Datalogic 0007 User Manual

STAR  GATE™

INSTALLATION MANUAL

DATALOGIC S.p.A. Via Candini 2 40012 - Lippo di Calderara di Reno Bologna - Italy

Star ★ Gate™

Ed.: 06/2003

Datalogic shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein, nor for incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use of this material.

Product names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks and or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Preliminary

CONTENTS

1 GENERAL INFORMATION .......................................................................... 1

1.1 Description of STARGATE™ ........................................................................ 1

1.2 Package Contents......................................................................................... 4

1.3 Status Indicator LED..................................................................................... 4

1.4 Reset Button ................................................................................................. 5

1.5 Data Backup ................................................................................................. 5

2 INSTALLATION............................................................................................ 6

2.1 Positioning STARGATE™............................................................................. 6

2.1.1 Desktop Use ................................................................................................. 6

2.1.2 Wall Mounting ............................................................................................... 7

3 CONNECTIONS ........................................................................................... 9

3.1 RS232 Connection........................................................................................ 9

3.2 RS485 Connection...................................................................................... 10

4 CONFIGURING AND TESTING STAR-System™ ..................................... 15

4.1 STAR-System™ Overview.......................................................................... 15

4.2 Loading a SW Application onto an RF Terminal .........................................19

4.3 RS232 Layout ............................................................................................. 21

4.4 RS485 Layout ............................................................................................. 22

4.5 Notes for the Programmer........................................................................... 25

5 TROUBLESHOOTING................................................................................ 27

6 TECHNICAL FEATURES ........................................................................... 28

7 INFORMATION FOR THE USER ............................................................... 29

iii

GENERAL INFORMATION

1 GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 DESCRIPTION OF STARGATE™

STARGATE™ is a radio base station that enables a wireless network allowing data transmission between several Datalogic RF devices and an host system (standard PC, Windows based): STARGATE™ is the core component of the Datalogic STAR-System™, the system providing a modern and flexible RF Narrow Band Solution for Mobile applications.

A single STARGATE™ RF base station covers an area of about 8.000 m manages up to 2.000 different mobile devices and supports up to 255 simultaneous active clients in real time.

To extend the covered area, or to overcome physical limits given by concrete walls, firewalls or metal shelving, it is possible to exploit the seamless active roaming capability of the STARGATE™ RF base station network. This unique feature allows the operators to move in total freedom from office to office or through different departments/buildings always being connected to the host application.

STAR-System™ automatically links all the RF devices and their own host applications, providing a real time fast, reliable and cost-effective wireless connection between the operators and the most common Windows based software tools, the most familiar databases or the most widespread ERP/WMS systems.

Thanks to the STAR-Link™ software tool (provided with STARGATE™), it is very easy to integrate data coming from the Datalogic STAR-System™ into an Excel spreadsheet or an Access database: even easier for a programmer is the development of a custom software to exchange data in real time with Formula RF terminals or Datalogic Hand-Held Readers using Rapid Application Development languages such as Visual Basic, C++Builder, Delphi etc.

outdoors,

STAR ★ GATE™

Features+ Benefits

• Seamless Active Roaming

• Up to 2.000 RF devices supported 9

Gryphon Mobile series

9 Dragon Mobile series 9 Formula 734 RF Pocket Terminals 9 Formula 725 RF Hand-Held Terminals 9 Formula 660 RF Pen Terminals

(*)

• Up to 16 STARGATE™ RF base station network

• STAR-Link™ software for Windows

• Wide area coverage

• Real time connection with your

application

• W ide range of different

(*)

devices able to solve different applications in different markets

• Reliable, Fast & Cost-Effective system

• Full & Easy Windows based application integration

(*)

not compatible with STARGATE™ USA models

STARGATE™ does not carry out continuous polling, but it is enabled each time an RF terminal sends it a sequence of data. This means the radio channel is always free when RF devices are not transmitting.

The media access protocol used to manage the shared RF channel is called Carrier Sense Multiple Access Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA). Once the RF terminals have tried to send the data to STARGATE™ simultaneously, the system enables a transmission delay allowing both of them to communicate with the base station.

The Datalogic CSMA/CA protocol manages the data transmission between STARGATE™ and the radio device using a 16-bit CRC checksum. Once the sequences are received by STARGATE™, the base station stores them in its internal memory until they are requested by the PC.

The communication between STARGATE™ and the PC takes place through a proprietary binary protocol avoiding collisions on an RS485 line and providing a 16-bit CRC checksum to guarantee information integrity.

The application program running on each RF device must implement the CSMA/CA protocol, while the PC must run a Data collection software program based on the STAR-Link™ software tool.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Figure 1 - STARGATE™

Key:

A) Antenna

B) LED

C) Power supply connector

D) Reset/downloading mode button

E) RS232 connector

F) RS485 connectors

1.2 PACKAGE CONTENTS

The STARGATE™ Radio Base Station package contains:

− n. 1 STARGATE™ Radio Base Station;

− n. 1 STARGATE™ installation manual;

− n. 1 STAR-Link™ installation CD-ROM;

− n. 1 antenna;

− n. 1 wall mounting base with 2 threaded dowels and 2 screws;

− n. 1 fixing plate with 4 screws;

− n. 4 rubber feet.

Remove all components from their package. Make sure they are intact and that they tally with the delivery documents. Keep the package just in case you need to ship the equipment for

CAUTION

service. Any damage due to inappropriate packaging is not covered by the warranty.

1.3 STATUS INDICATOR LED

STARGATE™ is equipped with a LED indicating its status:

LED

Green It is on when the device works

Red It may blink during the device

Yellow It blinks while starting the

Normal Functioning Firmware Downloading

correctly. It blinks each time a data packet

is sent to the PC.

power on or while the device is working.

In the first case, it signals that a configuration error has occurred.

In the second one, it signals a connection problem with the PC.

downloading procedure.

Behaviour

It is on if the downloading procedure has occurred correctly.

It is on when an error has occurred during the software downloading.

STAR ★ GATE™

GENERAL INFORMATION

1.4 RESET BUTTON

This button deletes all RAM data restoring the last saved configuration.

By pressing it for 2.5 seconds the yellow light starts blinking and it goes on by releasing the button. This light signals that STARGATE™ has entered the firmware downloading mode. While working in this mode the base station current configuration is deleted and substituted with the default one (Base station address = 2000; interface = RS232). Then, it is possible to download the firmware update through the dedicated software running on the PC. If the downloading occurs successfully, the program will be launched directly by the system.

By pressing the Reset button for 2.5 seconds the base station current configuration will be deleted.

CAUTION

1.5 DATA BACKUP

A backup of the data saved to STARGATE™ RAM memory is available in case of power going down. STARGATE™ maintains the data for a maximum of 3 hours. Then, data is definitely lost. This feature is only available from the software release 1.10 referring to the software running on the base station and displayed when enabling the Alive button in RS232 connection (see step 8 in par. 4.3).

STAR ★ GATE™

2 INSTALLATION

2.1 POSITIONING STARGATE™

Before connecting the STARGATE™ base station, it is first necessary to position it so that the RF transmission and reception is possible.

To position STARGATE™, bear in mind the following fundamental guidelines:

1. the maximum distance between base station and RF device is about 50 m (in surfaces which are perpendicular to the base station antenna);

2. the effective radio coverage depends on the physical structure of the environment in which it operates, and to the presence or absence of obstacles (metal structures, walls, electrical systems, etc.);

3. the base station operates at temperatures between 0° and + 50 °C, with humidity at less than 90% (no condensation);

4. to obtain the best reception/transmission performance, mount the STARGATE™ base station away from large metal structures which could absorb or reflect Radio Frequency;

STARGATE™ can be mounted for desktop usage or it can be fixed to a wall.

2.1.1 Desktop Use

For desktop use, STARGATE™ is already correctly positioned :

1. Carefully clean the rubber feet seat of the STARGATE™ base to remove any impurities that could reduce adhesion;

2. Remove the protective plastic from the rubber feet and stick them onto the bottom surface of the base;

3. Insert the antenna in the appropriate hole on the body of the base station and screw it clockwise until tight.

INSTALLATION

2.1.2 Wall Mounting

Before performing the following operation, mount the fixing plate on the STARGATE™ bottom surface by means of the four screws. Then, slide the wall mounting base along the fixing plate and fix it through the set - screw. Do not screw it too tight in order to allow the wall mounting base to slide out.

Fixing plate

Screws

Figure 2 - Fixing plate on STARGATE™ base

+ 24 hidden pages

Datalogic 0007 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual