User's Guide

ThingMagic M6e User Guide 12
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3 Firmware Overview
New Features - Version 1.21.2
Margin Read Support for Monza6 Tags
MarginRead is an EPC Gen2 compliant custom command supported by tag chips with the “Integra” feature.
This command allows a reader to explicitly verify that the non-volatile memory (NVM) in the tag chip is not
weakly written, guaranteeing a minimum margin on NVM. It is used for quality control to ensure data
integrity and for failure analysis.
There are several ways that the MarginRead command could be used with Monza 6. A recommended use
of MarginRead is independent verification of the encoding quality, either on a sample basis or for diagnosis
during failure analysis.
MarginRead Description
When data is written to a tag using the Gen2 protocol, charge is built up in the memory cells until they
reach the appropriate level. Once that happens, the tag returns a "done" signal telling the interrogator
(reader) or encoding system that the write operation has completed successfully.
It is a known field issue that not all encoding systems properly wait for the "done" signal and instead
issue a read operation to check if the data is correct. A read operation may return correct data even if
the write operation did not complete successfully.
A partially charged memory cell might retain data for a limited time but then it will lose data integrity
over time. Data retention could be for an unpredictable amount of time from a few minutes to several
years.
A fully charged memory cell will retain data for a long period of time. Specifically, the Monza 6 tag is
expected to retain data for up to 50 years.
The MarginRead command allows customers to check if Monza 6 tag chip memory cells are fully
charged.
MarginRead may be used for diagnostics for data integrity issues in the field. If MarginRead indicates
an issue, then the encoding method should be investigated.
Refer Mercury API v1.29.4 release notes for API commands to work with this functionality.
NXP UCODE7 Configuration Support
Prior to UCODE 7, NXP supported a set of custom commands that could change the configuration word
values. Unfortunately, these commands that were developed for the G2i line of tags do not work for the
UCODE 7 tags. A new custom command has been implemented in M6e FW to change NXP UCODE7
configuration word for M6e modules (Nano does not support custom commands).
UCODE7 no longer supports ChangeConfig commands. An alternative way to change the configuration
word for UCODE7 tags has been developed.
UCODE7 configuration word contains 2 different types of bits: