ThingMagic USB Plus+ RFID Reader User Manual

A DIVISION OF TRIMBLE

875-0042-03 RevA

USB Plus+ RFID Reader Setup Guide

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Engine in RFID are registered trademarks of Trimble Navigation Limited. Other marks
may be protected by their respective owners. All Rights Reserved.

ThingMagic, A Division of Trimble
4 Cambridge Center, 12th floor
Cambridge, MA 02142

03 Revision A
July, 2013

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Contents

USB Plus+ RFID Reader Setup Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Included Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Setting up the USB RFID Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Installing the USB Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Connecting the USB Reader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Reading Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Start the Universal Reader Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Buttons and LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

USB Plus+ RFID Reader Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

DC Power Required 11
Idle Power Consumption 11

Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Operating Temp 11
Storage Temp 11
Regulatory Standards 12

Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

RFID ASIC 12
User-accessible Flash Memory 12
Tag Buffer 12

Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Tag Read Rate 12
Tag Read Distance 12

Tag / Transponder Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

RFID Protocol Support 12

RF Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Antenna Connector 13

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RF Power Output 13
Frequencies 13

Data/Control Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Physical 13
Signaling 13
GPIO Sensors and Indicators 14

Physical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Dimensions 14

Compliance Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

FCC COMPLIANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

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USB Plus+ RFID Reader Setup Guide

Introduction

The ThingMagic USB Plus+ RFID Reader allows solutions developers to support

applications that require desktop reading and writing of EPC Global Gen2 tags. Based on
the best-in-class M5e-Compact UHF RFID module, the USB RFID Reader is controlled
by, and powered from, a host PC or laptop through a USB interface. The ThingMagic USB
RFID Reader is compatible with ThingMagicʼs application development tools, including
the cross-product MercuryAPI, permitting rapid creation of solutions to support a wide
range of applications.

The MercuryAPI supports Java, .NET and C programming environments. The
MercuryAPI Software Development Kit (SDK) contains sample applications and source
code to help developers get started demoing and developing functionality. For more
information on the MercuryAPI see the MercuryAPI Programmers Guide and the
MercuryAPI SDK, available on the ThingMagic website.

A demo application which supports reading and writing is provided in the MercuryAPI
SDK package and as a standalone installer available on rfid.thingmagic.com. The source
code for this example is included in the MercuryAPI SDK package under /cs/samples/exe/
Universal-Reader-Assistant.exe.

See the Readme.txt in /cs/samples/Universal-Reader-Assistant/Universal-Reader­Assistant for usage details.

See the MercuryAPI Programming Guide for details on using the MercuryAPI.

USB Plus+ RFID Reader Setup Guide 5