USER MANUAL NORDIC ID PL3000
PL3000 User Manual VERSION 1.01; MAY 2009 © Nordic ID Oy Myllyojankatu 2 A 24100 SALO, FINLAND tel. +358 2 727 7700 ▪ fax. +358 2 727 7720 www.nordicid.
Table of Contents Input Panel .......................................................... 34 Internet Options................................................... 34 Keyboard ............................................................. 34 Network and Dial-up Connections ...................... 34 NID AutoStart Settings ........................................ 35 NID Backlight...................................................... 35 NID Indicators.....................................................
BLUETOOTH .............................................................. 92 Turning on/off Bluetooth Radio ........................... 92 Setting Bluetooth in NonDiscoverable/Discoverable Mode ....................... 93 Establishing ActiveSync Link over Bluetooth ...... 94 6. CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING SYSTEM ...................................................................... 97 MANAGING REGISTRY DATABASE ............................ 97 Making Your Configuration Settings Permanent.
A FEW WORDS OF CAUTION i) Nordic ID provides this publication “AS IS” without any warranty, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. (ii) This publication can include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. (iii) The information presented in this publication is subject to change without notice.
TRADEMARKS All designations mentioned in this User Manual that are either trademarks or service marks, are the property of their respective owners. Where those designations appear in this manual and Nordic ID was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been written in initial capital or in capitals. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Embedded CE, Windows CE, Visual Basic, WordPad, Explorer, ActiveSync, Visual C#, VB.Net, JS.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS LASER BEAM The NORDIC ID PL3000 with a laser barcode scanner makes the PL3000 a Class 2 Laser product. The laser scanner uses a low power, visible light diode. As with any very bright light source, such as the sun, the user should avoid staring directly into the light beam. Momentary exposure to a Class 2 laser is not known to be harmful. The NORDIC ID PL3000 fulfils the regulatory requirements as follows: • Complies with 21CFR1040.10 and 1040.
Note of caution about the laser beam in European languages DANSK LASERLYF! SE IKKE IND I STRÅLEN! KLASSE 2 LASER! DEUTSCH LASERSTRAHLEN! NICHT DIRECT IN DEN LASERSTRAHL SCHAUEN! LASERPRODUKT DER KLASSE 2! ENGLISH LASER LIGHT! DO NOT STARE INTO BEAM! CLASS 2 LASER! ESPAÑOL LUZ LASER! NO MIRE FIJAMENTE EL HAZ! PRODUCTO LASER DE LA CLASE 2 FRANCAIS LUMIERE LASER! NE PAS REGARDER LE RAYON FIXEMENT! PRODUIT LASER DE CLASSE 2! ITALIANO LUCE LASER! NON FISSARE IL RAGGIO PRODOTTO! NEDERLANDS LASERLICHT! NIET
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION BATTERY Use only original, Nordic ID approved rechargeable batteries being intended for the NORDIC ID PL3000 to avoid serious health hazards to you or to your fellowmen, or damage to the surrounding property and to your device. Cautions: Under no circumstances must you disassemble the battery casing or damage it. If the battery casing is damaged, for example, the joint of the casing is opened when the battery has fallen onto the floor, dispose of the battery.
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION RF EXPOSURE WARNING STATEMENT This equipment complies with EU and FCC’s RF radiation exposure limits set forth for an uncontrolled environment under the following conditions: 1. This equipment should be installed and operated such that a minimum separation distance of 20cm is maintained between the antenna and user’s/nearby person’s body at all times. 2. This equipment must not be co-located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or transmitter.
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS CE Compliance Statement Hereby, Nordic ID Oy, declares that the NORDIC ID PL3000 models and the PL3000 accessories are in compliance with the essential requirements and other relevant provisions of Directive 1999/5/EC EU DIRECTIVE 2002/96/EC ON WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE) The NORDIC ID PL3000, its batteries and accessories may not be thrown away with everyday rubbish.
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 1. INTRODUCTION PL3000 product family is provided for various industries where item identification is needed. PL3000 connectivity and identification options make it suitable for variety of applications, in essence, when the application demands both mobility and object identification being based on both visible and invisible machinereadable information. Because of its options the PL3000 is also ideal for a niche application; it can incorporate only the parts the application needs.
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION There are two versions of a basic battery package available for the PL3000. The older one is a 7.4V Li-ion rechargeable battery with the ampere-hour capacity of 2200mAh. The newer one differs from the older one in capacitance (2600mAh), and it is designed in particular for use on the PL3000 with a mobile option (see the section ‘Optional Device Elements and Features’ below). For further information on the battery, see the section ‘ABOUT LITHIUM-ION BATTERY’ (on page 10).
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION Although Bluetooth radio is an integral part of the basic set, the PL3000 can be optionally configured without it. For further information how to put Bluetooth to use, see the section ‘BLUETOOTH’ (on page 91). When mobility is an essential part of the business application, Nordic ID holds out the PL3000 with a GPRS option.
CHAPTER TWO – GETTING STARTED 2. GETTING STARTED INSTALLING BATTERY Open the battery cover Step One 1. Loosen the bolt of the battery compartment cover 2. Open the cover on the bolt end by lifting and pulling it Put the battery into its compartment Step Two Before you begin, check that the electrical conductors of the battery will press against their counterparts in the compartment 1.
CHAPTER TWO – GETTING STARTED Note that every charge/discharge cycle has an effect on the rechargeable battery’s ampere-hour capacity, so that the fully charged battery, which is charged many times before, runs down more rapidly in use than the battery just brought into use. After 500 charge/discharge cycles, if the battery has been run with care enough, the battery’s ampere-hour capacity is still more than two-thirds of its original one.
CHAPTER TWO – GETTING STARTED Step Two Fasten charger-rest to charger-body 1. Settle the charger-rest into its place on the charger-body 2. Once the charger-rest is in position, fasten its set bolt using a crosshead screwdriver by inserting it on the front of the charger-body through the hole in the device slot Charging Battery Phase One 1. Connect the lead from the power supply to the power socket on the back of the desktop charger 2. Plug the power supply into the mains Phase Two 1.
CHAPTER TWO – GETTING STARTED Phase Three PL3000 is being charged When the PL3000 is docked in the desktop charger and a charging / low-power indicator shines red light, the battery is being charged. When about 90% of the battery’s total capacity is charged the indicator turns yellow, you may also refer to it as apricot (yellowishorange) or as amber (yellowish-brown); be that as it may, charging continues until the indicator goes green (or yellowish-green) indicating that the battery is fully charged.
CHAPTER TWO – GETTING STARTED Phase Four Undock PL3000 from the desktop charger When the PL3000 is fully charged it is ready for use. To undock your PL3000 from the device cradle: 1. Press two buttons on the left and the right side of the cradle at the same time 2.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS 3. PL3000 BASICS In this chapter, basic elements such as Windows CE shell, touch screen, and keypad are explained. The explanation reveals basic logic of the interactions between a user and the device. Understanding of some facilities on the PL3000 system makes also every day use of the PL3000 more effortless. Those facilities are a database of the system settings, permanent storage options, and power management of the device.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS The desktop segment has its own context menu which you can get to appear on the screen by tapping and holding with the stylus in the desktop area. For example, through the properties context menu item you can adjust window elements’ appearance and select the background of the desktop. Taskbar Taskbar is an adjustable shell segment through its own property sheet. If you hold down the ‘alt’ key while tapping the taskbar with the stylus, the taskbar displays its context menu.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Touch screen input panels Tapping on a keyboard icon on the taskbar the menu of the touch screen input opens. (Be aware that the icon can also be a handwriting one.) With the menu you can select either a soft keyboard or a transcriber as default input technique on the touch screen. Selecting the input method on the menu triggers it’s input panel as well.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Task Manager Windows CE Shell facility ‘Task Manager’ is a way to handle which application has the screen resource of the PL3000 in use. In other words, if you are running at the same time more than one program, only one can interact with you on the screen, and in practice, to receive key events (that is, to have a keypad focus), if you press keys.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS also programmable if you write your own shutdown utility.) The programmable property means that the effect of a key press depends on the application. In other words, the application program can set how a keypad driver behaves in a keystroke of a particular key. In addition to the programmable property, the keys can be ‘customized’, meaning that a key can be mapped to another one by configuring the keypad driver outside the application sphere.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Mode Selectors of Alphanumeric Keypad There are three dedicated keys on the keypad that are intended to select input mode of the keys on an alphanumeric segment of the keypad. If you need to alter the functionality of these selector keys you are compelled to rethink the use of the alphanumeric keys as well and vice versa. For more information about the alphanumeric segment of the keypad, see the section ‘Alphanumeric Keypad’ on the next page.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Alphanumeric Keypad On the keypad an alphanumeric key segment is intended to insert letters, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, and spaces to an application. The keys can also play the role of function keys. In fact, the alphanumeric keypad works in three different modes. The input modes of this keypad segment are explained below. You can select the mode with the mode selector keys, see the section ‘Mode Selectors of Alphanumeric Keypad’ on the preceding page.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Punctuation marks you can insert using either the number one key or the key marked with the dot. Using the key marked with the dash you can insert some mathematical symbols. The keys on the alphanumeric key segment are mapped into twelve function keys through the ‘F’ key by default (for more information about using the ‘F’ key, see the section ‘Mode Selectors of Alphanumeric Keypad’ on page 20).
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS STYLUS AND TOUCH SCREEN The simplest way to navigate through the Windows CE desktop and utility windows is to use a touch screen. For the touch-screen navigation the Nordic ID PL3000 is equipped with a stylus, a pen without ink capability. The stylus and the touch screen are the means being in some way analogues to a mouse. A press of the stylus on the screen produces the same result as a left mouse button click on a Windows PC.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Transcriber Input Panel A transcriber is a handwriting recognizer. Using the transcriber input panel enables you to input by handwriting on the touch screen. The learning curve of this input method is much longer than the soft-key input method. It needs some personalizing, meaning that you select letter by letter what kind of letters you are going to input. In practice, you may be learning to write letters and numbers as the transcriber expects you to handwrite them.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS REBOOTING YOUR PL3000 The Nordic ID PL3000 gives variety of reboot options. All the options are accessible through the power button with the exception of some PL3000 configurations. There are configurations of the PL3000 that cannot be hard-reset using the power button. Soft-resetting your device To soft-reboot your device: 1. Press the ‘power’ button and release the button without delay, a ‘Shutdown’ dialog window pops up on the screen.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS hard-resetting with the power button varies a little bit according to the state in which your device is. However, the point is to press the power button continuously at least for ten seconds. To hard-rest your device with the power button: 1. Press the power button and hold down it 2. Release the power button after holding down it for ten seconds 3.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS ‘RegFlushKey’ function to force a flush of the registry to the persistent storage and the other one is that you, as a user, save the changes in the registry using a maintenance utility called ‘Registry Backup’. Be aware that if your application calls ‘RegFlushKey’ on a regular basis it slows down performance of the system because storing in the persistent storage is slow relative to the other hardware operations in the system.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS ADD-ON MEMORY OPTIONS The PL3000 possesses a non-volatile storage option. In most cases it means that there is an SD / MMC memory card slot being accessible through the battery chamber. However, the mobile option of PL3000 changes that memory card slot to a SIM card slot. If your need is the mobile PL3000 with the extra permanent storage device, in that case, the PL3000 can be furnished with an internal nonvolatile storage, a so called ‘factory-installed add-on memory’.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Installing SD / MMC Memory Card Before you can insert your add-on memory card into its slot on the PL3000 you have to open the battery cover and remove the battery from its chamber. In case of the pistol grip you need a special screwdriver called a Torx driver. The pistol grip (functioning also as a battery cover) is fastened to the device body with three Torx8 (T8) screws. Prologue Steps One and Two 1.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS CONTROL PANEL Control panel is a collection of applets to access the settings of different system properties; to configure those properties; to change their performance characteristics; to enable and disable them, among others. The control panel is one channel to manage the properties of the PL3000.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Closing Applet To close applet and its window you have two choices: • If you want to discard the changes you made to the configuration, press the ‘esc’ key • If you want to put into effect the changes you made, press the ‘ok’ key Note! There are also exceptions to the above-mentioned closing practice such as a Network and Dial-up Connections applet. Closing Control Panel To close the Control Panel using the keypad: 1.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Certificates Windows Embedded CE provides a certificate store (in fact, three logical stores) to keep and maintain certificates. With the aid of the store and its application programming interface, embedded CE applications can verify, enumerate, retrieve, store, and delete certificates. For example, a Wireless Zero Configuration subsystem when acting as a supplicant uses the store if EAP-TLS is selected as the authentication method for the wireless access.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Error Reporting In Windows Embedded CE there is a set of technologies to get information about the state of the machine at the time of a program crash. With an ‘Error Reporting’ applet you can disable or enable this system property. Furthermore, you can select how much memory the error reporting system allocates for its report files. Input Panel With an Input Panel applet you can change the appearance of the touch screen input methods.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS possesses the mobile option, that is, the GPRS modem module. However, if a double-tap on the NID WWAN icon generates a fatal error message on the screen, it is very likely that your PL3000 device does not incorporate GPRS modem. A real GPRS connection icon is available in the ‘connections’ window of the ‘Network and Dial-up Connections’ panel, when you have connected to a mobile operator’s network using the NID WWAN applet.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS NID Key Backlight If you need either to enable or to disable the keypad’s backlight property, a NID Key Backlight applet makes it possible.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS NID Power Button Through a NID Power Button applet you can customize the functioning of the power button. The power button has two attributes to be changed: • ‘Virtual key’ – whether or not the Power button press generates a virtual key code; the virtual key code can be chosen freely • ‘Hold time’ – how long the power button shall be held down until the system powers down itself.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS In addition to using the AskTime, the ‘Settings’ page instructs you to start the SNTP client. Note! Nordic ID PL3000 has no Real Time Clock chip, meaning that the system does not maintain the time over the resets other than a warm boot. NID Tilt Switch On the PL3000, there is a sensor that reacts to shake and impact. The sensor device is called ‘tilt switch’.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS the Nordic ID mobile option to open the applet. What makes the situation fatal is that the applet does not open although your PL3000 includes the mobile option. You need the NID WWAN applet after you have installed a SIM card on your PL3000. Using the applet you can connect your PL3000 to your service provider’s (cellular data carrier’s) network. Owner An Owner applet applies mainly to user identification information.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS referred to as ‘ActiveSync’, but it is embedded in the part of a ‘Windows Mobile Device Center’ (WMDC) software package in the Windows Vista systems. In addition to the difference that the UBS connectivity requires the driver of its own on the workstation but the Bluetooth connectivity does not, there is also another difference between these connectivity types.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS applet. Be aware that before you do any storage operation, you shall select the storage device on which the operation is to be done, that is, on the storage being either ‘MSFlash’ or ‘DSK1.’ In addition, first operation before any other is to unseat the storage by tapping on the ‘Dismount’ button. Stylus A Stylus applet makes two property sheet pages available to adjust your interaction with the touch screen.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS On Windows Vista-based computers this data synchronizing operation is not referred to as ‘ActiveSync’, but the data synchronizing technology is embedded in the part of a ‘Windows Mobile Device Center’ (WMDC) software package in the Windows Vista system. If you select the Mass Storage option, your PL3000 is seen as USB mass storage device by Windowsbased computer when it is connected to the computer’s USB socket.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS Wi-Fi When you start configuring the wireless LAN (WLAN) interface on the PL3000, you will make a decision on which of two available 802.1X supplicants you are going to use for handling the WLAN connectivity. Together with the supplicant you also choose how you configure the supplicant part of the WLAN communication. On the ‘Main’ page of a Wi-Fi applet there is an ‘Active Profile’ field to choose from the following profiles: ‘Default’ and ‘ThirdPartyConfig’.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS POWER MANAGEMENT In the PL3000 system, a so called power manager (PM) controls on powerrelated things. One of the tasks of the PM is to save battery energy by reducing power consumption. The rationale behind reducing the power usage is based on the inactivity of a user or the system.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS You can recognize the suspended state by the blank screen and that the device does not react, with the exception of the power button, to any key press by turning on the screen. Only pressing the power button gets the device leaving this state besides a quick flick of the wrist, if the tilt switch is used as a power trigger on the device. When your device wakes from the suspended state, the Windows CE resumes.
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS The device remains in the ‘SystemIdle’ power state for the timeout of the Suspend timer unless some other activity occurs before that, either system or user one. If the Suspend timer expires the PM suspends the device. Note! The above-mentioned particulars of the power states are default operation of the Windows CE Power Manager (PM).
CHAPTER THREE - PL3000 BASICS On AC When the PL3000 is docked in its cradle, assuming that the device cradle is plugged into mains socket - the power indicator shows both battery charging status and that the PL3000 is on AC. (For more information, see the section ‘PL3000 is being charged’ on page 13.) An unlit power indicator is a sign that the PL3000 is not running on AC, when it is in the desktop charger.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE 4. DATA CAPTURE SYMBOLOGY-ENCODED TAG READING On the PL3000 there are two reader options available for machine-readable, optical tag information. There is one fundamental difference between the readers, how they transfer information from tags to inside their decoding system. A linear symbology reader illuminates the tag with laser beam and, by default, expects that the symbol’s spaces reflect more light than the bars.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE • UCC/EAN-128 • ISBT 128 • Codabar • Code 1 • Code 39 • Trioptic Code 39 • Code 93 • Interleaved 2 of 5 • Discrete 2 of 5 • MSI • RSS-14 • RSS-Limited • RSS-Expanded Mainly the thinnest bar and space width that is used to print the bar code determines the read range.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE • IATA 2 of 5 • Interleaved 2 of 5 • ISBT 128 • MSI • Matrix 2 of 5 • Plessey Code • PosiCode A & B • RSS-14 • RSS Limited • RSS Expanded • Straight 2 of 5 • Telepen • TL Code 39 • Trioptic Code 39 • UPC version A • UPC version E0 & E1 Height-Modulated Linear Symbologies (Postal Codes) • Australian Post • British Post (BPO) • Canadian Post • Chinese Postal Code • Japanese Post • KIX (Netherlands) Post • Korean Post • Planet Code •
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE Composite Symbologies • Aztec Mesas (Code 39, Code 128, Code 93, Code 93i, Interleaved 2 of 5, UPC-A, EAN-13) • EAN•UCC Composite • EAN•UCC Composite with EAN Linear component • EAN•UCC Composite with UPC Linear component Note! It is possible that the symbology appears in the above-mentioned lists but there is not a mention of it in the MHL manual nor does the ‘NID Scanner’ applet seem to support that particular symbology.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE Checking on Symbology Reading There is a ‘NID Scanner’ applet in the control panel which provides a ‘Scan’ page for checking on symbology reading. On the ‘Scan’ page, it is possible to read a bar code or a 2-D code pattern by directing the aimer light (either laser beam or LED light) emitted by the scanner at the tag after pressing the ‘Scan’ key.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE Before you begin, open the ‘NID Scanner’ control panel applet (see the section ‘Control Panel’ on page 30). To enable decoding of a particular bar code type: 1. Select the ‘Codes’ tab in the NID Scanner applet 2. Check the check box of the symbology list item by tapping the check box with the stylus 3. Press the ‘ok’ key; the decoding of the bar code is enabled. To disable decoding of a particular bar code type: 1. Select the ‘Codes’ tab in the NID Scanner applet 2.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE 3. If you want to check on how the selected triggering works, direct your PL3000 at some surface so that you can see the aimer/scan light when you press the ‘Scan’ key. Pressing the ‘Scan’ key gets also the applet to display the ‘Scan’ page, meaning that if you are not satisfied with the trigger mode you may return to the step 1. 4. Press the ‘ok’ key; the selected trigger mode is in use.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE EPC UHF Class1 Gen2 Tag Interfacing Using the backscatter coupling with passive tags the power and signal is transferred from the reader to the tag through their antennas in radio frequencies, and the antenna of the reader gathers the RF waves that the tag scatters back. The nature of radio waves is that the propagation path of the RF signals is varied when radio waves encounter obstructions.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE Cross Dipole UHF RFID Unit PL3000 with the cross dipole antenna makes the RFID operations more tolerant of polarization misalignment effect. One of the purposes of the cross dipole antenna structure is to deal with the consequences of misalignment of the reader’s and tag’s antennas during the RFID operations.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE Note! If you have difficulties with UHF RFID reader on the PL3000, please contact Nordic ID’s technical support. Before emailing or calling, open the TagRW utility and pick up a bit of information such as RFID module name, its firmware version, and what RF power level the reader is using. (When you open the TagRW, the information is available in its main window; you may scroll up to the beginning of the window.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE 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.
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA CAPTURE Note! The PL3000 Advanced HF reads both the ISO 15693 and NXP ICODE tags Integrating the HF RFID reader into your application is possible through the MHL programming interface. What applies to the integration of the UHF RFID reader applies to integration of HF reader as well. There are code samples available how to control the reader using the MHL.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 5. CONNECTIVITY The PL3000’s capability of establishing communication over the different kinds of radio links provides the foundation for data collecting and item identification applications. Bluetooth is a default option on the PL3000. The original usage model of the Bluetooth was to replace cables for connecting devices; however its profilecentric approach to cable-replacement communication extends such as to LAN access, and to LAN bridging.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY What is WLAN supplicant? If you compare a wired network to a wireless network, it is easy to see that in addition to physical signal handling there is also physical security differences between them. In fact, physical security is not inherent in communication based on radio waves. On the other hand, inherent physical security in a wired LAN is derived from the assumption that access to a physical connection conveys authority to connect to the LAN.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY ‘Windows Zero Configuration’ WLAN Security Options Authentication with keying (non-EAP authentication options) EAP authentication methods WEP with manual shared key Pre-shared key (PSK) (according to either WPA or WPA2) EAP-TLS PEAP / MS-CHAPv2 Link-layer encryption WEP, TKIP, or CCMP 3) ‘SDC Supplicant’ WLAN Security Options Authentication with keying (non-EAP authentication options) WEP with manual shared key Pre-shared key (PSK) (according to either WPA or WPA2) Manual CK
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Before Starting to Configure WLAN To start with, you need to open a hub of WLAN connectivity on your PL3000. That hub is called SCU Configuration Utility on your PL3000. There are three possibilities to open the SCU utility on your PL3000. The adjacent figure suggests opening the utility through the Start Menu. The second way is to double-tap on the Wi-Fi icon in the control panel window. A double tap on the tray icon of the SCU utility on the taskbar is a third way.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Third preparing step is to think about global settings. The global settings split into two groups: the parameters that apply to all the WLAN connectivity possibilities on your PL3000 (with some exceptions to that all covered aspect), and the parameters that apply to the Summit Client Utility itself.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Note! The following roaming settings are not applicable if your WLAN communication is based on Cisco wireless LAN infrastructure with lightweight access points and with a controller unit (Cisco Information Element), not to mention if your WLAN uses only one access point (AP). However, in the case of one AP it is worth considering the values of an ‘Aggressive Scan’ and ‘BG Channel Set’.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY a better one, the aggressive scanning stops and the WLAN driver follows its normal procedures for WLAN association. (Of course, you may need to bring your PL3000 within the range of some access point that your PL3000 can associate with.) Note! Some access points have a configuration parameter referred to such as ‘Broadcast Wireless Network Name (SSID)’, meaning that you can prevent the access point sending its SSID in one way or another.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Hint: In case of troubles with WLAN connection establishment, you may capture WLAN frames using WLAN protocol analyzer (of course, assuming that you have an analyzer at your disposal).
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY RTS/CTS handshaking mechanism to clear the medium, meaning that a station use RTS/CTS handshake before sending an actual message frame. The ‘RTS Thresh’ tells the WLAN driver on your PL3000 that the RTS/CTS handshake shall precede the transmission of the frames being longer than the value set to the ‘RTS Thresh’.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY • Ping Payload: This parameter defines the packet size of the ping request (ICMP echo request) that the SCU Ping sends. A tap on the Value field displays the values the Ping Payload can have. • Ping Timeout ms: The value of this setting specifies in milliseconds how long the Ping utility waits for the reply to its request before it declares that the other end did not reply to that particular request. The Ping Timeout can have the values in the range of 1 to 30000.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Note! The above-mentioned recommendation about selecting the 802.1X supplicant is just one approach. For example, in the case of non-EAP authentication it could be also straightforward to use the WZC supplicant depending on how your WLAN access point presents its authentication/encryption configuration options. So, take the abovementioned line of reasoning as a suggestion for selecting the supplicant.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 5. Power your PL3000 up; the WLAN supplicant is changed. If you selected the ‘ThirdPartyConfig’ profile, the WZC opens its utility window on screen when your PL3000 is up and running again. A ‘Wireless Information’ page is usually in view immediately, and it starts showing the SSIDs of the access points being within range.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Note that a right profile in the ‘Edit Profile’ field is selected before you begin. • Client Name: This parameter is odd one in this context. The SCU uses it internally. If you want to give a name to the client of the ThirdPartyConfig profile or to the client of some other profile, you can enter it in this field, and you will find the name in use on the Status property page.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY BG subset: This settings value is a special mode for use ONLY with Cisco AP’s running in autonomous mode. If your WLAN access points are manufactured by Cisco and the access points are not lightweight ones, you must set the ‘Radio Mode’ to ‘BG subset’. G rates only: It is also possible to use only 802.11g rates for WLAN connectivity, but it is probable that some association difficulties with access points may appear with this mode.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Network Status Monitor gives an adapter view of the wireless LAN communication. Accordingly, the title text in the Network Status Monitor window is rather cryptic and it refers to the name used internally by Windows Embedded CE for the instance of the wireless LAN adapter driver. The Network Status Monitor presents three property pages: IP Information, IPv6 Information, and Wireless Information.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Wireless Information Page The most informative part of the Network Status Monitor becomes visible on the Wireless Information page. The page permits you to set a preferred network configuration, and to configure the behavior of WZC itself. The Wireless Information page also shows the wireless LAN devices being within range in its list window – a network view.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY showing up on the screen. If the check box is checked, and for some reason the WZC is unable to connect to the preferred SSID(s), the Network Status Monitor with its Wireless Information page appears on the display after the WZC has made either an unsuccessful search for the preferred network(s) or an unsuccessful attempt to associate with the preferred network(s). A tap on the ‘Connect’ button forces the WZC to try to associate with the selected SSID in the network list.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 5. Chose the appropriate options from the rest of the enabled setting fields. For example, enter the network key if the ‘Network key’ field is enabled. Note! In the case of the configuration for the network SSID, the ‘This is an ad-hoc network’ check box is leaved unchecked. 6. Tap on the ‘OK’ button, the WZC attempts to connect to the network which you just made a preferred network.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 3. Choose the appropriate options from the rest of the enabled setting fields (see the text box above). For example, enter the network key if the ‘Network key’ field is enabled. Note! In the case of configuration for the network SSID, the ‘’This is an ad-hoc network’ check box is leaved unchecked. Note! If your WLAN uses EAP-TLS authentication you have to select appropriate certificates.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Configuring WLAN Interface of SDC Supplicant In the SCU utility, configuring the WLAN interface for the SDC Supplicant forms a new profile. To end in the new profile may happen in two ways. Either you give a name to profile, which creates a new profile, or the SCU guides you through the WLAN configuration steps, which creates a new profile with a name of the SSID that your access point broadcasts.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 2. Tap on the SSID of your choice in the scan window to select with which SSID your PL3000 shall associate. 3. Tap on the ‘Configure’ button in the Scan window; the SCU informs you what kind of configuration is in question and what steps shall be taken during the configuration. 4. Tap on the ‘Yes’ button if you want to continue with the guided operation.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Configuring WLAN Interface by Creating SCU Profile If the guided configuration task is not suitable to configure the WLAN interface of your PL3000, there is an alternative way of configuring WLAN by inserting the required configuration information manually. Before entering an actual configuring task you have to create a SCU profile, a skeleton for configuration data.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY c. Tap on the ‘Credentials’ button and enter the required security information in the window that opens Note! If you want that the SDC Supplicant verifies the validity of a server certificate, meaning that the supplicant validates that it connects to the network that is what it claims to be, you have to check the ‘Validate server’ checkbox. If you do that, there are two possibilities where to put a CA certificate.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Associating PL3000 with Access Point under SDC Supplicant Before you can begin to associate your PL3000 with your access point under the SDC Supplicant, in the SCU utility, there has to be a SCU profile with the proper configuration in addition to the proper global settings for your WLAN connectivity; see the sections ‘Thinking about Global Settings’ on page 62 and ‘Configuring WLAN Interface of SDC Supplicant’ on page 78.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Note! The assigned IP-address to the WLAN interface may not always be valid in the networking context. In particular, if DHCP address assigning fails, the WLAN subsystem on your PL3000 may assign an IPv4 address with the 169.254/16 prefix to the WLAN interface. With the abovementioned prefix the IP address is valid for link-local connectivity only.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Assigning Static IP Address to WLAN Interface When your network provides DCHP service there is no necessity to configure networking part of the WLAN communication. By default the device expects to obtain IPaddress information from the local area network to which the access point is attached.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY GPRS GPRS connectivity is available on your PL3000, if your PL3000 incorporates the GPRS modem, and you have a GSM SIM card that has been assigned to GPRS property. In addition, the GPRS connectivity needs that your service provider has activated your SIM card on its cellular network. To check whether or not your PL3000 includes the GPRS modem, see the description of the ‘NID WWAN’ applet on page 37 in the section ‘Control Panel Applets’.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Installing SIM Card Before you can insert your SIM card into its slot on the PL3000 you have to open the battery cover and remove the battery from its chamber. In the case of the pistol grip you need a special screwdriver called a Torx driver. The pistol grip (functioning also as a battery cover) is fastened to the device body with three Torx-8 (T8) screws. Prologue Steps One and Two 1.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Attaching PL3000 to GPRS Network When you have installed the SIM in its slot on your PL3000, the PL3000 is ready to be configured for attaching it to your network operator’s GPRS network. If you have not installed the SIM yet, see the section ‘Installing SIM Card’ in the preceding page. Before you begin, open the NID WWAN control panel applet (see the section ‘Control Panel’ on page 30). By default GPRS modem is enabled on your PL3000.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Synchronizing PL3000 with Base Station To get your PL3000 synchronized with base station: 1. Tap on the ‘Security’ tab to open the Security page. 2. Enter the PIN code of your SIM card in the ‘PIN code’ field. 3. Tap on the ‘Apply’ button; wait until the Security page informs you that the SIM is unlocked. 4. Check the ‘Enter PIN automatically’ checkbox.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 9 The ‘State:’ field shows whether or not your PL3000 has connected to the packet network, meaning in practice that whether or not your service provider’s network has issued your PL3000 with an IP address information. In this particular case, the ‘Disconnected’ state is a sign of the uncompleted configuration task. 9 The ‘Signal:’ field indicates the received signal strength from the base station.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 2. Tap on the Connection tab to open the page on which you can attach your PL300 to packet network. 3. On the ‘Connection’ page, tap on the ‘Connect’ button, your PL3000 starts attaching to the GPRS network of your service provider (see the adjacent figure). When your PL3000 is connecting to the GPRS network, the Connection page shows it in its ‘State’ field.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY connected your PL3000, you can use ‘Internet Explorer’ for testing the just established GPRS connection. A double-tap on the ‘Internet Explorer’ icon on the desktop of the Windows CE shell opens the browser on the display. BLUETOOTH By default the Bluetooth radio is turned off on your PL3000. When you turn on the radio, other Bluetooth devices can discover your PL3000.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Bluetooth’, and the page shows the version and revision information on the HCI and on the LMP of the Bluetooth. Note! The manufacture and the address information may be confusing because the manufacture is unknown and the address is zeros. Yet next time you open the ‘Bluetooth Device Properties’ applet the Bluetooth address information is available, although the manufacture remains unknown. 3. The Bluetooth is now up and running.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY 4. Now the PL3000 is in non-discoverable mode and you can close the ‘Advanced Configuration’ dialog box and the applet. Note! The setting is not made permanent. For more information on permanent settings, see the section ‘Registry’ on page 26. Establishing ActiveSync Link over Bluetooth In this section, the aim is to establish ActiveSync connection between the PL3000 and the Windows desktop computer that is capable of Bluetooth communication.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY Note! At the PC end the Windows is a bit tricky with its discoverability; on the ‘Options’ page in the ‘Bluetooth Devices’ control panel applet on your PC you may be compelled to turn discover off and on again. Do not omit to apply the change to the Bluetooth stack after the discoverability change. 3.
CHAPTER FIVE - CONECTIVITY assigned to incoming Bluetooth service request. The following configuration steps resume on the PL3000. To link the PL3000 to ActiveSync service: 1. On the scan page, double-tap the line of the discovered device name (, that is, your Windows computer having now the paired status) in the devices area; the pop-up menu appears on the screen. 2.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING 6. CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING SYSTEM MANAGING REGISTRY DATABASE On your PL3000, there is a simple facility for making the changes in the registry permanent, and on the other hand, for removing the permanent changes from the registry. The facility for managing the registry database is called ‘Registry Backup’.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Closing Registry Backup If you want to exit from the Registry Backup utility: Press the ‘esc’ key. Making Your Configuration Settings Permanent If you want to make persistence of your configuration changes, you may use the Registry Backup to store them permanently. Before you begin, open the Registry Backup -utility, see ‘Accessing Registry Backup’.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Restoring PL3000 to Factory Defaults If your PL3000 does not operate as you may expect, or if you just want to start from scratch, in that case, the Registry Backup utility gives an option to clear all the changes you or your application have made permanent in the registry database. See also the section ‘FLASH DIRECTORY’ on page 27.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Hint: There are two different ways to remove the registry settings in a *.PAK file from your PL3000 registry. You can remove the *.PAK file from the ‘Flash’ folder (see the section FLASH DIRECTORY on page 27), or you can remove the registry settings from the *.PAK file using a special tool, ‘Customizer’. Check with the help of the Customizer, if the *.PAK file includes the registry settings you want to change or to remove. If need be, generate a new *.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Adjusting Keys’ Auto-repeat Rate The auto-repeat rate has an influence on how quickly the symbol is repeated on the screen while the key is held down.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Mapping Key’s Functionality onto Another Before you begin, open the ‘NID Keypad’ control panel applet (see the section ‘Control Panel’ on page 30). To illustrate a simple mapping case, in the first example, the key ‘0’ is configured to act as ‘tab’ key. To map key’s functionality onto another one: 1. Select the ‘Mappings’ tab in the NID Keypad applet, if the page is not in view 2. Select ‘Key’ you want to map onto another one, in the ‘Mappings’ area.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING In addition, the ‘Mappings’ tab makes it possible to assign some action to a key, meaning that the keystroke starts an executable, an action, that you have assigned to the key. The following steps illustrate the mapping case in which the ‘F10’ keystroke starts an AskTime utility in the Windows folder. Actually, now the ‘F10’ key will be assigned to the action identification number that is assigned to the AskTime utility.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Setting Default Mode of Alphanumeric Keypad The factory default of the alphanumeric keypad mode is numeric, that is, every keystroke of the alphanumeric keys enters only numbers on the display by default. In this context the default keypad mode means that after rebooting the device (warm, cold, hardware, or reloading the system) the alphanumeric keypad is in its default mode. This default mode can be changed with the help of the ‘NID Keypad’ control panel applet.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING Confining Alphanumeric Keypad to Function Keys If your need is to use the alphanumeric keypad only as function keys, the ‘NID Keypad’ control panel applet provides you with a ‘Sticky function’ option on its ‘Misc’ page. When the ‘Sticky function’ checkbox is checked the alphanumeric keypad is forced into the function key mode.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING MANAGING TOUCH SCREEN Adjusting Double-tapping Sensitivity of Touch Screen Before you begin, open the ‘Stylus’ control panel applet (see section ‘Control Panel’ on page 30). Be aware that double-tapping is measured against the maximum time between two screen-taps in succession. That is, quicker successive tapping than the longest period you adjust between consecutive taps in the area of check pattern, the system view as a double-tap but the longer does not.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING To enable the touch screen using the keypad: 1. If the ‘Misc‘ tab is not shown on the display, set first the input focus to the label of the currently visible tab by pressing the ‘tab’ key, and then select the ‘Misc’ tab by using the ‘arrow’ keys. 2. On the ‘Misc’ tab, press the ‘tab’ key until you have set the input focus to the ‘Touch screen lock enable’ check box 3.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING To calibrate the touch screen: 1. Select ‘Calibration‘ tab 2. Tap the ‘Recalibrate’ button 3. Tap with the stylus on the centre of the reference points showed on the screen, until the calibration utility stops showing new reference points. 4. After tapping the fifth reference point, press the ‘ok’ key to accept your touch screen calibration; the calibration is completed. 5. Tap the ‘OK’ button on the title bar; the task is finished.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING To adjust the brightness of the screen: 1. Tap on the ‘Misc‘ tab, if the ‘Misc’ page is not in view on the screen 2. Drag the ‘Backlight’ slider using the stylus to find appropriate brightness level 3. Press the ‘ok’ key; the brightness adjustment is finished. Selecting Operation Mode of Screen Backlight Before you begin, open the ‘NID Backlight’ control panel applet (see the section ‘Control Panel’ on page 30).
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING friendliness of your PL3000 yet being a little bit in contradiction to each other, that is, battery lifetime and keeping readability of the screen. Before you begin, open the ‘Power’ control panel applet (see the section ‘Control Panel’ on page 30). To set timeout value for screen backlight blanking in backlight’s ‘Auto on-off’ mode: 1. Select ‘Schemes‘ page by tapping the ’Schemes’ tab. 2.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING SETTING TIMEOUT FOR AUTOMATIC SCREEN BLANKING Your PL3000 turns off the screen after the specified periods of the ‘User Idle Timeout’ and the ‘System Idle Timeout’ has elapsed, if there is neither user nor user application activity during those timeout periods.
CHAPTER SIX- CONFIGURING AND ADMINISTERING SETTING TIMEOUT FOR AUTOMATIC SYSTEM SUSPENSION The Power Manager suspends your PL3000 after the third inactivity period has elapsed. In fact, after the three inactivity timers have expired in succession. The third inactivity period is called ‘Suspend Timeout’. The other twos are ‘User Idle Timeout’ and ‘System Idle Timeout’. The ‘Suspend Timeout’ settings value determines how long the device can remain idle before the system will automatically power down itself.
