Serialization Schemes

Overview

While the primary purpose of an ItemEncode device is encoding EPCs, ItemEncode supports encoding other areas of tag memory as well. For complete details on tag memory, please see the UHF Gen2 Spec.

ItemEncode also supports encoding EPCs using automated serialization schemes: Monza Self-Serialization and Serial Number Range.

Monza Self-Serialization

Monza Self-Serialization is a chip-based serialization scheme that generates EPCs with unique SGTIN serial numbers directly from the Monza TID. ItemEncode can generate these EPCs when encoding Monza tags. To configure an ItemEncode device to use Monza Self-Serialization, the application must add a MonzaSelfSerialization object to the Serialization configuration object. They may optionally include a serialization prefix as well. This prefix may be up to four bits.

Note

For more information on Monza Self-Serialization, please see the Monza Self-Serialization Product page.

Serial Number Range

ItemEncode also supports writing EPCs in an auto-incrementing Serial Number Range format. Users may specify the starting and ending EPC values. The ItemEncode device will increment the serial number by one with every tag it encounters. Upon reaching the end of the Serial Number Range, the ItemEncode device will begin reporting a TagOperationResult of TAG_OPERATION_RESULT_FAIL_SERIAL_NUMBER_RANGE_EMPTY. To configure an ItemEncode device to use Serial Number Range, the application must add a SerialNumberRange object to the Serialization configuration object.

The Serial Number range supports two incrementing formats: Hexadecimal and Decimal. This is configured by setting the SerialNumberRangeFormat field in the SerialNumberRange object. The default is Hexadecimal.

Hexadecimal	Decimal
0000	0000
0001	0001
…	…
0009	0009
000A	0010
…	…
00FF	0099
0100	0100

User Configured

An Impinj ItemEncode device is capable of encoding the following regions of tag memory.

EPC Memory

An Impinj ItemEncode device can encode up to 496 bits of EPC data, depending on tag chip support and user requirements. It is also capable of encoding the PC Word. The EPC encoding options are controlled by the EPCMemory object. Autonomous EPC serialization schemes, such as Monza Self-Serialization and Serial Number Range are specified in this object as well.

epc_memory
{
    # Data to be written to EPC memory
    data: [010102020303040405050000]
    pc_word
    {
        # Data to be written to PC Word. This will set the PC Length to 96 bits
        data: [3000]
    }
    serialization
    {
        # Serialize 16 bits
        serialization_bits: 16
        serial_number_range
        {
            serial_number_range_start: 0x0000
            serial_number_range_end: 0xFFFF
            # Start serial number at bit 80 in EPC
            bit_offset: 80
            serial_number_range_format: SERIAL_NUMBER_RANGE_FORMAT_HEX
        }
    }
}

User Memory

An Impinj ItemEncode device can encode up to 512 bits of User memory, depending on tag chip support and user requirements. The User memory encoding options are controlled by the UserMemory object.

user_memory
{
    # Data to be written to User memory
    data: [01234567]
    # Word offset for where to start writing data. This value is zero based.
    word_offset: 2
}

Access Password

An Impinj ItemEncode device can encode the tag’s access password. This can be configured in the access_password field in the SerializationJob, TIDTableEntry, or OrderedListEntry. This field is an instance of the Password object.

access_password
{
    data: [accec0de]
}

Kill Password

An Impinj ItemEncode device can encode the tag’s kill password. This can be configured in the kill_password field in the SerializationJob, TIDTableEntry, or OrderedListEntry. This field is an instance of the Password object.

kill_password
{
    data: [deadc0de]
}

Lock Config

An Impinj ItemEncode device can also send a Lock command to the tag. This is used to permalock memory regions or require the tag be in the secured state to access memory sections. This is configured by the LockConfig object. The lock_config_payload should be 20 bits.

Note

Please see the UHF Gen2 Spec for the Lock payload bit definitions.

lock_config:
{
    lock_config_payload: [0fffff]
}

Tag Specific Feature Config

An Impinj ItemEncode device can configure tag specific features on certain Monza tags. This can be configured by the tag specific fields in the SerializationJob, TIDTableEntry, or OrderedListEntry. This configuration will be ignored if the device encounters a tag type that does not match the specified config. For example, if only a monza_r6p_feature_config is provided and the device encounters a Monza S6-C tag, the device will not configure any of the tag specific features. If all other encoding operations also succeed, the tag will be reported as encoded successfully. This behavior allows for multiple tag specific feature configurations to be specified and letting the device choose the appropriate one. This is useful when encoding a mixture of different tag types.

Note

These features are configured by writing to a single word in Reserved memory, so all options are required to be specified.

Note

For more information on the tag specific features of each tag, please see their individual datasheets on the Monza Tag Chip Products page.

monza_r6_feature_config:
{
    enable_auto_tune: true
}

monza_r6p_feature_config:
{
    enable_auto_tune: true
    enable_short_range_mode: false
    memory_map_config: MONZA_R6P_MEMORY_MAP_CONFIG_128_BIT_EPC_32_BIT_USER
}

monza_s6c_feature_config:
{
    enable_auto_tune: true
    enable_short_range_mode: false
}