Cisco Connected Mobile Experiences (CMX) CVD

Adding Floor Areas to a Campus Building or a Standalone Building

This section describes how to add floor plans to either a campus building or a standalone building in the Prime Infrastructure database. After you add a building to a campus map, you can add individual floor plan and basement maps to the building.

Note Use the zoom controls at the top of the campus image to increase or decrease the size of the map view and to hide or show the map grid (which shows the map size in feet or meters).

To add a floor area to a campus building, create a building under a campus, and then add floor areas to the building.

Step 1 Save your floor plan maps in.PNG,.JPG,,JPEG, or.GIF format.

Note For CMX, it is recommended that the size of image file is a maximum of 500 Kbytes. Loading large images into the 3D version of CMX causes certain browsers to show black images. The mse.properties file can also be configured to automatically compress the image.

Note If there are problems converting the auto-cad file, an error message is displayed. The Prime Infrastructure uses a native image conversion library to convert auto-cad files into raster formats like.png. If the native library cannot be loaded, the Prime Infrastructure shows an “unable to convert the auto-cad file” message. If you receive this error, make sure all the required dependencies are met for the native library. To find any dependency problems, use ldd on Linux platforms. The following DLLs must be present under the /webnms/rfdlls Prime Infrastructure installation directory: LIBGFL254.DLL, MFC71.DLL, MSVCR71.DLL, and MSVCP71.DLL. If dependency problems occurs, you have to install the required libraries and restart Prime Infrastructure.

The floor map image is enhanced for zooming and panning. The floor image is not visible completely until this operation is complete. You can zoom in and out to view the complete map image. For example, if you have a high resolution image (near 181 megapixels) whose size is approximately 60 megabytes, it may take two minutes to appear on the map.

Step 2 Choose Operate > Maps.

Step 3 From the Maps Tree View or the Monitor > Site Maps list, choose the applicable campus building to open the Building View page. If no Building exists, select Add Building from the command drop-down list from the top right and add a building, as shown in Figure 24-5.

Figure 24-5 Adding a New Building to Prime Infrastructure

Enter building details as shown Figure 24-6 and click OK.

Figure 24-6 Building Details

Continue with Step 4 by clicking the building name under Campus.

Step 4 Hover your mouse cursor over the name within an existing building rectangle to highlight it.

You can also access the building from the Campus View page. In the Campus View page, click the building name to open the Building View page.

Step 5 From the Select a command drop-down list, choose New Floor Area, as shown in Figure 24-7.

Figure 24-7 Adding a New Floor Area

Step 6 Click Go. The New Floor Area page is displayed, as shown in Figure 24-8.

Figure 24-8 New Floor Area Page

Step 7 In the New Floor Area page, follow these steps to add floors to a building to organize related floor plan maps:

a. Enter the Floor Area Name and Contact information.

b. Choose the floor or basement number from the Floor drop-down list.

c. Choose the RF Model for the floor from the Floor-Type drop-down list. Cisco Prime Infrastructure ships with several default RF models that facilitate setup under several common environments:

– Cubes and Walled Offices

– Drywall Offices Only

– Outdoor Open Space

– Indoor High Ceiling

Choose the one that most closely matches the environment of your floor.

d. Enter the floor-to-floor height in feet.

To change the unit of measurement (feet or meters), choose Monitor > Site Maps and choose Properties from the Select a command drop-down list.

e. Browse to and choose the desired floor or basement image or CAD filename and click Open.

If you are importing a CAD file, use the Convert CAD File drop-down list to determine the image file for conversion.

Tip It is not recommended to use a.JPEG (.JPG) format for an auto-cad conversion. Unless a JPEG is specifically required, use.PNG or.GIF format for higher quality images.

f. Click Next. At this point, if a CAD file was specified, a default image preview is generated and loaded.

Note The Prime Infrastructure uses a native image conversion library to convert auto-cad files into raster formats like.PNG. When there are issues loading the native library, Prime Infrastructure shows the following error: “Unable to convert the auto-cad file. Reason: Error while loading the auto-cad image conversion library.” For more information see Prime Infrastructure online help or Prime Infrastructure documentation.

The names of the CAD file layers are listed with check boxes to the right side of the image indicating which are enabled.

When you choose the floor or basement image filename, the Prime Infrastructure shows the image in the building-sized grid.

The maps can be of any size because the Prime Infrastructure automatically resizes the maps to fit the workspace.

g. If you have CAD file layers, you can select or deselect as many as you want and click Preview to view an updated image. Click Next when you are ready to proceed with the selected layers.

Enter the remaining parameters for the floor area.

h. Either leave the Maintain Aspect Ratio check box selected to preserve the original image aspect ratio or unselect the check box to change the image aspect ratio.

i. Enter an approximate floor or basement horizontal and vertical span (width and depth on the map) in feet.

The horizontal and vertical spans should be smaller than or the same size as the building horizontal and vertical spans in the Prime Infrastructure database.

j. If applicable, enter the horizontal position (distance from the corner of the outdoor area rectangle to the left edge of the campus map) and vertical position (distance from the corner of the outdoor area rectangle to the top edge of the campus map) in feet or meters.

Tip Use Ctrl-click to resize the image within the building-sized grid.

k. If desired, select the Launch Map Editor after floor creation check box to rescale the floor and draw walls.

l. Click OK to save this floor plan to the database. The floor is added to the Maps Tree View and the Design > Site Maps list.

Use different floor names in each building. If you are adding more than one building to the campus map, do not use a floor name that exists in another building. This overlap causes incorrect mapping information between a floor and a building.

Step 8 Click any of the floor or basement images to view the floor plan or basement map.

You can zoom in or out to view the map at different sizes and you can add access points.

Adding APs on Maps

Based on the RF Plan model you have generated by using a combination of physical RF site survey and predictive site survey tools like the Prime Infrastructure RF Planner tool (or Ekahau Site Survey), place the APs on the maps at the desired location. To place APs on the maps, follow the steps in the sections below.

Adding Access Points to a Floor Area

After you add the.PNG,.JPG,.JPEG, or.GIF format floor plan and outdoor area maps to the Prime Infrastructure database, you can position lightweight access point icons on the maps to show where they are installed in the buildings. To add access points to a floor area and outdoor area, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Operate > Maps to display the Maps page. The Maps Tree View in the left panel of the page can be expanded to show the various campuses, buildings, and floors defined in Prime Infrastructure. Selecting one of the buildings displays a Building View page, as shown in Figure 24-9.

Figure 24-9 Building View Page

Step 2 From the Maps Tree View in the left panel of the page, select the applicable floor within the building to open the Floor View page, as shown in Figure 24-10.

Figure 24-10 Floor View Page

Step 3 From the Select a command drop-down list on the right side of the page, choose Add Access Points and click Go.

Step 4 In the Add Access Points page, select the check boxes of the access points that you want to add to the floor area.

Note If you want to search for access points, enter AP name or MAC address (Ethernet/Radio)/IP in the Search AP [Name/MacAddress (Ethernet/Radio)/IP] text box and then click Search. The search is case-insensitive.

Note Only access points that are not yet assigned to any floor or outdoor area appear in the list.

Note Select the check box at the top of the list to select all access points.

Step 5 When all of the applicable access points are selected, click OK at the bottom of the access point list.

The Position Access Points page is displayed.

Each access point you have chosen to add to the floor map is represented by a gray circle (differentiated by access point name or MAC address) and is lined up in the upper left part of the floor map.

Step 6 Click and drag each access point to the appropriate location. Access points turn blue when selected.

Note When you drag an access point on the map, its horizontal and vertical position appears in the Horizontal and Vertical text boxes.

Note The small black arrow at the side of each access point represents Side A of each access point and each access point arrow must correspond with the direction in which the access points were installed. Side A is clearly noted on each 1000 series access point and has no relevance to the 802.11a/n radio. To adjust the directional arrow, choose the appropriate orientation from the Antenna Angle drop-down list.

When selected, the access point details are displayed on the left side of the page and include:

• AP Model—Indicates the model type of the selected access point.
• Protocol—Choose the protocol for this access point from the drop-down list.
• Antenna—Choose the appropriate antenna type for this access point from the drop-down list.
• Antenna/AP Image—The antenna image reflects the antenna selected from the Antenna drop-down list. Click the arrow at the top right of the antenna image to expand the image size.
• Antenna Orientation—Depending on the antenna type, enter the Azimuth and the Elevation orientations in degrees.

Note The Azimuth option does not appear for Omnidirectional antennas because their pattern is nondirectional in azimuth.

Note For internal antennas, the same elevation angle applies to both radios.

The antenna angle is relative to the map X axis. Because the origin of the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axes is in the upper left corner of the map, 0 degrees points side A of the access point to the right, 90 degrees points side A down, 180 degrees points side A to the left, and so on.

The antenna elevation is used to move the antenna vertically, up or down, to a maximum of 90 degrees.

Note Make sure each access point is in the correct location on the map and has the correct antenna orientation. Accurate access point positioning is critical when you use the maps to find coverage holes and rogue access points.

See the following URL for further information about the antenna elevation and azimuth patterns: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/wireless/ps469/tsd_products_support_series_home.html.

Figure 24-11 Floor View with Map

Step 7 When you are finished placing and adjusting each access point, click Save.

Note Clicking Save causes the antenna gain on the access point to correspond to the selected antenna, which might cause the radio to reset.

Prime Infrastructure computes the RF prediction for the coverage area. These RF predictions are popularly known as heat maps because they show the relative intensity of the RF signals on the coverage area map.

Note This display is only an approximation of the actual RF signal intensity because it does not take into account the attenuation of various building materials, such as drywall or metal objects, nor does it display the effects of RF signals bouncing off obstructions.

Note Antenna gain settings have no effect on heatmaps and location calculations. Antenna gain is implicitly associated to the antenna name. Because of this, the following apply:
- If an antenna is used and marked as “Other” in Prime Infrastructure, it is ignored for all heatmap and location calculations.
- If an antenna is used and marked as a Cisco antenna in the Prime Infrastructure, that antenna gain setting (internal value on Prime Infrastructure) is used no matter what gain is set on the controller.

Defining Coverage Area

To draw a coverage area using the Prime Infrastructure UI, follow these steps:

Note You must add floor plan before drawing a coverage area.

Step 1 Add the floor plan if it is not already represented in the Prime Infrastructure.

Step 2 Choose Operate > Maps.

Step 3 Click the Map Name that corresponds to the outdoor area, campus, building, or floor you want to edit.

Step 4 From the Select a command drop-down list, choose Map Editor, and click Go.

Step 5 In the Map Editor page, click the Draw Coverage Area icon on the toolbar. The coverage area icon is shown as:

A pop-up is displayed.

Step 6 Enter the name of the area that you are defining and click OK.

A drawing tool is displayed.

Step 7 Move the drawing tool to the area you want to outline.

• Click the left mouse button to begin and end drawing a line.
• When you have completely outlined the area, double-click the left mouse button and the area is highlighted in the page.

The outlined area must be a closed object to appear highlighted on the map.

Step 8 Click the disk icon on the toolbar to save the newly drawn area.

Figure 24-12 Configure Coverage Area

Note Coverage Zones cannot be renamed in this version of MSE software release.

Monitoring Geo-Location

The MSE provides the physical location of wired clients, wired endpoints, switches, controllers, and access points present in a wireless network deployment. Currently MSE provides location information in geo-location format to the external entities through northbound and southbound entities.

To improve the accuracy of the geo-location information provided by MSE, this feature aims to transform the geometric location co-ordinates of a device to geo-location coordinates (latitude and longitude) and provides it to the external entities through northbound and southbound interfaces.

Note At least three GPS markers are required for geo-location calculation. The maximum number of GPS markers that you can add is 20.

Note For CMX Analytics, the 2D OpenStreetMaps requires all points to be geo-located as latitude/longitude for the results to be displayed in the correct geographical location.

Adding a GPS Marker to a Floor Map

To add a GPS marker to a floor map, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Operate > Maps to display the Maps page.

Step 2 Choose Campus Name > Building Name > Floor Name.

Step 3 Choose the Add/Edit GPS Markers Information menu option on the top left menu to open the Add/Edit GPS page.

A GPS Marker icon is displayed on the top left corner of the map (X=0 Y=0).

Step 4 You can drag the GPS Marker icon and place it in the desired location on the map or enter the X and Y position values in the GPS Marker Details table on the left sidebar menu to move the marker to the desired position.

Note If the markers added are too close, then the accuracy of geo-location information is less.

Step 5 Enter the Latitude and Longitude degrees for the selected GPS Marker icon in the left sidebar menu and click Save.

The GPS Marker information is saved to the database.

Step 6 Click Apply to other Floors of Building to copy GPS markers on one floor of a building to all the remaining floors of that building.

Note The GPS marker information is required by the CMX analytics to show results for the building in the 2D Open Street Maps view. A warning message is displayed if these GPS markers are not set. The latitude or longitude of the GPS markers can often be obtained through mapping software such as Google maps or Open Street Maps.

Editing a GPS Marker

To edit a GPS marker present on the floor, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Operate > Maps to display the Maps page.

Step 2 Choose the Campus Name > Building Name > Floor Name.

Step 3 Choose the Add/Edit GPS Markers Information menu option on the top left menu to open the Add/Edit GPS page.

Step 4 Select an existing GPS marker present on the floor.

Step 5 From the left sidebar menu, you can change the Latitude, Longitude, X Position, and Y Position which is associated with the GPS marker.

Step 6 Click Save.

The modified GPS marker information is now saved to the database.

Deleting a GPS Marker Present on a Floor

To delete a GPS marker present on a floor, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Operate > Maps to display the Maps page.

Step 2 Choose Campus Name > Building Name > Floor Name.

Step 3 Choose the Add/Edit GPS Markers Information menu option to open the Add/Edit GPS page.

Step 4 Select an existing GPS Marker which is present on the floor from the left sidebar menu.

Note You can delete multiple GPS markers present on a floor by selecting the Multiple GPS Markers check box.

Step 5 Click Delete GPS Marker.

The selected GPS marker is deleted from the database.

Inclusion and Exclusion Areas on a Floor

• Inclusion and exclusion areas can be any polygon shape and must have at least three points. Points can sometime be located outside the building. If this is where the devices are, then a coverage area should be created. At other times, the points are actually inside and should be moved to the nearest inside location (the same applies for unlikely areas inside). Defining inclusion and exclusion areas does this and therefore the analytic results are more consistent.
• You can only define one inclusion region on a floor. By default, an inclusion region is defined for each floor when it is added to Prime Infrastructure. The inclusion region is indicated by a solid aqua line and generally outlines the region.
• You can define multiple exclusion regions on a floor.
• Newly defined inclusion and exclusion regions appear on heatmaps only after the mobility services engine recalculates location.

Defining an Inclusion Region on a Floor

To define an inclusion area, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Operate > Maps.

Step 2 Click the name of the appropriate floor area.

Step 3 From the Select a command drop-down list, choose Map Editor.

Step 4 Click Go.

Step 5 At the map, click the aqua box on the toolbar.

Note A message box appears reminding you that only one inclusion area can be defined at a time. Defining a new inclusion region automatically removes the previously defined inclusion region. By default, an inclusion region is defined for each floor when it is added to Prime Infrastructure. The inclusion region is indicated by a solid aqua line and generally outlines the region.

Step 6 Click OK in the message box that appears. A drawing icon appears to outline the inclusion area.

Step 7 To begin defining the inclusion area, move the drawing icon to a starting point on the map and click once.

Step 8 Move the cursor along the boundary of the area you want to include and click to end a border line. Click again to define the next boundary line.

Step 9 Repeat Step 8 until the area is outlined and then double-click the drawing icon. A solid aqua line defines the inclusion area.

Step 10 Choose Save from the Command menu or click the disk icon on the toolbar to save the inclusion region.

Note If you made an error in defining the inclusion area, click the area. The selected area is outlined by a dashed aqua line. Next, click the X icon on the toolbar. The area is removed from the floor map.

Step 11 Select the Location Regions check box if it is not already selected. If you want it to apply to all floor maps, click Save settings. Close the Layers configuration page.

Defining an Exclusion Region on a Floor

To further refine location calculations on a floor, you can define areas that are excluded (exclusion areas) in the calculations. For example, you might want to exclude areas such as an atrium or stairwell within a building. As a rule, exclusion areas are generally defined within the borders of an inclusion area.

To define an exclusion area, follow these steps:

Step 1 Choose Monitor > Site Maps.

Step 2 Click the name of the appropriate floor area.

Step 3 From the Select a command drop-down list, choose Map Editor.

Step 4 Click Go.

Step 5 At the map, click the purple box on the toolbar.

Step 6 Click OK in the message box that is displayed. A drawing icon appears to outline the exclusion area.

Step 7 To begin defining the exclusion area, move the drawing icon to the starting point on the map and click once.

Step 8 Move the drawing icon along the boundary of the area you want to exclude. Click once to start a boundary line and click again to end the boundary line.

Step 9 Repeat Step 8 until the area is outlined and then double-click the drawing icon. The defined exclusion area is shaded in purple when the area is completely defined.

Step 10 To define additional exclusion regions, repeat Step 5 to Step 9.

Step 11 When all exclusion areas are defined, choose Save from the Command menu or click the disk icon on the toolbar to save the exclusion region.

Note To delete an exclusion area, click the area to be deleted. The selected area is outlined by a dashed purple line. Next, click the X icon on the toolbar. The area is removed from the floor map.

Step 12 Select the Location Regions check box if it is not already selected, click Save settings, and close the Layers configuration page when complete.