Installation guide

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Wi-Fi Location-Based Services—Design and Deployment Considerations
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Appendix B—AeroScout Tag Manager Version 2.1
• Transmit Power (dBm)—T2 asset tags have an adjustable output power from +13dBm to +19dBm.
Version 2.1 of the AeroScout Tag Manager exposes this via the GUI.
• Data Frame Format—T2 asset tags are capable of transmitting probe requests in either the WDS or
IBSS (Independent Basic Service Set or ad-hoc) frame formats. In the IBSS frame format, the “To
DS” and “From DS” bits in the Frame Control Field of the 802.11 MAC header are both set to “0”.
In the WDS frame format, these bits are both set to “1”. As of this writing, AeroScout T2 asset tags
ship from the factory enabled for the WDS frame format, which is required for the tags to be
recognized by the Cisco LBS solution. When using the AeroScout Tag Manager v2.0, T2 asset tags
are always left programmed to the factory default data frame format of WDS (v2.0 does not allow
the data frame format to be changed by the user). However, AeroScout Tag Manager v2.1 makes it
possible for the user to change the default tag data frame format from WDS to IBSS via the
Advanced Configuration > General Settings submenu of Tag Configuration (Figure 36). The default
data frame format value in Tag Manager 2.1 is IBSS, and depending on which functions of Tag
Manager 2.1 are used, this incorrectly set data frame format can cause the tag to become unusable
with the Cisco LBS solution.
It is helpful to examine this in further detail. If the v2.1 Tag Manager user changes only tag configuration
options and re-programs the asset tag without changing any of the options contained on the Advanced
Configuration > General Settings submenu, Tag Manager v2.1 does not include any Advanced
Configuration > General Settings changes during the re-programming process. This means the tag data
frame format is not changed from the currently programmed values resident within the non-volatile
memory of the tag. So, if Tag Manager v2.1 is used in this manner to program fresh factory tags or tags
that have been programmed via Tag Manager v2.0 previously, the frame format should still be set to
WDS and acceptable for use with the Cisco LBS solution.
However, if the user changes any of the options contained on the Advanced Configuration > General
Settings submenu, the user must then explicitly change the data frame format from IBSS to WDS before
applying the changes and reprogramming the asset tag (as shown in Figure 83).
Figure 83 Proper Frame Format Selection for AeroScout