RFID Fixed IBeam Reader User’s Manual Cover sheet Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice. This information is provided “as is,” and Intelleflex makes no claims of fit for purposes intended, merchantability or other. All trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos are used in good faith and remain the property of their rightful owners.
Table of Contents 1.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.1 Contents of this Document ......................................................................................................... 3 1.1.2 Audience..................................................................................................................................... 3 1.1.3 Product Description ........................
1.1 Introduction 1.1.1 Contents of this Document This manual describes installation and operation of the Intelleflex Corporation’s UHF RFID Stationary IBeam Readers. A description of the installation and use of the demonstration Graphical User Interface is also provided. The Application Programmer’s Interface to the IBeam Reader using SLRPP protocol and communicating over the Ethernet port is described in a separate API document. 1.1.
• Cross-over cable Contents may vary slightly depending on the model number and options purchased. 1.1.5 Product Installation The Stationary reader should be installed in a location protected from physical impact. The reader may support up to 4 transmit-receive antenna pairs. The antennas should not be located more than 5 meters (15 feet) from the reader.
1.2.2 Software Installation The software consists of 3 different tools, all of which are required to run simultaneously for the software to be functional. These are: 1) Apache web-server, 2) Virtual Reader and 3) TagHunter PHP Pages To install the complete package, follow the instructions below: 1. 2. Insert the software CD and to auto-install the software on the PC. The installer should display the startup-screen: Click “Install”. 3. The installer asks where you would like to install the program.
5. The installer copies the requisite files; progress is displayed in the installer window. This process may take a few minutes. When the installer is finished the Installation Complete screen appears. Click ‘Finish’ to exit the installer. 1.2.3 Starting the Apache server Run the Apache web server program xamp_start Apache web server is required to display any results such as number of tags found. It uses the web server / PHP console to show any of the results.
Click on “Find Reader” button, and the application will discover the reader the PC is connected to. Select the reader (verify the serial number on the reader matches with the serial number displayed on the page: IB500-US-000xxx, where xxx is the serial number). You will now see the following screen to select the appropriate application: TagHunter GUI The GUI consists of user selectable tabs, clickable feature buttons and selectable parameters. These are explained in the following sections.
1.2.4.1 Asset tracking In long range applications, asset tracking tool is used to locate the tags and write in to the tag memory or read from them. The TagHunter PHP uses application-specific protocols. Asset tracking is one such protocol which is generally used for long range tests or finding tags where the distance between tags and the antenna maybe more than as in a typical warehouse portal entry way.
Air protocol selection defines the type of tags that the reader can expect to see. "C3" type tags is the default value. At any given time, C1G2 tags or only C3 tags can be read, or the user can . select both types for a single round of reads. Note that in E-Manifest application, this function is inoperative, and C1G2 and C3 are both employed. 3. Setting a Configuration (drop down list box) A facility to load pre-determined config files is available via the drop-down menu under settings.
In the above screenshot, N represents the count of the found tag and the EPC column shows the EPC number of the tag. In cases of multiple loops of reads – sample rate shows the number of times a tag was found. Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice. This information is provided “as is,” and Intelleflex makes no claims of fit for purposes intended, merchantability or other.
1.2.4.3 Memory Operation Fields under Memory Operation enable users to read / write into user memory. 1. Manage Tag Memory The manage tag memory tab when clicked opens a pop up window as shown in the following figure. New records can be added by clicking on “Add new” and old records can be cleared by clicking on “clear memory”. This feature is typically used in supply chain management when tags need to be re-used after a shipment is received and the transaction is completed.
Columns shown in the “Manage Tag memory” window are self- explanatory. At this time, the demo software limits the number of records that can be added to 6 records. 2. Raw Memory Read Write Raw memory read write opens a pop-up window titled "Raw memory read write" as shown in figure below Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice. This information is provided “as is,” and Intelleflex makes no claims of fit for purposes intended, merchantability or other.
Using the different fields in this window, a user can specify the staring word address in hex where data needs to be written into or read from and the length of data (byte count). To write into memory, specify the file path or browse to look up a particular file and click on save into tag memory. To read the memory, the read raw memory button needs to be clicked on. The memory dump section will then display the data in hex character format and equivalent text or ASCII data.
1.2.4.4 E-manifest The E-manifest tab allows a user to aggregate multiple tags into a single tag or view more details on a tag. The EM_tag column defines the master tag and any other tags (up to 6) can be selected to be aggregated under the EM_tag. The description column will show the EPC numbers of tags that are aggregated under that particular EM_tag. The case tag count shows the number of tags aggregated under the master / EM_tag.
The shipping tab (as in scenario shown above) gives a user the ability to aggregate tags and view the final result prior to shipping as in a typical supply chain application. The receiving tab displays the aggregated view, as would be seen when the shipped goods are received. This is shown in the following screen shot. Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice.
1.2.4.5 Portal This setup works similar to the Asset tracking except for the algorithms. A portal tab has default settings file as portal.ifx whereas Asset tracking has default file to be AT1.ifx. Between the 2 config files, Portal generally uses different number of antennas and may step up power in a different method than in an Asset tracking or Scour mechanism. The settings are specific to portal application where the tags to be read are closer to the antennas, set in a specific configuration.
1.2.4.6 Range This tab is used to demonstrate the maximum range over which tags can be read. It uses the range.ifx configuration file which includes maximum possible power settings. Due to these settings, all tags were found with a 100% sample rate in lab tests as shown in the following screenshots. Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice. This information is provided “as is,” and Intelleflex makes no claims of fit for purposes intended, merchantability or other.
Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice. This information is provided “as is,” and Intelleflex makes no claims of fit for purposes intended, merchantability or other. All trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos are used in good faith and remain the property of their rightful owners.
1.2.4.7 Custom This tab provides the ability to create different configurations and save these settings. An old config file maybe edited or called from the drop down settings field and modified by clicking on edit button. After any changes are made the config file can be over written or saved under a different name by clicking on save settings. Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice.
1. New config Clicking on new config adds another row or another step to the entire algorithm. Each parameter group is composed of power, Q value, selection of transmit antenna, selection of receive antenna, and tag backscatter rate. Each of these parameter groups will be run sequentially upon the command to find tags. Power level: The power level specifies the power given to tags during that particular loop. The power level is selectable between 0 and 30, correspondingly to the reader output power in dBm.
Copyright© 2006 by Intelleflex Corp. Subject to change without notice. This information is provided “as is,” and Intelleflex makes no claims of fit for purposes intended, merchantability or other. All trademarks, service marks, trade names and logos are used in good faith and remain the property of their rightful owners.
1.3 Host-Reader Interface If you want to create your own software to communicate with and control stationary readers, see the document “Intelleflex Middleware Application Programming Interface” for communication with the reader using SLRRP based protocol over the Ethernet port. 1.4 Troubleshooting / technical support 1.
Do not operate the stationary readers in any area where critical safety equipment may be sensitive to RF interference, such as medical or life support equipment. Do not operate the stationary readers on board any aircraft in flight, or at any other time when operation of radio devices such as cellular phones is prohibited. Personnel should not be closer than 23 cm (9 inches) from any Stationary reader antenna for prolonged periods of time.
interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures: -- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna. -- Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
