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Using the Administration Console

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Configuring and Monitoring Readers

A reader is a generic term for a hardware device, also referred to as a physical reader, which reads EPC values from or writes EPC values to RFID labels (tags). The reader has one or more antennas which emit radio waves and receive signals back from the tag.

You configure the RFID Edge Server to communicate with all supported readers as follows:

Note: These two methods of configuring supported readers are mutually exclusive. You define all readers either through the Administration Console or by editing the edge.props file. See Two Approaches to Configuring Readers: edge.props or Administration Console in Installing WebLogic RFID Edge Server.

The following sections describe how to configure and monitor readers:

 

Displaying Readers

To display readers:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node.
  2. Select RFID Devices under that Edge Server.

    3. Using the RFID Devices page on the right, you can create, remove, and configure readers for the Edge Server you selected.

 

Creating, Copying, and Removing Readers

To add a new physical reader to the selected Edge Server:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select RFID Devices to display the RFID Devices page.
  2. Click New to display the Create Reader page.
  3. Enter a device name (which will appear in the left pane of the Console) and select a Reader Type to display reader-specific properties.
  4. Fill in values for the reader-specific properties shown.

    5. Properties with an asterisk (*) to the right of the field label must be filled in. Refer to the RFID Reader Reference and the manufacturer's manual for your reader for more information on these properties and their allowable values.

  5. Click OK to save your changes and add the new reader to the Edge Server.

To make a copy of an existing reader:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select RFID Devices to display the RFID Devices page.
  2. Select a reader from the list on the RFID Devices page.
  3. Click Clone.

    4. The Create Reader page displays the device definition and properties of the reader you selected.

  4. Edit the existing device name, and change the values of the device-specific properties as needed.
  5. Click OK to save your changes and add the reader to the Edge Server.

To delete a reader from the selected Edge Server:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select RFID Devices to display the RFID Devices page.
  2. Select a reader from the list on the RFID Devices page.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Confirm that you want to delete this device from the Edge Server.

 

Editing Readers

To reconfigure an existing reader:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select RFID Devices to display the RFID Devices page.
  2. Select a reader from the list on the RFID Devices page.
  3. Click Configure.

    4. The Edit Reader page displays the device name, device type, and properties.

  4. Make configuration changes as necessary, and click OK to save the changed reader configuration to the Edge Server.

 

Working with Composite Readers

You create composite readers by combining existing logical readers. Logical readers refer to one or more physical readers or antennas that have a single logical purpose; for example, readers positioned around a door might be called DockDoor42. Logical readers can be considered equivalent to "locations." See Comparing Physical Readers and Logical Readers in Installing WebLogic RFID Edge Server.

Composite readers provide an easy way to add or remove logical readers when one or more ECSpecs have already been defined. For more information on composite readers, see Using Composite Readers in Installing WebLogic RFID Edge Server.

Displaying Composite Readers

To display composite readers:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node.
  2. Select Composite Readers.

    3. Use the Composite Readers page to add, remove, and configure Composite Readers.

Creating a Composite Reader

To create a new composite reader for the selected Edge Server:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select Composite Readers to display the Composite Readers page.
  2. Click New.
  3. On the Create Composite Reader page, enter a reader name (which will appear in the list in the readers shown in the Composite Readers page and in the ECSpec Editor), and move one or more logical readers from the Available Readers list to the Included Readers list using the arrow controls between the lists.
  4. Click OK to save your changes and add the new composite reader to the Edge Server.

Copying a Composite Reader

To make a copy of an existing composite reader:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select Composite Readers to display the Composite Readers page.
  2. Select a composite reader from the list.
  3. Click Clone.

    4. The Create Composite Reader page displays the reader information.

  4. Fill in a new composite reader name, and change the included readers as needed.
  5. Click OK to save your changes and add the cloned composite reader to the Edge Server.

Deleting a Composite Reader

To delete a composite reader from the selected Edge Server:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select Composite Readers to display the Composite Readers page.
  2. Select a composite reader from the list.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Confirm that you want to delete this composite reader from the Edge Server.

Editing a Composite Reader

To reconfigure an existing composite reader:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select Composite Readers to display the Composite Readers page.
  2. Select a composite reader from the list.
  3. Click Configure.

    4. The Composite Reader Configuration page displays the reader name and list of included readers.

  4. Make configuration changes as necessary, and click OK to save the changed composite reader configuration to the Edge Server.

 

Working with Transient Filters

Transient filters allow you to "smooth out" the stream of raw data coming from the reader—filter out tags that appear only briefly, keeping those tags that are read several times within a specified interval of time. See Smoothing Read Cycles with Transient Filtering in Programming with the ALE and ALEPC APIs.

You can apply a transient filter to any reader antenna (for example, a logical reader). Different logical readers may share the same filter settings, or have different settings. For more information about transient filters, see Adding a Transient Filter in Installing WebLogic RFID Edge Server.

Creating a Transient Filter

To add a transient filter:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node and select Filters.

    2. The Filters page displays the transient filters configured for the selected Edge Server.

  2. On the Filters page, click New to display the Create Filters page.
  3. Enter a filter name and select Transient Filter from the drop-down list.

    4. For each transient filter you add, define the following required parameters.

    Table 5-1 Transient Filter Properties 
    Name
    Description
    Minimum Tag Reads
    The number of times a tag must be read before being included in the filter (visible to the event cycle).
    Firm Interval
    The maximum time (in milliseconds) allowed between reads that increase the Minimum Tag Reads count.
    Expired Interval
    The maximum duration (in milliseconds) for a tag not to be read before expiring from the filter.

  4. Click OK.
  5. To apply the filter to a logical reader, specify the filter name in the reader configuration properties. See Editing Readers.

    6. To apply the same filter to more than one logical reader, specify the same filter name for more than one reader. Even though more than one logical reader refers to the same filter name, each logical reader is processed by a different filter instance.

Copying a Transient Filter

To make a copy of an existing filter:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node, and select Filters to display the Filters page.
  2. Select a filter.
  3. Click Clone.

    4. The Create Filter page displays the filter definition and properties of the filter you selected.

  4. Edit the existing filter name, and change the values of the filter properties as needed.
  5. Click OK.

Deleting a Transient Filter

To delete a filter:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node, and select Filters to display the Filters page.
  2. Select a filter.
  3. Click Delete.
  4. Confirm that you want to delete this filter from the Edge Server.

Editing a Transient Filter

To reconfigure an existing transient filter:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, expand an Edge Server node, and select Filters to display the Filters page.
  2. Select a filter.
  3. Click Configure.

    4. The Edit Filter page displays the device name, device type, and properties.

  4. Make configuration changes as necessary. See Transient Filter Properties.
  5. Click OK to save the changed filter configuration to the Edge Server.

 

Monitoring Readers

Using the Administration Console, you can monitor how long read cycles are taking, and keep track of how many read cycles have occurred since you started the Edge Server. You can see how many tags each reader is reading.

Also, you can examine configuration information for each reader, and examine the messages and warnings that the reader generated.

Displaying Reader Telemetry

To display reader telemetry:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, select an Edge Server.
  2. Expand the Edge Server node and the RFID Devices node associated with that Edge Server.
  3. In the left pane, select the name of a physical reader.
  4. In the right pane, select Telemetry at the bottom of the page.

    5. Telemetry information for each logical reader (antenna) appears.

    Note: Collapse telemetry graphs to improve presentation and performance; only the expanded (non-collapsed) views are updated.
    • Table 5-2 shows when read cycles occurred.
    • Table 5-3 shows how much time each reader is taking for a read cycle (read cycle time).
    • Table 5-4 shows how many tags this reader read in the field (tags in field).
    • Table 5-5 shows when write cycles (programming cycles) occurred.
    • Table 5-6 shows how much time each reader or printer is taking for a write cycle (write cycle time).

      • Table 5-2 readCycles 
      total
      Total number of read cycles completed since the Edge Server was started.
      horizontal axis
      Time stamps, in 24-hour time.
      vertical axis
      Shows how many read cycles were completed within the telemetry interval configured for the Edge Server. When the telemetry interval is very short (as the default 250ms is), this value is likely to be either zero (no read cycles) or one (one read cycle). If the telemetry interval is longer, larger values will be displayed when many read cycles are completed within one telemetry interval.

      Table 5-3 readCycleTime 
      current
      Value from the most recent read cycle.
      horizontal axis
      Time stamps, in 24-hour time.
      vertical axis
      Minimum and maximum read cycle times, in milliseconds.

      Table 5-4 tagsIn Field 
      current
      Value from the most recent read cycle.
      horizontal axis
      Time stamps, in 24-hour time.
      vertical axis
      Shows how many tags this reader read during each read cycle.

      Table 5-5 writeCycles 
      total
      Total number of write cycles (programming cycles) completed since the Edge Server was started. A programming cycle is an interval of time during which a single tag is written and verified.
      horizontal axis
      Time stamps, in 24-hour time.
      vertical axis
      Shows how many programming cycles were completed within the telemetry interval configured in the Edge Server.

      Table 5-6 writeCycleTime 
      current
      The value from the most recent write cycle.
      horizontal axis
      Time stamps, in 24-hour time.
      vertical axis
      Minimum and maximum write cycle times, in milliseconds.

Displaying Reader Alerts

To display reader alerts:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, select an Edge Server.
  2. Expand the Edge Server node and the RFID Devices node associated with that Edge Server.
  3. In the left pane, select the name of a physical reader.
  4. In the right pane, select Alerts at the bottom of the page.

    5. The Reader Alerts page shows messages and warnings generated by the reader.

    When you select an alert in the top pane, a preview pane opens at the bottom of the page displaying the complete text of the alert.

    Table 5-7 Reader Alerts 
    Column
    Description
    Importance
    • INFO (green)
    • WARNING (yellow)
    • SEVERE (red)
    Date
    Date and time the reader generated the message.
    Message
    Text of the message.

Displaying Reader Attributes

To display reader attributes:

  1. In the left pane of the Console, select an Edge Server.
  2. Expand the Edge Server node and the RFID Devices node associated with that Edge Server.
  3. In the left pane, select the name of a physical reader.
  4. In the right pane, select Attributes at the bottom of the page.

    5. The Reader Attributes page shows configuration information for this reader. The reader sends this configuration information to the Edge Server.

    Table 5-8 Reader Attributes 
    Column
    Description
    antennaCount
    Number of antennas this reader has.
    hostname
    Hostname or IP address that the Edge Server is using to communicate with this reader.
    manufacturer
    Reader manufacturer.
    model
    Reader model.
    tcpPort
    TCP port that the Edge Server is using to communicate with this reader.

 

Reading Real-Time Tag Data

This testing feature reads real-time tag data from any configured logical reader for a selected Edge Server and displays the results in the Administration Console.

To read tag data:

  1. In the Console, select Test > Read Tags to display the Read Tags page.
  2. From the Server drop-down list, select an Edge Server.
  3. From the Reader Name drop-down list, select a logical reader name.

    4. Tag data polling on the selected reader starts immediately, displaying the results in the Read Tags data table. Table 5-9 describes the Read Tags data.

    Table 5-9 Read Tags Data 
    Column
    Description
    Tag Value
    Tag format and numerical value of the EPC.

    Note: A red X appears to the left of the Tag Value column when a tag has left the reader's field. After five minutes have passed without the reader's detecting a tag, that tag is deleted from the list.
    Read Count
    Number of times the tag has been read (seen by the reader) since the test started.
    % Seen
    Calculated as a percentage of read cycles in which the tag has been detected since the tag was first seen. Thus, a tag starts out at 100%, and if the tag is removed from the field, its percentage will decrease until the tag entry expires from the list in five minutes.
    This data is most valuable for measuring intermittent tags.
    Last Seen
    Number of seconds, minutes, and hours since the tag was last seen.
    User memory
    When reading a Gen 2 tag, the first snippet of user memory (32 bits).

  4. Click Stop to suspend reading tag data.

    5. The values in the Read Tags data table do not update while reads are suspended, and tags do not expire from the list. If a read returns an error, reading tag data is suspended.

  5. Click Start to continue reading tag data, Clear to reset tag data to zero, or Close.

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