AdvanNet

Introduction

AdvanNet is the low-level SW running embedded in all Series 60 and 150 reader and derived systems.

AdvanNet controls the hardware and also add some higher level services:

• • REST API

  • HTTP Service

  • SQL Service

  • Etc.

An important module of AdvanNet is what is commonly called AdvanNet Manager: the configuration and test web application. A web application used to:

• • Test the readers and systems

  • Configure the readers and systems

 Download the required files:

• • The AdvanNet Manager User Guide (Download chapter)

  • The AdvanNet API REST Reference Guide (Download chapter)

Features

HTTPS

In order to enable the HTTPS method

1. Go to Services tab and configure AdvanNetR.estService

2. Save current settings

3. Reboot device

HTTPS Certificate fingerprint

As the certificate is a self-signed certificate, it will not be automatically trusted by the web browser.

Please verify the fingerprint of the certificate matches with the following values

• SHA-512: 

B9:5D:1B:3F:08:91:97:3B:53:32:44:15:38:47:1A:5F:AF:CE:27:75:AB:F4:34:76:DB:B4:88:6C:D9:6D:44:F2:3D:0C:7B:21:C6:3A:10:7C:8C:81:20:FB:F9:CD:AD:01:95:7F:10:36:B2:DA:6C:11:06:DB:D5:1E:43:10:F1:58

• SHA-1:

32:A6:FD:1E:74:11:76:D8:CE:4E:73:7B:6D:AB:A1:53:4A:D1:68:E3

• MD5:

F9:C1:A3:20:5D:F6:BB:F9:E0:FB:4C:66:68:9B:76:11

The fact the certificate is self-generated means the browser will not recognize it. In order to connect a security exception must be added:

• Chrome

• Firefox

Note: because of limitations imposed by most browsers enabling HTTPS will render the UI unusable.

TCP Socket 3177

AdvanNet offers a channel for real time access to all Events that occur on the reader in the form of the TCP port 3177. On this port AdvanNet sends all kinds of information related to the reader operation including but not limited to:

• • Inventory data

  • Events

  • Keep alive messages

In the past and by default the data was served in XML but it is recommended to change it to JSON via a quick API call: issuing a PUT to http://ip/system/parameter/COMM_TCP3177_ENCODER  being the accepted values: XML_V2_3, JSONV2 and JSONV3. XML is the old format that we all know and love. JSON* modes provide info in JSON format being JSONV3 shorter than JSONV2.

The data published has this general format:

ADVANNET/1.1

Content-Length:<length>

Content-Type:<content-type>

<payload>

Where Content-Length is the length of the payload in bytes (including new-line characters), the Content-Type can be either text/xml or application/json.

Payloads are (version field can be v2 or v3):

GPI:

{"type":"gpi","ver":"<v2/v3>","id":"$","ts":$,"devid":"$","data":{"line":$,"lowToHigh":$,"duration":$}}

TAG_ALARM:

{"type":"alarm","ver":"<v2/v3>","id":"$","ts":$,"devid":"$","data":{"type":"$","epc":"$","tid":"$","port":$}}

TAG_DIRECTION:

{"type":"direction","ver":"<v2/v3>","id":"$","ts":$,"devid":"$","data":{"epc":"$","direction":$}}

TAG_READ (v2):

{"type":"inv","ver":"v2","id":"$","status":"OK","ts":$,"devid":"$","data":{"epc":"$","uri":"$","usermem":"$","port":$,"mux1":$,"mux2":$,"rc":$,"rssi":$,"freq":$,"phase":$,"gpi":"$","loc":$}}

TAG_READ (v3):

{"type":"inv","ver":"v3","id":"$","status":"OK","ts":$,"devid":"$","data":{"epc":"$","port":$,"rssi":$,"loc":$}}

ETC:

{"type":"event","ver":"<v2/v3>","id":"$","ts":$,"devid":"$","data":$}

Every second the reader will send a header with an empty payload to signal a keep alive message.

To connect to the port 3177 to troubleshoot connectivity you can do it either using the linux terminal with (package netcat) and the command:

nc <ip> 3177

or using putty:

Export session read tags to CSV

It is possible to export the read tags from a work session. All reads tags between a start and a stop operation.

 Start RF operation, read the desired tags and stop RF operation. Then click the CSV button to download the CSV file.

Writing tags

From here it is possible to access the following actions:

• • Write tag with/without access password

  • Tag commissioning

  • Kill operation. Common error codes:

    • No tags found (1024): tags cannot be read as the required previous step of the kill command

    • Kill failed (1038): this mainly indicates an internal error executing the kill command: kill password is wrong and others

    • Other Gen2 error (1056): this mainly indicates the tag does not have a kill password defined

    • The gen2 tag has insufficient power (1067): this mainly indicates the tag is in a position where it can be read but that not have the required energy for write/kill operations.

Tag commissioning

In order to commission a tag

• • Write the new EPC, or the same EPC read

  • If existent, type the existing access password

  • Type the new Access password.

  • If necessary, type the desired Kill password

  • Click the Write EPC button

Advanced Tag operations

On the Tag information (write) pop-up, clicking on Go to advanced memory access... takes to a new pop-up window with access to low-level tag memory operations.

From there you have complete control on reading/writing tag memory areas.

On the capture above, you can see TID memory access.

Read TID memory

Reading TID memory is straightforward but requires finetuning as it can't be automated. 

Configure an offset 0 and length 4 (like in the picture) and start reading increasing the length until an error appears, then try the last length it worked, if 4 doesn't work start at length 3.

Read RESERVED memory

The RESERVED memory contains the Access and Kill passwords:

• • 0 - 31 bits: Acces password (2 words)

  • 32 - 63 bits: Kill password (2 words)

To read the contents of the RESERVED memory:

• 1. Go to Advanced Tag operations

  2. Select RESERVED in the Memory Bank drop-down list

  3. Define an offset of 0 words

  4. Define a length of 4 words

  5. Set the access password in the password field

  6. Click on Read memory Data button

Estimate location

Read Estimation location page.

Enable/Disable autostart

The autostart feature allows a system to automatically start the RF operation after a reboot.

• In Read modes tab, if SEQUENTIAL mode is selected, go to Event settings. There you can enable "Guess location".

• • If desired, persist configuration by using the Save button

Keep always running

The keep always running feature makes sure the device is started after being stopped for 5 minutes, no matter the reason.

It's useful to have it active on an unsupervised device to avoid unscheduled down times.

Automatic start in Sequential mode

Sequential mode expects read commands to trigger RF operation. When using AdvanNet web Manager, the monitor tab issues those commands, giving us the false idea that the system is reading autonomously. For production system this is obviously not possible.

It is possible to configure the Sequential read mode to internally do those queries for you.

• 1. Enable the Read automatically option

  2. Apply settings

  3. (optionally) Persist settings by using the "Save" button

In case this option is not available you may require a SW upgrade.

EPCGen2 Alarm

All read modes support settings an EPCGen2 filter:

Go to the Read modes tab and set the EPCGen2 filter configuration. 

• • Mask offset (bits): The nth leftmost bit of the EPC to be compared with the mask (32 is the first).

  • Mask length (bits): How many bits of the mask value use (Starting from the left most).

  • Filter mask (hex): Value to compare against the tag's EPC.

EPCGen2 Alarm (multiple patterns)

It is also possible to have multiple alarm patterns:

Multiple patterns can only be implemented by using the SW filter option (the ReadMode has to be Alarm Mode)

The mask definition is a JSON string. For example:

@json=[{"mask":"0xAAAA","epcoffset":"58","bitlength":"16"}, {"mask":"0x0000", "epcoffset":"0","bitlength":"16"}]

mask: hexadecimal pattern. Must be a multiple of two characters

epcoffset: is the bit offset starting at the EPC code. To start comparing at the beginning of the EPC, just set it to 0. 

bitlength: bit length of the comparison

2. Once the configuration is correct, apply the configuration by clicking in the Apply config button:

3. Once the configuration is correct, persist the configuration by using the "Save" button

Regex filter

The filter allows setting a mask to tell what tags you want to get answer from.

It is possible to use regular expression to filter based on EPC.

The filter implements the full regex filter based on the syntax defined by Java 8

https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/util/regex/Pattern.html

For example, in order to filter tags that start and end in 0, use

@json={"regex":"^0.*0$"}

• • ^0 means to match a 0 at the start of line

  • .* means any content

  • 0$ means a 0 at the end of line

  • This will work regardless of the epc length

hardware filter

If you want to combine the power of filtering using the EPCGen2 standard filter with the flexibility of software filtering by setting a a mask much like multimask but with the parameters:

@json=[{"hwmask":"0x30","hwepcoffset":"0","hwbitlength":"8"}]

Serial Filtering

In some environments and systems it is better to filter via the Serial part of the RFID tag memory. This way the EPC conversion to EAN13 is not affected.

To configure an alarm filter for the serial section, set the Mask offset (bits) to 90 or more:

Changing Session and Target

BY default all readers and systems are pre-configured to work in S1/A

• • Session 1

  • Target A

See what Session and Target means on the FAQ page

In AdvanNet Manager it's very easy to change these EPCGen2 parameters

• 1. Open the RFID tab

  2. Select the right Session and Target combination.

  3. Apply changes and if desired persist changes using the "Save" button

Two of the most useful combinations are

• S1/A

• S0/AB

Changing Region

To change the region of a Keonn reader/system:

• • Open the RFID tab

  • Choose between the different Region options:

• • Click on "Save" to persist changes when the device is rebooted

Remote control of the GPO, buzzer and speaker

Read Remote control page.

Reading TID

Read Read TID page.

Read modes

Autonomous Track Missing

• Autonomous Track Missing

EAS EPC Bulk Alarm

• EAS EPC Bulk

EAS SQL Alarm

• EAS SQL Alarm

EAS HTTP Alarm

• EAS HTTP Alarm

Dynamic Inventory

• Dynamic Inventory

Services

Services are located under AdvanNet's Services tab:

Find below the list of available services:

HTTP Service

• HTTP Service

SQL Service

• SQL Service

MQTT Service

• MQTT Service

USB HID Service

• USB HID Service

AdvanNet Rest Service

• AdvanNet Rest Service

Advanced features

Off intervals

Read Off intervals page.

Read trigger

Read Read triggers page.

Tag direction estimate

Read Tag direction estimate page.

For AdvanNet-2.5.x branch, please visit the new Tag Direction Estimate page

Export/Import settings

Read Export/Import settings page.

RF port return losses

Read Ports return losses page.

Emulate reads

Read Emulate reads page.

AdvanNet Manager UI customization

Read UI customization page.

AD Filter

Read AD filter page.

Change Device ID

Read Change Device ID page.

Exporting to an External database

Read Export to external database page.

Exporting inventory to an external server

To export an inventory in JSON format, read Export inventory to external server page.

Adding configuration options to connectors.xml

Read Advanced configuration page.

User management

Read user management page

Data Analysis

Read theTag reading analysis page

AdvanNet versioning

AdvanNet uses the following versioning scheme:

• • Complete version number has the form: 2.3.17

    • 2 is the major number

    • 3 is the minor number

    • 17 is the revision number

  • Stable versions always has an odd revision number: 2.1.x 2.3.x 2.5.x, etc

  • Development branch always have an even revision numbers: 2.2.x, 2.4.x, 2.5.x, etc

    • Branch 2.2.x is de the development branch of the stable 2.1.x branch

    • Etc

  • Changes in development branches are periodically merged into the stable branch

    • Changes in 2.4.x are merged into branch 2.3.x to producte a new release of the 2.3.x branch

    • Changes in 2.6.x are merged into branch 2.5.x to producte a new release of the 2.5.x branch   

Current Stable branch

AdvanNet-2.5 is the current stable branch.

This is the branch used in most of the readers and systems using AdvanNet

Next Stable branch

AdvanNet-2.8 will be the next stable branch.

Latest AdvanNet version

To update advannet you can do so following the instructions here.

AdvanNet Policies & Other

Policies

Please see the detailed explanation here

Use of Cryptography

Please see the detailed explanation here

FAQ

AdvanNet FAQ

Download files

Find the User Guide and other downloadable content below.