Readers
Reader Overview
RF Code readers are the only RF Code provided hardware the directly interfaces with the network. When powered up readers will request a DHCP address by default, or a static IP address can be configured with the reader configuration utility. The reader configuration utility can be downloaded from support.rfcode.com at no cost. After a reader powers on and is successfully on the network it waits for a session. A session is a connection from a client that requests a set of tag groups with parameters from a reader. Readers can handle multiple sessions simultaneously and those sessions do not affect each other. When a reader is added to CenterScape a single session will be established between a Zone Manager instance (typically the built in Zone Manager) and the reader. There should only be one session per reader per instance of CenterScape. Other instances of CenterScape may have sessions with the reader but a CenterScape should never have two sessions to the same reader even if they are on different Zone Managers due to problems with logic processing.
Adding Readers To CenterScape
For most deployments, the CenterScape/Zone Manger will initiate the connection to the reader and maintain it. IF the reader is on a network that is inaccessible another method called “Up Connect” which will be discussed later in the manual can be used where the reader is responsible for connecting to the Zone Manager and maintaining the connection. To add a reader to CenterScape a user must have System Administrator or Application Administrator Access roles. In Admin Console -> Configuration -> Readers use the drop down to select “M250 Reader”.
The reader must be given a unique name in the system, a hostname or IP address and if authentication is configured on the reader a username and password must be supplied. The default port of 6500 can be changed but this is done rarely. The default SSL mode of IFAVAIL will encrypt the traffic between the reader and Zone Manager, but it will not authenticate the certificate. This setting is used with readers that have not have a custom certificate added. Finaly the Enabled check box will need to be checked.
The common attributes that must be configured are as follows.
| Attribute Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Up Connection Enabled | If enabled, Zone Manager will ignore the hostname of the reader and will not attempt to connect to the M250, but instead listen for reader connections on port 6503. |
| Up Connection Reader ID | This must be a unique ID that the reader uses to identify itself to Zone Manager. This ID must the same as the “Up Connect ID” in the reader configuration. |
| Up Connection Password/ Confirm Password | This is the password used to authenticate an up connect reader to it’s Up Connection Reader ID. This password must be configured on the Up Connect Instance on the reader as well. If the reader has user accounts on it, then CenterScape will be required the log into the reader after it successfully authenticates with Zone Manager. |
| Position Source | Deprecated |
| SSI Change Threshold | The amount of signal strength difference received before a new beacon is reported to Zone Manager. Raising this number decreases bandwidth while lowering it will cause location rules to be recalculated more frequently. |
| SSI Cutoff (Channel A) | Deprecated |
| SSI Cutoff (Channel B) | Deprecated |
| Tag Age-Out Time | Deprecated. Tag Groups now control this function scoped to the Group Code instead of the reader. |
| Tag Age-Out Time (Channel A) | Deprecated |
| Tag Age-Out Time (Channel B) | Deprecated |
| Tag Age-Out Time (Reader Offline) | The number of seconds that must pass with a reader being off line before the tags are marked as offline. The default setting of 86401 is one day. This is mainly used to prevent tracked assets from going to unknown location based on networks going down since the tags are likely still near the readers. This can be reduced for EM monitoring. |
| Tag Age-In Count | Used to force the reader to receive given number of beacons before reporting a new tag. This function has esoteric use cases. |
| Channel Bias (Channel A) | Adds reported SSI strength to all readings on Channel A. |
| Channel Bias (Channel B) | Adds reported SSI strength to all readings on Channel B. |
| Report Tag Controller Events | Deprecated, reports tag events from A600 Tag Controller. |
| Join Reader Channels | Deprecated |
| Merge Reader Channels | Deprecated |
| Ignore Low Confidence Beacons | Low confidence beacons occur when a reader identifies a tag beacon in RF but the beacon does not pass cyclic redundancy check. In this case the data or payload portion of the beacon is ignored but by checking this the entire beacon is quashed and does not reset the tag time out counter in the reader firmware. |
| Fault In Mask, Fault In Value, Change Ignore Mask | Documented in Reader Engineering Specification for specific industrial applications |
| Reader Partition Count, Reader Partition Index, Reader Partition Rotation Time | Deprecated. Not Used on M250 Readers |
| Noise Threshold | If the Noise Floor on any channel exceed the setting, then the Zone Manager will report “NOISEDETECTED” for its reader state. If a reader is in an area with high noise and the noise cannot be mitigate changing this setting will suppress NOISEDETECTED alarms. The default noise threshold of -80db is rarely seen. |
| Tag Event Rate Threshold | If the Event Rate on any channel exceeds this setting, then the reader state will be reported as “HIGHTRAFFIC”. The default for this is 0 which disables the threshold. This setting is valid on the M250 reader but is rarely used as Noise Floor typically functions better. |
| Serial Driver | These are com port settings for a third-party serial RS232 interface on the M250 that can send data via serial send alert actions. “BRIDGE” leaves the serial device unconfigured and is the default. Defining com settings will make the readers a serial |
Once a reader is added, the reader will appear in the center pane. Readers will have a reader icon for a reader that is functioning as configured. For a reader that is disabled, the name of the reader will be greyed out. For readers that fail to connect a red icon will be displayed. The presentation of the reader list will be updated dynamically when readers go offline or online.
Managing Readers
The Admin Console->Configuration->Reader interface will list readers in Alphabetical order. This works well for small CenterScape deployments but for larger numbers of readers folders can be used to organize reader topology. Click the new folder button to create a new folder. Folders can be nested as well. Drag readers into the appropriate folders and now readers can be organized by geographic location or any other scheme. Alerts can also use the folder structure to notify different sets of people when readers go down at different sites.
The Admin Console->Configuration->Reader Status interface will list the current detailed status of each reader configured on CenterScape. Each reader will occupy a row in the interface which is a pagination display. The attributes displayed are a mix of attributes configured by the user and attributes reported by the reader.
The following table contains the definition for each attribute in the Reader Status view.
| Attribute Name | Origin | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Name | CenterScape | The name given to the reader when added to CenterScape |
| Reader Type | CenterScape | The Model Reader as Configured in CenterScape |
| Enabled | CenterScape | This field enabled or disables the reader session from CenterScape. If the reader is disabled, then most attributes will not updated until it is enabled and reader state will be disconnected |
| Online Status | Zone Manager | This will be Yes if the reader has an active session and No if the reader does not have an active session. |
| Reader State | Zone Manager | The reader state is a description of the current connection between the reader and Zone Manager. ACTIVE indicates the reader is functioning correctly. Other values are described in a separate table later in this section |
| Noise Floor (Channel A) | Reader | The is the weakest signal that a reader can process. The closer to -110 dBm the better the read range. |
| Noise Floor (Channel B) | Reader | The is the weakest signal that a reader can process. The closer to -110 dBm the better the read range. |
| Event Rate (Channel A) | Reader | This is the approximate number of beacons per second that the reader observes pulses for. |
| Event Rate (Channel B) | Reader | This is the approximate number of beacons per second that the reader observes pulses for. |
| Tag Capacity Used | Reader | The is the number of tag ids that the reader is actively tracking compared with its 64,000 tag limit. 1% would be 640 unique tag ids. This was more important for earlier readers that have been discontinued. |
| Reader Firmware Version | Reader | The version of firmware the reader is currently running |
| Connected Address | Zone Manager | The is the address of the reader based on the socket connection on Zone Manager. This may be the actual IP address configured on the reader or the address of a firewall the reader is behind. |
| GPS Address | Reader | GPS address provided by industrial applications with optional hardware. |
| MAC Address | Reader | The MAC address of the wired Ethernet interface of the reader. |
| Serial Number | Reader | This is the factory serial number of the Reader. |
A further explanation of Reader State is described below. The possible reader states are listed along with when each state indicates.
| Reader State | State Description |
|---|---|
| ACTIVE | Reader is operating normally and is connected to session |
| CONNECTFAILURE | Zone Manager cannot establish a tcp connection to the reader. |
| DISCONNECTED | Reader session is not being attempted do to being disabled or waiting for the next attempt to connect. |
| CONFIGFAILURE | Reader responded with error during session configuration. The reader may need a firmware update to support newer session parameters. |
| NOISECONNECTED | Reader is reporting that noise floor exceeds configured noise threshold. Adjust noise threshold in reader configuration or reduce the number of tags near the reader. This can be caused by storing new tags near a reader. |
| UNKNOWN | Unspecified error has occurred |
| ACCESSDENIED | The username or password is incorrect for a reader and the reader is refusing connection. |
| HIGHTRAFFIC | Tag Event Threshold for reader has been exceeded by Event Rate on Channel A or B. Increase or set to 0 Tag Event Threshold on Reader Configuration |
| DISABLED | Reader is not enabled, but its last connection was ACTIVE prior to being disabled |
Reader Firmware Management
The firmware in the M250 reader is monitored by CenterScape and can be updated from CenterScape via Zone Manager. In Admin Console->Configuration->Reader Firmware an interface is provided to report and manage the firmware levels in the M250. Firmware can be downloaded from support.rfcode.com. The fireware.zip file can then be uploaded to CenterScape where it can then be distributed to readers. The CenterScape software will reader the version of the firmware of the readers and determine if the reader needs to be upgraded. If the Firmware Available attribute says “Up to Date” it means the reader is at the same or newer level of firmware than the firmware that was uploaded. Otherwise, the Firmware Available field will indicate the level of firmware in the repository available to upgrade the reader. Readers can be selected or individually for upgrade or by holding down the CTRL key on Windows or command key on Mac and selecting multiple readers. After the readers that need to be upgraded are selected click on Upgrade Selected and those readers will be queued for upgrade. During the upgrade process a reader may be down for up to five minutes so disabling reader alarms briefly may be needed.
