Users Manual
WARNING
This product provides powerful features that allow the contents of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID)
tags to be inspected, altered and (in some cases) permanently locked. It is the responsibility of the user to
ensure that they are fully conversant with the wide range of features that are offered by tags supported by
this product. No responsibility can, or will, be accepted by SIRIT Technologies for any tags that are corrupted
or permanently locked through direct or indirect use of this product.
WARRANTIES
SIRIT Technologies makes no warranty of any kind with regard to the material contained in this document,
including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
SIRIT Technologies reserve the right to make changes, without notice, in the specifications and materials
contained herein, and shall not be responsible for any damages (including consequences caused by reliance
on the materials presented), including but not limited to typographic or arithmetic policy.
RESTRICTIONS
This document contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No
part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior
written consent of SIRIT Technologies.
PRODUCT WARRANTY
This product is warranted against defects in materials and workmanship, under normal use and service, for
one calendar year from the date of purchase, in accordance with SIRIT Technologies’ standard terms and
conditions. All goods returned under this warranty must be as new and not modified in any manner. Under
such conditions SIRIT Technologies’ sole responsibility shall be, at its discretion, to either repair or replace
such defective products. Under no circumstances shall SIRIT Technologies be liable for any consequential
direct or indirect loss of revenue or profit, caused by failure of the product.
LIFE CRITICAL APPLICATIONS
SIRIT Technologies’ products are not designed, intended, authorised or warranted to be suitable for life
support or other life critical applications, which could involve potential or actual risk of death, personal injury
or severe property or environmental damage.
The use of all registered trademarks is acknowledged.
Document index
OEM400
Approvals ...........................................................................................................................3
1 Product overview........................................................................................................4
1.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................4
1.2 Tags supported....................................................................................................4
1.3 Warranty exception ..............................................................................................4
2 First time operation.....................................................................................................5
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................5
2.2 Power and serial connections ...............................................................................5
2.3 Antenna connection..............................................................................................6
2.4 Baud rate settings ................................................................................................6
2.5 Digital I/O............................................................................................................6
2.6 Output power settings...........................................................................................7
2.7 Installing and loading the SLC test software...........................................................7
2.8 Powering for the first time.....................................................................................8
2.9 Set-up and test ....................................................................................................8
3 Downloading firmware................................................................................................9
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................9
3.2 Selecting the communications port........................................................................9
3.3 Selecting the firmware file and downloading...........................................................9
3.4 Forcing the product into Bootloader mode............................................................10
4 Technical specifications ...........................................................................................11
4.1 Introduction........................................................................................................11
4.2 Hardware specifications .....................................................................................11
4.3 Component locations..........................................................................................12
4.4 Board dimensions..............................................................................................13
4.5 Wiring diagram for D-Type connector ..................................................................14
5 Fault diagnosis .........................................................................................................15
5.1 Introduction........................................................................................................15
© Copyright 2002, SIRIT Technologies : Manual version 2.03
Product overview
OEM400 1
Page 3 of 15
Approvals
The information below relating to approvals supersedes and replaces the relevant information within this
manual and must be adhered too to maintain approvals.
FCC approval & Sato CL408/412 printer
FCC approval for the OEM-400v1.2 as fitted to the Sato CL408/412 printer has been carried out under the
limited modular approval (LMA) approach in order to maintain approval the following items must be adhered
to:
• The module must remain entirely unmodified by Sato Corporation and must be used as supplied.
• The external printer identification label must including the text “Contains Transmitter Module FCC ID:
PR5OEM400V12.
• The power supply to the OEM400v1.2 module must be regulated to 5V±5%.
• The custom antenna supplied to Sato with the module is the only one to be used in the SATO
CL408/412 printer.
Industry Canada approval & Sato CL408/412 printer
• The module must remain entirely unmodified by Sato Corporation and must be used as supplied.
• The external printer identification label must including the text “Contains Transmitter Module IC ID:
4211A-OEM40012
• The power supply to the OEM400v1.2 module must be regulated to 5V±5%.
• The custom antenna supplied to Sato with the module is the only one to be used in the SATO
CL408/412 printer.
© Copyright 2002, SIRIT Technologies : Manual version 2.03
Product overview
OEM400 1
Page 4 of 15
1 Product overview
1.1 Introduction
This user guide describes the features and capabilities of the OEM400, high frequency OEM board. The
guide provides an overview of the hardware only, and should therefore be used in conjunction with the Smart
Label Communicator (SLC) protocol and associated software guides.
Features of this product include:
• Read from and write to most leading 13.56MHz RFID tags and smart labels
• Secure firmware download capability via the serial interface
• Accepts firmware updates to support new tags in the future
• Powerful, fast serial communication protocol
• Configurable baud rate and output power
• Single +5V power supply operation
• Serial interface and power supply on single connector
• Two software controlled, board-mounted LEDs
• Operates at RS232 or TTL level
• Separate antenna connection accepts various antenna styles and sizes
1.2 Tags supported
The OEM400 product supports reading and writing (when possible) to the following tags and smart labels:
• ISO15693 compliant tags and smart labels
• Gemplus FOLIO
• Inside Technologies PicoTag
• Microchip series 300
• Omron V720
• Philips Semiconductors I.CODE
• Texas Instruments Tag-it
Note that the Gemplus FOLIO and Omron V720 tags both use silicon from Philips Semiconductors and will
therefore be reported as a Philips I.CODE tag.
1.3 Warranty exception
The following components may be added, removed and/or modified without exceeding the terms and
conditions of the product warranty:
• Output selection resistors: R63, R64 and R65
• Baud rate setting pads: SB1 and SB2
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First time operation
OEM400 2
2 First time operation
2.1 Introduction
This section is designed to provided a step-by-step guide to operating the OEM400 product for the first time.
It is recommended that initial set-up and test be performed using a personal computer and regulated power
supply. Before reading the instructions below, it is suggested that the following equipment will be required:
• OEM400 product
• Suitable external antenna, it is recommended that the ACC285 antenna be used
• Regulated, bench power supply
• PC running Windows 95/98/00™ with a spare communications port
• Standard 9-pin D-type male to female extension cable
• ACC158 D-type to Molex connector (see section 4.4 for a wiring diagram)
• Selection of high frequency tags
• SIRIT Software Support Suite CD-ROM
All component references made in this section can be identified in the diagrams provided in section 4.3
2.2 Power and serial connections
The OEM400 product requires a single source of external power, which should be specified at +5V (± 0.2V)
with less than 50mV ripple. At most, the board will draw 210mA and therefore a 250mA supply is
recommended. Power is fed to the board via a single 10-pin Molex connector (CN2), part number 53261-
1090. The mating part for this connector is Molex part 51021-1000. This connector is also used for the send
and receive lines for serial communications.
Table 2-1 shows the pin allocation for the Molex connector.
Pin Name Description
1GND
Ground, 0V
2OP2
Open collector output 2
3OP1
Open collector output 1
4IP2
Input 2, TTL level
5IP1
Input 1, TTL level
6TXD
Board transmit line (serial out), RS232 levels
7EN
Wake-up input line, +5V on, 0V off
8RXD
Board receive line (serial in), RS232 levels
95V
+5V DC
10 NIL No connection should be made on this pin
Table 2-1 : Pin allocations
IMPORTANT NOTE: There is no built-in protection for over voltage or incorrect polarity setting on this
product. Damage to the product under such conditions is not covered under the
standard product warranty.
Serial transmit and receive lines should be connected to pins 6 and 8 respectively. The OEM400 product can
communicate at a variety of baud rates (see section 2.4), however, port setting should be set as follows:
• 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, no handshaking
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First time operation
OEM400 2
The OEM400 product is shipped with a factory default RS232 communication interface, however, TTL level
communications is also possible. To communicate with the product at TTL levels, two 0603 0 ohm resistors
should be soldered on pads R136 and R137 on the underside of the board. See section 4.3 for the location
of these pads.
Note that sending RS232 level signals to an OEM400 product, when configured to receive TTL level signals,
may result in damage to the board.
2.3 Antenna connection
A 2-pin Leotronics connector (CN1) is provided on the board for connection of an external antenna. The part
number for this connector is 2010s02000, with mating parts as follows:
• 24-26 AWG wire, maximum insulation of 1.56mm: part 2033tbp000
• 28-30 AWG wire, maximum insulation of 1.40mm: part 2033tbp00v1
The OEM400 product requires an antenna tuned to resonance at 13.56MHz and should present a 50ohm
load at this frequency. A return loss of (S11) of –20db or greater is preferred for reliable operation. The
loaded Q of the antenna should be in the range 10 to 25 in normal operation.
Whilst performing initial test and set-up procedures it is recommended that the standard ACC285 antenna be
used. This will be provided with a pre-wired Leotronics connector.
Note that the OEM400 does not have an integral antenna. An external antenna must be connected to
interact with tags, however, the board will power with or without an antenna present. It is recommended that
power be removed from the board when adding or removing an external antenna.
2.4 Baud rate settings
The OEM400 product may be configured to operate at one of four baud rates. These are selectable using
two solder pads located on the rear of the board. These are named SB1 and SB2.
Unless specifically documented, the OEM400 is factory set to 57,600 baud.
Table 2-2 shows the states of solder pads 1 and 2, used to set the baud rate.
Baud rate Pad SB1 Pad SB2 Pads SB3-8
57,600 Open Open Not used
38,400 Open Closed Not used
19,200 Closed Open Not used
9,600 Closed Closed Not used
Table 2-2 : Solder pad settings for baud rate
Connection between pads should be made using an 0603 0 ohm resistor, however, the pads are located
close enough that they may be bridged with solder alone.
2.5 Digital I/O
Digital I/O is provided on the OEM400 product through pins 2 to 5 (see Table 2-1). Outputs are open
collector, and inputs are via a 100K pull-up resistor.
For details of setting and detecting the state of the digital I/O, please refer to the SLC Protocol
documentation.
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First time operation
OEM400 2
2.6 Output power settings
The output power fed to the attached antenna may be set using a combination of three resistor values (R63-
R65) located on the top-side of the board. All resistors are 0805 size and should be specified to 5% 0.1W.
Output power levels are achieved by adjusting the values of the three resistors in accordance with the data
provided in Table 2-3.
Attenuation R63 Value R64 Value R65 Value
0 db 100k 0R Not fitted
- 1db 910R 5R6 910R
- 3db 300R 18R 300R
- 6db 150R 36R 150R
- 9db 100R 62R 100R
- 10db 100R 68R 100R
Table 2-3 : Resistor settings for adjusting output power
Unless specifically documented, the OEM400 product is factory set to 0 db.
2.7 Installing and loading the SLC test software
In order to determine the correct operation of the OEM400 product, it is recommended that the SLC test
software be installed. This can be installed from the Autorun™ menu on the Software Support Suite CD-
ROM, or can be started manually by running the setup.exe program from the ‘\SLC_test’ directory. Follow the
on-screen prompts, which will guide you through the installation of the software.
Once completed, the ‘SLC test software’ icon will be available in a SIRIT folder on the Windows™ Start
Menu. Clicking on this icon will load the software and automatically show the commands screen, shown in
Figure 2-1.
Figure2-1 : SLC test software, commands screen
The title bar of the commands screen should read “Searching for a reader”. At this point, the reader should
be powered.
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First time operation
OEM400 2
2.8 Powering for the first time
When power is supplied to the reader from an off state, both on-board LEDs D5 and D6 will illuminate. Less
than one second after power is applied, D5 will turn off and D6 will remain illuminated to indicate that power
is present. If the power supply is able to monitor current, a draw of 70mA should be observed (when
operating at RS232 levels).
Returning back to the SLC test software, the title bar of the commands screen should now read “Reader –
Type 9 V2.00 on COM1 at 57600 Baud” or similar, depending on the port and parameters that have been
used. If this message is not displayed, please refer to section 5 in order to determine the cause of the
problem.
2.9 Set-up and test
Assuming that the board is powered and the version string has been detected and displayed in the title bar,
the next step is to ensure that the board is correctly reading tags. The simplest method of determining the
performance of the product is to use the reader test function (Figure 2-2) of the SLC test software. This is
available from the Options menu.
Figure 2-2 : SLC test software, reader test screen
The reader test is a convenient method of assessing the correct operation and performance of a OEM400
product.
To enable a test of particular tag, select the button of the tag you wish to test, which will then become
depressed. When no tag is present, the ‘Fail’ counter will increment at a rate of approximately ten counts per
second and the timer will begin. To test the read range, position a tag (of the type selected) directly above
the antenna. The ‘Pass’ counter will now increment and the horizontal bar display will begin to turn from red
to green. The read range of the product can now be tested by moving the tag slowly away from the antenna.
Ranges for supported tags can be found in section 4.2.
© Copyright 2002, SIRIT Technologies : Manual version 2.03 Page 9 of 15
Downloading firmware
OEM400 3
3 Downloading firmware
3.1 Introduction
The OEM400 product supports the downloading of firmware updates to flash memory via the serial interface.
Firmware updates may be provided for this product for regular maintenance, support for new tags types and
feature enhancements. Note that firmware download files cannot be created and downloaded by the user.
To use the secure download facility, you will need a copy of the OEM400_FMR.exe program, the installation
for which can be found in the ‘\utility\firmware’ directory on the Software Support Suite CD-ROM. In addition,
you will also require a copy of the latest firmware release, which can be found in the same directory. The
firmware file will have a .frm extension and will be in the format OEM400[version number].fmw.
To install the firmware downloader, execute the setup.exe file located in the directory specified above. The
installer will allow selection of an installation directory for the software. Once the installation has completed,
an ‘SLC Firmware Downloader’ icon will be available in a SIRIT folder on the Windows™ Start Menu. Upon
selecting this icon, you will be presented with the screen shown in Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1 : Firmware downloader, main screen
3.2 Selecting the communications port
Both the ‘Firmware Baud Rate’ and ‘Bootloader Baud Rate’ parameters should be set to the hardware-
programmed baud rate of the board (see section 2.4).
3.3 Selecting the firmware file and downloading
Pressing the ‘Select File’ button will enable selection of the firmware (.fmw) file. Navigate to the directory
containing the firmware file you wish to download, select the filename from the file list and press the OK
button.
If the file load was successful, the ‘Download’ button will now be enabled. Pressing this button will initiate the
download process. A blue progress bar will show the status of the download.
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Downloading firmware
OEM400 3
3.4 Forcing the product into Bootloader mode
If the OEM400 product has become locked and will not automatically enter Bootloader mode, i.e. the
download software does work, bridging pads PC1 and PC2 on the board using a cable (or similar) link will
force the board firmware into the Bootloader mode when powered.
Note that once the board has powered the bridge should be removed.
© Copyright 2002, SIRIT Technologies : Manual version 2.03 Page 11 of 15
Technical specifications
OEM400 4
4 Technical specifications
4.1 Introduction
This section is a reference guide for the technical features of the product. More detailed information about
the operation of the OEM400 product can be found in section 2.
4.2 Hardware specifications
Electrical specifications
Type Motorola MC68HC908GP32
Memory 32kbytes of flash programmable memory, 512bytes of RAM
Processor
Features Supports flash upgrading of firmware through the serial interface
Protocol Serial packet-based protocol with error detection
Baud rates Hardware selectable between 9,600 and 57,600 baud
Structure 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, no parity, no handshaking
Signal Hardware selectable between RS232 (default) or TTL
Communications
Interface Pins 6 and 8 of Molex connector (mating part 51021-1000)
Voltage +5V ±0.2V DC, with less than 50mV ripple
Input current 250mA minimum
Quiescent current 90mA
Power supply
Active current 210mA
On-board LEDs Two surface-mount LEDs under software control
Inputs 2 digital inputs on pins 4 and 5 at TTL level
Digital I/O
Outputs 2 digital outputs on pins 2 and 3
Type Tuned to 13.56MHz, 50ohm load, loaded Q range of 10 to 25
RF power User configurable. Unattenuated, 100mW minimum, 120mW typical
Antenna
Frequency 13.56MHz
Notes A standard OEM antenna (ACC285) is available for this product
Tag read/write ranges (using ACC285 antenna)
Read 115mm
Philips I.CODE
(75 x 45mm) Write 110mm
Read 125mm
TI Tag-it
(75 x 45mm) Write 80mm
AC Select 90mm
Inside PicoTag
(75 x 45mm) Write 90mm
Read 105mm
Microchip s300
(53 x 53mm) Write Read only tag
Mechanical and environmental specifications
Board outline (L) 70.00 x (W) 51.50 x (D) 8.50mm
Component height Top side: 4.80mm, under side: 2.10mm
Dimensions
Mounting holes 4 corner-mounted holes of 2.80mm diameter
Weight Without antenna 21g
Storage -40ºC to +85ºC
Operating -30ºC to +70ºC
Temperature
Relative humidity 80%
Approvals
This product will be approved for EN300 330, testing to EN301 489.
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Technical specifications
OEM400 4
4.3 Component locations
Figures 4-1 and 4-2 show the position of components referenced in this document.
Figure 4-1 : Component locations, upper side
Figure 4-2 : Component locations, bottom side
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Technical specifications
OEM400 4
4.4 Board dimensions
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Technical specifications
OEM400 4
4.5 Wiring diagram for D-Type connector
The OEM400 product can be connected directly to a standard 9-pin, D-Type, RS232 using the wiring
diagram provided below (Figure 4-3).
Note that pin 7 of the connector (wake-up) is permanently connected to the +5V supply unless required.
Figure 4-3 : D-Type wiring diagram
© Copyright 2002, SIRIT Technologies : Manual version 2.03 Page 15 of 15
Fault diagnosis
OEM400 5
5 Fault diagnosis
5.1 Introduction
The following examples may be used to diagnose potential problems with the OEM400 product. If there are
still problems with the board, please contact our technical support department.
Q. The board LEDs do not illuminate on power-on.
Check that the connector is wired correctly (see section 4.5) and that the wake-up pin (pin 7) is hard-
wired to the +5V line, unless it is being used as a wake-up line. If the LEDs are still not illuminated
then follow the download instructions in section 4 to download the latest firmware file.
Q. The board communicates but will not read tags.
Check that the antenna connection is secure and that the wiring is in good condition. If possible, try
replacing the antenna with another and try again. Also ensure that the tag is supported by the reader
(see section 1) and check that the tag is operational – it is best to try a selection of tags.
Q. The board powers but will not communicate.
Check that all wiring to the connector is secure and check the lines using a continuity tester. When in
any doubt about communications, always use the SLC test software to help diagnose problems. If
using a Windows™ system then ensure that no other application (PDA synchronizer, etc.) is using
the COM port. Also check that the baud rate of the hardware (see section 2.4) is the same as that in
the software.
Q. The board reports random data from the tag and will only detect Microchip tags.
This problem can occur when a noisy power supply is used or the antenna is not operating correctly,
most likely a combination of the two. Follow the guidelines in section 2.2 to ensure that a suitable
power supply is used.
Q. The read range is significantly less than the documented ranges.
Either the antenna is not operating correctly, or the output power pins have been adjusted
incorrectly. Check the values of the components as specified in section 2.5 and replace the antenna.
Q. The board opens communications but reports random data.
Check that the baud rate is correct and that the communication settings for the serial type (TTL or
RS232) is correct, see section 2.2.