Reference Guide Aclara 5900 Software Operation M Software Version 0.1.3.7 Manual Version 1.0draft2. Release Date 2012-02-13. Please refer to the Firetide web site, www.firetide.com, for current versions. The contents of this Reference Guide are subject to change without notice. Firetide, the Firetide logo, HotView, Wireless Instant Networks, and Reliable Connectivity Anywhere are trademarks of Firetide, Inc. © 2005-2012 Firetide, Inc. All rights reserved.
HotView Pro Software Operation Contents 1 Introduction 5 2 HotView Pro Command Summary 7 Launching HotView Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Understand the Basic Screen Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Mesh Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 List of Figures Figure 1.1 Figure 1.2 Figure 1.3 Figure 1.4 Figure 1.5 Figure 1.6 Figure 1.7 Figure 1.9 Figure 1.8 Figure 1.10 Figure 1.11 Figure 1.12 Figure 1.13 Figure 1.14 Figure 1.15 Figure 1.16 Figure 1.17 Figure 1.18 Figure 1.19 Figure 1.20 Figure 1.21 Figure 1.22 Figure 2.23 Figure 2.24 Figure 2.25 Figure 2.26 Figure 2.27 Figure 2.28 Figure 2.29 Figure 2.30 Figure 3.31 Figure 3.32 Figure 3.33 Figure 3.34 Figure 3.35 Figure 3.36 Figure 3.37 Figure 3.38 Figure 3.39 Figure 3.40 Figure 3.
HotView Pro Software Operation Figure 6.55 Figure 6.56 Figure 6.57 Figure 6.58 Figure 6.59 Figure 6.60 Figure 7.61 Figure 7.62 Figure 7.63 Figure 7.64 Figure 7.65 Figure 7.66 Figure 8.67 Figure 8.68 Figure 8.69 Figure 8.70 Figure 8.71 Figure 8.72 Figure 8.73 Figure 8.74 Figure 8.75 Figure 9.76 Figure 9.77 Figure 9.78 Figure 9.79 Figure 9.80 Figure 9.81 Figure 9.82 Figure 10.83 Figure 10.84 Figure 10.85 Figure 10.86 Figure 10.87 Figure 10.88 Figure 10.89 Figure 10.90 Figure 10.91 Figure 10.
Introduction 1 Introduction Aclara’s STAR Network system is a meter reading solution that delivers comprehensive usage information through a secure, long-range wireless network. A portion of that network is implement using Firetide’s patented AutoMesh™ wireless Ethernet system. Note STAR Network Components Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
HotView Pro Software Operation Aclara 5900 Series units use Firetide’s AutoMesh WiFi technology. Firetide’s HotView Pro Network Management System is the control platform for these units. The version of HotView Pro you are using has been tailored to the requirements of Aclara’s STAR system. “Command Summary” on page 7 provides a summary of the commands available in HotView Pro, with a brief description of their function and purpose.
HotView Pro Command Summary 2 HotView Pro Command Summary This version of HotView Pro is tailored to the requirements of Aclara’s STAR system. It is focussed on the 5900 family of products, but also shows other HotPort mesh nodes in some examples. This chapter provides a summary of the commands available in HotView Pro, with a brief description of their function and purpose. Further information on the more complex commands may be found in later chapters.
HotView Pro Software Operation Figure 1.4 Initial Screen When connecting for the first time, you will see a screen similar this. No mesh is visible because the server does not yet know which meshes to manage. Figure 1.5 Adding a Mesh To add a mesh, click on the mesh menu and select the Add Mesh command. Enter the mesh IP address. The default is 192.168.224.150. Enter the password. The default is firetide. After about 30 seconds, the mesh should appear.
HotView Pro Command Summary Understand the Basic Screen Layout The HotView Pro screen layout varies according to settings. It can look like Figure 1.4, the default view; Figure 1.5, the default view after adding a mesh; or Figure 1.7, a typically-customized view. This customized view has enabled the Explorer option, on the left of the screen. Along the bottom is the Inventory window. At the very bottom is the status bar. Figure 1.
HotView Pro Software Operation Mesh Menu Commands Add Mesh causes HotView Pro to begin managing the mesh. The program will record performance and events until the mesh is explicitly removed from management control. Configure Mesh displays a separate window which contains all of the key mesh configuration commands. This is described in more detail in Figure 1.13 and following sections. VLANs allows you to configure VLANs, VLAN trunks, and hybrid VLANs.
HotView Pro Command Summary DCU Communication Configuration The DCU Communication Configuration command is accessed by rightclicking in the mesh area of HotView Pro, NOT on any node. This brings up all mesh commands, plus the DCU-specific command. The DCU expects to be able to communicate with the STAR Network Communications Controller. The Firetide mesh node acts as a proxy for the STAR NCC, and so it needs to know the IP addresses being used by that particular deployment.
HotView Pro Software Operation Mesh Configuration Mesh configuration is the heart of overall mesh design. Mesh configuration includes network, wireless, security, and other key settings. There are five tabs: • Network This tab sets the IP address and related information, and allows you to specify a human-readable mesh name. • Wireless This tab controls most aspects of radio behavior. (Certain radio parameters, such as transmit power, are set on a per-node basis.
HotView Pro Command Summary Figure 1.14 Wireless Settings The Wireless tab lets you define (and encrypt) the ESSID. More importantly, it lets you set mesh-wide radio channels for all Radio 1 units in each node, and all Radio 2 units in each node. (Note: “Bonded” refers to the fact that all Radio 1 units will be tied together on one channel, and all Radio 2 units tied together on a second channel. It does NOT mean that Radio 1 and Radio 2 are tied together. The two radios ALWAYS operate independently.
HotView Pro Software Operation Figure 1.15 Security The Security tab lets you enable AES security on the RF links. This is implemented in hardware and does not impose a performance penalty. Its use is recommended. End-to-End security provides a second layer of encryption, but imposes a small throughput penalty, about 15%. Figure 1.16 Advanced Tab The Advanced tab controls several key features. Multi-hop Optimization should be turned on for all meshes with more than two nodes.
HotView Pro Command Summary Node Commands Rename HotPort lets you assign a name to each node for management purposes. This name can be up to 32 characters long. It is for the benefit of network managers; the software is not affected by this entry. HotPort Location lets you enter a 256-character string describing the location of the node. You can also enter the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the node. This is used by the antenna alignment tool to assist in alignment.
HotView Pro Software Operation Re-Configure Node To... lets you re-define the operating mode of a node, to be either a normal node, a Gateway Server node, or a Gateway Server Controller node. Gateway Servers and Gateway Server Controllers are described in another chapter. Gateway Interface Settings let you define the required parameters for nodes which are part of a Gateway Group. Gateway Groups are covered in another chapter. Refresh Configuration for this HotPort node does just that.
HotView Pro Command Summary Individual Radio Settings The two radios in each node can be individually configured. While a mesh will generally work with uniform mesh-wide settings, in most mesh deployments better performance can be obtained by optimizing radio settings. The individual radio settings are: • Receive Path Gain - This setting calibrates the radar-detection function of the US FCC-mandate DFS feature. Refer to the chapter on DFS for details.
HotView Pro Software Operation Figure 1.20 Node QoS Quality of Service Two types of QoS are offered. 802.1p QoS works with equipment that supports that protocol, but many devices do not. For devices that do not support 802.1p, you can set priority based on the port to which the device is connected. For example, you might place SCADA traffic, connected on port 1, to High Priority, and video traffic, connected on Port 2, to Medium Priority.
HotView Pro Command Summary Client Preferences Show All Links displays all of the active RF links in the mesh. For smaller meshes, this is the preferred setting, but for larger meshes, it can make the screen cluttered. In such cases, select the Show Links Only... or Hide All Links options. Find HotPort lets you search for a node on the display. The found node will be highlighted.
HotView Pro Software Operation Server Administration Configure HotView Server lets you configure all aspects of server behavior. This is covered in more detail in “Server Configuration” on page 27. Import Field Authorization and Authorize Field Laptops allow you to delegate licensed managed authority to another computer; typically a laptop. Figure 1.22 Server Administration Menu These commands let you configure the server, and delegate management control.
Analyzing Performance 3 Analyzing Performance Aspects of Performance Analysis The HotView Pro software system has several tools to assist in analyzing, troubleshooting, and optimizing system performance. There are three basic aspects of performance analysis: • RF signal quality • Link throughput • Reduction of link flap and other jitter sources RF Signal Quality The key element of RF signal quality is a good signal-to-noise ratio. Experience has shown that for 802.11a and 802.
HotView Pro Software Operation Understanding the Node Statistics Window Figure 2.23 Node Statistics The node statistics window shows key performance parameters for each radio link on a node. Figure 2.24 Link Statistics Individual link statistics can be viewed by first clicking on a link to select it, and then right-clicking. Select the Radio Link Statistics option. Each radio has a one-line entry for each neighbor with which it is communicating. Columns 1, 2, and 3 identify the link.
Analyzing Performance Spectrum Analysis The HotPort 7202 contains a spectrum analysis feature. This can be used to scan for interference from all other sources, and record this information for later analysis. It can be used for initial site survey work or to troubleshoot problems that appear later. Spectrum analysis works by using one radio in the node to sequentially scan through the list of selected channels, recording the duration and power of any RF signals it finds.
HotView Pro Software Operation Link Throughput The ultimate goal of any mesh is to move traffic. While good RF performance is necessary for this, you still need to verify actual effective throughput. The HotPort 7202 has a built-in performance tool to make this easy. To measure performance, right-click on one of the two nodes between which you wish to measure performance. Select Run Diagnostics Tools, and select the second node from the flyout.
Analyzing Performance Performance Optimization Once basic mesh performance has been verified, the mesh should be tuned. There are two parts to this; both involve reducing mesh overhead traffic and reducing mesh jitter. Link Elimination It is not uncommon to have nodes in the field form links among themselves that were unplanned; i.e., not needed as part of the mesh design.
HotView Pro Software Operation
HotView Pro Server Configuration 4 HotView Pro Server Configuration This chapter explains how to configure the HotView Pro server application itself. The server is the always-on element of the overall system; thus it manages alarms, defines user accounts, and performs many other network-wide functions. The server can be configured whether it is running or not. To do so when it is not running, use the Server Configuration icon in the HotView Pro Launcher window, at the bottom of “Figure 1.
HotView Pro Software Operation Server Configuration - Service Manager Figure 3.33 Service Manager The Service Manager tab are used to start and stop the server application and the SNMP agent application. Server Configuration - User Management Figure 3.34 HotView Pro Management - Users Tab This tab defines accounts for human users of the system. Each user can be granted or denied server admin privileges. Each user can also be granted read/ write access to meshes, read-only access, or no access at all.
HotView Pro Server Configuration Server Configuration - Windows Service Manager Figure 3.35 HotView Pro Management - Windows Service Tab This tab lets you configure the server application as a Windows service, so that it starts (and re-starts) automatically. Server Configuration - SNMP Setup Figure 3.36 HotView Pro Management - SNMP Tab This tab lets you configure the SNMP agent.
HotView Pro Software Operation Server Configuration - Alarm Management Figure 3.37 Alarm Management The server can be configured to generate alarms. There are four aspects to alarm configuration and generation: • Alarm Definition • Alarm Severity Definition • Alarm Action Configuration • Alarm email (SMTP) Configuration Figure 3.38 Alarm Configuration - Severity There are four pre-defined levels of severity. Additional levels may be defined if needed.
HotView Pro Server Configuration Figure 3.39 Alarm Events This tab lets you select from a list of alarm events to create named alarms with associated severities. Actions to be taken for each named alarm are defined in Figure 3.40. Figure 3.40 Alarm Actions Named alarms can be assigned actions using this window. Actions include: • Execute a System Command. This causes the named system command program to be executed. • Send an email. • Do nothing (but write a log entry). • Ignore.
HotView Pro Software Operation Server Configuration - Security Figure 3.41 Security This tab lets you restrict the ability of nodes to join the mesh. Normally, any node with the correct mesh settings can join the mesh. Enabling High Security requires that the node have a valid, digitally-signed certificate issued by Firetide. It can further be restricted by requiring the server to obtain explicit human approval before allowing a node to join the mesh.
Upgrading Firmware 5 Upgrading Firmware This chapter explains how to upgrade firmware in your nodes. The ‘upgrade’ tool is general-purpose; it can be used to upgrade firmware to a new release, roll back to an old release, or reload the same version. The upgrade tool is resilient and fault-tolerant. All firmware images are verified by checksum, and activation of the new image (reboot) does not occur unless a valid image is received.
HotView Pro Software Operation How to Upgrade To upgrade, begin by selecting the Upgrade Firmware command from the Network menu. A window opens, similar to the one in Figure 4.42. This shows the nodes available for upgrade. Check boxes let you select the nodes to be upgraded. In most cases, an entire mesh can be upgraded at once. If you choose to do so, select the Activate Later icon. Activate after you have verified that all nodes have received valid images. Figure 4.
Upgrading Firmware Figure 4.43 Upgrade in Progress These images show the progression of the firmware upload. Note that the ‘upgrade complete’ message does NOT mean that the new image has been activate, i.e. run, but only that it has been uploaded and fully checked for accuracy. Also note that the Activate Later option has been selected. Figure 4.44 Completion & Activation The Image Activation tab lets you activate the previously-uploaded image at a time of your choosing.
HotView Pro Software Operation
