caenrfid Easy2log A927ZET Technical document

A927ZET
UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag with external probe
Technical Information Manual
Revision n. 02
27/03/2013

Scope of Manual
The goal of this manual is to provide the basic information to work with the A927ZET UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag with
external probe.
Change Document Record
Date
Revision
Changes
Pages
04 Mar 2011
01
Initial release.
-
27 Mar 2013
02
Removed information about A927ZH Humidity logger UHF semi-
passive tag
7
Added information on CAEN RFID Development Kit
7
Changed A927ZET photo
1, 7
Modified § General Information paragraph
7
Modified Ordering Options
8
Modified § Tab. 4.1: A927ZET Technical Specifications
37
Added EN 12830 Declaration of Conformity
44
Added warning
37
Symbols, abbreviated terms and notation
DR
Divide ratio
FT
Frequency tolerance
TRcal
Tag-to-Interrogator calibration symbol
XXXXb
Binary notation
XXXXh
Hexadecimal notation
Tari
Reference time interval for a data-0 in Interrogator-to-Tag signaling. The mnemonic “Tari” derives from the ISO/IEC
18000-6 (part A) specification, in which Tari is an abbreviation for Type A Reference Interval.
CRC
Cyclic Redundancy Check
RFID
Radio-Frequency IDentification
RFU
Reserved for Future Use
Word
16 bit
Reference Document
EPCglobal: EPC Radio-Frequency Identity Protocols Class-1 Generation-2 UHF RFID Protocol for
Communications at 860 MHz –960 MHz, Version 1.2.0 (October 23, 2008).
G.S.D. s.r.l. - Report CE mark –A927Z - Temperature logger UHF semi-passive tag - Test report n. 29346A
Rev.01 - 11 February 2010
A927Z EN12830 Test Report –1 March 2010
TesLab s.r.l. - Environmental Test Report - A927Z - Temperature logger UHF semi-passive tag -ref. TesLab
09B204A –10 December 2009

CAEN RFID srl,
Via Vetraia, 11 55049 Viareggio (LU) - ITALY
Tel. [phone] Fax [phone]
[email protected]
www.caenrfid.com
©CAEN RFID srl –2013
Disclaimer
No part of this manual may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of CAEN RFID.
The information contained herein has been carefully checked and is believed to be accurate; however, no responsibility
is assumed for inaccuracies. CAEN RFID reserves the right to modify its products specifications without giving any
notice; for up to date information please visit www.caenrfid.com.

Index…
Scope of Manual...........................................................................................................................................................................2
Change Document Record............................................................................................................................................................2
Symbols, abbreviated terms and notation ...................................................................................................................................2
Reference Document....................................................................................................................................................................2
Index…...........................................................................................................................................................................................4
List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................................................5
List of Tables..................................................................................................................................................................................5
1Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................6
General Information.....................................................................................................................................................................7
Ordering Options..........................................................................................................................................................................8
Accessories ...................................................................................................................................................................................8
Installation Notice ........................................................................................................................................................................9
2A927ZET Functional Description ........................................................................................................................................10
Main Features.............................................................................................................................................................................11
Application.....................................................................................................................................................................11
Communication Protocol Features ................................................................................................................................11
Reading Performances...................................................................................................................................................12
On board Temperature Sensor ......................................................................................................................................12
Battery ...........................................................................................................................................................................12
Sampling operating Modes.........................................................................................................................................................13
Storing operating Modes............................................................................................................................................................14
Data Logging Area Allocation.........................................................................................................................................14
Battery measurement and behaviour ........................................................................................................................................15
3A927ZET Memory Description ...........................................................................................................................................16
Address space.............................................................................................................................................................................17
Reserved Memory ......................................................................................................................................................................19
EPC Memory...............................................................................................................................................................................19
EPC TAG Encoding..........................................................................................................................................................20
TID Memory................................................................................................................................................................................20
Company ID....................................................................................................................................................................20
SAM Pointer...................................................................................................................................................................21
A927ZET Firmware release (FW)....................................................................................................................................22
A927ZET Serial Number .................................................................................................................................................22
User Memory..............................................................................................................................................................................23
A927ZET NoS description...............................................................................................................................................25
A927ZET SAM Entry description ....................................................................................................................................25
A927ZET Sensor Characteristics Description..................................................................................................................26
Sensor Attribute/Type .......................................................................................................................................26
Resolution/Chemical Substance ........................................................................................................................26
Precision/Data Type ..........................................................................................................................................27
Offset.................................................................................................................................................................27
Low Limit ...........................................................................................................................................................27
High Limit ..........................................................................................................................................................28
A927ZET Sensor Configuration Description ...................................................................................................................29
Status.................................................................................................................................................................29
Control...............................................................................................................................................................30
Start Time ..........................................................................................................................................................31
Samples .............................................................................................................................................................31
Sample Time ......................................................................................................................................................32
High Threshold / Low Threshold........................................................................................................................32
Last Sampled Value ...........................................................................................................................................33
Last Sampled Address........................................................................................................................................33
A927ZET Data Logging area description ........................................................................................................................34
Registers use example ................................................................................................................................................................35
4A927ZET Specification ....................................................................................................................................................... 36
Technical Specifications Table ....................................................................................................................................................37
Air Link Protocol Characteristic ..................................................................................................................................................38
Physical Layer.................................................................................................................................................................38
Typical Characteristics ................................................................................................................................................................39
A927ZET Battery Life......................................................................................................................................................39
Response Time...............................................................................................................................................................39

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
5
Accuracy.........................................................................................................................................................................40
Theoretical read range...................................................................................................................................................40
5A927ZET Regulatory Compliance .......................................................................................................................................41
FCC Compliance..........................................................................................................................................................................42
CE Compliance............................................................................................................................................................................42
EN 12830 Compliance.................................................................................................................................................................42
Enclosure degree of protection ..................................................................................................................................................42
RoHS EU Directive.......................................................................................................................................................................42
CE Declaration of Conformity .....................................................................................................................................................43
EN 12830 Declaration of Conformity..........................................................................................................................................44
EN 12830 Compliance Matrix ........................................................................................................................................45
List of Figures
Fig. 1.1: A927ZET UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag with external probe .....................................................................................................7
Fig. 1.2: A927Z UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag..........................................................................................................................................7
Fig. 1.3: A927ZET Technical drawings......................................................................................................................................................9
Fig. 1.4: A927ZET External probe.............................................................................................................................................................9
Fig. 2.1: A927ZET Sampling Operating Modes.......................................................................................................................................13
Fig. 3.1: A927ZET High/Low Threshold monitoring ...............................................................................................................................33
Fig. 4.1: A927ZET Battery life (typ.) .......................................................................................................................................................39
Fig. 4.2: A927ZET Response Time ..........................................................................................................................................................39
Fig. 4.3: Temperature error vs Temperature.........................................................................................................................................40
Fig. 4.4: Accuracy at 25°C ......................................................................................................................................................................40
Fig. 4.5: A927ZET Theoretical read range at 2W ERP.............................................................................................................................40
List of Tables
Tab. 2.1: Sampling Operating Modes ....................................................................................................................................................13
Tab. 2.2: Storing Operating Modes........................................................................................................................................................14
Tab. 2.3: Data Logging Area Allocation in the different storing modes .................................................................................................14
Tab. 3.1: Memory banks........................................................................................................................................................................17
Tab. 3.2: Memory Bank Configuration...................................................................................................................................................18
Tab. 3.3: Bank 00 –Reserved Memory ..................................................................................................................................................19
Tab. 3.4: Bank 01 –EPC Memory...........................................................................................................................................................19
Tab. 3.5: Bank 10 –TID Memory ...........................................................................................................................................................20
Tab. 3.6: SAM Pointer and SAM Entry link chain ...................................................................................................................................21
Tab. 3.7: Bank 11 –USER Memory ........................................................................................................................................................24
Tab. 3.8: Temperature data format.......................................................................................................................................................34
Tab. 3.9: Battery data format ................................................................................................................................................................34
Tab. 4.1: A927ZET Technical Specifications ...........................................................................................................................................37

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
6
1Introduction
This Chapter gives general information about the A927ZET UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag. It
contains these topics:
General Information
Ordering
Accessories
Installation Notice

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
7
General Information
CAEN RFID easy2log©A927ZET is a low cost, semi-passive UHF Logger tag that allows to monitor temperature sensitive
products like perishable foods and pharmaceuticals, during transportation and storage.
The combination of the high resolution sensor, the large memory size and the standard RFID interface permits to
realize effective track and trace solutions for the cold-chain.
The A927ZET can be used with standard UHF RFID readers available on the market without requiring any additional
equipment thanks to its compatibility with the EPCGlobal C1G2 and ISO18000-6C standards.
The tag has both an internal and an external temperature sensor, each one can be configured to store temperature
samples in intervals from 8 second to 18 hours in the internal memory that can contain up to 4,096 samples per sensor.
For each sensor the user can define alarms for high and low temperature thresholds for an accurate control of the
temperature excursions.
The rugged enclosure of this logger make it the perfect choice for the cold-chain monitoring in harsh environment or in
presence of strong vibration while the external sensor probe allows to monitor the internal and the external
temperature of a box.
The A927ZET RFID logger can be used for multiple shipments thanks to the long battery life and the reset function thus
allowing to reduce the total cost of the solution and anticipate the ROI.
Fig. 1.1: A927ZET UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag with external probe
In addition to the A927ZET, the easy2log©family also includes:
Mod. A927Z, a semipassive tag of the easy2log©Family, for single temperature measurement (Fig. 1.2).
Fig. 1.2: A927Z UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag
The A927Z tag is included in all our RFID Reader Development Kits.
RFID Reader Development Kits allow to get acquainted with reader performances, from simple testing of RFID features
to full implementation of middleware and custom applications.
These Kits include Reader, Antenna, Tags, Software, Documentation and Cabling. Everything you need to get started on
UHF RFID.
Click here for more info on RFID Reader Development Kits.

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
8
Ordering Options
Code
Description
Tag
WA927ZETAAAA
A927ZET - Temperature logger with external probe UHF semi-passive
tag (EPC C1G2) Std
WA927ZAAAAAA
A927Z - Temperature logger UHF semi-passive tag (EPC C1G2) Std
Development
Kit
WR4300PDKAAA
R4300 ION Demo KIT
WR4300PDKGPR
R4300 GPRS ION KIT
WA828BTXKITA
A828BT - Bundle KIT ETSI Version
WR1260IDKAAA
WR1260I Slate KIT
WR1230CBDKEU
R1230CBDK - Development kit with Quark reader, antenna, tags
WA941DKEUXAA
A941DKEU - Development kit with A941 ETSI IP65 reader, antenna,
cable, demo software and demo tags
WA941DKUSXAA
A941DKUS - Development kit with A941 FCC IP65 reader, antenna,
cable, demo software and demo tags
WA528DKEUXAA
A528DKEU - Development kit with A528 reader, antenna, cable, demo
software and demo tags (ETSI)
WA528DKUSXAA
A528DKUS - Development kit with A528 reader, antenna, cable, demo
software and demo tags (FCC)
Accessories
Check for the supplied accessories below:
No. 2 small screws

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
9
Installation Notice
The A927ZET can be easily fixed using the 2 screws supplied. All measurements are in mm.
Fig. 1.3: A927ZET Technical drawings
Fig. 1.4: A927ZET External probe

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
10
2A927ZET
Functional Description
This Chapter introduces the A927ZET UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag. It contains these topics:
Main Features
Sampling operating Modes
Storing operating Modes
Battery measurement and behaviour

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
11
Main Features
EPC C1G2 (ISO18000-6C) Compatible
Long range solution
3 years battery life
Battery status monitor
Temperature range: from -30°C to +70°C
Excellent accuracy: ±0.1°C (typ)
No calibration required
Programmable sampling time
Programmable high/low temperature limit
8000 samples (16kbyte) Logging Memory
Time-stamps storage
Limit Violation Flags
Continuous / Event logging
Application
Temperature recording during transport, storage and distribution of temperature sensitive products:
Fresh food (fruit, vegetables)
Seafood
Meat and poultry
Milk-based products
Frozen food
Chemical/pharmaceutical products
Vaccine cold chain
Communication Protocol Features
Compatible with EPC C1G2 (ISO18000-6C) protocol
Reader to Tag link: DSB-ASK, SSB-ASK, PR-ASK 40 Kbit/s
Tag To Reader link: FM0 40Kbit/s, Miller M=4 250/256 KHz
512 bit Reserved Memory
512 bit EPC Memory
208 bit TID Memory
17Kbyte USER Memory
Frequency range: 860 MHz ÷ 930 MHz

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
12
Reading Performances
10m in air (2.5m on metal) @ 2W ERP
Data Logging Download Time: 25 sec (8K samples)
On board Temperature Sensor
Temperature range: from -20°C to +70°C
Resolution: 16 bit
Accuracy from -30°C to +70°C:
Typ: ±0.1°C
Max: ±0.75°C
Minimum Sampling Time: 8 seconds
Maximum Sampling Time: 18 hours
Logging Memory Size: 8192 samples
Battery
3 years battery life(
1
)
Battery status monitor (±0.1V accuracy over 2V-3.6V)
Minimum Sampling Time: 8 seconds
Maximum Sampling Time: 18 hours
Logging memory size: 256 samples
1
The activation electrical field for the tag is 0.5V/m in the range from 800MHz up to 1GHz. Users must avoid tags exposure to such an electrical field
value for long time since it may seriously reduce battery life.

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
13
Sampling operating Modes
A927ZET supports three programmable Sampling Operating modes:
Sampling Off. Tag is working as normal ISO180006C tag. Previous logging results are readable from memory
(Control register bit L=0).
Continuous mode. Tag is continuously logging the measured value with interval defined by Sample Time
register. All measured data is saved into memory. If desired, High or Low limit monitoring (LHM and LLM bits of
control register) can also be switched on. Violation of limits will raise an alert so that it can be discovered
quickly without the need of reading the whole logged memory (Control register bit L=1, bit M=0).
Event mode. Tag is continuously measuring the sensor value with an interval defined by Sample Time register. If
this value is violating either lower or higher limit, the value will be logged (Control register bit L=1, bit M=1).
L
Sensor monitoring activated
M
Mode
Sampling Mode
0
X
Sampling Off
1
0
Continuous Mode
1
1
Event Mode
Tab. 2.1: Sampling Operating Modes
Fig. 2.1: A927ZET Sampling Operating Modes

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
14
Storing operating Modes
In Continuous and Event mode, the Tag continuously measures the sensor value. When the sensor value must be
stored, A927ZET can be programmed to work in four different operating modes:
Sensor Data only. Tag stores only the sensor data (Control register bit D = 1, bit TL =0).
Time-stamped Data. Tag stores the sensor data and the corresponding time-stamp (Control register bit D= 1, bit
TL=1).
Time-stamp only. Tag stores only the time-stamps data (Control register bit D = 0, bit TL =1).
No storage. (Control register bit D = 0, bit TL =0).
Sensor Data
Time-stamp
D
Data logging activated
TL
Time-stamp activated
stored
stored
1
1
stored
not stored
1
0
not stored
stored
0
1
not stored
not stored
0
0
Tab. 2.2: Storing Operating Modes
Data Logging Area Allocation
The following figure shows the data allocation used in the different storing modes described above:
1A0h
Sensor Data n+3
Sensor Data Only
190h
Sensor Data n+2
180h
Sensor Data n+1
170h
Sensor Data n
1E0h
Sensor Data n+1
1D0h
Time [15:00] n+1
1C0h
Time [31:16] n+1
Time-stamped Data
1B0h
0000h
1A0h
Sensor Data n
190h
Time [15:00] n
180h
Time [31:16] n
170h
0000h
1A0h
Time [15:00] n+1
Time-stamp only
190h
Time [31:16] n+1
180h
Time [15:00] n
170h
Time [31:16] n
Tab. 2.3: Data Logging Area Allocation in the different storing modes

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
15
Battery measurement and behaviour
There are several options to verify the battery status.
To verify if the battery level is low, just read the failure code in the control register: the code 7 identifies a Battery Low
Status (<2 V).
To verify the level of the battery, you have to enable the battery logging, and then to read the last sample value.
If you want to monitor the battery behaviour (for example during thermal stress), enable the battery logging with both
continuous sampling mode and sensor data (or time-stamped data) storing mode: with this configuration the tag is
continuously logging the measured data (with the defined interval). The tag stores the sensor data and you have a
complete history of the battery behaviour.

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
16
3A927ZET
Memory Description
This Chapter describes the memory map of A927ZET UHF Semi-Passive Logger Tag. It
contains these topics:
Address space
Reserved Memory
EPC Memory
TID Memory
User Memory
Registers use example

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
17
Address space
The general memory
2
layout of the A927ZET tag agrees to the EPCglobal C1G2 specification (see § [RD1]). The tag
memory is logically subdivided into four distinct banks. Each bank is organized into 16-bit words.
Name
Bank
Size
User Memory
11b
17522 byte
TID (Tag-identification Data)
10b
208 bit
EPC (Electronic Product Code)
01b
512 bit
Reserved Memory
00b
512 bit
Tab. 3.1: Memory banks
2
The figures describing the A927ZET memory bank configuration show the Memory bank bit address (not restricted to word boundaries). The
register or memory location detailed descriptions show the Memory bank word address (restricted to word boundaries).

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
18
22390h
2239Fh
…
User area
…
213A0h
213AFh
21390h
2139Fh
…
Battery data logging
area
…
213A0h
213AFh
20390h
Battery sensor
configuration
2039Fh
…
…
20300h
2030Fh
202F0h
202FFh
…
Battery sensor
characteristics
…
C0h
A927ZET Serial Number
CFh
202A0h
202AFh
...
20290h
2029Fh
…
Temperature data
logging area (ext)
…
Bank 11
User
50h
A927ZET Serial Number
5Fh
102A0h
102AFh
40h
FW release
4Fh
10290h
Temperature sensor
configuration (ext)
1029Fh
30h
SAM Pointer
3Fh
…
…
Bank 10
TID
208 bit
20h
SAM Pointer
2Fh
10200h
1020Fh
10h
Company ID
1Fh
101F0h
101FFh
00h
Company ID
0Fh
…
Temperature sensor
characteristics (ext)
…
Bank 01
EPC
101A0h
101AFh
512 bit
01F0 h
EPC [15:0]
01FFh
10190h
1019Fh
...
…
Temperature data
logging area (int)
…
Bank 00
Reserved
1A0h
1AFh
20h
EPC [N:N-15]
2Fh
190h
Temperature sensor
configuration (int)
19Fh
512 bit
10h
PC [15:00]
1Fh
…
…
00h
CRC-16 [15:00]
0Fh
100h
10Fh
F0h
Temperature sensor
characteristics (int)
FFh
01F0h
...
01FFh
…
…
A0h
AFh
50h
User Area
5Fh
90h
Battery SAM Entry
9Fh
40h
Reserved
4Fh
…
…
30h
Access Passwd [15:00]
3Fh
70h
7Fh
20h
Access Passwd [31:16]
2Fh
60h
6Fh
10h
Kill Passwd [15:00]
1Fh
…
Temperature SAM
Entry (ext)
…
00h
Kill Passwd [31:16]
0Fh
40h
4Fh
30h
3Fh
…
Temperature SAM
Entry (int)
…
10h
1Fh
00h
NoS
0Fh
Tab. 3.2: Memory Bank Configuration

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
19
Reserved Memory
This bank contains the 32 bit Kill password and the 32 bit Access password according to the EPC Class 1 Gen 2 standard
plus an User memory area of 432 bit.
Initial Data
01F0h
…
01FFh
...
...
all 0000h
50h
User area
5Fh
40h
Reserved
4Fh
0000h
30h
Access Passwd [15:00]
3Fh
0000h
20h
Access Passwd [31:16]
2Fh
0000h
10h
Kill Passwd [15:00]
1Fh
0000h
00h
Kill Passwd [31:16]
0Fh
0000h
Tab. 3.3: Bank 00 –Reserved Memory
EPC Memory
This bank contains a CRC-16 at memory address 00h to 0Fh, a Protocol-Control (PC) at memory address 10h to 1Fh (PC
initial value: 3000h), and the EPC code.
01F0h
Zero Fill Area
01FFh
80h
8Fh
70h
EPC Tag Encoding
7Fh
…
20h
EPC Tag Encoding
2Fh
10h
PC [15:00]
1Fh
00h
CRC-16 [15:00]
0Fh
Tab. 3.4: Bank 01 –EPC Memory

A927ZET Technical Information Manual
20
EPC TAG Encoding
EPC TAG Encoding [95:00]
EPC
Bank:01b
Word addr: 2h
R/W
95
88
87
80
Year [15:00]
79
72
71
64
Mount [7:0]
Day [7:0]
63
56
55
48
A927ZET Serial Number [15:00]
47
40
39
32
0000h
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
0000h
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0h
Ch
Ah
Eh
TID Memory
TID Memory bank contains:
Company ID.
SAM Pointer: it allows to access to Sensor Address Map (SAM), which includes the information about the
onboard sensor number and allocated memory area for each sensor.
A927ZET Firmware (FW) release.
A927ZET Serial Number.
C0h
A927ZET Serial Number
CFh
…
50h
A927ZET Serial Number
5Fh
40h
FW release
4Fh
30h
SAM Pointer [15:00]
3Fh
20h
SAM Pointer [31:16]
2Fh
10h
Company ID [15:00]
1Fh
00h
Company ID [31:16]
0Fh
Tab. 3.5: Bank 10 –TID Memory
Company ID
Company ID [31:00]
TID
Bank:10b
Word addr: 0h
R only
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
0h
0h
0h
0h
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
5h
3h
5h
8h