ThingMagic Mercury API v1.23.0 - Manual (Page 57)

Antenna Usage
Level 2 API 57
Antenna Usage
Automatic Antenna Switching
Only one antenna can be active at a time, when multiple antennas are specified they are
switched on, one at a time, in the order specified. It stops when the search timeout
expires or stopReading() is issued, as appropriate.
The exact method of switching depends on your code. There are two main methods you
can use for switching antennas:
1. Setup the list of antennas in a single ReadPlan and let the reader handle the
switching. The search cycles through the antennas, moving to the next antenna
when no more tags are found on the current antenna.
Note: The cycle resets and restarts on the first antenna each time Reader.read() is re-issued or, in
the case of Reader.startReading() , after each /reader/read/asyncOnTime period.
In this case the amount of time spent reading on each antenna is non-deterministic
and there is no guarantee all antennas will be used in any specific time period. It will
stay on an antenna as long as there are still tags being read.
2. Create a SimpleReadPlan for each antenna and combine them into a MultiReadPlan
giving each a relative weight based on the desired percentage of time spent on it and
use that MultiReadPlan as your
/reader/read/plan setting.
Virtual Antenna Settings
The M6e and M5e-Family of reader devices have built-in support for using Multiplexers,
supporting up to eight antenna ports on the M5e and 16 on the M6e, and combining
monostatic and bistatic antenna operation. For more information on how the Multiplexer
support works at the module level please see the M5eFamilyDevGuide_May09.pdf or
later.
In the MercuryAPI the configuration of multiple antennas and bistatic/monostatic
operation on M5e-Family products is done using the
/reader/antenna/txRxMap and /
reader/antenna/portSwitchGpos configuration parameters.
Auto Configuration
When using the most recent version of reader firmware and the MercuryAPI the readers
will self-identify their configuration and the ports settings will be automatically configured.
The type of reader will be provided in the parameter
/reader/version/productGroup . For