User Manual

PLUS System Manual System Installation 15
Proprietary Information: Do not disclose unless authorized under a Nondisclosure Agreement and the Partner Agreement.
2.1 Pre-Installation Site Survey
Prior to installing a system, the installation site must be inspected and a plan developed to determine
the number and locations of hardware components that will be needed. There are several planning
steps and rules of thumb that should be applied when evaluating an installation site:
1) Obtain an accurate, electronic format building plan. The plan will be needed to estimate and
document intended Reader and Calibration Tag locations, develop a Reader placement and wiring
plan, develop a floor plan for the software application, and facilitate the coordinate survey after
hardware components have been installed.
All location information is ultimately compared to zones and locations defined by the
floorplan. The effort involved in generating an accurate floorplan is often underestimated
and can result in one of the largest sources of error in the system.
2) Identify areas on the building plan where accurate 2D location is most important. Reader density
and geometries should receive the most attention in these areas.
3) For the system to calculate a 2D Tag position, the Tag needs to be heard by at least three Readers.
In areas where the Tags will be moving or human activity may cause occasional blockage, plan
Reader locations such that at four or more Readers are within range of the Tags.
4) For normal stud and drywall construction, Readers will typically hear Tags at a distance of 45’
through one wall or 30’ through two walls. Identify and plan around building features that may
block the signal, such as metal pipes, ductwork, reinforced stairwells, foil-backed insulation,
elevators, etc. Wall construction consisting of additional layers of drywall, brick, concrete, and
cinderblock will cause higher signal loss and should receive extra attention.
5) Plan to use directional antennas when possible to maximize range for Readers on the periphery of
the installation.
6) Be aware of Reader geometry limitations. Readers forming equilateral triangles are generally
best. In Figure 2-3, three readers are shown in an equilateral configuration. The lighter areas
represent best location precision, and darker areas represent lower accuracy regions. The system
will generally not be able to produce a solution in the white areas outside of the three-lobed
region.