Patent ID: 8354916
Filing Date: 2013-01-15
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A radio interrogator system, which includes a plurality of radio interrogators each made to transmit a radio transmission signal to a radio transponder and receive a radio response signal from the radio transponder, wherein the plurality of radio interrogators are classified into two groups and each of the radio interrogators has an operation mode setting unit to set a transmission mode for transmitting the radio transmission signal to the radio transponder or a reception mode for receiving the radio response signal transmitted from the radio transponder as a response to the radio transmission signal from the radio interrogator for each of the classified groups, the operation mode setting unit of each of the radio interrogators has a switching setting unit to switch and set the operation mode of the radio interrogator, in which the operation mode setting unit resides, to one of the transmission mode and the reception mode on the basis of a transmission state of the radio transmission signal and a reception state of the radio response signal in the other radio interrogators and the radio interrogator in which the operation mode setting unit resides, and the operation mode setting unit of each of the radio interrogators includes a transmission state monitoring unit for monitoring a transmission state of a radio transmission signal to the radio transponder and a transmission busy state notifying unit for, on the basis of a result of the monitoring by the transmission state monitoring unit, making a notification to the effect of a transmission busy state to the switching setting units of the other radio interrogators during the transmission of the radio transmission signal and canceling the notification on the transmission busy state at the time that the transmission of the radio transmission signal comes to an end.