Cognio, a company that specializes in spectrum analysis solutions for WiFI and radio frequency ID (RFID) networks, issued two announcements today.
Spectrum Expert 3.0
In the first announcement, Cognio noted its release of the latest version of
Spectrum Expert, a tool that enables quick troubleshooting for WiFi (
News -
Alert) networks.
The most notable addition to Spectrum Expert 3.0 is a new set of diagnostics that enable IT manager to see whether a problem is in the “air” or in a wired area of the network. The diagnostics also show the precise cause of signal interference.
The solution also diagnoses physical layer issues, providing the information needed to analyze and optimize WiFi throughput, Cognio said in
a press release.
“The real power of Spectrum Expert is that it pinpoints for IT managers what the source of interference is and where it is actually located, allowing IT managers to take control of their spectrum,” explained Cognio’s vice president of marketing, William Flanagan, said in a statement.
He added: “Cognio spectrum analytics eliminates the confusion as to whether a building's WiFi air quality is bad or whether there is an issue in the network.”
Other notable features of Spectrum Expert 3.0 are listed below.
- Channel Utilization Chart (indicates which channels are over-utilized, and why)
- Signal to Noise Chart (shows the relative signal strengths of access points, interferers and noise)
- Interferer Alerting (highlights interferers that affect performance or security)
- AP Finder (locates unauthorized WiFi APs or ad-hocs)
- Easy Save (allows quick export of plot and chart data to spreadsheets)
- Display of monitored bands on status bar (quick view showing which bands are being monitored)
Cognio + Meritech = RFID Surveying Solution
Also today, Cognio announced a partnership with software company
Meritech to develop an RFID site survey solution.
Cognio’s UHF RFID Cardbus module is now integrated with Metitech’s
iSite platform, a software tool for plotting the coverage area of radio signals.
Together, the two companies have produced a solution with minimal interference between readers, while at the same time improving tag detection and performance.
“Common problems in RFID networks include overlapping coverage areas and dead spots occurring within the coverage zone,” Cognio explained in
a press release. “iSite shows plots as a floor plan overlay, and includes information about signal strength, interference and coverage overlap.”
Cognio added: “iSite also provides prediction capabilities allowing network adjustments to be evaluated before they are applied.”
In a statement,
DoCoMo Technology senior manager Fumio Kondou noted that new RFID networks often suffer from poor reader performance resulting from the presence of interfering objects—such as microwave ovens and adjacent readers.
“A survey tool that plots reader coverage, and identifies adjustments that will improve network performance is crucial,” Kondou said.
iSite is just such a tool. It is designed for semi-passive and active tag networks with distances of 30-100 feet between readers—making it useful, for example, to companies using RFID for data collection, asset management, and supply chain processes.
Mae Kowalke previously wrote for Cleveland Magazine in Ohio and The Burlington Free Press in Vermont. To see more of her articles, please visit Mae Kowalke’s columnist page.
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