RTscan RT211 Quick setup guide

Integration Guide
RT211
OEM Scan Engine
Integration Guide

Integration Guide
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
Overview.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Illumination..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Aimer................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 1
Chapter 2 Installation........................................................................................................................................................................................2
General Requirements.................................................................................................................................................................................... 2
ESD.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Dust and Dirt.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Thermal Considerations............................................................................................................................................................................2
Installation Orientation............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Optics................................................................................................................................................................................................................3
Window Placement....................................................................................................................................................................................3
Window Material and Color...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Scratch Resistance and Coating................................................................................................................................................................ 4
Window Size...............................................................................................................................................................................................4
Ambient Light.............................................................................................................................................................................................6
Eye Safety................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Mounting.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Front View (unit: mm)...............................................................................................................................................................................7
Side View (unit: mm).................................................................................................................................................................................7
Top View (unit: mm)................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
Chapter 3 Electrical Specifications................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Power Supply...................................................................................................................................................................................................9
Ripple Noise................................................................................................................................................................................................9
DC Characteristics........................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Operating Voltage...................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
Operating Current......................................................................................................................................................................................9
Power sequencing......................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 4 Interfaces........................................................................................................................................................................................11

Integration Guide
Host Interface Connector..............................................................................................................................................................................11
Dimensions of the Host Interface Connector (unit: mm)..................................................................................................................... 12
FFC Cable (unit: mm)...............................................................................................................................................................................13
Communication Interfaces........................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Control Interfaces..........................................................................................................................................................................................15
Reset......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Trigger...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Beeper.......................................................................................................................................................................................................16
Good Read LED........................................................................................................................................................................................ 17
Chapter 5 Development Tools.......................................................................................................................................................................18
EVK................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Chapter 1 Introduction
1
Integration Guide
Overview
T M
The RT211 OEM scan engines (hereinafter referred to as “the RT211” or “the engine”), armed with a
computerized image recognition system, bring about a new era of 2D barcode scan engines.
The RT211’s 2D barcode decoder chip ingeniously blends technology and advanced chip design &
manufacturing, which significantly simplifies application design and delivers superior performance and solid
reliability with low power consumption.
The RT211 supports the following barcode symbologies:
1D: EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, ISSN, ISBN, Codabar, Code 128 (including FNC1, FNC2 and
FNC3), Code 93, ITF-6, ITF-14, Interleaved 2 of 5, Industrial 2 of 5, Standard 2 of 5, Matrix 2 of 5, GS1
Databar (RSS-Expand, RSS-Limited, RSS-14), Code 39, Code 11, MSI-Plessey, Plessey.
2D: PDF 417, QR Code (QR1, QR2, Micro QR), Data Matrix, Chinese Sensible Code.
T M
Illumination
The RT211 has a white LED for supplementary lighting. The illumination can be programmed On or Off.
Aimer
The RT211 has a view finder that produces a red aiming pattern to help the user to easily position the target
barcode within the engine’s field of view to increase scan efficiency. The aiming pattern can be turned On or
Off. It is advisable to turn it on when scanning barcodes.

Chapter 1 Introduction
2
Integration Guide
General Requirements
ESD
ESD protection has been taken into account when designing the RT211 and the engine is shipped in ESD safe
packaging. Always exercise care when handling the engine outside its package. Be sure grounding wrist
straps and properly grounded work areas are used.
Dust and Dirt
The RT211 must be sufficiently enclosed to prevent dust particles from gathering on the imager, lens and circuit
board. Dust and other external contaminants will eventually degrade the engine’s performance.
Thermal Considerations
Electronic components in the RT211 will generate heat during the course of their operation. Operating the
RT211 in continuous mode for an extended period may cause temperatures to rise on CIS and decoder chip.
Overheating can degrade image quality and affect scanning performance. Given that, the following
precautions should be taken into consideration when integrating the RT211.
Reserve sufficient space for good air circulation in the design.
Avoid wrapping the RT211 with thermal insulation materials such as rubber.

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Integration Guide
Installation Orientation
There are two threaded mounting holes in the bottom of the RT211 for fastening the engine to a mounting
surface with machine screws. The following figure illustrates a front view of the RT211 after correct
installation.
Optics
Window Placement
The window should be positioned properly to let the illumination and aiming beams pass through as much as
possible and no reflections back into the engine (reflections can degrade the reading performance).
The window should be mounted close to the front of the engine (parallel). The maximum distance is
measured from the front of the engine housing to the farthest surface of the window. In order to reach better
reading performance, the distance from the front of the engine housing to the furthest surface of the window
should not exceed 2mm and the distance from the front of the engine housing to the nearest surface of the
window should not exceed 1mm.
If the window is required to be in a tilted position, the above distance requirements should be met and tilt
angle should ensure no reflections back into the lens.

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Integration Guide
Window Material and Color
CIS’s responsiveness (mainly to wavelengths of red light）should be taken into consideration when
choosing window material and color, in order to achieve the possible highest spectral transmission, lowest
haze level and homogeneous refractive index. It is suggested to use PMMA or optical glass with spectral
transmittance over 90% and haze less than 1%. Whether to use an anti-reflection coating or not depends on
the material and application needs.
Scratch Resistance and Coating
Scratch on the window can greatly reduce engine performance. It is suggested to use abrasion resistant
window material or coating.
Window Size
The window must not block the field of view and should be sized to accommodate the aiming and
illumination envelopes shown below.
Horizontal:

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Integration Guide
Vertical:

6
Integration Guide
Ambient Light
The RT211 shows better performance with ambient light and it is well able to handle the flicker in
fluorescent lights using 50-60Hz AC power. However, high-frequency pulsed light can result in performance
degradation.
Eye Safety
The RT211 uses LEDs to create the aiming and illumination beams. The LEDs are bright, but testing has been
done to demonstrate that the engine is safe for its intended application under normal usage conditions.
However, the user should avoid looking into the beam.

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Integration Guide
Mounting
The illustrations below show the mechanical mounting dimensions for the RT211. The structural design
should leave some space between components.
Front View (unit: mm)
Side View (unit: mm)

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Integration Guide
Top View (unit: mm)

Chapter 3 Electrical Specifications
9
Integration Guide
Power Supply
Do not power up the RT211 until it is properly connected. Be sure the power is cut off before connecting a
flexible cable to or disconnecting a flexible cable from the host interface connector. Hot-plugging could
damage the engine.
Unstable power supply or sharp voltage drops or unreasonably short interval between power-ons may lead
to unstable performance of the engine. Do not resupply the power immediately after cutting it off. The
minimum interval must exceed 2 seconds.
Ripple Noise
Image sensor and decoder chip are directly fed by the input power of RT211. To ensure the image quality, a
power supply with low ripple noise is needed.
Acceptable ripple range (peak-to-peak) : ≤50mV (≤30mV recommended).
DC Characteristics
Operating Voltage Ta=23℃
Parameter
Description
Minimu
m
Typical
Maximum
Unit
VDD
Voltage Drain Drain
3.15
3.3
3.45
V
VIH
High Level Input Voltage
VDD-0.5
-
-
V
VIL
Low Level Input Voltage
-
-
0.5
V
VOH
High Level Output Voltage
VDD-0.3
-
-
V
VOL
Low Level Output Voltage
-
-
0.3
V
Operating Current Ta=23℃，VDD=3.3V
Operating Current
Standby Current
56mA (typical), 132mA
(max.)
3.4mA ( TTL mode)
55.2mA (USB mode)

Chapter 3 Electrical Specifications
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Integration Guide
Power sequencing
Please note:
1. In the above picture, A is the Boot’s startup completion time, B is the kernel’s startup completion time, C is
the decode chip’s initialization completion time, and the total boot’s completion time is about 400ms.
2. In the above picture, D is the reset time. If there is no additional operation on the Reset signal during
power on, the system boot time starts when VDD reaches 3.3V.
3. When powering off, make sure that all communication interface data is transmitted and then powered off
to avoid transmission errors.
4. The level of other signals must be kept low before VDD is powered on to prevent the module from working
abnormally due to the current backflow.

11
Chapter 4 Interfaces
Integration Guide
Host Interface Connector
The following table lists the pin functions of the 12-pin host interface connector on the RT211.
PIN#
Signal
I/
O
Function
1
NC
-
Not connected.
2
VDD
-
3.3V power supply.
3
GND
-
Power-supply ground.
4
RX
I
TTL level 232 receive data.
5
TX
O
TTL level 232 transmit data.
6
USB_D-
I/O
USB D- differential data signal (optional)
7
USB_D+
I/O
USB D+ differential data signal (optional)
8
NC
-
Not connected.
9
Buzz
O
Beeper output. For the information of beeper driver circuit, see the
“Beeper” section in this chapter.
10
LED
O
Good Read LED output. For the information of LED driver circuit,
see the “Good Read LED” section.
11
Reset
I
Reset signal input: Active low. Driving this pin low for 100us-500us
resets the engine.
12
nTrig
I
Trigger signal input: Driving this pin low for at least 10ms causes
the engine to start a scan and decode session.

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Chapter 4 Interfaces
Integration Guide
Dimensions of the Host Interface Connector (unit: mm)
The RT211 uses a 12-pin FPC ZIF socket (bottom contact, model: 10051922-1210ELF) manufactured by FCI.
The socket can be connected to a host device with an FFC cable.

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Integration Guide
Integration Guide
FFC Cable (unit: mm)
A 12-pin FFC cable can be used to connect the RT211 to a host device. The cable design must be consistent
with the specifications shown below. Use reinforcement material for the connectors on the cable and reduce
cable impedance for reliable connection and stable performance.

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Integration Guide
Integration Guide
Communication Interfaces
The RT211 can communicate with the host device via any of the following interfaces:
TTL-232: This interface is applicable to most system architectures. For those requiring RS-232, a TTL-232 to
RS-232 conversion circuit is needed. The RT211’s TTL-232 interface supports baud rates from 1200bps to
115200bps; it does not support hardware or software flow control. Its default settings are 9600bps, 8 data bits,
no parity check and1 stop bit.
USB HID Keyboard: Based on USB connection, the engine’s transmission is simulated as USB keyboard
input. It works on a Plug and Play basis and no driver is required.
USB COM Port Emulation: The USB port on the host device is emulated as a serial port with the same data
transmission and configuration as a real serial port. A driver is required.
HID-POS (optional): HID-POS does not require a custom driver. However, an HID interface on Windows 98
does. All HID interfaces employ standard driver provided by the operating system. Use defaults when
installing the driver. (Important note: if you need HID-POS mode, please do confirm with RTscan before
your order, the hardware is a little different with other interfaces)

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Integration Guide
Integration Guide
Control Interfaces
Reset
Driving the Reset pin (PIN 11) on the host interface connector low for 100us-500us can reset the RT211.
However, do not reset the engine at unreasonably short intervals. The minimum interval between resets
must exceed 2 seconds.
Trigger
Driving the nTrig pin (PIN 12) on the host interface connector low for over 10ms causes the RT211 to start a
scan and decode session. If barcode is decoded, the RT211 waits for the voltage at the nTrig pin to turn high
(or the trigger to be released) after sending the data to the Host. If the trigger is released during a scan
attempt, the RT211 immediately stops decoding.
Next decode session does not happen until the RT211 receives active trigger signal (driving thenTrig pin low)
again.
As a decode session involves image capture, barcode decoding and other steps, it is suggested that the
minimum interval between triggers should exceed 50ms.
The following trigger circuit is provided for reference.

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Integration Guide
Integration Guide
Beeper
The RT211 provides a pin (Buzz, PIN 9) on the host interface connector that provides a PWM output to an
external driver circuit for generating audible feedback to the user to indicate statuses like power up or good
read. The PWM output is not strong enough to drive a beeper, thus a beeper driver circuit is needed.
The following beeper driver circuit is provided for reference.
D
2
B
A
T
7
6
0

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Integration Guide
Integration Guide
Good Read LED
The RT211 provides a pin (LED, PIN 10) on the host interface connector that can be used by an external
driver circuit to drive an LED to indicate a Good Read status. When a good read occurs, the LED pin produces
a high level output for about 300ms and then the signal is back to a low level. This Good Read LED output is
not strong enough to drive an LED, so an LED driver circuit is needed.
The following LED driver circuit is provided for reference.