MagTek MagneSafe V5 - Manual (Page 11)

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SECTION 2. COMMUNICATIONS
The USB readers covered in this document conform to the USB specification revision 1.1 and to
the Human Interface Device (HID) class specification version 1.1. The USB readers
communicate to the host either as a vendor-defined HID device or as a HID Keyboard Emulation
device. (Refer to Interface Type Property for information on how to change modes.) The latest
versions of the Windows operating system come with standard Windows USB drivers that will
support both modes.
The USB readers have an adjustable endpoint descriptor polling interval value that can be set to
any value in the range of 1ms to 255ms. This property can be used to speed up or slow down the
card data transfer rate. The USB readers also have an adjustable serial number descriptor. More
details about these properties can be found later in this document in the command section.
The USB readers will go into suspend mode when directed to do so by the host. The USB
readers will wake up from suspend mode when directed to do so by the host. The readers do not
support remote wakeup.
All of the USB models are full speed USB devices. They are powered from the USB bus. The
vendor ID (VID) is 0x0801. The product ID (PID) when in the HID mode is 0x0011 for the
swipe reader and 0x0013 for the insert reader. The product ID (PID) when in the Keyboard
Emulation mode is 0x0001 for both the swipe and insert reader. The wireless USB reader dongle
uses the same PID as for the wired USB swipe reader. However, the wireless USB reader can
also be directly connected to the host with a USB cable for updating firmware and charging the
battery. When the wireless reader is directly connected, the PID is 0x0014.
Since this document supplies programming information for a variety of readers, there are some
properties and commands that are exclusive to one or more of the devices. Where a property or
command is unique, it will be identified with HID, KB, Wireless USB, and/or UART/RS-232.
Properties and commands that are common to all models do not include any modifier.
HID USAGES
USB HID devices send data in reports. Elements of data in a report are identified by unique
identifiers called usages. The structure of the reader’s reports and the reader’s capabilities are
reported to the host in a report descriptor. The host usually gets the report descriptor only once,
right after the reader is plugged in. The report descriptor usages identify the reader’s capabilities
and report structures. Usages are four byte integers. The most significant two bytes are called
the usage page and the least significant two bytes are called usage IDs. Usages that are related
can share a common usage page. Usages can be standardized or they can be vendor defined.
Standardized usages such as usages for mice and keyboards can be found in the HID Usage
Tables document and can be downloaded free at
www.usb.org . Vendor-defined usages must
have a usage page in the range 0xFF00 – 0xFFFF. All usages for this reader use vendor-defined
magnetic stripe reader usage page 0xFF00. The usage IDs for this reader are defined in the
following tables. The usage types are also listed. These usage types are defined in the HID
Usage Tables document.