User Guide
Table Of Contents
- Contents
- Introduction to the Mercury6e- Transcore Module
- Functionality of the Embedded Modules
- Overview of the Communication Protocol
- Command Set
- Boot Loader Commands
- Multi-Protocol Tag Commands
- Allegro/Title-21 Tag Commands
- eGo/SeGo Tag Command Set
- ATA Tag Command Set
- Gen2 Tag Commands
- Get Configuration Commands
- Get Hardware Version (10h)
- Get Antenna Configuration (61h)
- Get Read TX Power (62h)
- Get Current Tag Protocol (63h)
- Get Write TX Power (64h)
- Get Frequency Hop Table (65h)
- Get User GPIO Inputs (66h)
- Get Current Region (67h)
- Get Power Mode (68h)
- Get User Mode (69h)
- Get Reader Configuration(6Ah)
- Get Protocol Configuration (6Bh)
- Get Reader Statistics (6Ch)
- Get Available Protocols (70h)
- Get Available Regions (71h)
- Get Current Temperature (72h)
- Set Configuration Commands
- FCC Test Commands
- Appendix A: Hardware Details
- Appendix B: Using the ArbSer Application
- Appendix C: Error Messages
- Common Error Messages
- FAULT_MSG_WRONG_NUMBER_OF_DATA – (100h)
- FAULT_INVALID_OPCODE – (101h)
- FAULT_UNIMPLEMENTED_OPCODE – 102h
- FAULT_MSG_POWER_TOO_HIGH – 103h
- FAULT_MSG_INVALID_FREQ_RECEIVED (104h)
- FAULT_MSG_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE - (105h)
- FAULT_MSG_POWER_TOO_LOW - (106h)
- FAULT_UNIMPLEMENTED_FEATURE - (109h)
- FAULT_INVALID_BAUD_RATE - (10Ah)
- Bootloader Faults
- FPGA Faults
- Flash Faults
- Protocol Faults
- FAULT_NO_TAGS_FOUND – (400h)
- FAULT_NO_PROTOCOL_DEFINED – 401h
- FAULT_INVALID_PROTOCOL_SPECIFIED – 402h
- FAULT_WRITE_PASSED_LOCK_FAILED – 403h
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_NO_DATA_READ – 404h
- FAULT_AFE_NOT_ON – 405h
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_WRITE_FAILED – 406h
- FAULT_NOT_IMPLEMENTED_FOR_THIS_PROTOCOL – 407h
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_INVALID_WRITE_DATA – 408h
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_INVALID_ADDRESS – 409h
- FAULT_GENERAL_TAG_ERROR – 40Ah
- FAULT_DATA_TOO_LARGE – 40Bh
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_INVALID_KILL_PASSWORD – 40Ch
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_KILL_FAILED - 40Eh
- FAULT_PROTOCOL_BIT_DECODING_FAILED - 40Fh
- FAULT_GEN2 PROTOCOL_OTHER_ERROR - 420h
- FAULT_GEN2_PROTOCOL_MEMORY_OVERRUN_BAD_PC - 423h
- FAULT_GEN2 PROTOCOL_MEMORY_LOCKED - 424h
- FAULT_GEN2 PROTOCOL_INSUFFICIENT_POWER - 42Bh
- FAULT_GEN2 PROTOCOL_NON_SPECIFIC_ERROR - 42Fh
- FAULT_GEN2 PROTOCOL_UNKNOWN_ERROR - 430h
- Analog Hardware Abstraction Layer Faults
- Tag ID Buffer Faults
- System Errors
- Common Error Messages
- Appendix D: FPGA Support
RF Power Setting
20 Functionality of the Embedded Modules
RF Power Setting
The power setting is calibrated at the factory and parameters are stored in flash memory
to ensure the power output is within +/– 1 dB of the desired setting. The power limits are
set by both hardware limitations and enforced by the firmware.
Power Units
All power values are reported in centi-dBm. Therefore, a power setting of 2500
corresponds to 25 dBm. All power values in the serial interface are specified as signed
16-bit integers. A dBm means power referenced to 1mW. Therefore, the conversion from
watts to dBm is:
dBm = 10 log
10
(power in mW)
For example: 0.1W = 100mW = 20dBm and 1W = 1000mW = 30dBm.
Power Calibration
A power calibration event occurs when the Power set point is changed, the Frequency is
changed, or the RF field is turned on. The power calibration routine calibrates the power
within 10 ms.
Note
Power calibration only occurs once when the RF power is turned on. It does
not occur periodically when the RF field is on.
This is not an issue during normal operation,= since a frequency hop occurs within the
regulatory hop interval (see Maximum Frequency Hop Interval
for region specific values)
and thermal drift does not affect the power level significantly. However, in CW waveform
mode (Transmit CW Signal), no power calibration occurs unless the power or frequency
is changed. Thus, it is possible to experience thermal drift in this usage if the unit is left to
transmit continuously for a significant period of time.
TX Read Power
The TX read power is used for all non-write commands to tags. This may include, but is
not limited to, commands to read a tag ID and read tag data.