RDR is a compact LoRa NFC/RFID Reader that can be used as a RFID-to-LoRa Gateway. The device acts as a transparent gateway by sending the tag ID and the content of the raw data of the first NDEF file found on the tag.
RDR devices are shipped with following default settings:
After power up the device will check for a valid AppKey. If the AppKey has not been set, the left LED (LR LED) will start to blink red. (See CLI command lora set appkey and save for more information)
If AppKey is set the device will send a Join Request and waits for the Join ACK from the LoRaWAN®server. During this the left LED (LR LED) will slowly blink green. You will hear a double-beep on successful join and the LED will go off - the device is now ready to read NFCs!
A restart will be triggered if there is no answer from the network after 5 minutes.
RDR is able to read a wide range of ISO14443A/B NFC Tags. NFC tags can be formatted to contain an NDEF file system with one or more NDEF Records.
Contact us if you need a recommendation and get a list of devices we have successfully tested.
As soon as the device is initialized you can can start to read NFC tags. Hold the Tag to the centre of the device. You will hear a short beep and the RD LED will go on green.
Up to 50 readings are queued in a buffer including read timestamps. RD LED will go on red when buffer is full.
Note that maximum NDEF file length must not exceed 28 bytes. Otherwise it can not be transferred over LoRaWAN®on low data rates.
As soon as there are readings in the buffer, the device starts sending data. (LR LED is slowly blinking green)
The strategy is to pack as many NFC readings as possible into the payload. Therefore payload length depends on the following parameters:
It might take some time to transfer all the NFC readings as device respects LoRaWAN®duty cycle (ETSI) regulations.
All data has been transferred when LR LED goes off.
RDR can be operated as a connected LoRaWAN®device or alternatively as a NFC reader connected via USB.
To enable the offline mode use the CLI command set offline 1.
Readings will be transferred over USB VCP in the following format.
<NFC_Serial>:<NDEF_File0_Payload>
Following table shows the difference between both modes.
| Online Mode (Default) | Offline Mode | |
|---|---|---|
| LoRaWAN®Modem | enabled AppKey must be set |
disabled |
| NFC Reader | enabled | enabled |
| Data Buffer | yes (50 Readings) | No |
| Data Output | LoRaWAN®Uplinks | Console Output (USB VCP) |
| LR LED | on for 1s after power up | always off |
| RD LED | on for 1s after power up | on for 1s after power up |
RDR devices are equipped with two dual colour LEDs to signal status and error conditions. Following table shows the blink codes available.
| LED | Status | Problem | Solving |
|---|---|---|---|
| RD (left) | is fast blinking red | Hardware Initialisation Error | - Repower device |
| RD (left) | is slow blinking red | Voltage low | - Replace or charge battery - Check power supply |
| RD (left) | is red | Buffer is full. No further readings possible | - Check LoRaWAN®connection |
| LR (right) | is fast blinking red | Modem Initialisation Error | - Repower device |
| LR (right) | is slow blinking red | AppKey not set or modem initialisation error | - Set AppKey |
| LR (right) | is slow blinking green | Device is trying to join LoRaWAN®network or waiting to send buffered data. | - Wait 5m in - Check device registration in your LoRaWAN®server - Check LoRaWAN®Gateway |
RDR can be configured using the virtual serial interface (Serial over USB). There should be no need to install drivers on Windows 10. Otherwise look for STM32 VCP drivers to install first.
Use 19200 8N1 to communication with device.
All commands are terminated by \r\n (Carriage Return, Line Feed)
This command gets the device type (SKU). This can be:
> get type
Example:
get type
RDR-EU868
Device Firmware version in Format Maj.Min.Fix
> get version
Example:
get version
1.2.0
Returns the firmware version of the integrated LoRaWAN®modem.
Note: This is not the LoRaWAN®version
> get modem_version
Example:
get modem_version
1.0.2
Returns the unique serial number of the device. This is the same as DevEUI (See lora get deveui)
> get serial
Example:
get serial
333031377939870a
Enable audio signals for readings
> get beep
> set beep [0|1]
Example:
get beep
0
set beep 1
1
Get the time of integrated RTC
> get time
Example:
get time
14:20:05
Get date of internal real time clock. This starts with the 1.1.1900
> get date
Example:
get date
2000-01-01
set date 2021-02-07
2021-02-07
Heart beats are are uplink frames that can be enabled to check the connection when the device is not used.
Range: 10-1440 minutes (a day) or 0 to switch off this function.
Note: NFC readings will restart the heart beat interval
> lora get hbi
> lora set hbi <minutes>
Example:
lora get hbi
0
lora set hbi 1440
1440
LoRaWAN®modem can be disabled. In offline mode the device outputs all readings directly to the console. Connect an USB-Cable to the device to use this function.
Note: restart device by sending init
> set offline [0|1]
> get offline
Example:
get offline
0
set offline 1
1
save
ok
init
ok
Returns the unique LoRaWAN®device EUI. This is the same as the serial number (See get serial)
> lora get deveui
Example:
lora get deveui
333031377939870a
Returns or sets the LoRaWAN®application EUI.
Use save to permanently store changes to persistent memory
> lora get appeui
> lora set appeui <16 hex characters>
Example:
lora get appeui
0011223344556677
lora set appeui 7766554433221100
7766554433221100
Set an unique Application Key prior to operating the device. RF LED is constantly blinking read as long the AppKey is not set.
Use save to permanently store changes to persistent memory
> lora get appkey
> lora set appkey <32 hex characters>
Example:
lora get appkey
00112233445566778899AABBCCDDEEFF
lora set appkey 00112233445566778899AABBCCDDEEFF
00112233445566778899AABBCCDDEEFF
Enable / Disable LoRaWAN®confirmed messaged.
Note: Device will retry uplinks for 5 minutes when confirmed messages are neabled.
> lora get confirmed
> lora set confirmed [0|1]
Example:
lora get confirmed
0
lora set confirmed 1
1
With this command you can reset RDR to factory settings.
Note: Use save for to save settings to NV memory
> defaults
Example:
defaults
ok
save
ok
init
ok
Stores all changes you have done to NV memory.
Note: Re-powering the device without saving loses all changes
> save
Example:
save
ok
Changes to device settings will getting active by restarting the device either by repowering or using the init command
> init
Example:
init
ok
RDR can be used as LoRaWAN®modem that can be directly controlled by AT Commands. When in AT mode NFC reader is not active anymore.
Use this for debugging purposes only as settings will not be permanently saved. Use lora set commands to change credentials permanentely.
You can enable the AT Mode by sending the following command. After device reset the AT mode will be disabled.
> AT
Example:
AT
OK
ATZ
OK
The AT command set is a standard developed by “Hayes” to control modems. AT stands for attention. The command set consists of a series of short text strings providing operations such as joining, data exchange and parameters setting. In a context of LoRa® modem, the Hayes command set is a variation of the standard AT Hayes commands.
The AT commands have the standard format “AT+XXX”, with XXX denoting the command.
There are four available command behaviours:
The output format is as below:
<value>\r\n
\r\n<Status>\r\n
When no value is returned, the <value>\r\n output is not returned at all.
Every command (except for ATZ used for MCU reset) returns a status string, which is preceded and followed by \r\n in a \r\n<Status>\r\n format. The possible status are:
More details on each command description and examples are given in the remainder of this section. Note that each command preceded by # is provided by the host to the module. Then the return of the module is printed.