Quick Start Overview

This quick start section is geared to help you start using the Rifidi suite.   The guide below provides a walk through of a simple scenario which will introduce some of the things that can be done using Rifidi.

Pre-Requisities

Before the quick start scenario may be performed, it is required that Rifidi be installed and is able to be started.   Visit the installation section for specific information on getting the Rifidi environment set up on your system.

For the best experience with Rifidi, it is helpful to have software which can communicate with a physical reader.   Examples of such software include custom reader demonstration tools, such as the Alien RFID Gateway, and Edge Servers, such as the BEA Weblogic RFID Edge Server, or IBM Premises Server.  

Depending on the reader being emulated in Rifidi, virtual readers can also be tested with simple, readily available tools.   For example, some readers support telnet access to login and administer the reader.  It also possible to use some network analyzers (such as the open source wireshark) to view the packets sent by Rifidi when it performs tag reads or when it responds to administration commands.   Unfortunately most of these tools lack the presentation and ease of use that the RFID-focused tools offer.

Rifidi Emulator Quick Start Guide

For instructions on how to get Rifidi Emulator up and running, see the Emulator User's guide on the wiki. With Emulator, you will be able to create a few virtual readers. You can start them and use some client software to connect to them, just like with physical readers. Then, you can create tags and drag and drop them onto the reader's antennas to simulate tag reads.

Rifidi Tag Streamer Quick Start Guide

Because Tag Streamer uses the underlying functionality in Emulator, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with it first. In addition, you should look over some of the Tag Streamer concepts before you begin. For instructions on how to get Rifidi Tag Streamer working, see the Tag Streamer User's Guide on the wiki. With Tag Streamer, you can create many readers all at once, and script tag batches to enter and leave the readers' fields of view, thus driving a large amount of load across a server.

Rifidi Designer Quick Start Guide

For information about how to get started with Designer, see the Designer's User's Guide. Designer allows you to create 3D simulations and run them with virtual readers.