RAIN RFID Test Instrument

RAIN RFID Xplorer an All-In-One High-Precision RFID Test Instrument.

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Performance and
Conformance Tests

The CISC RAIN Xplorer is a unique RFID test product developed for convenient tag frequency sensitivity, communication range, and backscatter measurements. The RFID tester is designed for open area tests and measurements in an RF-controlled environment using portable or fixed RF test chambers. The system is supplied with software and a reference tag for self-calibration. The test equipment is controlled using a graphical user interface (GUI) with an additional application programming interface (API) for the development of user-defined test sequences within standard development environments.
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Key Benefits

  • High precision RFID tester
  • Fast and easy to use
  • One device – many tag and reader test modes
  • GUI and API function for user-defined test sequences
  • Supporting EPCglobal, ISO/IEC, IATA, VDA and all Brazil RFID test standards

Key Features

  • Basis RAIN RFID frequency range from 800 MHz to 1 GHz
  • Extended RAIN RFID frequency range from 700 MHz to 1.3 GHz
  • Tag and Reader Performance tests
  • Tag and Reader Conformance tests
  • Sniffer mode to analyze the communication between reader and tags
  • ETSI EN 302 208 reader and tag tests (RED compliance/CE marking)

TESTING Modes

Tag Performance

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Tag Conformance

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Tag Production Tester

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Reader Performance

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Sniffer and Conformance

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SOFTWARE Maintenance Service

Maintenance means the provisioning of regular Updates for the software of the Product. CISC Semiconductor provides Updates on a schedule of approx. six (6) months (typically two times in a year). These updates don’t add completely new features but focus on maintaining top performance, ensuring compatibility, provide continuous improvements in functionality of the Product, continuous usability enhancements and necessary security updates. Updates are made available online under www.cisc.at/mycisc for the Licensee’s Technical Contact(s). Note: Upgrades are not part of the Maintenance.

Cost: Maintenance is optional. It is provided in the form of Updates of the software for the Product purchased by the Licensee. Maintenance must be purchased by Licensee in advance for an annual extension of 20% of the current license price of the at the date of order. Extensions of Maintenance may also be purchased for more than one year.
For every purchase of the product Maintenance is included for the first twelve (12) months after purchase (shipment date) for free.

Main Feature Overview

Release: Build_250430

Tag Performance Tester
  • New function for automated report generation
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improvements of the Automation
    • Update of the ISO 29167-10 test sequence, to support protocol updates
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Support the analysis of Gen2V3 commands (Query X/Y, ReadVar)
  • Improved the analysis of the monotony of power-up and power-down envelopes.
Reader Performance Tester
  • Option to change plot attributes (color, line style, etc.) for the reader sensitivity graph
  • Option to generate XML result file, without embedding a stylesheet
API
  • Improved the analysis of the monotony of power-up and power-down envelopes.

Release: Build_2510 (Planned)

Tag Performance Tester
  • Usability improvements
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Usability improvements
Reader Performance Tester
  • New function for automated report generation

Release: Build_240731

Tag Performance Tester
  • Option to rename plots from the plot legend
  • Option to select active plot from the plot legend
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improved Logic Signal Graph (autoscaling, shading, context menu)
  • Improved the analysis of the monotony of power-up and power-down envelopes.
Reader Performance Tester
  • Option to rename plots from the plot legend
  • Option to select active plot from the plot legend
  • Improvements of the Impedance Emulator control
    • New display metric: “Return Phase (deg)”
    • New test automation option: “Phase Channel Sweep”
    • New system setting: “Apply IE Phase Shift”

Release: Build_230630

Tag Performance Tester
  • Option to change plot attributes (color, line style, etc.) for sweep results graphs
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • Option to add orientation sweep results to the test report
    • Option to generate a declaration of conformity
  • Change of the default Header Time from 1.5 ms to 2.5 ms (for compliance with Gen2V3 tags)
  • Option to add a timestamp to the measurement results
  • New design of the System Setup window
  • New setting that allows to change the TX power applied for the Inventory measurement
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improved the response frame detection
  • Improved the accuracy of the Tari setting
  • Change of the default Header Time from 1.5 ms to 2.5 ms (for compliance with Gen2V3 tags)
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • New result parameter: Power in Channel
  • The following buttons are not anymore reset if the sniffing is stopped.
    • Record
    • Save XML Log
    • Tag Emulator
Reader Performance Tester
  • Option to add a timestamp to the measurement results
General
  • Display warning if the application has no write permission for the selected
  • working directory

Release: Build_231130

Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Optical improvements when resizing the application window.
General
  • Support of Windows 11

Release: Build_220531

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • Option to select between spectrum mask limits according EN 308 208 V3.4.1.
    • Option to verify measurement accuracy by comparing results with reference data.
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improved detection of the power-up and power-down envelope
  • Improved decoding of reader commands
Reader Performance Tester
  • Indicate the expected duration of the measurement, for the applied settings.
General
  • Upgrade of all GUI applications from 32-bit to 64-bit.

Release: Build_221130

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improved context menus
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improvements of the Automation
    • New test sequence: “RFID Tag Test_Gen2 Extended Conformance Test.seq”
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Support additional reader transmit masks
  • New result parameter: Frequency Shift
  • New function to display the reader success rate over the number of Queries received by the TE.
  • Improved the Reader Conformance Check report
  • Introduced new result verdicts to the Reader Conformance Check report
Reader Performance Tester
  • Indicate the expected duration of the measurement, for the applied settings.
  • Update of the RFSM calibration data reading, to improve the accuracy.
General
  • Upgrade of all GUI applications from 32-bit to 64-bit.

Release: Build_210531

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • Improved HTML report generator
      • Added software version to the info section.
      • Added name of the measurement device to the info section.
      • Added version of the ETSI EN 302 208 protocol to the info section.
      • Option to add a comment to the info section.
      • Option to add a block diagram of the test setup.
      • Introduced the test result “Inconclusive”.
    • Added description of the setup for on-metal tags.
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improvements of the Automation
    • Added Application Conformance (Annex N) test cases.
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Option to analyze the waveform after a command, if no tag response is detected
  • Improvment of the Frequency Channel Analysis
    • New function to evaluate whether timing requirements are fulfilled for FCC 15.247 and ETSI EN 302 208.
  • Improvement of the Tag Emulator
    • Improved command counter
    • StoredPC: Support T-bit
    • Improved format of TE sequence files, to support comments.
Reader Performance Tester
  • Function to verify if background noise is present
  • Setting to modify the StoredPC of the Tag Emulator
API
  • Added new functions to the API
    • Function to load STM files
    • Functions for Reader and Tag Analysis
    • Functions to support the Reader Conformance Check
    • Functions to support the TE Sequence Mode
    • Extended power sweep function
  • Added new examples

Release: Build_211126

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improvement of the Tag Population Analysis
    • New setting to configure the number of Inventory rounds, used for the measurement
    • Option to load analysis results from a file
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • Introduced additional plots to the spectrum graph
    • Improved HTML report generator
      • Added result summary to the top of the report
      • Added result table for the unwanted emission measurements
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Option to display the reader spectrum of a single command instead of the combined spectrum of all commands in the frame
  • Option to detect and analyze the power-up and power-down RF envelope
  • Introduced additional analysis parameters
    • Reader command
      • Overshoot (%)
      • Undershoot (%)
    • Power-up and power-down RF envelope
      • Rise time (us)
      • Fall time (us)
      • Overshoot (%)
      • Undershoot (%)
      • Monotony
      • Header Time (us)
      • Signal level when OFF (%)
    • Improvements of the Frequency Channel Analysis
      • Added measurement of the min. channel off time
Reader Performance Tester
  • Auto-save function
API
  • Added new functions to the API
    • Functions to support the Spectrum Test (Interference Analysis)
  • Added new examples
General
  • Improved functions to export graphs as images.

Release: Build_202001

Tag Performance Tester
  • Alignment of the tag backscatter power measurement with ISO/IEC 18046-3.
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Alignment of the tag backscatter power measurement with ISO/IEC 18046-3.
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Alignment of the tag backscatter power measurement with ISO/IEC 18046-2 and ISO/IEC 18046-3.
  • Update of the reader envelope analysis
  • Calculator to evaluate the absolute Tag Emulator backscatter power
  • Improved the reader command detection and the tag response detection
Reader Performance Tester
  • Alignment of the reader sensitivity measurement with ISO/IEC 18046-2
  • New option to export the data from the success rate graph
API
  • Alignment of the tag backscatter power measurement with ISO/IEC 18046-2 and ISO/IEC 18046-3

Release: Build_200428

Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improvements of the Automation
    • Support of tags whose lock functionality is limited to permanently lock all memory
    • Update of the ISO/IEC 29167-10 test sequence to comply with updates in ISO/IEC 19823-10

Release: Build_200703

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improved TID decoding.
  • Improved algorithm of the tag population analysis.
  • Improved accuracy of the pulse-width for SSB-ASK modulation.
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improved TID decoding.
  • Improved accuracy of the pulse-width for SSB-ASK modulation.
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Option to change the unit of the signal in the main graph from V to dBm.
  • Improved processing time
  • Improved tag response detection.
API
  • Added new examples

Release: Build_201030

Tag Performance Tester
  • New Frequency Sweep display metrics:
    • Transmitted Power (dBm)
    • Backscattered Power at Receiver (dBm)
    • Backscattered Signal Phase (deg)
    • Read Data
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Re-design of setting dialogues
  • Added Slot analysis as a new funtion of the the Communication Analysis
  • Improvement of the Tag Emulator
    • New error option “No reply” to force the TE to not respond to commands
Reader Performance Tester
  • User-definable step delay added
  • New sweep functions added:
    • Return Loss Sweep (requires the CISC Impedance Emulator)
    • Sensitivity monitoring over time
  • Option to combine multiple sweeps
API
  • Added Phyton examples

Release: Build_190121

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • The (calculated) path loss between the DUT and the antenna is considered in the results
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improved algorithm for the Reader Conformance check.
  • Improvements of the Communication Analysis
    • Lines in the Q-value development graph, indicate Query commands
    • QueryAdjust and QueryRep commands, which occur before the first Query, are not considered in the Q-value development graph
    • Improved algorithm for inventory and communication statistics

Release: Build_190520

Tag Performance Tester
  • Re-design of GUI elements and menu items
  • Improvement of the RX measurement (backscatter power) accuracy by up to 0.5 dB
  • Improved speed of the Top-down (Fine) sweep algorithm
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • Option to test all frequencies of the lower and/or upper band in a single sweep
    • Option to select a user defined modulation rate (BLF)
    • Option to export all results as pictures
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improve accuracy of T2 timing.
  • Support new revision of ISO/IEC 29167-10
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Increase of the maximum sampling frequency to 12.5 MHz, to increase the maximum real-time receiving bandwidth by factor of two
  • Re-design of the logic signal graph:
    • Overview graph added, in which the complete signal is shown
    • Zooming in main graph using the mouse wheel
  • Improved reader analysis by adding new result parameter: Data-0 and Data-1
Reader Performance Tester
  • The sensitivity results can be saved in an additional file format (XML)
  • New sweep type: Phase & BLF Sweep
  • Improved scaling of GUI elements, if the application window is resized
General
  • Improved tag response bit detector
  • User-definable IP address of the CISC RFID Xplorer

Release: Build_191011

Tag Performance Tester
  • New power sweep algorithm: Differential power sweep
  • Improvements of the ETSI 302 208 tag e.r.p measurement
    • Improved HTML report generator
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improvement of receiver tuning to reduce noise
General
  • Update of runtime menu items

Release: Build_180208

Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improved response detection at high Tari values
  • Decode responses for signals loaded from IQ files
  • New function to export IQ data as STM file
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improvement of continous signal streaming function
  • Option to Save/Load TE configuration settings to/from setting files
  • Improvement of the Tag Emulator
    • Support addtional states and commands
Reader Performance Tester
  • Improvement of the linearity compensation of the RFSM backscatter power over its dynamic range
  • Option to Save/Load TE configuration settings to/from setting files
API
  • Support of 64-bit targets
General
  • Updated warning and error messages

Release: Build_180601

Tag Performance Tester
  • Option to pause graph updates, while sweep is running
  • Re-design of command sequence selection in the Communication Settings (Advanced)
  • Assistent for generating Gen2 commands as User-defined command
Tag Conformance Tester
  • New option to modify the expected BLF, to improve the decoding if a response has a high BLF offset
  • Re-design of command sequence selection in the Communication Settings (Advanced)
  • Assistent for generating Gen2 commands as User-defined command
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improved command detection and decoding
  • Improvement of the Tag Emulator
    • Support of the ISO/IEC 29167-10 cryptographic suite. Fully or partially supported new commands: Challenge, Authenticate, ReadBuffer
    • Supports Read commands with a WordCount set to zero
Reader Performance Tester
  • The application can be opened to view results, also if no RFID Xplorer is connected
  • Update the success rate graph in run-time
  • New graph to display the measured reader power and the backscatter power over time
General
  • Option to select working directory

Release: Build_180627

Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improvements of the Automation
    • New option to apply mandatory BLF settings only
    • Update of the XML report. The number of passed, failed and inconclusive test results is written to the report header
    • Improved handling of tag replies with a strong link frequency offset

Release: Build_180920

Tag Performance Tester
  • Option to highlight the ETSI + FCC bands within the frequency sweep graph
  • Show additional information (ERP) of TX power in Reference Reader settings
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Re-design of the main graph:
    • Overview graph added, in which the complete signal is shown
    • Zooming in main graph using the mouse wheel
  • New option to trigger the Sniffer by an external signal on GPIO pin 2
  • Improved handling of graph updates while sniffing in case of detection of low PC performance
  • Improvement of the Tag Emulator
    • Supports of target states A/B. The user has an option to configure the Tag Emulator to ignore the parameter Target of the Query command
    • Supports Read commands with a WordCount set to zero
Reader Performance Tester
  • New comment field for sensitivity result plots
API
  • Support loading of *.xpl setting files into API XML converter

Release: Build_170515

Tag Performance Tester
  • Speed improvement of the inventory algorithm
  • Add option for contacted measurement. If the option is selected, the path loss and the calibration data are not considered in the results
  • Unused controls in advanced command settings are now disabled. Only the controls which are supported by the selected command are enabled
  • Change the location of the calibration file. Request user to select calibration file or start a new calibration before starting the first measurement.
  • Backscatter measurement: RBW set to 3 kHz, higher of the two sidebands used as result
  • Backscatter power intensity graph display improvement.
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Advanced formatting of tag responses
Reader Performance Tester
  • New graph: Success rate graph

Release: Build_170918

Tag Performance Tester
  • Receiver sensitivity improvement
  • Added additional command sequences
  • Added predefined setting files
  • New context menu function to enable/disable all plots of a graph
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Added additional command sequences
  • Added predefined setting files
Reader Performance Tester
  • New context menu function to enable/disable all plots of a graph
  • New function to obtain the sensitivity results from the average of multiple measurements
  • New sweep: BLF sweep

Release: Build_171003

Tag Conformance Tester
  • Improvements of the Automation
    • Update of the ISO/IEC 29167-10 test sequence to comply with updates of the protocol.
      • Support of CMAC Authentication for ISO/IEC 29167-10
      • New test sequence (RFID Tag Test_Gen2 DUT Configuration Utility) for automated DUT configuration.

Release: Build_160125

Tag Performance Tester
  • Improvement of calibration
  • Faster inventory of tag population
  • Introduction of a new tag performance metric: “Operating range”

Release: Build_160809

Tag Performance Tester
  • New result format: XML file
  • New function to calculate the average of multiple plots
  • New function to create tag radiation patterns out of multiple frequency sweeps measured at various angles
  • Saving of graphs as pictures and exporting data to Excel and clipboard
Tag Conformance Tester
  • New GUI with well-arranged menu bar to support easier handling
  • Option to save and load settings
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Extended with Tag Emulation function to emulate UHF RFID tags with user-defined behavior in order to analyze, verify and optimize RFID system installations or individual RFID readers
  • Improvement of the receiver sensitivity
  • Option to Save and Load System Settings
  • Function to export the content of the command list to the clipboard
  • Option to save graphs as pictures
Reader Performance Tester
  • First Release

Release: Build_161219

Tag Performance Tester
  • Support SSB-ASK and PR-ASK modulation
  • Auto saving of measurement results
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Support SSB-ASK and PR-ASK modulation
  • Improved Duty Cycle and Link Frequency measurement algorithm
  • Improved T1 and T2 timing measurements
Sniffer and Tag Emulator
  • Improvement of the tag response detectot and the response decoder
  • New result parameter: T4 link time
  • Extension with automated gain control (AGC) of the receiver
  • Improved response detector and response decoder
  • Improvement of the Tag Emulator
    • Support of the Lock command
    • Multiple Tags

Release: Build 150205

Tag Performance Tester
  • Major GUI re-design
    • Better overview of the settings, results and measurement flow
    • Easier handling of command settings
    • Graphs scaling with resizable application window
  • Option to save and load settings
  • Speed improvement of Frequency Sweep and Orientation Sweep
  • Support of Gen2V2 commands (Untraceable, Authenitcate, ReadBuffer, …)
Tag Conformance Tester
  • Support of Gen2V2 commands (Untraceable, Authenticate, ReadBuffer, …)
  • Support of the ISO/IEC 29167-10 (AES) Crypto Suite

Release: Build 151202

Sniffer
  • Major GUI re-design
    • Better overview of the settings and results
    • Easier handling
    • Better representation of command and response details
  • New function to analyze streamed records

Downloads of RAIN RFID Xplorer

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