Enterprise Visibility Solutions with Zigbee networks

All IDC’s mobile devices are provided with an internal position location engine which uses the received signal strength (RSSI value) from fixed position Gateways and Routers to calculate its position. The calculation algorithm uses between 3 and 16 nodes with increased accuracy obtained with the greater number of nodes employed.

The ZB Visualisation and Data Logging Software collects location and event data from the network of ZigBee devices and displays their position as icons on a plan in real time. Typical applications include tracking of assets, mobile machinery and personnel. The Windows based application enables building and site plans to be loaded onto the visualisation palette and scaled with x,y co-ordinates and features pan and zoom facility.

The co-ordinates of fixed ZigBee nodes are then identified on the plan enabling the software to automatically determine the position of mobile (blind) nodes relative to their distances from the fixed nodes. Nodes on the site plan can be selected by a mouse click allowing auxiliary views of application specific data for the node to be quickly displayed. Nodes for many different application domains can coexist on a site plan. Fixed nodes are placed on the plan by drag-and-drop operation making it easy to create, manage and visualise systems containing large numbers of nodes. Equivalent table driven node configuration and systems can quickly become difficult to manage and visualise.

The software can be used with all IDC ZB hand-held devices including the ZB105 Touch Screen which includes an option to receive GPS co ordinates for outdoor tracking. Data can be exported to other 3rd party IT systems or databases for system alerts, reports and other management requirements.

A web browser interface is currently being developed. This will allow users to use any of the popular web browsers to pan and zoom over site plans and to view node position and application data from anywhere on the internet.