MOJIX STAR 1000 User manual

System User Manual
January 2009
Mojix Incorporated
11075 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 350
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Web: www.mojix.com
Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Mojix STAR™1000

2
Legal Notices
Copyright 2009 Mojix, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
All content contained within this document, including text, graphics, logos, icons, images, and other materials, is
the exclusive property of Mojix or its content suppliers and is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The
compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement, and assembly) of all content within this document is the exclusive
property of Mojix and is also protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The content within this document may
be used as a resource. Any other use, including the reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication,
display, or performance, of the content on this website is strictly prohibited.
MOJIX, Mojix STAR, Mojix eNode, Mojix eGroup, and the Mojix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Mojix.
All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The trademarks and logos
contained in this document may not be used without the prior written consent of Mojix or their respective owners.
Portions, features and/or functionality of Mojix’s products are protected under Mojix patents, as well as patents pending.
This User Manual is provided as a reference for persons who are properly trained and qualified to install and/or
operate Mojix’s RFID products. Whereas Mojix makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and currency of its technical
documentation, Mojix cannot be responsible for errors that occur in this User Manual or for changes to Mojix’s
products that might render information in this Manual obsolete. For information regarding Mojix technical training, visit
Mojix’s website (www.Mojix.com) or contact Mojix at [email protected].
Improper handling or use of RF equipment can result in damage to property or injury to personnel.
FCC Compliance
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15
of the FCC Rules. Any change or modification to this product voids the user’s authority to operate per FCC Part 15
Subpart A. Section 15.21 regulations.
B

Mojix®STAR 1000 System User Manual
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LEGAL NOTICES ..........................................................................2
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................4
1. SYSTEM COMPONENTS ................................................................6
1.1. MOJIX ENODES: DISTRIBUTED TRANSMITTERS .........................................6
1.2. STAR RECEIVER: CENTRALIZED READ AND CONTROL POINT ..............................6
1.3. STAR INTERROGATION SPACES ......................................................7
1.4. MASTER CONTROLLER .............................................................7
1.5. SYSTEM TOPOLOGY ...............................................................7
2. STAR RECEIVER INSTALLATION ..........................................................9
2.1. STAR RECEIVER POSITIONING .......................................................9
2.2. STAR RECEIVER INSTALLATION......................................................10
2.3. STAR RECEIVER CABLING ..........................................................16
3. ENODE INSTALLATION ................................................................17
3.1. ENODE POSITIONING..............................................................17
3.2. ENODE CABLING .................................................................17
3.3. 4-PORT ENODE CABLING...........................................................18
4. EMUX INSTALLATION .................................................................19
4.1. ABOUT INSERTION LOSS...........................................................19
4.2. EMUX SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................19
5. MASTER CONTROLLER INSTALLATION ...................................................21
5.1. MASTER CONTROLLER (MCON) HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ............................21
5.2. MCON DEPLOYMENT OVERVIEW....................................................21
6. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION .............................................................22
6.1. NETWORK SETUP.................................................................22
6.2. GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
6.3. EMUX CALIBRATION ..............................................................28
APPENDIX A: LOCATION CONFIGURATION GUIDELINES ........................................29
APPENDIX B: DEPLOYMENT EXAMPLE ......................................................32
APPENDIX C: ADVANCED TROUBLESHOOTING................................................34
APPENDIX D: ENGINEERING INTERFACE - MOJO ..............................................37
APPENDIX E: MANUAL EMUX CALIBRATION ..................................................41
APPENDIX F: GLOSSARY ..................................................................43
APPENDIX G: INDEX ......................................................................46

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Introduction
In 2004, a team of advanced signal processing and deep space communications scientists and engineers led
by Dr. Ramin Sadr formed Mojix®Inc with the vision of applying the technical breakthroughs in deep space
communications to the commercial wireless infrastructure industry. The result is a commercial passive RFID reader
system with capabilities orders of magnitude beyond previous RFID reader offerings, and a new generation of RFID
system technology that eliminates the economic and technical barriers to large-scale, high-volume RFID deployment
to deliver on the full promise of RFID.
The Mojix family of products can be configured to
transmit and receive across the UHF band and can
operate in both the near and far fields which make
it possible for a single system to read tags at the
pallet, carton or item level. The UHF or ISM band as
it is commonly referred to, is partially allocated for
public use and is heavily utilized by many different
devices and applications which make operating in
this spectrum especially challenging.
The STAR Receiver is powered directly by its power
supply and in turn powers each Mojix eNode™.
Each eNode is connected to the STAR by coaxial
cable and receives supply voltage, command and
control signals, and baseband RF over this medium.
The STAR Receiver is typically connected to the
enterprise via the LAN or an optional WLAN.
An eNode, as depicted in Figure 1, creates and is
associated with a single interrogation space, which
is individually addressed and controlled by the STAR
Receiver. eNodes are physically positioned according
to business process needs to provide optimal performance in exciting Gen2 RFID tags. The STAR Receiver is ordinarily
positioned with a vantage point to all eNodes in the system — this can be line of sight (LOS) or non-line of sight (NLOS)
but always within the rated Rx range.
This document is intended to assist developers integrate Mojix systems. Please also see Mojix STAR 1000 User Guide
for assistance deploying Mojix systems.
STAR
Receiver
Active
Interrogation
Space
Warehouse
Interrogation
Space
Distribution
Center
Interrogation Space
Retail
Backroom
Interrogation
Space
Retail Sales
Floor
Figure 1: Mojix STAR System Overview
One Mojix STAR
covers interrogation
spaces for all eNodes
within a 3-D coverage
area, managing single
or multiple business
processes.

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Mojix STAR System Specifications
MOJIX STAR Receiver Array Technical Specifications
Operating Frequency UHF Band, 902-928 MHz, FHSS
Tag Protocols EPC Gen2
Dimensions STAR
reader
AIA (30 3/8)in L x (10 7/8)in Wx (4 3/4)
in H
77 cm L x 27.6 cm W x 12 cm H
Weight STAR reader 12.6 lb 5.7 Kg
Power Supply 220/110 VAC
Power consumption 200 Watts operational, 100 Watts in
standby
Dimension Power
supply
Power supply 11in L x 18in W x (2 5/8)
in H
28 cm L x 45.7 cm W x 6.6 cm H
Weight Power supply 11.4 lb 5.2 Kg
External RF Connector N type Female
External I/O DB-15 (8 Dry relay contacts 4in / 4 out)
Temperature Operating: -25° to +50° C (+32° to
+122° F)
Storage: -40° to +70° C (-4° to +158° F)
Humidity 5-95% non-condensing
Indicators LED's for power, standby and transmit
Compliance Regulatory: FCC Part15
EPC Class 1 Gen2
Firmware Upgrade Remotely upgradeable
Application User
Interface
HTTP
IP Addressing – STAR
reader
Static
Network Interface Ethernet, Base-T, RJ-45 Interface
Mojix STAR Master Controller Technical Specifications
Network Interface Ethernet 10/100/1000 Base-T
Operating System Linux
Logical interface TCP/IP Interface
HTTP
Application Programming Interface
IP Addressing Static and Dynamic
Mojix eNode Technical Specification
Operating Frequency UHF Band, 902-928 MHz, FHSS
Dimensions eNode 12in L x 12in W x 2.5in H ;
30.5 cm L x 30.5 cm Wx 6.35 cm H
Weight eNode 4.8 lb 2.1 Kg
Humidity 5-95% non-condensing
Compliance Regulatory: FCC Part15
EPC Class 1 Gen 2
Indicators LED’s for Power, Calibration and Transmit
External I/O TWO TNC connectors for RF & one DB-9
for external sensors
Transmit power Per FCC Part 15
Transmit power: 1 Watt (30 dBm)
Maximum
Antenna: 6 dBi integrated patch antenna
Power supply Powered through coaxial cable (24 volts
DC)
eNode Addressing Static at Factory
Warranty 1 year from date of shipment
Extended Warranty Available
Mojix eNode Multiplexer Specifications
Parameter Specification
Signals Present at Input/Output DC, RF and Control
RF Frequency Range 902-928 MHz
RF Signal Level (Max.) +20 dBm (output)
Input Connector TNC
Output Connector 4 TNC’s
Input Impedance 50 Ohm
DC Input 24 V
DC Input Connector Male Power Jack
950110126000000896
950110126000001107

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1. System Components
A Mojix STAR system is a single network element at the enterprise edge. Based on Mojix’s innovative distributed
architecture, a single system consists of one or more STAR receivers managing up to 512 low-cost Mojix eNode
transmitters. Mojix eNodes provide energy to all passive RFID tags within their specified interrogation spaces, while
the centralized, high-sensitivity Mojix STAR receiver reads the resulting tag signals from across the system’s potentially
vast coverage area - up to 250,000 sq. feet.
1.1. Mojix eNodes: Distributed Transmitters
Each Mojix eNode excites all passive RFID tags within its designated interrogation space and can be fixed, wireless or
handheld, and can be deployed as needed to shape discrete, overlapping or contiguous interrogation spaces, as well as
to create virtual fences for securing tagged items.
Mojix eNodes are reliable, autonomously operated RF repeaters designed to excite all EPC UHF Gen2 RFID tags within
their designated interrogation spaces with an excite range – depending on the tag being used - of over 30 feet and a
coverage area of more than 2,500 square feet. Up to 512 eNodes are controlled by a single Mojix STAR Receiver, able
to manage a mixed population of single and multi-port eNodes, as well as sensors in support of numerous concurrent
business processes.
1.2. STAR Receiver: Centralized Read and Control point
The STAR Receiver functions as a single point of data collection, provisioning, command and control, and integration
with enterprise systems. With the ability to detect extremely faint signals and free from conventional RFID’s line-
of-sight restrictions, the STAR receiver works in concert with its satellite eNodes to support one or many business
processes across the entire coverage. The STAR-1000 Receiver contains a 1 x 4 array assembly, and digital and RF
processing assemblies. The STAR Receiver utilizes classical, fully active, phased array antennas for enabling the
visibility into the space dimension. The smart array approach adopted by Mojix is based fully on digital processing
techniques, thereby providing very high resolution for estimation of direction of arrival of the signal of interest (SOI),
enabling the system to provide accurate location information on the tag position in the three dimensional Euclidean
space. The STAR Receiver hardware overview is shown in the following figure:
a) RF / IF sub system
b) Digital Subsystem – including ADC, DAC
c) Digital Signal Processing subsystem
d) Ethernet interface
Figure 2: STAR Receiver Hardware overview

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1.3. STAR interrogation spaces
Fixed or mobile, STAR interrogation spaces are business process-specific and can be optimized for tag density or
coverage. Each individually controlled interrogation space is created by the deployment of single or multiple eNodes
and is dynamically sized by the STAR system, which controls each node’s power output.
1.4. Master Controller
The STAR-1000 STAR Receiver signal processing platform is linked to an edge appliance called a Master Controller
(MCON), and communicates via a standard Ethernet 10BaseT (RJ45)-connector. The MCON can drive an arbitrary
number of STAR-1000 systems and includes interfaces to the enterprise middleware. In a larger enterprise deployment,
multiple STAR domains would exist in various locations and would require one or more controllers, which are generic,
Linux based edge appliances.
1.5. System Topology
Figure 3 illustrates the components of the STAR system topology. These items are as follows:
a) STAR Receiver
b) STAR Power Supply
c) eNodes – single or 4-port
d) Master Controller
e) LAN
Tx/Power/Control
Tx/Power/Control
Array
Receiver
LAN
Master
Controller
Sensor/Alarms
Power
Supply
eNodes
eNodes
WAN
Internet
Corporate
Internet
Figure 3: STAR System Topology
Figure 4 illustrates a total system topology with cabling, showing the following elements:
1. STAR Receiver
2. eNodes
3. eNodes with DC-Block & 50 Ohm Termination
4. eMux
5. Sensor
6. MCON

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From the figure, the STAR RF output is cabled to the four (4) eNodes in a daisy chain configuration, followed by an
eMux. In this example only two out of the four available eMux outputs are use to further connect to two strings of
daisy chained eNodes. Lastly, there are the two eNodes at the end of each chain with a 50 Ohm termination.
Figure 4: Cabling Overview – STAR, eNode and eMux
In what follows the Mojix STAR system will described, including installation, and operational guidelines. Also described
will include the user interfaces, as well as hardware configuration procedures.
The required equipment for installation of the STAR System includes:
1 Master Controller (MCON)
2 STAR Receiver
3 STAR Power Supply
4 Power supply cable - Length: 20 ft Max.
5 eNodes
6 eMux (optional)
7 eMux Power Supply (optional)
8 Coaxial Cable – Connecting the STAR to an eNode or eMux
9 Coaxial Cables – Connecting eNodes to eNodes or eMuxes
10 STAR Receiver Mounting Hardware (post mount kit)
11 eNode Mounting Hardware
12 eMux Mounting Hardware (optional)
13 Ethernet Cable

Mojix®STAR 1000 System User Manual
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2. STAR Receiver Installation
2.1. STAR Receiver Positioning
Figure 5 illustrates the STAR Receiver and the respective view angle. The following list indicates the key environmental
considerations for installing the unit.
a) Building Height
b) Obstructions such as racking, shelves, walls, and staged product
c) AC power drops
d) Network drops
e) Targeted interrogation spaces
f) Orientation and pointing of the unit with respect to the interrogation spaces
The view angle of the STAR receive array is:
120 degrees (+/- 60 deg) in the X direction (horizontal)†
90 degrees (+/- 45 deg) in the Y direction (vertical)†
The read range — i.e. the furthest point that the interrogation space can from the reader is approximately 600 feet.
Figure 5: STAR Positioning Guidelines

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2.2. STAR Receiver Installation
The STAR is mechanically designed for post and wall mounting. Figure 6, illustrates the assembly drawing for installing
the unit on a post (i.e. installation kit is provided)
From the figure the mounting bracket is installed directly on the STAR Receiver back plate. Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8,
and Figure 9 show the required hardware, installation steps and final assembled and installed unit. Table 2 and Table 3
details the required hardware, which is included with shipping.
Installation instructions:
1. Product installation shall be conducted by a qualified installer. The appropriate local engineer or architect shall
be consulted to ensure the wall and/or pole mount is capable of safely supporting up to 4 times the weight of
the product.
2. Should the customer select to mount the STAR unit to a flat surface (e.g. wall), holes are provided in the main
mounting bracket to accommodate a family of hardware (customer supplied).
3. When mounting STAR unit to a flat surface, a minimum of 4 fasteners are recommended, though the exact
type is a function of the wall material and construction. Best industry practice is recommended.
a. For example: toggle bolts or Molly bolts would be the first choice on hollow walls. Lead lag shields would
be recommended on solid (cast) concrete or brick. Nails are not recommended, but could be used only if
the wood material of the wall was at least 1.5” thick.
4. The recommended mounting procedure would be as provided before for mounting to a mast, pole, pipe or
post. When securing the unit to a flat surface, it is recommended that the two end brackets be mounted to the
STAR Receiver.
5. The main bracket is mounted and (leveled if desired) to the wall using one of the techniques described
above. The STAR Receiver is then secured to the main bracket using the 1/4-20 hex bolts, washers and nuts
as illustrated in the same drawing as for mast mounting, though it is recommended that the pivot bolts be
secured first, and then the arc positioning hardware secured.
Tightening hardware, be it machine screws in Molly and Toggle bolts, Drywall Screws, 1/4-20 screws or the U-Bolts
is to be done with the appropriate tool: screwdriver or wrench. The hardware is to be “tight” to best construction
standards. For those that may have a torque wrench, the following values are recommended:
Screws: nominal 3 ft-lb +/- .5
1/4-20 hardware: 6 ft-lb +/- .5
U-Bolts: 20 ft-lb +/- 1