Sirit Technologies Release Notes INfinity 510 Reader Startup Tool (RST) 3.0.12969.15251 INTRODUCTION ============ The associated Microsoft installer (.msi) file will install the Reader Startup Tool (RST), a Windows based application which supports the Infinity 510, a UHF based multiprotocol, multi-regional capable RFID interrogator (reader/writer). UPGRADE PROCEDURE ============ Upgrading from one version of RST to another version requires the current version to be uninstalled and the new version to be installed. Care must be exercised to preserve any customizations made to the macros. 1) Customizations made to the standard macro files will be lost in an upgrade. In order to preserve these changes, the customized files should be renamed, or put into a unique directory. 2) Remove current version of RST Double click the "Add or Remove Programs" icon in "Control Panel" in Windows. Click on "Sirit Infinity 510" and select "Remove". This will uninstall the current version; uniquely named macro files will not be removed. 3) Install new version of RST The product CD provided with your reader contains two setup files: setup.exe and INfinity_510_RSTInstaller.msi. The first file, setup.exe, will fully checks your system configuration and loads the all required software including Microsoft .NET 2.0. If you only want to load the RST application, use the INfinity_510_RSTInstaller.msi installation file. Note, however, the installation may abort if the required files are not found on your system. Follow the installation steps. You will need to agree on the License Agreement Page. The Choose Features Page allows you to install the RST Tool Suite, RAPID SDK or both. The .NET version of RAPID will be installed by default with the RST Tool Suite. Selecting to install the RAPID SDK will install the Java version of RAPID and it's documentation, as well as the documentation for .NET version of RAPID. On the Select Installation Folder, it is recommended to use the default installation location. 4) If you copied any customizations to the standard macros to a new directory, you will need to copy them back into the macros directory off the installation directory in order for RTT to find them. The default installation directory is C:\Program Files\Sirit\INfinity 510 RST. ***************** CURRENT RELEASE ***************** 3.0.12969.15251 (28Oct2009): 1) Enhancements a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) RST may now use either IPv4 or IPv6 to discover readers 2) Network settings allows for setting of IPv6 network configuration settings. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Common reader configuration settings of Antenna Selection, Protocol Selection, and Operating Mode have been moved to menu items. This allows for the item to be set from any tab. 2) A more complex mux sequence may be set from the menu item Antennas->Mux Sequence. 3) Logging into the reader can now be done through the menu item Reader->Login. The current log in level will be displayed in the status bar at the bottom on the screen. 4) The IP Address of the reader logged into is displayed in the title bar. 5) RTT can connect to a reader through an IPv6 address, if it is enabled on the reader. 6) The RTT screen is now resizable and supports setting the size to maximum. The size is saved across application launches. 7) The reader Error log may now be viewed through the menu item Reader->View Error Log 8) The current status of the reader is displayed on the General Tab. 9) An Error/Warning condition can be cleared on the reader through the menu item Reader->Clear Error/Warning Condition. 10) Error messages have been improved to display more usable error messages. 11) An indicator has been added to the status bar displaying the current operating mode of the reader. 12) General Tab, a) The command output may now be saved to a file, through the File menu. b) The Help drop down on the General Tab has been removed. The command line drop down box will now support suggestion for both C2 variables and functions. 13) Tag Performance Tab a) The Tag output may be saved to a file through the File menu b) Tag filtering has been added. Tag filtering is enabled by checking the "Tag FIltering" check box in the lower right corner. Checking this causes an Open file dialog to be displayed To select a Tag filtering file. A tag filtering file contains a list of tags to look for. After selection the tab will display all tags within the antenna range. Those tags not listed in the tag filtering file will have a negative total. All tags listed in the tag filtering file will have a poitive total. Any tags listed in the tag filtering file will have a 0 total. The tag filtering file selected will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. c) The current list of tags displayed may be saved as a Tag Filtering file through the File menu. d) Total Unique tags will display Found Tags when tag filtering is turned on. e) The option of displaying the EPC decode of a tag by selecting the "EPC Decode" check box. The EPC Tag URI will be displayed in the last column of the tag list view. f) Polling has been renamed to Tag Database Query. 14) Tag Management Tab a) This tab now supports writing the tag ID, access password or user data of a tag. 15) Macro Tab a) Loading a macro may be done through the File menu b) Saving a macro to a file may be done through the File menu c) Saving the output from executing a macro may be done through the File menu. 16) Events Tab a) Saving the current event data on the screen may be done through the File menu. b) The event tab now supports logging of events to a file as well as displaying on the screen. This may be enabled/disabled through the File menu. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) The IP Address of the reader logged into is displayed in the title bar. 2) RDT can connect to a reader through an IPv6 address, if it is enabled on the reader. 3) The RDT screen is now resizable and supports setting the size to maximum. The size is saved across application launches. 4) Error messages have been improved to display more usable error messages. 5) The Operating Mode may now be set through menu items. This allows for it to be set from any tab. 6) An indicator has been added to the status bar displaying the current operating mode of the reader. 7) Channel Status Tab a) The channel status may now be saved to a file, through the File menu. 8) Alarms Tab a) The alarm data may now be saved to a file, through the File menu. 9) Tag Report a) Saving the current tag report data on the screen may be done through the File menu. b) The Tag report tab now supports logging of repoirts to a file as well as displaying on the screen. This may be enabled/disabled through the File menu. 10) Spectrum Analyzer Tab a) The spectrum analyzer data may now be saved to a file, through the File menu. d) RAPID SDK 1) The .NET and Java versions of RAPID now support connecting to the reader using IPv6 addresses for a DataManager.ConnectionTypes.SOCKET connection. The Java version needs to execute on jre 1.5 or higher. 2) The ConnectionDiscovery also supports reader dicovery using IPv6. A ConnectionDiscovery object will only support either IPv4 or IPv6. The Java version needs to execute on jre 1.5 or higher. 3) The namespace Sirit.Mapping.Modem namespace has been added to break down the modem namespace into separate classes for each protocols. 4) Classes Sirit.Driver.ConnectionInfoArgsList and Sirit.Mapping.TagReponseList now support iterating with a foreach loop for the .NET version. 5) Properties and Methods have been added to reflect changes and additions to the C2 command set on the reader for firmware 3.0 2) Bug Fixes a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Improved the rate RTT handles events coming from the reader to help ease dropped event warning messages. 2) UI now updates correctly when stopping tag performance polling when the reader is placed in Standby mode. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) d) RAPID SDK 1) Fixed retreiving correct data from the serial connection if the response from the reader contains a comma. 2) Fixed the logging to allow the logging from multiple tools at the same time. 3) Fixed a bug is parsing data returned from the reader for complex return types. 4) Fixed bug in hanging receiving thread for an event channel in JAVA and Python versions. 5) Fixed OutOfIndex Execption on a DataManager.set and get methods for both Java versions. 6) Fixed exceptions in logger class for cross-platform applications using the .NET version. 3) Known Limitations a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) IPv6 support will only work with readers running firmware 3.0 b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) IPv6 support will only work with readers running firmware 3.0 c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) IPv6 support will only work with readers running firmware 3.0 d) RAPID SDK 1) IPv6 support will only work with readers running firmware 3.0 4) Additional Information a) RST installation requires the .NET 2.0 library to be present on host computer. If not present run the setup.exe, this will check that .NET 2.0 framework is currently installed on the taget machine. If not, it will install it before launching the installer for RST. b) Depending on your Windows Firewall settings, you may have to explicitly "Unblock" ports when RST is run the first time. c) This version of RST utilizes features provided by the 3.0 firmware release of the INfinity 510. Certain RST features, such as IPv6 communication with the reader may not work when used with a reader running previous versions of firmware. It is recommended to upgrade RST in the same timeframe as upgrading the reader firmware. ***************** PREVIOUS RELEASE ***************** 2.0.10166.21562 (9Jul2008): 1) Enhancements a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) Columns are now sortable and the last sort settings are used when RST is launched again. 2) The order of the columns is now customizable. The order is saved across RST launches. The default order of the columns is MAC Address, IP Address, Hostname, Serial Number, Version, DHCP, Location, Zone, Subnet, and Gateway. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Added tool tips. 2) Cleaned up results returned and displayed on the General tab. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) Spectrum Analysis settings will now be saved across application launches. 2) Added tool tips. d) RAPID SDK 2) Bug Fixes a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) Fixed occassional painting exception when starting RST. Bug showed a large red X over the reader grid control. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Fixed the bug where monitoring for the loss of connection to the reader does not work after the first reconnection to the reader. 2) Fixed the displaying of incrementing repeat counts to tags when purging is checked or at the start of polling for Tag Performance. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) Fixed the bug where monitoring for the loss of connection to the reader does not work after the first reconnection to the reader. d) RAPID SDK 3) Known Limitations a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) Encryption of an update packet will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Secure socket communication will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) Spectrum Analyzer will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. 2) Secure socket communication will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. d) RAPID SDK 4) Additional Information a) RST installation requires the .NET 2.0 library to be present on host computer. If not present run the setup.exe, this will check that .NET 2.0 framework is currently installed on the taget machine. If not, it will install it before launching the installer for RST. b) Depending on your Windows Firewall settings, you may have to explicitly "Unblock" ports when RST is run the first time. c) This version of RST utilizes features provided by the 2.0 firmware release of the INfinity 510. Certain RST features, such as secured socket communication using SSL with the reader may not work when used with a reader running previous versions of firmware. It is recommended to upgrade RST in the same timeframe as upgrading the reader firmware. ***************** PREVIOUS RELEASE ***************** 2.0.8990.26673 (8Apr2008): 1) Enhancements a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) Ability to set Discovery options through the Options button. 2) The current multicast address used to listen for readers is displayed in the status bar. 3) New column added to display the firmware version of the reader. 4) Ability to use secure connections when communicating to the reader. 5) Setup Wizard initially displays the current settings of the reader. 6) Setup Wizard, Select Regions Page list descriptions for the sub-regions listed in the Sub Region drop down box. 7) Setup Wizard, Protocol Selection Page has been updated with the new protocols supported in firmware 2.0. 8) Setup Wizard, Tag Volume Page, the options now display number to help is making the correct selection. 9) Setup Wizard, Confirmation Page now allows for the new selections to be saved as a profile on the reader. 10) Network Settings allows for the update packet to be encrypted. This is only valid for readers running 2.0 firmware. 11) Using the Network Settings to update the reader now requires a login and password to ne supplied for readers running 2.0 firmware. For readers running previous versions of firmware, these fields have no affect. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Current firmware version running on the reader is displayed in the status bar. 2) Ability to communicate with the reader through secure sockets. 3) RTT now monitors the connection to the reader and will diaply when a lose of connection with the reader is encounter. A message box is diaplyed allowing the user to try to reconnect to the reader. 4) General Page a) Pressing the enter key when typing in the Command text box will send the command to the reader. b) Pressing the enter key when typing in the Pwd text box will attempt to login to the reader. c) Commands and results are now listed at the bottom of the results box. If new data added goes beyond the bottom of the screen, it will automatically scroll to the bottom. d) Operating modes now displays the opearting modes supported by the 2.0 firmware. If using this tool with readers running previous versions of the firmware, when selecting Active mode, sets the reader in Autonous mode. e) Protocol Selection has been updated with the new protocols supported in firmware 2.0. 5) Tag Performance Page a) Operating Mode can now set through this page. b) New feature allowing to turn on beeping for measuring the read rate. When the Beep On checkbox is set, RTT will determin the read rate based on the number of tags read and the pooling internval. It will then beep every 10 milliseconds to simulate this rate audioally. 6) Macros Page a) Macro output results are now listed at the bottom of the box. If new data added goes beyond the bottom of the screen, it will automatically scroll to the bottom. 7) Event Handling Page a) Events are now listed at the bottom of the box. If new data added goes beyond the bottom of the screen, it will automatically scroll to the bottom. b) Pressing the enter key when typing in the Events text box will register the event with the reader. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) Current firmware version running on the reader is displayed in the status bar. 2) Ability to communicate with the reader through secure sockets. 3) RDT needs to login into the reader level with at least admin authority. The application will now prompt the user for a login and password if the default login level of the reader is less than admin. 4) RDT now monitors the connection to the reader and will diaply when a lose of connection with the reader is encounter. A message box is diaplyed allowing the user to try to reconnect to the reader. 5) Channel Stats Page a) Operating Mode can now set through this page. 6) Tag Report Page a) User Data is now selectable. b) Operating Mode can now set through this page. c) Save is now a checkbox, which will log all tag reports received while it is checked in the specified file. d) Capability to turn on beeping, which will beep when ever a tag report is received. Warning: Turning on beeping will reduce the performance of the application in handling tag report event. 7) Spectrum Analyzer Page a) Remove the Time field since it is no longer valid. b) Coherent is now a check box being that it is either true or false. c) Ability to manually set the Y axes range which will not change between cycles. d) Ability to specify an antenna to perform the analysis on. e) X-Axes are automatically calculated using the span and centered on the Center Frequency to the nearest 50. f) Any frequencies within 10Khz, either way, of the center frequency will be filtered out or at least reduced significantly in gain. This area is highlight by a dark band in the graph. d) RAPID SDK 1) The Rapid API has been enhanced to support .NET and Java applications for host applications that want to communicate with the INfinity 510 reader. Documentation and all supporting files are included when the SDK is installed. 2) The RAPID API also supports a Java and python version for applications that are executed on the reader. Documentation and all supporting files are included when the SDK is installed. 3) Installation of the RAPID SDK is now optional. 2) Bug Fixes a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) When manually adding a reader, the subnet mask and default gateway now display "Unknown" instead of some random addresses. 2) Removed the error message first displayed when executing in the Windows Vista environment. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Removed the error message boxes displayed when launching for a reader with a default login level less than admin. 2) General Page a) Fixed the strange behavoir of setting the mux-sequence incorrectly on the reader when updating the antennas on the screen caused by executing a macro setting the mux-sequence. 3) Tag Performance Page a) Fixed the Divide by zero error displayed when scan tags is pressed with no tags in the field. b) Fixed bug with regional and laungage options affected the Rate column. c) RTT now handles when not all the data is available because the tag.reporting_taglist is changed while RTT is Polling. 4) Tag Management Page a) Antenna selection now works. 3) Known Limitations a) Reader Startup Tool (RST) 1) Encryption of an update packet will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. b) Reader Test Tool (RTT) 1) Secure socket communication will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. c) Reader Diagnostics Tool (RDT) 1) Spectrum Analyzer will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. 2) Secure socket communication will only work with readers running firmware 2.0. 4) Additional Information a) RST installation requires the .NET 2.0 library to be present on host computer. If not present run the setup.exe, this will check that .NET 2.0 framework is currently installed on the taget machine. If not, it will install it before launching the installer for RST. b) Depending on your Windows Firewall settings, you may have to explicitly "Unblock" ports when RST is run the first time. c) This version of RST utilizes features provided by the 2.0 firmware release of the INfinity 510. Certain RST features, such as secured socket communication using SSL with the reader may not work when used with a reader running previous versions of firmware. It is recommended to upgrade RST in the same timeframe as upgrading the reader firmware. ***************** PREVIOUS RELEASE ***************** 1.0.2509.20188 (16November2006): 1) Enhancements a) Reader Startup Tool - Setup wizard now supports an option to select a single tag as the estimated number of tags in field. b) Reader Startup Tool, Reader Test Tool, Reader Diagnose Tool, all support logging of activity. Logging for all tools is controlled by the file sirit_log.ini. To enable logging for a tool set its log level to 1, to disable logging for a tool set it's log level to 0. For example to enable logging for RST (Reader Startup Tool) change the line: RST 0 to RST 1 in the sirit_log.ini file. c) Screen updating under heavy loads (i.e. lots of events arriving) has been improved and optimized. d) Reader Diagnose Tool, no longer dependent of Microsoft Office being installed on the machine. e) Reader Diagnose Tool, averaging was added to the spectrum analyzer display. f) Reader Test Tool, the ability to click on already-registered event and have it displayed in the event dropdown box so it can be unregistered for quickly. g) Reader Startup Tool, Reader Test Tool, Reader Diagnose Tool, improved screen readability for all desktop themes h) Reader Test Tool, added the Macro Name edit control to indicate the last loaded macro file. i) Reader Diagnose Tool, no need to unregister for tag events before changing tag reporting fields. j) Added new chart control DLL to release package k) Reader Startup Tool, Reader Test Tool, Reader Diagnose Tool, replaced images, and icons Sirit's latest images and icons. 2) Bugs Fixed a) Reader Startup Tool, network settings dialog now shows correct reader serial number. b) Reader Startup Tool, fix the discovery code to discover readers on all network interfaces on the host machine, then join multicast groups on all interfaces and receive data from them. Also changed separate code to transmit discovery request on all interfaces as well. b) Reader Diagnose Tool, allow antenna reporting by checking the antenna check box. d) Reader Diagnose Tool, pressing the unregister button several time does nor cause an error. e) Reader Diagnose Tool, fix to the channel statistics calculations to prevent negative talk-times. f) Reader Test Tool, Reader Diagnose Tool, fix a bug that caused the event channels to stop reading events from the reader. g) Reader Test Tool, Reader Diagnose Tool, fix a bug that was causing characters in the tag events to be dropped. h) Reader Test Tool, fixes to tag acquisition analysis when running scan_tags. i) Reader Test Tool, fixed a typo and scan_tags calculation of rates. j) Reader Test Tool, removed all references to "ROT" the tools previous name. k) Reader Test Tool, display all possible events that can be registered for in the event dropdown box. l) Reader Test Tool, display all possible variables (based on the user's login level) in the help dropdown box. m) Reader Test Tool, fix to handle reader responses with imbedded crlf's. n) Reader Test Tool, fix to prevent crash when the ethernet cable is pulled out, now display a dialog box indicating lost connectivity. 3) Known Limitations None 4) Additional Information a) RST installation requires the .NET 2.0 library to be present on host computer. This library is available from the Microsoft download site if it is not present. b) This version of RST utilizes features provided by the 1.2 firmware release of the Infinity 510. Certain RST features, such as command line help, will not work properly when used with a reader running 1.0 firmware. It is recommended to upgrade RST in the same timeframe as upgrading the reader firmware. ***************** PREVIOUS RELEASE ***************** 1.0.2407.26029 (07August2006): 1) Enhancements a) Reader Test Tool, General Page: added "Retain Command" option for the command line. When this option is set, previously typed commands are retained in the command input box. When this option is not set, the command input box is cleared as soon as the command is issued to the reader. b) Reader Test Tool, Event Handling: added text box which lists the set of events which are currently registered for. c) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: further enhanced the button grouping. All actions associated with the reader operating mode of "Polled" are now grouped together. d) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: added pop-up help for each input text box. 2) Bugs Fixed a) Reader Startup Tool, Main Page: Sorting the list of discovered readers resulted in use of incorrect reader. Sorting of readers has been disabled. b) Reader Diagnose Tool, Tag Report: large volumes of data can be generated which can result in slow or unresponsive behavior from RST application. This tool will now only maintain the most recent messages. An entire log of messages can be maintained by saving the data to a file (specified at the bottom of the screen). c) Reader Diagnose Tool, Spectrum Analyzer: Automatic poll mode may occasionally encounter an error and discontinue polling. The root cause was in the reader firmware; this fix is available in 1.0.4554 and later. d) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: Cumm Rate calculation is incorrect for timed tests. 3) Known Limitations a) First usage of the RST application may result in the application crashing. Restarting the application resolves the issue. b) Reader Diagnose Tool, Channel Stats: Talk times can become inaccurate after long periods of time and display negative talk-times. c) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: sorting on the per tag total field is not done numerically. d) The RST reader discovery algorithm is only run on the first network interface of the host computer. 4) Additional Information a) RST installation requires the .NET 2.0 library to be present on host computer. This library is available from the Microsoft download site if it is not present. ***************** PREVIOUS RELEASE ***************** 1.0.2390.19225 (18July2006): 1) Enhancements a) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: removed "Clear Stats" and "Purge" buttons, and replaced with a single "Purge and Clear Stats" button which can be used at any time. b) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: moved the "Purge every poll" checkbox from the Tag Database operations group to the Polling group. This option is disabled during the time a polling test in in progress. c) Reader Test Tool, Macros: Improved popup help text on buttons. d) Reader Test Tool, General Page: Added checks to default login level so that user need to log in as admin is minimized. e) Reader Startup Tool, Setup Wizard: reduced number of tag volume options to 5. f) Reader Startup Tool, Setup Wizard: allowed sub_regions are not context sensitive to region. g) Reader Startup Tool, Setup Wizard: improved explanatory text on each wizard page. h) Reader Diagnose Tool, Spectrum Analyzer: Added continous poll mode based on specified time interval. 2) Bugs Fixed a) Reader Test Tool, Tag Performance: Cummulative and Current rate calculations were not correct under certain situations. b) Reader Test Tool, General Page: Removed Antenna 5-8. c) Reader Startup Tool, Setup Wizard: User needs to enter at least one antenna and d) Reader Diagnose Tool, RF Survey: User needs means to login to reader for this page operation. 3) Known Limitations a) Reader Diagnose Tool, Tag Report: large volumes of data can be generated which can result in slow or unresponsive behavior from RST application. It is recommended to restrict the time duration that data is being collected to less than one minute. b) Reader Diagnose Tool, Spectrum Analyzer: Automatic poll mode may occasionally encounter an error and discontinue polling. Manual polling can be performed with repeated use of the "Run Once" button. 4) Additional Information a) RST installation requires the .NET 2.0 library to be present on host computer. This library is available from the Microsoft download site if it is not present.