User's Guide Part 2

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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL

Time Commands – Text Based

The time at which tags are read by a reader is particularly important for many

applications. For this reason, the reader has three time commands to ensure that

the onboard real-time clock is always set accurately.

ET TIME

These commands allow the current time to be assigned to or retrieved from the

reader.

• Times used by this command are always specified in local time, as defined

by the TimeZone command.

• Times are always specified by the format YYYY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss.

NOTE: Changes made with this command will take effect immediately.

Example

Command

Response

>Get Time

>Time = 2002/6/3 9:23:01

>Set Time = 2002/6/3 19:23:01

>Time = 2002/6/3 19:23:01

ET TIMEZONE

SET TIMEZONE

These commands allow the current time zone to be assigned to or retrieved from

the reader. The time zone specifies the number of hours that must be added to or

subtracted from UTC (Coordinated Universal Time; also known as GMT or Zulu)

to determine a local time reference.

For example, to convert from UTC to Pacific Standard Time, set the TimeZone to

–8. To convert from UTC to Pacific Daylight Time, set the TimeZone to –7.

• The default setting for this command is -7 hours (Pacific Daylight Time)

because PDT is UTC time minus 7 hours.

• For more information about time zones, servers and UTC, refer to the

Website listed under the Get/Set TimeServer command.

The TimeZone parameter is only useful if the TimeServer is used to automatically

set the system clock. In this case, the TimeServer always retrieves the time in

UTC format and will need to be offset to reflect local time using this parameter.

NOTE: Changes made with this command will take effect immediately.

2450MHz

Battery

Summary of content (35 pages)

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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Time Commands – Text Based The time at which tags are read by a reader is particularly important for many applications. For this reason, the reader has three time commands to ensure that the onboard real-time clock is always set accurately. GET TIME SET TIME These commands allow the current time to be assigned to or retrieved from the reader. • Times used by this command are always specified in local time, as defined by the TimeZone command.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Example Command >Get TimeZone Response >TimeZone = -8 >Set TimeZone = 3 >TimeZone = 3 GET TIMESERVER SET TIMESERVER The reader uses the Internet to accurately set its internal clock every time it is rebooted. The protocol it uses is called the Daytime Protocol (RFC-867) which typically returns the time in UTC format. In order to use this feature, a TimeServer must be specified. This is the network address of a machine that is constantly running the Daytime Protocol.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Boot> Boot Level 4 (System Settings) : Success Boot> Boot Level 5 (Network) : Success - IP Address is 10.1.60.4 Boot> Boot Level 6 (Telnet Interface) : Success - Port 23 Ready Boot> Boot Level 7 (Web Interface) : Success Boot> Boot Level 8 (Network Time Service) : Success - Time Set to 2002/08/23 16:50:24 Boot> Ready Time Commands – Web Based Time commands are issued via the Web page to set up and access reader time parameters.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL External I/O Commands These commands allow you to configure and retrieve current data regarding the reader’s external output functions. SET EXTERNALOUTPUT GET EXTERNALOUTPUT The reader controls four external output pins, which can subsequently be used to control external devices such a doors/gates, security lights. etc. Please refer to Chapter 1, Specifications section in this document for pinout diagrams. With this command you can set the external output pin values.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL External I/O Commands – Web Based Time commands are issued via the Web page to set up and access external input and output parameters. Web view I/O tab covers all Get and Set External I/O commands.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Tag List Commands – Command Line Tag list commands allow you to retrieve immediate listings of tags that have been read and saved by the reader, and to assign and retrieve tag list functional parameters. NOTE: Web versions of these operations are shown in the next section. GET TAGLIST (N) You can retrieve the reader’s stored tag list either a single time (Get TagList) or multiple times (Get TagList n). • The maximum number of tags that can be stored in the tag list is 1000.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL TagListFormat • Description text Tag lists displayed as plain text messages, one tag ID per line.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL SET ACQUIREMODE GET ACQUIREMODE Whenever the reader is called upon to read a tag it does so using the current AcquireMode. Currently the allowable modes are as follows: AcquireMode Description Inventory Perform full inventory of multiple tags. Global Scroll Perform fast search for single tag. The default setting is Inventory • Inventory Mode The Inventory acquire mode performs a full anti-collision search on tags in the reader’s field of view.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL GET PERSISTTIME SET PERSISTTIME The PersistTime specifies the length of time a tag’s data will remain in the reader’s internal list of active tags. • Persist times are specified in seconds. • The default setting is 10 seconds. • Setting the persist time to a positive number (1-n) will establish a persist time of the desired number of seconds • A zero persist time (0) will guarantee that tags are not stored in the tag list.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Tag List Commands – Web Based Tag List commands are issued via the Web page to set up and access tag information. Allows you to: Tag List displays: Get and Set Acquire Mode… • Tag ID • CRC • Discover time Get and Set Persist Time... • Reading Antenna Display TagList... • Read count and Clear TagList. COMMANDS/OPERATIONS ON WEB TAG LIST TAB NOTE : Every time the Tag List page is loaded / refreshed, it is the equivalent of issuing a Get Taglist command to the reader.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Autonomous Mode Commands Autonomous mode is a multi-stage configuration and operation mode that enables hands-free monitoring of tags. • The first stage requires you to issue a series of configuration commands to the reader. These commands detail how and when to read tags, and then when tags are found, who to tell. • Once configured, the reader can be left to operate on its own.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL SET AUTOSTARTTRIGGER GET AUTOSTARTTRIGGER The AutoStartTrigger specifies the external input pins to monitor to cause the automode to jump from wait state to work state. Triggers can either be a pin going from low to high (rising edge) to high to low (falling edge). For each type of change, an integer bit mask must be provided to specify the pins to listen for changes on. The command takes two parameters, a rising edge bit mask and a falling edge bit mask.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL • The default setting is Acquire NOTE: Changes made with this command will take effect immediately. Example Command >Get AutoAction Response > AutoAction = Acquire Command >Set AutoAction =Acquire Response > AutoAction = Acquire SET AUTOSTOPTRIGGER GET AUTOSTOPTRIGGER The AutoStopTrigger specifies the external input pins to monitor to cause the automode to jump from work state to evaluate state.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Example Command >Get AutoStopTimer Response > AutoStopTrimer (ms) = 0 Command >Set AutoStopTimer =1000 //Acquire for 1sec then evaluate Response > AutoStopTimer (ms)= 1000 SET AUTOTRUEOUTPUT GET AUTOTRUEOUTPUT The AutoTrueOutput specifies the output pin settings to effect if the evaluate mode of autonomous mode evaluates to true. The parameter is a bit mask for the four external output pins, where a ‘1’ sets a pin to high, and a ‘0’ sets a pin to low.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL low. Pin 1 is specified by bit one in the mask, and Pin 0 is specified by bit zero in the mask etc… NOTE: Changes made with this command will take effect immediately.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Autonomous Mode Commands – Web Based Autonomous Mode commands are issued via the Web page to set up and access autonomous mode parameters. Web view Autonomous Mode tab covers all Get and Set autonomous mode commands.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Notify Mode Commands The Notify Mode commands are used to set up automated event notification when the reader is running in Auto Mode. SET NOTIFYMODE GET NOTIFYMODE The NotifyMode command turns on or off the notify mode. • Valid command parameters are ON and OFF • The default setting is OFF NOTE: Changes made with this command will take effect immediately.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Example Command >Get NotifyAddress Response >NotifyAddress=10.1.0.12:4000 Command >Set NotifyAddress=user@msn.com Response >NotifyAddress=user@msn.com GET NOTIFYTIME SET NOTIFYTIME The Notify Time commands assign and retrieve the time interval for automatic tag list pushing to a listening machine. • The time is specified in seconds. • If set to zero or a negative number the time-based automatic notification is disabled.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL NOTE: Changes made with this command will take effect immediately. Example Command >Get NotifyTrigger Response >NotifyTrigger= REMOVE Command >Set NotifyTrigger=ADD Response >NotifyTrigger=ADD GET NOTIFYFORMAT SET NOTIFYFORMAT The NotifyFormat parameter specify the format of any notification message. The format may be one of the following: NotifyFormat • Description text Tag lists are sent out as plain text messages, one tag ID per line.
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL 2003/01/17 11:37:01 0 1413726 2283 1668 ADC3 E804 2939 2021 9FD0 2003/01/19 07:01:19 0 1 GET MAILSERVER SET MAILSERVER The MailServer command pair allow you to define an SMTP (simple mail tra
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CHAPTER 5 READER-HOST PROTOCOL Notify Mode Commands – Web Based Notify Mode commands are issued via the Web page to set up and access notify mode parameters. The commands are accessed at the bottom of the Autonomous Web Page section. Web view Notify Mode tab covers all Get and Set notify mode commands. This web page is located at the bottom of the Autonomous Mode web page.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS CHAPTER 6 ReaderÙHost Protocol Extensions for Battery Powered Backscatter Tags The Reader <–> Host protocol detailed in Chapter 5 is a text-based communications protocol for configuring and operating the entire family of Alien Nanoscanner RFID readers. This chapter details extensions to this standard protocol that directly address the extended functionality of the Battery Powered Backscatter tags running at 2450Mhz.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS Command Summaries Command List Mask Commands • Get | Set Mask Tag Commands • • • Get TagID Get TagInfo Get | Set TagTime Memory Commands • • • Get | Set Memory Get | Set MemoryPacketSize Clear Memory Sensor Commands • Get SensorValue Logging Commands • • Get | Set LoggingMode Get | Set LoggingInterval
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS Command List with Functions MASK COMMANDS Command Get Mask Description Get and Set the current mask as an array of bytes Set Mask TAG COMMANDS Command Description Get TagID Get the ID of a tag Get TagInfo Get information about a tag Get TagTime Get and Set the time and date on the tag’s built in clock Set TagTime MEMORY COMMANDS Command Description Get Memory Set Memory Get and Set data from the tag memory Get M
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS Using the Commands This section describes each command, its use and the response formats. NOTE: Nanoscanner reader commands are case insensitive, that is, you can use upper or lower case, or any combination thereof, and the reader will understand the command. Capitalization of commands is used in this document and in actual command responses is solely for the purpose of readability.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS The Set Mask command takes three parameters: Bit Length of Mask, as a decimal number Bit Pointer of Mask, as a decimal number Array of Hex Bytes separated by white spaces Tag IDs are referenced where bit 0 is the left most bit. The Get Mask command takes no parameters but returns the three parameters described above. Note: Setting an empty mask will address all tags currently in the RF field. i.e.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS GET TAGINFO Get TagInfo command will return information about a single tag defined using the set mask command. The information returned will be a multi-line reply containing the following elements: Tag Firmware Version Memory Size Sensor Type Example Command >Get TagInfo Response >Firmware = 1.0.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS Memory Commands Each tag has on-board memory that can be used for arbitrary user data storage, or for holding sensor logging data. These commands allow this memory to be interrogated and programmed. As always, use the ‘set mask’ command to identify the unique tag to communicate with. SET MEMORY GET MEMORY Set and Get Memory commands allow the direct manipulation and interrogation of the tag memory.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS SET MEMORYPACKETSIZE GET MEMORYPACKETSIZE Set and Get MemoryPacketSize commands determine the number of bytes to use in each memory related transmission packet to and from the tag. The smaller the packet (i.e. 1 or 2 bytes) the smaller the transmission rate but also the smaller the error rate. Likewise the higher the packet size (i.e.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS Sensor Commands The sensor commands deal exclusively with a tag’s onboard sensor. GET SENSORVALUE Get SensorValue will return the sensor’s current value. If the sensor was already switched off, this command will start the sensor before returning a value, which may take up to 1 second. Sensors will automatically be switched off two seconds after this command has been completed in order to preserve the battery life of the tag.
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CHAPTER 6 READER-HOST PROTOCOL EXTENSIONS FOR BATTERY POWERED BACKSCATTER TAGS GET LOGGINGINTERVAL SET LOGGINGINTERVAL When automatic logging is active, the tag will retrieve a value from the sensor and store it in tag memory on a periodic basis until the memory is full. At this point logging will cease. The periodicity of this logging is controlled by the logging interval parameter. This parameter is defined in terms of hours:mins:secs and defines the period between sensor logs.
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CHAPTER 7 WEB BASED APPLICATION EXAMPLES CHAPTER 7 Web Based Application Examples As part of the standard functionality of the Nanoscanner reader, the built-in web server is able to serve up a simple web based application example. This application example can be found under the last tab on the Web pages, named “Applications.” Under this tab is a simple Applet running two applications that use reader commands. These provide an interactive environment for reading tags in the field.
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CHAPTER 7 WEB BASED APPLICATION EXAMPLES Tag List The Tag List applet provides a graphical view of the reader’s current tag list.
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CHAPTER 7 WEB BASED APPLICATION EXAMPLES Optimize Reader Settings On each of the Tag List and Readometer screens is a small checkbox option entitled ‘Optimize Reader Settings’, which by default is checked (a tick mark is present). When checked this tells the applet to optimize the reader settings the next time one of the two applications is started (i.e., the HAL eye turns to red).
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CHAPTER 7 WEB BASED APPLICATION EXAMPLES (~every 250ms) issues a ‘get taglist’ command, forcing the full tag list to be returned and the reader to reset its internal tag list.