All current readers have the Magellan ReaderServer™ application running on-board. This controls the reader hardware, sends tag commands, processes tag replies, and provides the interface to end user applications.

The ReaderServer™ accepts multiple simultaneous connections from client applications, much like any other network server such as an e-mail or Web server.

Client applications can connect via Ethernet or USB interfaces.

Intelligent Reader Design

In many traditional reader systems, the reader is a dumb device that acts somewhat like a modem in providing a channel of communication between a tag and a controlling computer. Our philosophy is that the reader should be as smart as possible. This is necessary for high speed and high volume tag interaction. Many competing products come from a background of primarily desktop, hand held or panel readers where speed and large tag population is usually not an issue.

With the ReaderServer™, the reader can be given instructions on what actions to perform with each tag that is identified. When a tag appears, the instructions provided by the application programmer are followed and the results sent to the host.

In some other reader systems, this would be done by a sequence of commands and replies passing from the host computer to the reader and then to the tag. This can slow down communication and limit the performance of the reader. For a reader with a static tag population this usually is no issue, but for a high speed dynamic reader it would severly limit performance.

By putting intelligence in the reader there is not the same degree of traffic between the reader and the host. The speed with which the reader can decide on the appropriate response to a tag makes the system capable of very high speed performance. Having a reader that is an independent agent means that the system is not limited by waiting for computers with slow reflexes. It is still possible to send tag commands to a specific tag in high speed operations at any time. This would not be practical in more traditional designs.

Application development

Application development is very straightforward using any programming languages or using a number of third party drivers.

Updates

Firmware updates on any reader can be performed using the onboard FTP server.

Configuration and Test Application