MeshCube Anchors installation guide

This document describes how to properly install Mesh Anchors to obtain best results in different environments.

General rules

Gateway placement

The first thing is to place the Wirepas Gateway, that is the device that collects data from all the anchors in the network and sends them to the software so that data are elaborated. The Gateway may be used as an anchor too.
In case of large installations (i.e. networks with more than 200/300 anchor nodes), more than one gateway may be required.

The best position to place the gateway is in the center of the network, to avoid long routes from peripheral nodes to the gateway itself.

Anchors placement

After that, the mesh anchors have to be installed.
The anchors placement follows some rules described below:

1. The anchors can’t be placed far from each other since they won’t be able to form the mesh network.
   As rule of thumb, 10 to 15 m is the recommended inter-distance in indoor environment, depending on the required localization precision.

2. When placing the anchors the walls type, doors and other environment elements have to be considered since they could represent a constraint for the signal transmission.

3. All the anchors should be installed at the same altitude of 2-3 meters: in case the ceiling height is under 4 m the anchors can be placed on the ceiling, otherwise the anchors should be placed on the walls or other supports.

4. In a project, it is recommended to use only 1 anchor type devices for best performances.

5. The anchors installation depends on the anchor antenna type:

   • if an anchor has an omnidirectional antenna pattern, the anchor should be placed on the walls / pillars / other supports;
   • in case of an anchor with a directional antenna it is suggested to place the anchor on the ceiling (if the ceiling height is under 4 m).

BlueUp anchors

In the following are presented the Wirepas anchors from the BlueUp portfolio, their characteristis and their installation guidelines.

Ultra

Ultra Zero or Base Wirepas anchors are indicated for indoor installations, such as offices, hospitals, schools, etc.
Ultra Zero Wirepas is battery-powered and works in low-power mode only, while Ultra Base Wirepas can be battery- or USB-powered and can work in low-power or low-latency mode.

Ultra has directive antenna that, thanks to its front-to-back ratio, improves floor detection in multi-floor environments or room detection in multi-room environment.
We suggest to install Ultra anchors on the ceiling, for the ceilings that are 3-4 m high.

In the images below is sketched the radiation diagram of the Ultra anchor seen from the top and from the side.

Maxi

Maxi Wirepas is a powerful anchor node for localization infrastructures without cabling in indoor environments. Maxi Wirepas is characterized by a long battery operating life with easy installation options that make the anchor ready-to-be-used.

Maxi is characterized by a toroidal antenna pattern, making the device perfect for wall installations.

In the images below is sketched the radiation diagram of the Maxi anchor seen from the top and from the side.

Forte+

Forte+ Wirepas is provided in a IP67 enclosure, that makes it ideal for industrial and outdoor installations.

Thanks to the provided battery, Forte+ can work an average of 3 years (Access cycle 2s with low traffic load (<10%)) before a battery replacement is needed.

Forte+ is characterized by an omnidirectional antenna pattern, making the device perfect for wall installations (or other vertical supports such as coulms, poles, etc.).

In the images below is sketched the radiation diagram of the Forte+ anchor seen from the top and from the side.

Brick

Brick Wirepas is provided in a IP67 enclosure, that makes it ideal for industrial and outdoor installations.

Thanks to the provided battery, Brick can work an average of 9 years (Access cycle 2s with low traffic load (<10%)) before a battery replacement is needed.

Brick is characterized by an omnidirectional antenna pattern, making the device perfect for wall installations (or other vertical supports such as coulms, poles, etc.).

In the images below is sketched the radiation diagram of the Brick anchor seen from the top and from the side.

Typical use cases

Below are proposed and described typical environments, where localization can be the main concern, with a proposed anchor installation model.

Note: in all the cases described below, the position of the tags will be always computed inside the polygon described by the anchors.

Buildings

Localization inside the building is one of the main concerns of our customers. The localization inside the buildings can refer to offices, hospitals, schools, and others.

In most cases there are 3 different localization requirements:

1. Room-level localization, that requires knowing in which room is the tag associated to a person or an asset;
2. Floor localization, that requirest knowing only the floor where a tag is;
3. Area localization, requiring to know the building area where a tag is located.

In the two cases, the suggested anchor placement is described in the following.

Room-level localization

In case a room level accuracy is required, it is recommended to place one Ultra anchor per room with the anchor being placed at the center of each room (for larger rooms more than one anchor could be necessary). This placement allows to distinguish the rooms where a person or an asset currently is.

As an example, in the figure below is proposed a floor plan of a hospital.
Using the installation model shown in the figure, where one Ultra anchor is placed on the ceiling, at the center of each room, it is possible to know in real time in which room the patients or critical equipment are localized.

Note: the ceiling height has to be less than 4 meters to install the anchors on the ceiling.

Floor localization

There are cases in which the customers want to know onyly the floor at which a person or an asset is. In this case, it is suggested to use the Maxi anchors, installed on the walls along the corridors of the building.

An example installation is reported in the following figure, where the Maxi anchors have been placed along the corridor of a hospital.

Area localization

There are cases in which the customers want to know the area in which a person or an asset is. In this case, it is suggested to use the Maxi anchors, installed on the walls along the perimeter and some anchors added along the corridors of the building.

This installation is suggested when, for example, a building is divided into departments and there is the need to know only the department where a tag is.

An example installation is reported in the following figure.

Industrial sites

In case of industrial environments, one of the most common customer request is to track assets in warehouses, production sites or similar.

By associating a tag to different assets (such as machines, pallets, and others), it is possible to track their position in the warehouse.
This can be done using our industrial Forte+ or Brick anchors, installed all over the site.

The anchors can be easily installed on walls, racks and other vertical supports and their robust enclosure protects the inner circuit from physical damages.

Tunnels localization

There are also cases where it is necessary to track vehicles or assets inside tunnels, or other industrial environments having a tunnel-similar layout.
In this case the best approach is to use industrial Forte+ or Brick anchors placed inside the tunnel, as shown in te figure below.