the ID assigned to the reader 1001 may be insufficient. In addition, when the number of bits is increased so as not to make the ID insufficient, the load of the communication process may be significantly increased.

As described above, the learning unit 1074 generates the priority information 1075A for each time by the learning process, and the output TS control unit 1082 assigns the ID reply by using the priority information 1075A for each time, whereby the UDs 1002 to 1004 (communication system 1000) can more efficiently perform the respective processes without increasing the load of the communication process, and can suppress a reduction in speed due to a failure of the application process or the like.

The priority may not be in time band, and may be, for example, in the type of device of the reader/writer 1001.

Fig. 48 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the reader/writer 1001 in this case.

In fig. 48, the communication control unit 1031 of the reader/writer 1001 includes an ID acquisition processing unit 1101 and a device type identification information holding unit 1102, instead of the ID acquisition processing unit 1041 in fig. 35. For example, in the ID request processing of the reader/writer 1001 and the response processing corresponding thereto of the UDs 1002 to 1004 shown in the sequence diagram of fig. 49, the ID acquisition processing unit 1101 transmits the device type identification information supplied from the device type identification information holding unit 1102 to the UDs 1002 to 1004 together with the ID request, as shown in step S381.

The device type identification information holding unit 1102 holds identification information indicating the device type of the reader/writer 1001, for example, and having a predetermined number of bits, and supplies the identification information to the ID acquisition processing unit 1101 in response to a request. The device type identification information is information indicating the type of service provided by the reader/writer 1001, for example, and is composed of a smaller number of bits than the identification information unique to each reader/writer. Therefore, the transmission of the device type identification information is less burdened, and does not significantly affect the communication processing time.

As shown in the sequence diagram of fig. 49, although UD1002 to UD1004 acquire the device type identification information together with the ID reply request in step S391, step S401, and step S411, respectively, the device type identification information is not used in the ID request processing and the response processing thereof, and therefore other processing such as random number generation and ID reply is executed in the same manner as the sequence diagram shown in fig. 42.

Fig. 50 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of UD1002 in this case.

As shown in fig. 50, the communication control unit 1061 of the UD1002 includes a learning unit 1111 and an output TS control unit 1112.

At this time, the learning unit 1111 of the UD1002 (and the UD1003 and UD1004) acquires the device type identification information acquired by the ID request acquisition unit 1081, generates the priority information 1075B for each device type, and stores the priority information 1075B in the priority information storage unit 1075.

The output TS control unit 1112 acquires the priority information 1075B for each device type held in the priority information holding unit 1075, and sets a time slot for ID reply based on the acquired information.

Fig. 51 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the device-specific priority information 1075B. As shown in fig. 51, the device type identification information (device type ID) is associated with the priority.

Fig. 52 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the learning unit 1111 in fig. 50 at this time.

In fig. 52, the learning unit 1111 includes: an equipment type identification information acquisition unit 1121, an equipment type-specific priority information creation unit 1122, and an equipment type-specific priority information storage control unit 1123.

The device type identification information obtaining unit 1121 obtains the device type identification information by the ID request obtaining unit 1081, and supplies it to the device type-specific priority information creating unit 1122. The device-type-specific priority information creation unit 1122 creates device-type-specific priority information 1075B based on the device-type identification information, and supplies the device-type-specific priority information to the device-type-specific priority information storage control unit 1123. The device-specific priority information storage control unit 1123 supplies the supplied device-specific priority information 1075B to the priority information holding unit 1075 and holds the same.

Fig. 53 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration example of the output TS control unit 1112 in fig. 50. In fig. 53, the output TS control unit 1112 includes: a random number generation weight information generation unit 1131, a random number generation unit 1132, and an output TS setting unit 1133. The random number generation weighting information generation unit 1131 generates random number generation weighting information based on the device type identification information acquired by the ID request acquisition unit 1081 and the device type-specific priority information 1075B supplied from the priority information holding unit 1075, and supplies the generated random number generation weighting information to the random number generation unit 1132. The random number generator 1132 generates a random number and supplies the generated random number to the output TS setting unit 1133. The output TS setting unit 1133 assigns the ID reply process to the time slot corresponding to the acquired random number, and supplies the information to the ID reply supply unit 1083.

An example of the learning process in this case will be described below with reference to a flowchart of fig. 54.

When the learning process is started, in step S361, the device type identification information obtaining unit 1121 of the learning unit 1111 obtains the device type identification information by the ID request obtaining unit 1081 and supplies it to the device type-specific priority information creating unit 1122. In step S362, the device-specific priority information creation unit 1122 determines whether or not the application processing by the application processing response unit 1073 has succeeded. When determining that the application processing has succeeded, the device-specific priority information creation unit 1122 advances the processing to step S363, creates device-specific priority information 1075B to increase the priority when the ID is transmitted to the device type, supplies the device-specific priority information to the device-specific priority information storage control unit 1123, and advances the processing to step S365.

In addition, when it is determined in step S362 that the application processing by the application processing responding unit 1073 has failed, the device-specific priority information creating unit 1122 advances the process to step S364, creates the device-specific priority information 1075B so as to lower the priority when the ID is transmitted to the device type, supplies the device-specific priority information to the device-specific priority information storage control unit 1123, and advances the process to step S365.

In step S365, the device-specific priority information storage control unit 1123 supplies and stores the device-specific priority information 1075B to the priority information holding unit 1075, and ends the learning process.

Since the learning unit 1111 learns the application processing result for each device type of the reader/writer 1001 and creates the device-type priority information 1075B, the ID request responding unit 1071 can perform the response processing for the ID request using the device-type priority information 1075B, and the number of times of failure of the application processing can be suppressed.

At this time, as in the case described with reference to the flowchart of fig. 46, the ID request responding unit 1071 executes the ID request responding process. In this case, a detailed example of the output TS control process executed in step S323 in fig. 46 will be described with reference to the flowchart in fig. 55.

In step S381 of fig. 55, the random number generation weighting information generation unit 1131 generates random number generation weighting information from the device type-specific priority information 1075B acquired by the priority information holding unit 1075 and the device type identification information acquired by the ID request acquisition unit 1081, and supplies the generated random number generation weighting information to the random number generation unit 1132. In step S382, the random number generator 1132 generates a random number using the random number generation weighting information, and supplies the generated random number to the output TS setting unit 1133. In step S383, the output TS setting unit 1133 generates a time slot for outputting an ID reply based on the generated random number value, supplies the time slot to the ID reply providing unit 1083, ends the output TS control processing, returns the processing to step S323 in fig. 46, and executes the processing after step S324.

In this way, the reader/writer 1001 holds in advance the device type identification information of the information amount to the extent that the reader/writer 1001 is identified by the device type, and supplies the device type identification information to the UD when the ID is requested. Then, the UD learning unit 1111 learns the success or failure of the application program processing for each device type identification information by the learning process, and generates the device type-specific priority information 1075B as a result of the learning. The output TS control unit 1112 of the UD controls the slot to which the ID reply is assigned, using the priority information 1075B for each device type. Accordingly, the reader/writer 1001 and UDs 1002 to 1004 (communication system 1000) can perform the respective processes more efficiently without increasing the load of the communication process, and can suppress a reduction in speed due to a failure or the like of the application process.

The classification unit of the reader/writer 1001 may be, for example, a function, a service to be provided, a manufacturing year, a manufacturing company, an operation company, a manufacturing factory, a setting area, a setting place, or the like, other than the above-described device types. Further, a plurality of items may be combined and classified.

For example, the UD may refer to the time-specific priority information 1075A and the device-type-specific priority information 1075B to determine a slot to which the ID reply is assigned. That is, the UD may determine the slot to which the ID reply is assigned, using priority information based on a plurality of conditions.

The present invention described above with reference to fig. 34 to 55 can be applied to a case other than the communication system 1000 of fig. 34.

For example, as shown in fig. 56A, a non-contact type IC card system including a reader/writer and an IC card may be used. In fig. 56A, a non-contact type IC card system 1200 includes: a reader/writer 1201 that reads and writes information from and to a non-contact type IC card; a non-contact type IC card 1202 and an IC card 1203. By applying the present invention, the non-contact type IC card system 1200 (each apparatus) is controlled so that the reader/writer 1201 is preferentially notified of the ID of the IC card with a high possibility of corresponding to the service provided by the reader/writer 1201, among the IC cards 1202 and 1203 simultaneously approaching the reader/writer 1201. Thus, the non-contact type IC card system 1200 (the reader/writer 1201, and the IC card 1202 and the IC card 1203) can suppress a decrease in the speed of the communication process.

For example, as shown in fig. 56B, a wireless communication system in which wireless communication apparatuses are connected to each other may be used. In the case of fig. 56B, the wireless communication system 1300 has 3 wireless communication apparatuses (wireless communication apparatus 1301 to wireless communication apparatus 1303). By applying the present invention, for example, when the wireless communication apparatus 1301 provides a service to another wireless communication apparatus, the wireless communication system 1300 (each apparatus) controls the search process of another wireless communication apparatus of the wireless communication apparatus 1301 so that the wireless communication apparatus 1301 is preferentially notified of the ID of the wireless communication apparatus that is most likely to correspond to the service provided by the wireless communication apparatus 1301, among the communicable wireless communication apparatuses 1302 and 1303. Thereby, radio communication system 1300 (radio communication apparatus 1301 to radio communication apparatus 1303) can suppress a decrease in the speed of communication processing.

Further, for example, as shown in fig. 56C, a network system connected by a wire (network) may be used. In the case of fig. 56C, the network system 1400 has: a server 1401, a terminal 1402, and a terminal 1403, which are represented by personal computers; and a network 1410 typified by the internet. The terminal 1402 and the terminal 1403 are connected to the server 1401 via a network 1410, respectively. By applying the present invention, the network system 1400 (each device) controls the search processing of the terminal of the server 1401 so that the server 1401 is preferentially notified of the ID of the terminal having a high possibility of corresponding to the service provided by the server 1401, from among the communicable terminals 1402 and 1403. Thereby, the network system 1400 (the server 1401, and the terminal 1402 and the terminal 1403) can suppress a decrease in the speed of the communication processing.

The series of processes described above may be executed by hardware or software. In this case, for example, each of the devices may be configured as a personal computer as shown in fig. 57.

In fig. 57, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1501 of a personal computer 1500 executes various processes by a program stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1502 or a program loaded from a storage Unit 1513 into a RAM (random access Memory) 1503. The RAM1503 also appropriately stores data and the like necessary for the CPU1501 to execute various processes.

The CPU1501, ROM1502, and RAM1503 are connected to each other by a bus 1504. An input/output interface 1510 is also connected to the bus 1504.

The input/output interface 1510 is further connected with: an input unit 1511 including a keyboard, a mouse, and the like; an output unit 1512 including a Display, a speaker, and the like, the Display including a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (liquid crystal Display), and the like; a storage unit 1513 configured by a hard disk or the like; a communication unit 1514 configured by a modem or the like. The communication unit 1514 performs communication processing via a network including the internet.

A drive 1515 is connected to the input/output interface 1510 as necessary, a removable medium 1521 such as a magnetic disk, an optical magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory is attached as appropriate, and a computer program read from them is installed in the storage section 1513 as necessary.

In the case where the series of processes described above is executed by software, a program constituting the software is installed via a network or a storage medium.

As shown in fig. 57, the storage medium is configured separately from the apparatus main body, and includes not Only a removable medium 1521 configured by a magnetic Disk (including a flexible Disk) on which a program is recorded, an optical Disk (including a CD-ROM (Compact disc-Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile disc)), an optical-magnetic Disk (including an MD (Mini-Disk) (registered trademark)), or a semiconductor Memory, which is distributed to transmit the program to a user, but also a ROM1502 on which the program is recorded, which is transmitted to the user in a state of being pre-loaded in the apparatus main body, and a hard Disk included in the storage unit 1513.

In the present specification, the steps describing the program recorded in the recording medium include not only the processing performed in time series along the described order but also processing not necessarily performed in time series but executed in parallel or individually.

In the present description, a system refers to an entire apparatus including a plurality of devices (apparatuses). Further, the configuration described above as one device may be divided into a plurality of devices. Conversely, the above-described configurations described as a plurality of apparatuses may be combined into one apparatus. It is needless to say that structures other than the above-described structure may be added to the structure of each device. Further, if the configuration or operation of the entire system is substantially the same, a part of the configuration of a certain apparatus may be included in the configuration of another apparatus.

Claims

1. A communication system including a communication device that communicates with another communication device via a communication medium,

the communication device is provided with:

identification information request responding means for performing a response process of transmitting identification information of the communication device to the other communication device in response to a request for the identification information of the communication device transmitted by the other communication device;

an application processing unit that performs processing relating to a predetermined application by communicating with the other communication device that acquired the identification information transmitted by the identification information request responding unit; and

learning means for learning a tendency of success or failure of the processing relating to the application program executed by the application program processing means for a predetermined condition,

the identification information request responding unit controls output of the identification information for the request according to a learning result of the learning unit,

the identification information request response unit has:

a request acquisition unit that acquires the request transmitted by the other communication device;

an identification information providing unit that provides the identification information to the other communication apparatus as a response to the request acquired by the request acquisition unit;

an output control unit that controls a supply timing of the identification information supplied by the identification information supply unit, based on time-wise priority information representing a priority of the identification information of the communication apparatus created as a result of learning by the learning unit.

2. A communication system including a communication device that communicates with another communication device via a communication medium,

the communication device is provided with:

the identification information request response unit has:

an output control unit that controls a supply timing of the identification information supplied by the identification information supply unit, based on priority information per device type that is created as a result of learning by the learning unit and indicates a priority of the identification information of the communication device.

3. A communication device that communicates with another communication device via a communication medium, comprising:

the identification information request response unit has:

4. The communication device of claim 3,

the learning means learns a tendency of success or failure of processing relating to the application for each predetermined time zone, and creates, as the learning result, time-wise priority information indicating a priority of the identification information of the communication device for each time zone corresponding to the tendency.

5. The communication device of claim 4,

the output control means controls the supply timing of the identification information to be earlier in time in the time zone with the high priority, and controls the supply timing of the identification information to be later in time in the time zone with the low priority.

6. The communication device of claim 3,

further comprises a holding means for temporarily holding the learning result of the learning means,

the output control unit controls a supply timing of the identification information according to the learning result held by the holding unit.

7. A communication device that communicates with another communication device via a communication medium, comprising:

the identification information request response unit has:

8. The communication device of claim 7,

the learning means learns a tendency of success or failure of the processing relating to the application for each of the machine types of the other apparatuses, and creates, as the learning result, priority information for each of the machine types of the other apparatuses corresponding to the tendency, the priority information indicating a priority of the identification information of the communication apparatus for each of the machine types of the other apparatuses.

9. The communication device of claim 8,

the output control means controls the timing of providing the identification information to be earlier in time when the other communication device is of the type of equipment with the higher priority, and controls the timing of providing the identification information to be later in time when the other communication device is of the type of equipment with the lower priority.

10. The communication device of claim 7,

11. A communication method of a communication apparatus that communicates with another communication apparatus via a communication medium, comprising:

an application processing step of communicating with the other communication device and executing processing relating to a predetermined application;

a learning step of learning a tendency of success or failure of the processing relating to the application program executed by the application program processing step for a predetermined condition; and

an identification information request responding step of performing a response process of transmitting the identification information to the other communication apparatus in response to the request for the identification information of the communication apparatus transmitted by the other communication apparatus based on the learning result of the process in the learning step,

wherein the identification information request response step includes:

a request acquisition step of acquiring the request transmitted by the other communication apparatus;

an identification information providing step of providing the identification information to the other communication apparatus as a response to the request acquired by the request acquiring step;

an output control step of controlling a supply timing of the identification information supplied by the identification information supply step, based on priority information by time which is created as a result of learning in the learning step and indicates a priority of the identification information of the communication apparatus.

12. A communication method of a communication apparatus that communicates with another communication apparatus via a communication medium, comprising:

wherein the identification information request response step includes:

an output control step of controlling a supply timing of the identification information supplied by the identification information supply step, based on priority information for each device type indicating a priority of the identification information of the communication device created as a result of learning in the learning step.