Setting Up Your Speedway Revolution Reader

This article provides a step-by-step process for setting up the Speedway R420 Reader from Impinj.

Downloads

Firmware: for the latest firmware, please contact us at support@atlasrfidstore.com.

Speedway Revolution User Manual

ItemTest

Setting Up a New Reader

Video 1: Setting Up the Impinj Speedway Revolution R420 Reader

Step 1: Identify all the necessary equipment needed to start reading tags, which includes the following:

• The Impinj Speedway Revolution R420 RFID Reader
• The Impinj Power Supply OR PoE Injector
• An UHF RFID Antenna (global, or specific to the country you are in)
• An Antenna Cable with the correct connectors 
• A standard Ethernet cable
• UHF RFID Tags (global, or specific to the country you are in)

Step 2: Connect all the hardware properly. The video demonstrates the following:

1. Connect the Impinj Speedway Revolution R420 Power Brick to the Line Cord.
2. Connect the complete power supply to the Impinj Speedway Revolution R420 Reader.
3. Connect the other end of the complete power supply to your power source (the power indicator light will then turn on on the back panel of the reader)
4. Next, connect the Ethernet cable from the Ethernet Port on the reader, to the Ethernet port on your PC. (Be sure and use the port labeled “Ethernet” on your reader and not the port labeled “Console”)
5. Then connect the UHF RFID Antenna to the reader using your antenna cable.

Video 2: Connecting Your Computer to the Impinj Speedway Revolution R420

The second video in this series starts where Video 1 left off, with all the equipment connected.

Step 1: First, we need to configure our Windows operating system to automatically assign IP addresses. (You will need to have administrator rights to your PC, and you will want disable any Wi-Fi connection that you have set on your computer.) Many computers are already set to do this by default. If yours is, you can skip this step.

1. Click “Start” and choose “Control Panel”
2. Under the “Network and Internet” section, click “View Network Status and Task”
3. Click “Change Adapter Settings”
4. Right click on the “Wireless Network Connection” option, and “Disable” the connection
5. To set your computer to automatically assign IP addresses, Right click on “Local Area Connection” and select “Properties”
6. Highlight “Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4)” on the Local Area Connection Properties window and click “Properties”
7. Make sure that your computer is set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and “Obtain DNS server address automatically” on the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties window as shown in the picture

Step 2: Once your computer is set to automatically assign IP addresses, you will want to download Bonjour. Bonjour is a program that helps applications discover shared devices on a local network. For this demonstration, it will assist in identifying your reader’s IP address. You will need to turn your Wi-Fi connection back on for downloading. (You can use this link to download Bonjour:  http://support.apple.com/kb/dl999)

1. Double-click the file named “BonjourPSSetup.exe” to install the software
2. Click “Next” to begin the installer
3. Read and “Accept” the terms of the license agreement. Click “Next” to continue
4. Click “Next” to continue
5. “Accept” the defaults and click “Install”
6. Allow the program to install
7. Click “Finish”

Step 3: Now let's install ItemTest.

Using ItemTest

1. Unzip the package into a folder on your PC’s desktop
2. Read through the License.rtf and ReadMe.rtf files
3. To install the program, double-click on the ItemTest .msi file (for whatever version you are installing)
4. Click “Next” on the Welcome screen
5. Read through the license agreement, agree by selecting the “I Agree” radio button and click “Next”
6. Select the installation folder (or accept the default) and click “Next”
7. Confirm that you’re ready to install the program by clicking “Next”
8. Wait while ItemTest is installed
9. Click “Close” to complete the installation

Step 4: Now that ItemTest is installed, you can connect to your reader.

1. In the left panel you will see a list of readers that have been connected to ItemTest, titled, "Data Sources." To add a reader to this list, click the + in a circle to the right of "Data Sources."
2. Click the + in a magnifying glass to the right of "Add a Data Source."
3. Alternatively, select the box called, "Host Name." Enter your reader's host name OR IP address. The reader's host name is speedwayr-xx-xx-xx, with the x's being the last 6 characters of your reader's MAC address. This can be found on a sticker on the side of your reader. The IP address can be found in the Network section of the reader's web UI.
   • If your reader is connected locally (via an ethernet cable from your reader to your computer's ethernet port), then you'll want to append .local to the hostname, such as speedwayr-xx-xx-xx. You can also use the IP address 169.254.1.1.
4. Optionally, enter a nickname for the reader. This is most helpful if you need to differentiate between more than one reader.
5. Ensure the Data Source Interface dropdown is set to LLRP interface.
6. Click the "Add Data Source" option. Your reader should now be connected to your network and recognized by ItemTest.

Step 2: Reading RFID Tags

To begin reading tags, click the Inventory option under Showcases in the left panel. Then click the play button (triangle) at the top. Tag data should now be populating on the screen. Just below that play button, you'll see several columns. You can right click these to show or hide them, and left click to sort by them. Let's go through the meaning of these.

1. # - This is just the order that the reader picked up new tags.
2. EPC - 
3. TID - TID stands for Tag Identifier. Every RFID tag ever made has a different tag identifier. You can think of it as a serial number for the tag. In other places you might see it referred to as the Unique Identifier (UID).
4. XPC Words - XPC stands for Extended Protocol Control, and relates to how many bits of the EPC are returned to the reader.
5. Read Count - This tells us how many times the tag was read.
6. Last Read From - 
7. First Seen - This is a timestamp for the first time the reader read or "saw" the tag.
8. Last Seen - This is a timestamp for the most recent time the reader read or "saw" the tag.
9. Time Since Last Seen - This is how long it's been since the reader has seen the tag.
10. Tag Model Information - 
11. Last RSSI - For the most recent read, this tells us how well the reader was able to read the tag. RSSI stands for Received Signal Strength Indicator. A less negative number, or number closer to zero, indicates a stronger read.
12. RSSI AVG - This is the average signal strength for all of the times that the tag was read during this inventory session. This will give us a more complete picture of how well the tag is reading than the individual RSSI from the other columns.
13. RSSI Max - This is the highest (best) signal strength of all the times the tag was read during this inventory session.
14. RSSI Min - This is the lowest (worst) signal strength of all the times the tag was read during this inventory session.
15. Antenna - This tells us which antenna picked up the tag when it was most recently read. If you're using multiple antennas in different locations, this column will help you to determine where the tag was at the moment it was last read.
16. Power - This is the amount of power sent to the antenna that picked up the tag. Note that you can send different amounts of power to each antenna in a single inventory session.
17. Phase Angle - 

Step 3: Writing RFID Tags

Let's take a closer look at the EPC column. All RFID tags will come with a randomly assigned EPC from the manufacturer, and most users will want to change it to suit their purpose. Please understand that writing tags is not ItemTest's primary purpose. The most common way to change this encoding is when they are printed. You can have our Service Bureau print and encode them for you when you buy tags, or you can print and encode them on your own RFID printer. 

1. Let's say for now that you wanted to change the EPC using ItemTest. To change the tag’s EPC, right click on the EPC and select “Write EPC”. You will see 2 lines: one for the current EPC and one for the new EPC that you would like to assign to the RFID tag.
2. If the tag was written successfully, you will see note saying “Good” in the log below. (If you receive a “Timeout, no matching tags” note in the log below, this means that the tag was in range of your antenna and was read, but it is not in range of your antenna any more. If this happens, your tag will not be written successfully. To fix this, place the tag back in range of the antenna and write it again.)
3. To make sure that your tag was written successfully, you can clear the data on your screen and read the tag again. If the tag was written successfully, you will see the changed EPC in the “EPC Value” column

Troubleshooting

For additional information on troubleshooting your reader, please see Troubleshooting for Speedway Revolution Readers.