ThingMagic M5e-EU, M5e-Compact Hardware Manual

M5e Accessory Har dwar e Guide

875-0051-01 Rev1

Government Limited Rights Notice: All documentation and manuals
were developed at private expense and no part of it was developed using
Government funds.

The U.S. Government’s rights to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform,
display, or disclose the technical data contained herein are restricted by
paragraph (b)(3) of the Rights in Technical Data — Noncommercial Items
clause (DFARS 252.227-7013(b)(3)), as amended from time-to-time. Any
reproduction of technical data or portions thereof marked with this legend
must also reproduce the markings. Any person, other than the U.S.
Government, who has been provided access to such data must promptly
notify ThingMagic, Inc.

ThingMagic, Mercury, Reads Any Tag, and the ThingMagic logo are
trademarks or registered trademarks of ThingMagic, Inc.

Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered
trademarks of ThingMagic, Inc. or other companies.

© Copyright 2000–2009 ThingMagic, Inc. All Rights Reserved

ThingMagic, Inc.
One Broadway, 5th floor
Cambridge, MA 02142
866-833-4069

01 Revision 1
September, 2009

Contents

Accessory Board Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

4 Port Multiplexer Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

External MUX Control (Block 23) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

M5e Control (Block 23). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Terminal Block 23 Pins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Antenna Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Power/Interface Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

USB Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Alternate Command Interface (Block J3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Alternate GPIO Interface (Block J7) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Alternate Power Input (Block J1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

EU Regulatory Warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Accessory Parts Kit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Connecting the Accessory Boards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Appendix A: Accessory Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4 Port Multiplexer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Power Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Heatsink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Contents 1

Accessory Board Configuration

Introduction

This document describes the ThingMagic M5e Module Accessory hardware and how to
configure them for use with the M5e Embedded Module. These accessories are primarily
designed for use with the M5e Module but can also be used with the M5e-Compact
(except the heatsink) with minor modifications to the instructions.

These accessories allow developers to quickly create prototypes and products to meet a
wide variety of applications.

 The 4 Port Multiplexer Board allows one M5e module to support up to 8 ports (using

two multiplexers); compatible with M5e antenna detection and search algorithms.

 The Power/Interface Board converts the M5e serial interface to high speed USB and

conditions incoming DC power to support in-vehicle or AC powered applications.

 The M5e heatsink allows use of the M5e module in environments where continuous

reading or high ambient temperatures are required.

 The optional hardware Accessory Parts Kit contains sufficient interconnect cables and

mounting/spacing hardware to create an 8-port reader “stack”.

Accessory Board Configuration 3

4 Port Multiplexer Board

The multiplexer board contains the following important I/O and control components:

Multiplexer Components

4 Port Multiplexer Board

The physical antenna port in use, labeled J1 through J4 on the board, is controlled by the
MUX1 and MUX2 input lines on the input terminal connector. The control map is as
follows:

4 Accessory Board Configuration

4 Port Multiplexer Board

Antenna Port Control Lines

MUX1 MUX2

00

J1

01

J2

10

J3

11

J4

Note

Interpreting the control lines as binary “numbers” gives an incorrect order
relative to the physical order of the ports. A key printed on the board serves
as a reminder that, from left to right when looking down at the board, the port
order is J1 – J2 – J4 – J3.

These lines can be controlled directly by an external controller/motherboard providing
TTL signals or by using signals from the M5e.

External MUX Control (Block 23)

When controlling the Multiplexer using external TTL signals the terminal pins on the board
serve as input signals as defined in Antenna Port Control Lines
the M5e software has no knowledge of which multiplexed line is in use. All antenna ports
on a Multiplexer will look like Antenna 1 or 2 (depending on which M5e port is used) and

the associated Antenna ID metadata will be the same for all four ports. It is the users

responsibility to manage coordination between the MUX control line settings and the M5e
RF operations and tag response data.

For this configuration no jumpers should be present on terminal block 23.

table. In this configuration

Accessory Board Configuration 5

4 Port Multiplexer Board

M5e Control (Block 23)

The Multiplexer can be controlled using the M5e GPOutput lines by connecting the ribbon
cable between the M5e and the Multiplexer board and adding jumpers on the terminal
pins, connecting MUX2 with OUT2 and MUX1 with OUT1.

This method allows the M5e to use its built-in support for (up to 8) multiplexed antennas.
This enables automatic control of GPO to MUX signals to switch ports based on the M5e
logical antenna setting and association of tag read information with the corresponding
antenna ID meta data.

When using the M5e built-in multiplexer support the ports are also identified by pre­defined logical port numbers - this requires M5e firmware version 1.3.0 or later. In a
stacked configuration, multiplexers are installed upside-down relative to the M5e board.
Assuming that the multiplexer closest to the M5e is connected to M5e port 1 and the one
farthest is connected to M5e port 2, the logical port numbers would be as shown here:

6 Accessory Board Configuration