Technical information

AccuLazr™ AL5010 Product Line Manual Appendix D: Networking Guide 189
When using Controller/Client configuration, the client Tach Source must be
set to Constant/Internal. The Clients will rely on a speed message sent from
the Controller eliminating the need to provide a tachometer input to the
clients.
In an AL5010 multi-reader network, bar codes are sent from the clients to the
controller as soon as they are read. The Controller AL5010 is responsible for
transmitting the bar code data to the host.
Restrictions
 If a controller is configured with tracking enabled, all clients must also
have tracking enabled.
 All units must have the same bar code types enabled, in the same order.
 Clients do not transmit data messages through their serial or network
host ports.
Multi-Reader Network LED and Troubleshooting
The main AL5010 diagnosis tool is the Network LED. An AL5010 controller
will FLASH the LED red once a second if it cannot locate the specified
number of Clients. When all connections are made, the Network LED
becomes a solid green.
For a client, the Network LED remains off until a Controller initiates a
connection. Once a connection is made, the LED becomes a solid green.
Network Administrator Information
All communications from a Controller to the Clients is done using TCP/IP
Multicasting. The default multicast IP address used is 239.255.0.x, where x is
called the Controller Group Number (value from 0 to 255). If multiple
Controller/Client Groups are on the same network, it is important that they be
assigned unique group numbers so that each group is using a unique
Multicast IP address.
It is important that the network be configured so that Multicast network traffic
will be transmitted between these readers. The AL5010 multicast messages
are configured with a Time-To-Live of 1, so they will not pass through a
router. Additionally, an Ethernet Switch which supports IGMP snooping may
be utilized to restrict the multi-cast traffic seen by the AL5010s as well as any
other items on the same network.
All communications from the Clients back to the Controller uses standard
UDP messaging.
A4-AL5010_Networking_Guide_R20.doc Accu-Sort Systems, Inc.