ID-engine SD vs. ID-engine Z

Our latest product generation ID-engine Z comes with a number of improvements compared to its predecessor ID-engine SD – be it with regard to security, easier host interface implementation, or out-of-the-box behavior. During development of these features, backward compatibility with the predecessor ID-engine SD could be maintained in many cases, but certain incompatibilities were inevitable.

To help you transition smoothly to the new generation and introduce you to the new features, here's an overview of all differences, concerning both hardware and software.

Mechanical

Dimensions

ID-engine Z is more compact:

Dimension	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
Module height	17 mm	9 mm
Mounting plate/antenna board thickness	1.5 mm	1mm
Mounting stripes width (each side)	5 mm	4.5 mm
Assembly drillings (footprint/position/dimension)	no difference

Antennas

ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
ANT1F ANT2 ANT4	ANT1

Different connectors and cables

ID-engine Z uses partly different interface connectors:

Connector	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z	Note
USB	AMP Micro-MaTch (4-pin)	Molex PicoBlade (4-pin)	We offer off-the-shelf cables with the new connector
RS-232	Molex PicoBlade (5-pin) AMP Micro-MaTch (6-pin)	Molex PicoBlade (5-pin)	If you've used ID-engine SD with cable article# 30101-001-01 or 30101-001-02, we recommend you replace it with our new UART cable for ID-engine Z. If you've used your own cables, please remove the 5th core (J102-5) if you connect it to a signal outside the 0...5V range. The ID engine Z Pin 5 Molex connector is internally connected to a 5V suppressor diode and thus limits the voltage of the connected signal (e.g. RS-232 control signal from D-Sub 9-pole connector) to 0...5V. Connecting an RS-232 signal would result in potential overload of host or ID-engine Z suppressor diode, which is intended to protect from short overvoltage spikes only.

Slightly modified cable routing may be necessary due to the different connector positions and reduced module hight. Custom cables are available on request.

Feedback to card holder

Feature	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
LED	No	Yes
Beeper	No	Yes

Factory device settings

At startup, a standard ID-engine Z without custom configuration behaves differently:

ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
No factory device settings	Comes with factory device settings
RFID field is off	RFID field is on
Reader waits for host commands	Reader scans for and reads cards autonomously
Reader does not accept ConfigCards	Reader accepts ConfigCards
	Power consumption during startup potentially higher than for ID-engine SD

Configurations

Existing

ID-engine Z is backward-compatible with configurations created for ID-engine SD, so you can use them on ID-engine Z without restrictions.

New

When you create a new configuration that contains project settings, please note the following differences in behavior.

This applies to configurations created with ConfigEditor v4.15.00 (released 11 September 2018) or above.

Functionality	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
Rollback to a previous version of the same configuration	Possible	Not possible You can only deploy newer versions of the same configuration
Deploy a different configuration (with a different Config Security Code)	Possible	Not possible Do a factory reset first

For more details, please see our security concept for ID-engine Z.

Host interfaces

USB

Characteristic		ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z	Note
USB	Product ID	0x9999	0xF001...0xFFFF Value depends on the activated USB protocols	Only relevant for applications that scan the device ID, which contains the USB product ID.
	Protocol options	Virtual COM port (default) PC/SC	HID (default) Virtual COM port Keyboard emulation PC/SC
Virtual COM port	Implementation	Proprietary	Based on standardized CDC profile
	Driver	Driver package needed for all Win versions	No driver needed for Win 10 For older Win versions, download the CDC driver.
	Reader configuration	Not needed	Via device settings. Default protocol is USB HID
	Firmware update protocol	Non-BRP based	BRP-based	BALTECH Uploader handles this difference automatically.
PC/SC	Driver	Driver package needed for all Win versions	No driver needed for Win 10 For older Win versions, download the CDC driver.
	Reader configuration	Not needed	Via device settings. Default protocol is USB HID

RS-232

Characteristic	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z	Note
Number of serial interfaces	2	1 The service interface is now USB HID.	In general, RS-232 support is optional for ID-engine Z.
Number of serial protocols that can be run simultaneously	2	1	Please keep this in mind when using legacy configurations from ID-engine SD.
Firmware update protocol	Non-BRP based	BRP-based	BALTECH tools handle this difference automatically.
UART data format	6, 7, or 8-bit 1 or 2 stop bits selectable parity (odd/even)	7N2, 7O1, 7E1, 8N1, 8O1, 8E1

LEGIC

ID-engine Z readers with LEGIC functionality are based on a different LEGIC reader chip. This also affects the availability of BRP command sets:

Characteristic	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z	Note
Reader chip	SM05	4000 series
Supported cards	LEGIC prime; custom versions with LEGIC advant support	Both LEGIC prime and advant by default
Commands	Lg command set Lga transparent command	Lga transparent command for legacy projects only Legic transparent command for new applications
Memory segmentation	Not supported by standard version	Supported by standard version with part number 10117-9xx-xx	Use the Legic transparent command

ISO 15693

Characteristic	ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
Commands	ISO15693 legacy command set	ISO15 command set

Multi frequency

ID-engine Z is available in a multi-frequency version:

ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z
13.56 MHz	13.56 MHz 125 kHz Bluetooth Low Energy

SAM slot

ID-engine SD	ID-engine Z	Note
Not available	Preinstalled SAM slot for NXP MIFARE SAM AV2 or HID iClass SE Processor (support of iClass and SEOS cards).	Custom SAM support on request.