Mantis™ II Reader User Manual Revision 05
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader User Manual Document Created: Document ID: Issue Date 22 Apr 2003 02 Oct 2003 15 Dec 2003 24 Jun 2004 16 Dec 2004 13 May 2005 22 April 2003 UM-C2020-R05-20030422 Comment Initial Draft Revision Revision - Reformatted into new design. New cover. 24 pgs. Revision – Updated programmer utility information. 24 pgs. Revision – Updated programmer utility information. 24 pgs. Revision – Various updates. 28 pgs.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Contents User Manual 1. Introduction........................................................................5 2. Hardware ............................................................................6 Front View – LED Indicators ................................................... 6 Rear View – Data Connections................................................ 7 Antennas – Positioning .......................................................... 8 Environmental Limits .............
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader User Manual 1 – Introduction 2 – Hardware 3 – Firmware 4 – Troubleshooting © Copyright 2003-2005 RF Code, Inc. All rights reserved. UM-C2020-R05-20030422. No copying of this material is allowed without prior written permission. Page 4 of 28.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader 1 – Introduction The Mantis™ II System by RF Code is an RFID monitoring system designed to report Tags within defined Reader operating ranges. The system utilizes “beacon” Tags that periodically report their presence with an encoded radio transmission. The Mantis™ II Reader is a dual-channel radio receiver tuned to the Mantis™ Tag transmission frequency of 303.825 MHz. This manual provides the instructions for the Mantis™ II Reader setup and operation.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader 2 – Hardware The Mantis™ II Reader is housed in a 5 x 5 x 1.5 inch (12.7 x 12.7 x 3.81 cm) metal chassis and contains the internal components of a RFID Reader combined with connections to allow for both Ethernet and serial port connectivity. Front View – LED Indicators Figure 2.1 – Mantis™ II Reader (front view) shown with standard ¼-wave helical antennas. Three LEDs are mounted on the front of the Mantis™ II Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Tag Activity LED • While Operating – The Tag Activity LED flashes intermittently, indicating the Reader has read one or more Tags each time it flashes. Because the Reader can decode Tags faster than the light can be turned on and off, a single flash may indicate more than one Tag being decoded. • While in Standby Mode – The Tag Activity LED turns on and off at a distinctive rate that indicates the Reader is in standby mode. Rear View – Data Connections Figure 2.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Antennas – Positioning Figure 2.3 – Standard ¼-wave helical antennas shown in various positions. Each antenna post supplies an RF signal to the two parallel radio receivers in the Mantis™ II Reader. Antenna input impedance is 50 ohms nominal. Both the type of antennas used and the Reader range setting determine the effective read range. The normal Reader-range features are defined using ¼-wave helical antennas. These antennas are appropriate for most Reader applications.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Depending on the location and orientation of the Tags, the signal path from each Tag to the Reader may vary. Consequently, this may allow only one antenna to receive the signal. To achieve the best receiver diversity: • Antenna Angle from Reader – It is desirable to have the antennas positioned at different angles from the Reader. • Antenna Angle from Each Other – Antennas should be at 90degree angles relative to each other.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Environmental Limits The Mantis™ II Reader is approved for use within the temperature ranges set forth below. • Operation: -20 to +70 degrees Celsius. • Storage: -40 to +80 degrees Celsius. Tag Positioning Figure 2.4 – Mantis™ Tag. Wherever possible, Mantis™ Tags should be placed in the same orientation (plane) in order to optimize the Reader’s ability to receive transmissions from the Tag. The Tags should not be placed closer than ½ inch in proximity to one another.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader 3 – Firmware L NOTE – The Mantis™ II Reader can only be configured through an Ethernet connection via the RJ-45 jack on the rear of the Reader. U WARNING – When an Ethernet connection is made directly between the Reader and a PC, a cross-over network cable is required. File System All embedded operating systems, signal processing software, and configuration options of the Mantis™ II Reader are stored in a flash-based file system internal to the Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Reader Setup Launch Utility Figure 3.1 – Network-Enabled Reader Programmer utility. © Copyright 2003-2005 RF Code, Inc. All rights reserved. UM-C2020-R05-20030422. No copying of this material is allowed without prior written permission. Page 12 of 28.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader U WARNING – Computer administrative privileges are recommended when using the Network-Enabled Reader Programmer utility. In the event of IP resolution conflicts, the Utility will attempt to modify the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table. On some systems, this can only be achieved with sufficient privileges.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Reader Settings (R)eader # R R - Select a new Reader to program. • Reads and displays a Reader’s saved calibration and settings from its configuration file (SSI_info\AXnnnnnn.txt where AXnnnnnn is the serial number). Any undefined settings will remain blank. • Errors are displayed if the info file is missing or contains bad calibration data. • The Reader # is the s/n (serial number) on the silver label on the underside of the Reader.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Network Settings U WARNING – Microsoft Windows®-based PCs have restrictions on certain IP address ranges (e.g. 127.x.x.x and 224.x.x.x through 254.x.x.x). Since addresses fitting these parameters cannot be configured on a Windows-based PC, it will not be possible to use the utility to reconfigure a Reader assigned with such an IP address. MAC Addr Display Reader MAC address. • Displays the MAC address of the Reader. This field is informational only and cannot be modified.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader (A)RP Table Display A A – Display ARP Table. • When two or more Readers initially share the same IP address, it is likely that the ARP will need to be either modified or flushed before sequential accesses to the same IP address can be performed (due to physical addressing). This feature provides a method of querying the ARP table to assess IP resolution issues. Advanced Network Settings (1) Keep Alive Probes (default = 10) 1 – Change number of keep-alive probes.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Programming Options U WARNING – If the IP address to be assigned to the Reader is out of scope with regard to the subnet mask, the utility will upload the file system to the Reader but will NOT attempt to retrieve this file system back from the Reader for verification. (L)oad Defaults L – Load default firmware and network settings. • These are settings as defined in the SSI_info\defaults.txt file.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Configuration Files & Default Settings Each Reader has a configuration file under SSI_info\AXnnnnnn.txt (where AXnnnnnn is the serial number) reflecting its last programmed state. After a successful program upload to a Reader, the configuration file for that Reader is updated with the current settings. The next time the Reader is selected for configuration, these saved settings are imported and displayed as a baseline configuration.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Serial Settings The Mantis™ II Reader supports operation via a standard RS-232 serial port, which may be used instead of, or in conjunction with the Ethernet jack. The Reader will accept commands from either source, or output results to both. In additional, the serial port doubles as a diagnostic port, providing valuable feedback about Reader functionality and configuration during power-up and programming.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Ethernet Settings As shipped, the default network settings for the Mantis™ II Reader are: IP address: Subnet mask: Gateway: U 192.168.1.129 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.5 WARNING – These settings must be changed to match the subnet of the network on which the Mantis™ II Reader is to be used. These Ethernet settings are stored in the network.txt file, which is read by the Reader at boot time. Each setting is represented as a string of hexadecimal characters.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader 4 – Troubleshooting This is a brief list of potential problems, with possible solutions, that may be encountered while using the Mantis™ II Reader or the Network-Enabled Reader Programmer utility. If the problem cannot be resolved using this list, please call the distributor from which you obtained the Mantis™ II System for help in resolving the problem. PROBLEM – There are no Tags being read at the Reader. • CONDITION – The Reader power light is off.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader PROBLEM – TagIDs do not drop off the computer display when the Tags are moved away from the Reader. • CONDITION – The antenna(s) are installed on the Reader. • REMEDY – Verify that the data communication path from the Reader to the computer is functional. • REMEDY – Change the Reader’s range setting to a shorter range. PROBLEM – All the indicator lights on the Reader turn off and back on again.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader Appendix A – List of Acronyms B – Index C – FCC Compliance D – Copyright Statement © Copyright 2003-2005 RF Code, Inc. All rights reserved. UM-C2020-R05-20030422. No copying of this material is allowed without prior written permission. Page 23 of 28.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader A – List of Acronyms RFCP – RF Code Common Protocol TAVIS™ – Total Asset VISibility ADO - ActiveX Data Objects API - Application Program Interface ARIN - American Registry for Internet Numbers ARP – Address Resolution Protocol ASP - Active Server Page B2B - Business-to-Business BGP4 - Border Gateway Protocol BSA - Business Systems Analyst CDFS - Compact Disc File System CGI – Common Gateway Interface COM - Component Object Model CPU - Central Processing Unit CSS - Cascading
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader J2EE - Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group JSP - Java Server Pages L2TP - Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol LAN – Local Area Network NNTP – Network News Transport Protocol NTP – Network Time Protocol OBI - Open Buying on the Internet Consortium OC - Optical Carrier ODBC - Open Database Connectivity OLTP – Online Transaction Processing OS - Operating System PAT - Port Address Translate PDF - Portable Document Format POP - Point of Presence RAI
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader B – Index 1 command, 16 2 command, 16 3 command, 16 4 command, 16 A command, 16 acronyms, 24 advanced network settings, 16 antennas, 8 ARP table, 13, 16 Calibration, 14 commands, 14, 15, 16, 17 configuration files, 18 copyright statement, 28 D command, 14 data connections, 7 default settings, 18 environmental limits, 10 ethernet connection, 7 ethernet settings, 20 example, 18 F command, 17 FCC compliance, 27 file system, 11 files, 18 firmware, 11 front view, 6 G command, 15
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader C – FCC Compliance Changes or modifications to this equipment, not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B 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 residential installation.
USER MANUAL – Mantis™ II Reader D – Copyright Statement Copyright © 2003-2005 RF Code, Inc. All rights reserved. Mantis™ II Reader User Manual Revision 05 This document, as well as the hardware and firmware described therein, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of such license. The information in these pages are furnished for informational use only, are subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by RF Code, Inc.
