When a Basic program is running there will be a message on the top showing the Basic Program is running: Note: The Basic program won’t be lost upon reboot. See this section for more information about running the Basic Program When an Advanced program is running the Frequency Channel displays information of the configured channels Channel selection for a running advanced program is read only, while the Basic program’s buttons can be changed.
License Manager The “License Manager” page allows the users to upload and add or remove licenses to the STARflex. For detailed information please refer to Chapter VI - License Manager. To upload a license, click on the Add License button: To remove a license click on the Remove button. Note that the STARflex must be rebooted.
Client List The client list page displays the information of every client that is connected to the STARflex. It includes the IP address, the length of time and the Process ID of each client. The user can end the process by using the icon Refresh manually the list by clicking on the icon option refresh option.
Note: The maximum number of clients connection is 5 (4 http 1 mqtt).
3 CHAPTER III: RFID SETTINGS 3.1 RFID SETTINGS RFID Settings menu is available after the user logs in to the application with valid credentials. Once in the RFID Settings page, there are six sections to configure the antennas, the default values are presented the first time the STARflex is configured.
Modifications made on any of the configuration sections can be saved by clicking on the Save button and the following message will appear at the top of the section: Following find the description for each one of the RFID Settings sections.
3.1.1 AUTO DISCOVERY The auto-discovery process is initiated the very first time a user enters to “RFID Settings” page and every time the user performs a “Default RFID Settings” and a “Firmware Update”and goes to the page. Click on the icon to start scanning antennas.
3.1.2 ANTENNAS In the Antenna section it is possible to select the antennas. There are four antennas available and each can be expanded into four units, making a total of sixteen antennas. An eXpander can be assigned by checking the “Enable eXpander #” option. The STARflex can connect to both options but only one antenna will transmit at any given time. There is a Clear button displayed at the top right side of this section which resets the antenna selection only. 3.1.
3.1.4 PROFILES The profiles section display four available options, the first three: “Max Inventory”, “RTLS” and “Large Volume Portal” reflect common RFID modes of operation, the last one “Custom”, allows you to personalize the complete configuration. - The “Max Inventory” profile configuration, maximize the tag inventory counts across all the antennas. An estimated total number of tags covered by the STARflex’s set of antennas is required.
3.1.5 2ND RECEIVE ANTENNA MODE In this section there are two options available, none and auto: None: No 2nd receive antenna. Auto: Automatically generated configuration to cycle through all antennas not currently transmitting. To save the configuration click on the “Save” button, to discard any changes and go back to the last configuration click on the “Cancel” button. The buttons are at the very top of the page. 3.1.
3.1.7 PATTERN In this menu, the Mask is available to edit if the “Enable Select” option is selected, otherwise the mask is disabled. Once the mask is enabled, it is possible to select the mask pattern, which is a hexadecimal value representing the bit pattern used to match and select a subset of the tags EPC number separating this tag from the total tag population. The beginning of the pattern is always bit position 32, the pointer and length will be auto calculated based on the pattern entered.
3.1.8 BASIC PROGRAM RUNNING When the basic program is running (started in the “Tag Viewer” menu) and changes in the RFID settings are done, these are not applied until the readings are restarted. When pausing the readings, the changes are not applied as only the interface is paused but not the readings in the background. When any change is saved in RFID settings, a dialog is displayed asking the user to reboot at that moment or later.
4 CHAPTER IV: TAG VIEWER 4.1 TAG VIEWER The tag viewer menu allows the user to quickly select and turn on antennas in order to find and read tags, displaying all the tag found results in a list. In addition, it is possible to filter while live reading the EPCs, TxID (transmit antenna) and export the list in CSV file. The Tag Viewer menu is available after the user logs in to the application with valid credentials.
Once the user clicks on the PLAY button (green), the very first time, a popup window will appear requesting the user to select a valid program before running the process. The two possible options are “Basic Settings” and “Advanced Settings ” (with a list of available program files). Basic Settings, which is always available, refers to the basic RFID program that is in the STARflex system. In the API document it is also called simpleRFID program that is overwritten when modifying the RFID settings.
Once the user selects the RFID program and clicks continue, the selected program is loaded and starts running, meaning the RFID read operation is initiated. The results will be displayed in simple mode by default, however there is a detailed mode which displays more complex results. Simple mode view will display one row for EPC tag. The columns for each row shall be EPC , Timestamp, and Read Count. The column Read Count will display the total number of TagReadData packets that match the EPC.
To view the results in Detailed mode, there is a switch at the top right side of the page, once it is enabled the results will be expanded showing one row for each EPC, tx Antenna Port, tx Expander Port and power tuple. The columns for each row shall be EPC, Timestamp, TxID (transmit antenna), Read Rate (showed in % is the # of reads / # of read attempts), Read Count, Power.
When switching between the Simple mode and Detail mode the data will be persistent, the only difference should be the way this data is displayed. While the process is running and the tags are being read, if the PLAY button (green) is clicked, the color changes to blue and the button becomes a PAUSE button, the STOP (red) and the CLEAR (blue) buttons are enabled, and the EXPORT button is disabled.
Use a single wildcard as “*”, a blank space is a logical “or”: Example: 300 056 searches for pattern 300 or 056. Note that we do not use or as logical or.
If no results are found the following message will display: Below the mentioned buttons and above the results table, a code wheel, the number of Rounds and the number of Unique EPCs are displayed. The Code Wheel allows the user to change the program (Basic and Advanced), it is disabled while the RFID program is running, once the program is stopped, the code wheel is enabled.
In the results table there is a color code for the tag readings. The default background color is white. When a new tag comes in, it is displayed in a blue background. The background transitions to white are over 0.5 sec. When a tag is read but it has been displayed before, this tag is updated in place by painting the background green. The green background fades to white over 0.5 sec, for a tag that is read much faster than the 0.5 sec, that tag row essentially stays constant green.
Concurrent users When different users enter to the Tag Viewer section and START or STOP the tag reading, it is possible for them to see if another user is doing the same action. A message is displayed notifying that another user has started or stopped the reading and the corresponding buttons (PLAY and STOP) are enabled or disabled accordingly. When a user is in the landing page, the current status of the STARflex also changes accordingly, if an RFID program is running or not.
5 CHAPTER V: NETWORK SETTINGS 5.1 NETWORK SETTINGS The Network Settings menu is available after the user logs in to the application with valid credentials. Once in the Network Settings menu, it is possible to configure the STARflex to the network that this is going to use.
Hostname: Always editable to set the hostname. DHCP: Three fields for DHCP are available, IP address, netmask and gateway. If the option to enable DHCP is selected, the fields will be disabled and the corresponding data will be auto populated. If DHCP is disabled, fields will be available to assign manually. Next to the field for the IP address there is a label for the temporary IP address which indicates the default IP address of the STARflex.
NTP: Single entry for NTPs is displayed and available to edit only when the option “Enable NTP” is selected. If NTP is enabled the fields “Set Date” and “Set Time” will be disabled. Date, Time & Timezone: A field to set the date, time and timezone are available. The fields display the user’s machine date, time and timezone by default. Clicking on the “Set Date” field a datepicker is displayed in order to choose the date.
6 CHAPTER VI: CONTROL 6.1 CONTROL In order to access to the Control menu, the user must be logged into the application, after that the user must select “Advanced Mode” option and provide the password to have the advanced mode option visible in the menu, once visible and click on it, a group of options will be displayed including “Control”.
Once in the Control page, there are four visible buttons, Default RFID Settings, Reboot, Factory Restore and Firmware Update 6.1.1 DEFAULT RFID SETTINGS Once this option is clicked and after confirming the action, the application will reset all the RFID settings in both the basic and advanced pages to a known default configuration.
The Basic mode default settings are: - No eXpanders enabled. - 2nd receive antenna set to Auto. - Physical Layer Defaults: - Target Group: A - Session: S1 - Q: 5 - LF: 256 kHz - Modulation: Miller-4 - Selects enabled and NO mask 6.1.2 REBOOT This option allows the user to reboot the STARflex, the result notification messages are displayed in the area below the buttons. Important. Once the reboot is done, any of the changes in the RFID Settings page (simpleProgram configuration) will be saved.
6.1.4 FIRMWARE UPDATE Once clicked this option, a new dialog will be displayed asking for the file to update the Firmware. In this new dialog a folder icon is displayed, it will launch the file picker in order to select the corresponding file. Additionally, the option “URL Mode” is available allowing to enter the URL where the file is located and download it to the current machine.
6.2 ANTENNA TEST The “Antenna Deployment Test” page allows the user to step through the configured antennas in the basic settings page (refer to Chapter III - RFID Settings) in order to test them one by one and make sure they each can read tags. This process ensures proper continuity of cables and antennas. In this page, a map is displayed, giving an overall view of the configuration showing all the antennas and highlighting the antenna that is tested at the moment.
In addition, the column where results are found and the EPC filter text area will have a distinctive mark: Moreover, the number of Rounds, number of unique EPCs and the name of the program that is currently running are displayed. At the end of the page a list with the tag reads is available with 3 columns: EPC, Read Rate and Read Count. If there are no antennas selected in the basic settings page, a message should be displayed at the top of the page.
CHAPTER VII: CONTROL ANTENNA TEST 81 STARflex MANUAL
6.3 GPIO TEST The “GPIO Test” page allows the user to validate the state of connected input devices and to test output devices by triggering the respective output through the interface. Once in the page, the GPIO IDs and eNodes are auto discovered and displayed in a tree showing the current configuration. The tree allows the user to select and connect the GPIOs, expand or collapse the eNodes, zoom in or zoom out and move the whole tree.
A green ok icon is displayed when the entered GPIO ID is valid. In case the ID is invalid or is not connected to the unit, a red X icon is displayed. If the GPIO is attached to an eNode, the corresponding ID is populated right next to the GPIO ID.
With a valid GPIO ID, the state of the connected input devices is reflected in the corresponding input and port, the output buttons are enabled to trigger the respective output devices through the interface. If an output device is unplugged from the GPIO and the corresponding button is clicked, an error message is displayed.
6.4 MQTT CONFIGURATION The “MQTT Configuration” page allows the user to set up the hostname/IP address, port to connect and test to the MQTT broker. The “Save” and “Connect” buttons are enabled once the MQTT broker IP and port are entered. With the “Connect” option it is possible to connect to the MQTT broker without saving the information and with the “Save” option the data to connect to the MQTT Broker is saved.
If the connection is successful, the status “Connected” and a green ok icon are displayed, otherwise the status “Disconnected” and a red error icon are shown. In addition, in the rectangular section displayed below, all the MQTT related messages regarding the connection are displayed.
6.5 LICENSE MANAGER The “License Manager” page allows the users to upload and add or remove licenses to the STARflex. To upload a new license click on “Add License” button, with the file picker select the corresponding license and apply.
The reboot process will be automatically displayed: After the reboot is completed the license is displayed as available. The feature details can be displayed by clicking on it.
Invalid licenses are listed and visible however these are disabled. To remove a license click on it and click on “Remove”, it remains displayed but not available, a reboot is required for valid licenses in order to remove them completely. In IOS devices the “locations” to upload attachments are set up by third party applications, by default only the Photo Album contents are selectable.
APPENDIX FCC Notice, STARflex and eNode CAUTION: To comply with FCC RF exposure compliance requirements, a separation distance of 20 cm must be maintained between the antenna of this device and all persons. WARNING: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for Class A digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment.
