RFID and Barcode Reading

Reference·Audience: API consumer·Use: look up the members, types and limits of a reading object

These objects are sent with set_operating_mode, control_operation and set_post_filter, returned by get_operating_mode and get_post_filter, and published in dataEVT.

In the operating-mode tables, Default is the value in the reader's default operating mode: the mode it returns to after a reboot, as get_operating_mode reports it. Because set_operating_mode merges a partial update into the current mode, omitting a member keeps its current value, which is not necessarily the default. In the other tables, Default is the value the contract declares.

Operating Mode

operatingModes

The operatingMode.operatingModes object of set_operating_mode. Every member is optional: the command accepts a partial update. On reboot the reader discards the mode and returns to the default operating mode shown in the Default column.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
profiles	operatingModeProfile	No	"BALANCED_PERFORMANCE"		The named radio configuration
advancedConfigurations	object (advancedConfigurations)	No			The radio settings used when profiles is ADVANCED; required then
inventoryProtocol	inventoryProtocol	No	"GEN2"		The inventory protocol: GEN2, GEN2X or HYBRID
accessOperations	array of accessOperation	No			Operations run against every tag read
radioStartConditions	object (radioStartConditions)	No			When an inventory starts. When absent, it starts on control_operation START
radioStopConditions	object (radioStopConditions)	No			When an inventory stops. When absent, it runs until STOP
query	object (queryPayload)	No			The EPC Gen2 Query parameters
select	array of selectPayload	No			Gen2 Select pre-filters
tagMetaDataToEnable	object (tagMetadataFlags)	No			Which optional fields each tag record carries

• profiles: "ADVANCED" requires advancedConfigurations; without it the reply is code 22.
• More than 32 select entries returns code 24.
• The default operating mode carries no advancedConfigurations, accessOperations or select.

advancedConfigurations

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
transmitPower	number	No		0–300	Transmit power. The contract states centi-dBm; its example value, 270, reads more naturally as tenths of a dBm, so confirm the unit on your firmware
linkProfile	linkProfile	No			The air-interface link profile: encoding and backscatter link frequency
session	gen2Session	No			The EPC Gen2 session. query.session sets the same thing; which wins is not documented
dynamicPower	boolean	No			Whether the radio adjusts transmit power during an inventory

radioStartConditions

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
trigger	radioTrigger	No	"IMMEDIATE"		PRESSED, RELEASED, or IMMEDIATE without a trigger action
startDelay	integer	No	0		Delay before the inventory starts, in milliseconds
repeat	boolean	No	false		Whether the trigger can restart the inventory after it stops

radioStopConditions

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
trigger	radioTrigger	No	"IMMEDIATE"		PRESSED, RELEASED, or IMMEDIATE without a trigger action
tagCount	integer	No			Unique tags to read before stopping. The meaning of 0 is not documented
stopTimeout	integer	No			Time, in milliseconds, after which the inventory stops. The meaning of 0 is not documented
inventoryCount	integer	No			Inventory cycles to complete before stopping. The meaning of 0 is not documented

Which stop condition wins when several are set is not documented.

queryPayload

The query object.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
session	gen2Session	No	"SESSION_1"		The EPC Gen2 session
inventoryState	inventoryState	No	"STATE_A"		The inventoried-flag state to select: STATE_A, STATE_B, or STATE_AB to alternate
slFlag	slFlag	No	"ALL"		The SL flag state to select: ALL, ASSERTED or DEASSERTED
tagPopulation	integer	No	30	min 0	The estimated number of tags in the field

selectPayload

One entry of select. All seven members are required.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
enable	boolean	Yes			Whether the filter is applied
tagPattern	string	Yes			The pattern to match, as even-length hex
memoryBank	selectMemoryBank	Yes			The memory bank to match against
offset	integer	Yes			Where the match starts, in bits
action	selectAction	Yes			What the Select does to matching and non-matching tags
target	selectTarget	Yes			The flag the action changes: the SL flag or a session's inventoried flag
length	integer	Yes			How many bits to match

offset and length count bits here, and 16-bit words in accessOperationConfig.

accessOperation

One entry of accessOperations.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
operationType	accessOperationType	No			READ, WRITE, ACCESS, LOCK or KILL; decides which config members apply
config	object (accessOperationConfig)	No			The operation's parameters

accessOperationConfig

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
memoryBank	accessMemoryBank	No			The memory bank, for READ and WRITE
offset	integer	No			Where the operation starts, in 16-bit words
length	integer	No			How many 16-bit words to read or write
data	string	No			The data to write, as hex in whole 16-bit words
password	string	No			The access or kill password, exactly 8 hex characters
lockMemBank	lockMemoryBank	No			The resource to lock or unlock
lockAction	lockAction	No			The lock action; PERMANENT_LOCK and PERMANENT_UNLOCK cannot be undone

Which members each operationType uses: READ uses memoryBank, offset and length; WRITE also uses data; ACCESS and KILL use password; LOCK uses lockMemBank and lockAction. The contract states no conditional requirement, so a validator does not enforce this.

tagMetadataFlags

The tagMetaDataToEnable object. In the default operating mode, RSSI and SEENCOUNT are on and every other flag is off.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
RSSI	boolean	No	true		Report peakRssi
PHASE	boolean	No	false		Report phase
SEENCOUNT	boolean	No	true		Report seenCount
CHANNEL	boolean	No	false		Report channel
PC	boolean	No	false		Report the Protocol Control word
XPC	boolean	No	false		Report the Extended Protocol Control word
CRC	boolean	No	false		Report the CRC
EPC	boolean	No	false		Report the EPC; whether it controls EPC or EPCid is not documented
TID	boolean	No	false		Report the TID
USER	boolean	No	false		Report USER memory
MAC	boolean	No	false		Report the reader's MAC address
HOSTNAME	boolean	No	false		Report the reader's host name

Control

ctrlOprPayload

The payload of control_operation.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
controlType	enum: RFID, SCANNER	Yes			RFID for an inventory, or SCANNER for a barcode scan
operation	enum: START, STOP	Yes			START or STOP

Post-Filter

postFilterPayload

The postFilterPayload object of set_post_filter: one rule and its operation. get_post_filter returns the installed rules in postFilterPayload.postFilter, without operation.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
dataEpType	dataEndpointType	No			The data endpoint the rule applies to. DATA_EP2 targets DATA2, which is currently not supported
matchPattern	string	No			The value compared with the tag ID. Even-length hex for PREFIX and SUFFIX; a regular expression for REGEX
matchPatternMethod	matchPatternMethod	No			PREFIX, SUFFIX or REGEX
reportOperation	reportOperation	No			INCLUDE reports only matching tags; EXCLUDE drops them
operation	enum: ADD, DELETE, MODIFY	No			ADD, DELETE or MODIFY

To delete the post filter on a data endpoint, send operation: "DELETE" with dataEpType alone. A rule has no identifier of its own, and the contract does not say which members MODIFY uses to find it. While a PREFIX rule is in use, select pre-filters cannot be applied.

Tag and Barcode Data

dataEventPayload

The data object of dataEVT. Either array can be absent.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
tagData	array of tagDataRecord	No			Tag records. No record limit; firmware caps the whole message at 6144 bytes
barcodeData	array of barcodeDataRecord	No			Barcode records

tagDataRecord

One tag record.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
EPCid	string	Yes			The tag's EPC identifier, as hex
EPC	string	No			The EPC memory bank, as hex
TID	string	No			The TID memory bank, as hex
USER	string	No			The USER memory bank, as hex
RESERVED	string	No			The RESERVED memory bank, as hex
PC	string	No			The Protocol Control word, as hex
CRC	string	No			The CRC, as hex
XPC	string	No			The Extended Protocol Control word, as hex, if the tag has one
channel	number	No			An opaque radio channel index, not a frequency. Present only when every read is reported on its own
eventNum	number	Yes			The per-report sequence counter; the only ordering signal
format	string	No			The format of the tag data; the contract describes it as EPCid
peakRssi	number	No			Peak signal strength, in dBm, since the tag's last report
phase	number	No			Phase of the tag's reply, in degrees. Present only when every read is reported on its own
seenCount	number	No			Times the tag was read since its last report; 1 when every read is reported on its own
accessResults	array of string	No			One result per configured access operation, in order
userDefined	string	No			A user-defined string included on every event
firstSeenTime	number	No			When the tag was first seen, in milliseconds since the epoch
lastSeenTime	number	No			When the tag was last seen, in milliseconds since the epoch
MAC	string	No			The MAC address of the reader that read the tag
HOSTNAME	string	No			The host name of the reader that read the tag

Hex values arrive in either letter case. The metadata flag RSSI switches on peakRssi, PHASE switches on phase, SEENCOUNT switches on seenCount, and CHANNEL switches on channel; RESERVED, firstSeenTime, lastSeenTime, accessResults, userDefined and format have no flag.

barcodeDataRecord

One barcode record.

Field	Type	Required	Default	Limits	Meaning
symbology	string	No			The barcode type, as a hexadecimal string such as 0x03
decodedBarcode	string	Yes			The decoded value

Related: 📕 set_operating_mode · 📕 control_operation · 📕 set_post_filter · 📕 dataEVT · 📕 Enumerations · 📕 Tag Data Stream