RFID integration reference
This documentation set is for the technical team wiring a Nextwaves NRN RFID reader into their own software: an ERP, a WMS, or a browser-based sales screen. The tool is the official SDK, Nextwaves-Industries/nextwaves-sdk, version 1.0.0, available in five languages.
The SDK owns the entire conversation with the device: it opens the serial connection, wraps every tag read into a compact event handed to your callback, and provides the reader configuration commands. Your application receives events and makes business decisions, without ever touching the low-level protocol.
The integration journey
An RFID integration project passes through four stages, and this documentation is arranged in exactly that order:
| Stage | Your job | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Understand the problem | Learn how the RFID data model differs from barcodes, and what the integration architecture looks like. No hardware needed | Before you deploy RFID, then Integrating with your software |
| Write the code | Connect a reader, receive tags, deduplicate; look up APIs as you write | Quickstart, Reading tags and deduplication, SDK reference |
| Generate codes for your goods | Encode and write EPCs per the GS1 standard, when the project issues its own codes | EPC encoding |
| Go on site | Choose antennas, set power, measure the read zone with real goods | Deployment guide |
| Sign off | Work the final list before letting the system write real numbers | Production checklist |
The full business flow can be developed and tested before real hardware exists; when the reader arrives, you plug it in without touching application code. The three appendix pages, the glossary, the reader protocol, and the custom receive loop, are there to consult when needed, not on the main path.
Choosing a language
| Package | Fits |
|---|---|
| Python | Warehouse services and backend integrations; the choice for most projects |
| TypeScript / Web Serial | Sales screens and kiosks running in a browser |
| Go, Rust, C++ | Systems with an existing codebase in these languages |
If no codebase constrains you, start with Python for a warehouse service, or Web Serial for a browser interface: both ship a continuous read loop and deliver tags to a callback right after install. Teams on Go, Rust, or C++ use the package in their language and add the read loop from the complete samples in the receive loop appendix.
The packages
| Language | Package | Install |
|---|---|---|
| Python | nrn-sdk | pip install nrn-sdk |
| TypeScript / Web Serial | @nextwaves/nrn-sdk | npm install @nextwaves/nrn-sdk |
| Rust | nrn-sdk | cargo add nrn-sdk |
| Go | github.com/Nextwaves-Industries/nextwaves-sdk/sdk/nation/go | go get github.com/Nextwaves-Industries/nextwaves-sdk/sdk/nation/go@v1.0.0 |
| C++ | sdk/nation/cpp | CMake FetchContent or add_subdirectory() |
The source of all five packages lives under sdk/nation/ in the repository, with runnable examples in examples/. Code under /sdk/nation/ and /examples/ is MIT licensed; /legacy/ and /driver/ keep their own origins and licenses.
Architecture
Your application depends only on NRNReader and the tag structure it returns; all device communication stays inside the SDK. How to graft the tag event stream onto an ERP or WMS, in concepts backend developers already know, is covered in Integrating RFID into your software.
Drivers
NRN readers connect over RS-232 or a CP210x USB-to-UART bridge. The repository ships CP210x drivers for Windows, Windows CE, and macOS in the driver/ folder. Install the driver first; only then does the serial port appear for the SDK to find.
How to read this set
Three kinds of content appear here, with different levels of certainty, each labeled where it occurs:
- SDK behavior: verified against the
1.0.0source undersdk/nation/; use it as stated. - Firmware-dependent content: the documentation is where you start, and the firmware on your actual reader is the final authority, so the relevant pages tell you to verify.
- Deployment guidance: operational recommendations, to be re-proven with your tags, products, readers, and radio regulations on site.
When encoding EPCs, use the current editions of the GS1 EPC Tag Data Standard and the Tag Data Translation Standard.
Support
tech@nextwaves.industries- nextwaves.com