Zone Manager Integration API Details
Zone Manager Integration API Details
RF Code Middleware / Location Engine Integration
Integration with the RF Code middleware / location engine known as Zone Manager involves utilizing the communications interfaces defined in the “Zone Manager API Specification” document. The Zone Manager interface is extremely flexible and powerful. It can be utilized in almost any development environment as due to the following characteristics of the Zone Manager API Specification:
- Telnet or web API based communications
- Platform (operating system and hardware) independent
- Programming language independent
The Zone Manager software provides a great deal of value and functionality that can be easily leveraged such as:
- Gateway communications channel management (for up to thousands of gateways)
- Gateway initialization, modes, and configuration
- Data buffering, filtering and interpretation
- Reduction of duplicate data from multiple gateways
The Zone Manager middleware / location engine is not an end-user application, but was designed instead to be used in conjunction with an end-user application that can benefit from consuming the data and information produced by the Zone Manager system. It is important to note that the Zone Manager system is not designed to be a database of historical values or provide tag to asset association. Zone Manager is designed to collect and track (in real-time) the last known (latest) information about tag location, status and sensor readings. Since Zone Manager does not log historical data in a database, it is extremely scalable with the ability to service thousands of RF Code gateways while operating on a single dual core server system.
The Zone Manager middleware/location engine allows for communication via a web or URL style API as well as a telnet style TCP/IP connection. The communications can be interactive (command / response) as well as registration or subscription based to follow updates or changes. The Zone Manager specification provides an extensive list of commands to fully control the RF Code gateways and Zone Manager such as:
- Defining tag groups (which tags to listen for)
- Adding gateways to the system as well as defining gateway configuration parameters
- Location and rule configuration
- Tag and gateway online/offline notifications
- Query capabilities such as which tags are in a specific location
- Multiple data output formats such as JSON, CSV, and XML
Integration with RF Code’s Zone Manager does not require RFID specific or RF Code hardware skills. It does require a fair amount of standard software programming skills to configure the system and utilize the data returned by the system. Ideally integration with Zone Manager would tie the system into an existing asset management or monitoring solution. RF Code highly recommends attending a training class to learn the details of the RF Code Zone Manager system.
If you are a new customer or partner, please contact RF Code sales for information: sales@rfcode.com.
Existing customers can contact RF Code Support: support@rfcode.com