CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE
58
Note!
The MHL manual, SDK, MHL programming support package, and
source code samples may be under the partnership policy of Nordic ID.
MHL programming interface supports C/C++ development, JAVA
development, and script technologies as follows: C#, VB.Net, JS.Net, VB
and Jscript. The MHL manual describes how to make available the MHL in
your coding project. Be aware that it may differ between programming
languages.
ISO 15693 HF Tag Interfacing
The original intention of standardizing the ISO 15693 tag was to apply the tags
to contactless smart cards – to ‘vicinity cards’. According to that intention, the RFID
tag would have to be recognized by its ‘physical position’ as well during the
operation, meaning that the relation between the tag and the item to which the tag
is attached is unambiguous when the tag is read. As far as the coupling
mechanism goes, an inductive coupling was chosen. In practice, that coupling
mechanism means that a reader powers tags by using a coil antenna to generate a
magnetic field. When energy is transferred from the reader to the tag through the
magnetic field, the read range is directly linked to the size of the antenna in use.
Typically, the read range of 20-cm antenna design is 20cm, and the read range of
40 cm requires a 40-cm antenna.
The PL3000 with a HF RFID reader uses internal
antenna for tag reading. It is not possible to recognize
externally whether or not the PL3000 incorporates the
HF RFID reader. The coil antenna is located at the back
of the PL3000, on the opposite side to the screen. (Do
not confuse the PL3000 Advanced HF reader with
PL3000 Library HF reader that is easy to recognize by
its antenna design.)
The best performance of the antenna is behind the
device, about 4 to 10 cm away from the back of the PL3000. This read range is
appropriate for applications in which a user needs immediate feedback on the
relation between the tag and the item that the tag is attached to, in addition to the
fact that those items are easily reachable within the read range.
If you are trying out the HF RFID reader, you may
need utility samples to do that. It is possible that the
unit you have does not include any utility to test the HF
RFID reader’s working. If that is the case, please
contact Nordic ID’s technical support.
PL3000
Advanced HF
Trying out HF
RFID Reader