Eccel Technology Ltd introduce the Pepper C1 EA (external antenna), C1 RS232/485 and C1 UART

• New version of Built-in antenna Pepper C1 with RS232/485 connection.
• 3 new versions of Pepper C1 with External antenna versions – smaller footprint.
• Low cost RFID Reader with full read/write support for: MIFARE® Classic® 1K & 4K memory, ICODE family, MIFARE Ultralight®, MIFARE DESFire® EV1/EV2, MIFARE Plus® transponder types.
• Wireless connectivity:
  • Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth Classic & BLE
• Built in Web interface
• Over-the-Air lifetime updates
• Command interface via UART and TCP sockets with optional AES-128 encryption
• UART baud rate up to 921600 bps
• Configurable RGB LED indicator for RFID or WiFi events
• 6 configurable GPIOs
• Stand-alone mode (polling)
• IoT interfaces: MQTT, WebSocket
• High transponder read and write speed
• -25°C to 85°C operating range
• Multiple internal reference voltages
• RoHS compliant
• Rapid and low cost customisation possibilities by Eccel to meet your specific application requirements.

The first two Pepper C1 modules are now enhanced by an additional built in antenna version offering RS232/485 connectivity, as well as 3 new versions in smaller footprints with external antenna connection only (no in-built antenna).

These new versions offer the same wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi for now and Bluetooth support coming soon). Using WiFi connectivity, the customer receives free lifetime Over-the-Air updates by connecting to the updates section of our website and downloading updates. In addition, Wi-Fi connectivity enables host communication with the modules to be over TCP instead of a wired traditional UART/USB/RS232/485 etc interface. Combining these features with standalone mode provides a ready to use device in many applications “straight out of the box.” In standalone mode, the module can also send a tag UID over MQTT or WebSockets, and so can easily be integrated with IoT systems.

So, this is an ideal design choice if the user wishes to add RFID capability to their design quickly and without requiring extensive RFID and embedded software expertise and time.

Eccel can provide customised hardware and/or firmware versions of modules based on these modules to meet customer specific application specification requirements in quick time and at low cost.

An advanced and powerful 32-bit microcontroller handles the RFID configuration setup and provides the user with a powerful yet simple command interface to facilitate fast and easy read/write access to the memory and features of the various transponders supported by this module.  These modules fully support all read/write functionality of the transponder types supported by their sister A1/B1/Chilli family modules (MIFARE Classic 1K & 4K, Ultralight and NTAG2xx), but in addition also fully support higher security transponders such as MIFARE Plus and MIFARE DESfire EV1/2.  Furthermore, they also support ISO15693 based Icode transponder types.

The modules can automatically detect any supported transponder type and tell the host system which type of tag is present so that the host can proceed with the correct instructions to the modules for reading and writing to the transponder that is present in the field of the modules at any given time.

They can be configured to operate in either host mode, where they are a slave peripheral to the host system driven by commands supplied by the host, or they can be configured to operate in stand-alone mode. In stand-alone mode the modules can be preconfigured to automatically execute certain output functions.  These output functions include output line driving for the automatic operation of sounders, LED’s, Relays etc, and transmission of the detected transponder serial number (UID) to the host system via Wi-Fi or wired serial communication media such as UART, USB or RS232/485 and the autonomous checking of a transponder UID against a “white list” of UIDs contained in its internal memory followed by the performing of different output actions depending upon whether the transponder detected is present on the internal memory “white list” or not.

Thus, the modules are suitable for stand-alone IoT applications where they can inform a remote host system that an event is occurring that requires host action only when the event occurs and prevent the need for constant periodic host polling of the system to check for event occurrences.  They are capable of certain autonomous user defined output actions without the need for host intervention and control.

Due to the ability for lifetime over-the-air updates (OTA) that the Wi-Fi connectivity of these modules gives them, further stand-alone features can be added quickly, easily and at low cost by Eccel to the user’s application.  For example, in stand-alone mode the user may wish to receive certain sections of the memory content of the transponder as well as/ or instead of just the automatic UID transmission, and/or perform a certain sequence of output events and so on.

The modules provide very high transponder read/write performance, with simple and flexible interfaces and operating modes, as well as easy upgrade flexibility, to enable user application customisation at low cost and short development lead-times.  Thus, powerful solutions can be achieved using the modules with a very quick time to market for customers.

Our ever-growing arsenal of application hardware and software libraries, together with our rapid customer development technical support response, provide an all-round high-quality development partnership offering for customers.

We also supply these modules and fully support customers through our worldwide sales partner RS Components/ Allied, as well as direct through our website at eccel.co.uk.