The Ubisense USB Detector is a small, portable reader designed to detect identification 'chirps' from Ubisense location tracking tags, allowing users to identify the presence of nearby tags.

It has an industry-standard USB interface that connects it to a wide range of host devices such as laptops, netbooks and industrial computers, which can show tag presence information direct from the reader, or inject that data (via a network) into the Ubisense Location Platform for use by other applications.

The USB Detector comes with software tools that include the Ubisense Chirp Monitor and USB Detector Programmer. The Chirp Monitor software shows information about nearby tags, such as tag ID, received signal strength and battery voltage and the Detector Programmer enables the Detector firmware to be upgraded on the device.

Presence detectionThe Ubisense USB Detector receives identification 'chirp' transmissions from Ubisense location tags. Any Ubisense tag can be programmed to transmit chirp signals, at a fixed rate or at a variable rate (depending on tag movement). Reception of a 'chirp' signal from a tag by a Ubisense USB Detector is indicated by a flashing 'chirp' detector LED, and an LED bar graph provides a visual indication of received signal strength - both these features can be used to track down concealed or missing tags in awkward places (e.g. inside an aircraft wing).

Standard USB 2.0 interfaceThe Ubisense USB Detector has an industry-standard USB 2.0 interface, via a USB Type A plug. Drivers for 32-bit Windows XP and Windows 7 systems are supplied with the device, whilst support for serial devices like the Ubisense USB Detector is included as part of many Linux distributions.

Software-adjustable thresholdsThe sensitivity of the Ubisense USB Detector can be varied in software, allowing control of the range of the reader. At maximum sensitivity, tags can be detected at more than 50 meters, whilst if sensitivity is reduced, the presence of a tag within a limited range of the Ubisense USB Detector can be determined.

Suitable for standalone useThe Ubisense USB Detector can be used directly with a host PC to find tagged objects. Software supplied with the reader shows information about nearby tags, such as ID, received signal strength, and battery voltage. Data is supplied from the Ubisense USB Detector via a standard serial stream, so customers can also write their own applications to display and use the information in other ways.

Full integration with the Ubisense Location PlatformUbisense offers a software product, Detector Integrator, which runs on the networked host PC to inject presence information gathered by the Ubisense USB Detector into the Ubisense Location Platform. This makes the data gathered by the Detector available to any application running on that platform, anywhere on the network. Please refer to the appropriate product fact sheet for more details. Furthermore, support for Ubisense Detectors is fully integrated into the standard Ubisense system configuration tools.