I.T.S. Documentation
I.T.S. Documentation
Navizon I.T.S. is a system designed to track the location of WiFi stations in confined spaces. Examples of stations that can be tracked include smart phones, laptop computers, tablets, and any other device with a WiFi interface. Stations are tracked using special nodes that are deployed in the area to be monitored. A group of nodes operating in the same space is referred to as a site.
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The Navizon I.T.S. installation consists of three simple steps:
Navizon I.T.S. leverages a set of WiFi nodes that need to be deployed in the area to monitor. The nodes are programmed to detect signals transmitted by nearby WiFi stations and report this information to the Navizon servers. To ensure proper communication with the server, one of the nodes need to be connected to the Internet using an Ethernet cable. This node will serve as Gateway for the system. Please refer to the following sections for the installation of the gateway and the other nodes (repeaters).
Use an Ethernet cable to connect the gateway to a DSL router, modem, or network switch. Connect the gateway to its power supply and verify that after a few minutes the WLAN LED starts blinking. In case of problems, test the connection by plugging the same Ethernet cable into the port of a laptop and ensure that the Internet is accessible.
The gateway will collect information from the other nodes in the system. If possible, place the gateway close to the center of the area to monitor. If additional modems/switches are available, it is possible to connect more than one gateway to improve the system reliability.
Each repeater extends the coverage of the Navizon I.T.S. system. Repeaters have the transmission radius of a typical WiFi router, which ranges from 50 to 150 feet indoors (15 to 50m) depending on the material and thickness of the walls. It is advisable to deploy the first repeaters in proximity (50 to 150 feet) of the gateway node(s). The network can be then extended by deploying other nodes in proximity of other repeaters that are already part of the network.
When installing the repeaters, it is sufficient to plug them into a power outlet. In addition you can also power nodes with your own battery packs. For further information take a look at Installation - Tips page.
During the process,
take note of the MAC address of each node and its location. The MAC address is printed on a label on the bottom of each node.
Cloudtrax is a third-party dashboard that provides a convenient way to monitor and configure the WiFi nodes used by Navizon I.T.S. The credentials necessary to login to Cloudtrax are contained in the email from Navizon with your account information.
After physically installing the nodes, login to http://cloudtrax.com.
Please supply the credentials contained in the email from Navizon and press the Edit button.
If you have an existing WLAN, you can improve the tracking performance of Navizon I.T.S. by configuring the mesh network to operate on the SAME radio channel as the existing WLAN. Setting the same radio channel for the two networks will provide the system with more data to estimate the station positions, thus improving accuracy.
To set the radio channel, click on the Advanced tab and scroll down to the Radio settings. Press the button Update Network Settings to confirm the changes. If you do not know the channel number of your WLAN, please consult with your network administrator or take a look at Installation - Tips page.
Select the General setting tab, and press the Add/Edit Nodes button to access the map for your site. Click on the map to add a node, and enter its MAC address (e.g. 70:72:CF:21:EA:31) and optionally a name and a description that will make it easier to identify the node itself. We suggest placing each node on the map in a position that approximately matches the physical location of each repeater - this will facilitate operations in case you have to use the dashboard to troubleshoot the installation.
It might take up to a few hours for the mesh network to form and become operative. Eventually, all the nodes should become active (green). If some of the nodes remain inactive, it might be necessary to move them close to some of the active units.
After you verify the network connectivity as described in the previous step, please open the Advanced tab. Scroll to the bottom of the page, and locate the text field custom.sh Server. Verify that the URL contained in that field matches the Custom.sh Server value contained in the email received by Navizon.
The format for the custom.sh Server is its.navizon.com/prov/ctrax/{SITE_ID}/, where the {SITE_ID} is
the identifier of your Navizon I.T.S. site. The site ID value is also contained in the email sent by Navizon.
After you have verified the correct value for the custom.sh field, check the Enable custom.sh flag below the text field. Then press the Update Network Settings button on the top of the page.
(Advanced) - Disable Automatic Upgrades = CHECKED
(Advanced) - NG Firmware = UNCHECKED
(Advanced) - Test Firmware = UNCHECKED
(SSID #2) - Private SSID Enable = UNCHECKED
Access Navizon I.T.S. at http://its.navizon.com and follow the instructions on the login screen. The site currently works with Chrome (v.16.0.9 or more) and Firefox (v. 10.0.1 or more).
This step is similar to the one described for the Cloudtrax dashboard. You will have to position each node on the map. To set the node positions, please select the Add/Edit Nodes tab. Click on the map to create new nodes, or click on marker to edit existing devices.
Please select the System main tab and verify that all the nodes are active (green). The green color indicates that the Navizon I.T.S. firmware is correctly installed on each device. If the mesh network has been recently installed, it might be necessary to wait 10-20 minutes before the nodes become active.
Navizon I.T.S. is now ready to track WiFi stations operating within the site. To simplify tracking, you can assign names to known WiFi devices. To set a name, select the Devices pane, enter the information in the dialog box, and press the Name Device button.
If the device you want to save is active, i.e. WiFi is turned on, you can also search for its MAC address in the table at the bottom of the page. Type part of the MAC address to filter the results, and then press the Add button.
If you need more information on how to find MAC address of your devices, take a look at Installation - Tips page.
WiFi stations can be tracked in real-time using the map in the System pane. To enable tracking for a previously saved station, please check the Show on map flag in the table below the map. By default, only selected devices are displayed on the map. To display the position of all devices previously saved, click on the All known devices button just below the map.
To simplify tracking of WiFi devices inside buildings, it is possible to upload a floor plan image to overlay on the map. The floor plan will also help to accurately position the nodes on the map, which is important to ensure a good tracking accuracy. The process of creating and uploading a floor plan image requires the use of Google Earth, which is freely available here.
Move the map to the area where your site is located. Click on the menu Add and select Image Overlay. A dialog box containing a field Link will appear. Click on the Browse... button and select your floor plan image. Without closing the dialog box, position your image on the map. The image can be rotated and stretched to fit the dimension of your building on the map. Once you are done, click on the OK button in dialog box.
The image overlay just added will be listed in the Places pane, on the left of the screen. Right click on the overlay, and select the menu item Save Place As.... In the Save File... dialog, select Save as type to Kml (*.kml). Save the KML file in a location of your choice.
Log on the Navizon I.T.S. web site, and select the Floor Plans tab. Use the two buttons to select the KML file and the floor plan image. Optionally you can assign a name and a description to the floor plan.
NOTE: The KML file is the one that was saved using Google Earth. The image file is the same file chosen during the previous step when adding the image overlay in Google Earth.
After you have selected both files, press the Upload Files button. At the end of the upload process, the page should display Files saved for processing. Within a few minutes, you should receive an email confirming that the files were successfully processed by the server. At this point, the floor plan can be visualized on the map as discussed in the next point.
Within a couple of minutes of uploading the files, the floor plan will be available in Navizon I.T.S.. To display the floor plan, select the "System" tab and press the button "Floor Plan" below the map. Wait for the floor plan to appear (it might take a few seconds if the image is large). NOTE:
