Users Manual

CUBIC Doc. No. 4400-46002 Rev A RR5207 Tri-Reader 4 (TR4) User Manual

Cubic Unrestricted Page 5 of 9

1 Introduction

The Cubic Transportation Systems, Ltd. (Cubic) TR4 serves as the front end for a remote ticketing device

used for Automated Fare Collection (AFC) in public transportation systems (e.g., bus, rail, subway, etc.).

It can be used in ticket validators, ticket vending machines, gates, and other AFC equipment. This equipment

can be on board vehicles or in fixed ground locations.

The TR4 will be responsible for direct communication with a contactless smart card (CSC), which is a type of

radio frequency (RF) tag. The design caters for CSCs and devices (e.g. smartphones and smart watches

that can provide the same functionality as a CSC following the specifications of ISO14443 Type A and Type

1.1 Requirement and Scope

This document provides an overview of Cubic’s TR4’s operation, including components and required

regulatory notices.

1.2 Overview

Interpretation of the information stored on the CSC, as well as the processing of the revenue collection

transaction, will be done by the TR4 itself, based on ‘fare-tables’ and ‘hotlists’ provided by the host computer.

The firmware on the TR4 is designed to be updated in-system using FLASH-based technology. It will

therefore be possible to cater, within limits, for different CSC types and configurations—if required in the

future.

The communication is as follows:

1. The TR4 will power the CSC (or the device’s antenna) through radiation by an induced RF field.

2. By sequencing through the communication protocols for the different cards, it will detect the card

type by checking for the associated response.

3. Once the card type and therefore its communication mechanism is known, the TR4 will read and

write data on the card according to the fare rules in the fare-tables.

4. The TR4 will pass data to and from the CSC (or device) by using the appropriate protocol for

modulation and demodulation of the signal.