Comparison of Bluetooth Modes for Technology Solutions UK Ltd UHF RFID Readers

Overview

Our UHF Bluetooth® readers support two modes of operation over Bluetooth®. When connected via USB the reader always supports the TSL ASCII 2 protocol but when connected over Bluetooth® the reader can either be set to use the TSL ASCII 2 protocol (Bluetooth® SPP Mode) or it can appear as a Bluetooth® keyboard (Bluetooth® HID Mode). Instructions for changing Bluetooth® modes can be found in Appendix A The comparison chart below is designed to help you understand the differences between the two operating modes:

Comparison

Bluetooth SPP Mode	Bluetooth HID mode
Apps need to be written with specific support for the reader	Apps can use the reader without modification
The Reader can be discovered and paired in the Bluetooth Settings or from within the App but the App controls the connection Connects when instructed by the App Disconnects when instructed by the App The reader powers off when no longer connected and idle The App needs to connect to restore	Reader is discovered and paired in the Host Bluetooth Settings (often appears as a Keyboard) After pairing the reader connects automatically If idle the reader sleeps and the connection is dropped The reader, when woken, automatically reconnects to the host device
Apps receive and interpret TSL ASCII 2 Protocol responses when the user triggers a UHF or barcode scan	Apps receive input as Key strokes from the reader including Tab and Return/Enter keys
The App can respond and react intelligently to responses e.g. duplicate responses can be ignored or counted incoming tag data can be truncated, stripped or transformed into alternative representations: Hex, ASCII, GS1 EPC URI, etc…	The reader types text for each barcode/UHF scan received The tag values can be returned in Hex or ASCII representations Up to 2 Additional characters can be inserted before and after the text sent The reader cannot truncate or strip values from tag data
The App can change the Reader’s behaviour	The Reader can only send scanned data to the host, the host cannot change the reader’s behaviour
The Reader’s behaviour and command parameters are controlled in real time by the App e.g. the trigger action can change to suit the task that the User is performing; the App can allow the User to specify Inventory output power	The Reader’s behaviour, such as the action of the reader’s trigger switch, the inventory output power, the idle sleep timeout and other command parameters can be configured only once at start-up.
Configuration is held within the App (any configuration in the AUTO.TXT is likely to be overridden by the App settings)	All configuration is held in an AUTO.TXT file stored on an SD-Card. Removing the SD-card or deleting the AUTO.TXT and power-cycling the unit restores default settings.
All reader activity, by default, is saved to a log file if an SD-Card is fitted	All reader activity, by default, is saved to a log file if an SD-card is fitted