Awid MPR

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Introduction

The Awid MPR 2010 is produced by Applied Wireless ID. It is a simple serial-based reader that can read Gen 1 and Gen 2 tags.

Model Number
MPR 2010
Network Protocol
Serial
Communication
RS-232
Antennas
1 built-in Antenna, 1 extra port
General Purpose I/O
None

Basis of Virtual Reader

The virtual reader is based off of the PDF

Client Tools

The main client tools used for testing this program:

Awid Tool
The Awid Tool is a client program that ships with the reader. It is the easiest tool to connect with the reader,
Others
You can use other tools if you wish, such as the BEA tool, but for any tool that normally connects through TCP-IP, you will need to use a TCP to Serial bridge program. As of right now we have no support for any of these tools from Rifidi, although if you can configure them correctly they should work.

Getting Started

Serial Port Emulation

This guide was written assuming you are connecting on a Windows XP machine. It may work for other operating systems, but that is not guaranteed.

To get started with the AWID reader, first download and install Rifidi Emulator. Then download and install com0com, a serial-port emulation tool that will allow you to connect with and read tags from any readers you create. In the install options for com0com, uncheck the option where it automatically installs serial ports CNCA and CNCB. While not necessary, doing this will make the creation and maintenance of virtual serial ports less confusing.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/com0com/files/

For a more advanced use of com0com, type 'help' into the command prompt and/or check their documentation. However, for this example we will only create 2 serial ports and link them together.

To do this, open the command prompt with the "Setup command prompt" option in the start menu. Then create 2 linked serial ports by typing in

install PortName=COM6 PortName=COM7

You can chose any numbers you wish for your ports instead of 6 and 7, however if your computer already has serial ports some numbers may be taken. For instance, if your computer has 2 serial ports, COM1 and COM2 are probably physical ports in the system, and those ports will not be available.

After you create the ports, windows will let you know that new hardware has been found (twice, one for each port). Let it connect to the internet and automatically install any software it needs, then to back to the command prompt and type

list

into the prompt. The ports you created should show up in the list, in which case you are ready to create virtual AWID readers, You can now close the command prompt, unless you want to create more virtual ports.

You should only need to create the ports with com0com once, they will persist indefinitely.

Creating an AWID

Now that you are done creating the serial ports, it is time to create an AWID reader. Start up Emulator, click on the '+' sign next to the "ReaderView" tab in the top left, and select "AWIDMPR" from the given list. Press next, give the reader a name, and type in the name of one of the COM ports you created before. If you selected COM6 and COM7 for instance, type in one of those. Click finish, and the reader should create successfully.


Awid1.png

Now, right click on the reader you have created (the icon in the top left), and click "Start". The reader should now show as "running". Press the "+" button next to the TagsView, and create several GEN2 tags with whatever data type you wish. Select and drag those tags onto the AWID antenna in the middle, and the reader is now ready.

Awid3.png

Testing the AWID

Turn on your MPR Demo software (or whatever you want to use to connect with the AWID), and select the opposite port that you picked to create the AWID on from the ports you created. For example, if you created ports 6 and 7, and you created the AWID with port 6, select COM7 in the MPR Demo. Click connect, and they should connect successfully! If they don't, check to make sure it says "running" next to the reader's icon.

Awid4.png

If you connected successfully, you should see red and green output in the console view of the reader. The red represents commands coming in, and the green represents outgoing data. After this, you are free to read tags! Click on 'Command', go to 'Read single tag ID', and select 'EPC C1 GEN2'. You should see green output on the console of the tags going back to the MPR demo.

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