WCS & Location Appliance

Cisco WCS
The Wireless Control System (WCS) enables you to configure and monitor one or more controllers and associated access points. WCS includes the same configuration, performance monitoring, security, fault management, and accounting options used at the controller level and adds a graphical view of multiple controllers and managed access points.

Wireless Control System (WCS)

Cisco Wireless Control System

Flexible and secure network management tool:
Intuitive GUI Browser accessible via HTTPS Device management via SNMP (supports SNMPv1, SNMPv2, and SNMPv3)

Ease of system maintenance

Runs on Microsoft Windows and Linux platforms

Wireless Control System (WCS)

Cisco Wireless Control System

Three versions of Cisco WCS:

Cisco WCS Base Cisco WCS Location Cisco WCS Plus

Wireless Control System (WCS)

Cisco WCS Base

The base version of Cisco WCS can determine which access point a wireless device is associated with. It can supply a general approximation of where wireless devices are situated
Wireless Control System (WCS)

Cisco WCS Base

Handles:
Rogue access point detection Ad hoc detection Containment functions for rouge devices Map-based organization of access point RF coverage areas User-supplied campus, building, and floor plan graphics

Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

Cisco WCS Base

System-wide control of streamlined network, controller, and managed APs:
Configuration with customer-defined templates Status and alarm monitoring Full event logs Automatic channel and power level assignment User-defined automatic controller status audits, missed trap polling, configuration backups, and policy cleanups

Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

Cisco WCS Location

Adds finer granularity to the WCS Base AP and client tracking. Uses Cisco's patent-pending RF fingerprinting technology. compares real-time client RSSI information to known RF building characteristics.
Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

Cisco WCS Location

All Cisco WCS Base software features On-demand location of rogue access points to within 10 meters On-demand location of clients to within 10 meters Ability to use Cisco Wireless Location Appliances

Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

Cisco WCS Location

The Cisco Wireless Location Appliance performs location computations based on the RSSI information that arrives from Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers.

Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

Cisco WCS Location

The location appliance acts as a server to a WCS server by collecting, storing, and passing on data from its associated controllers When WCS is enhanced with a location appliance, it can display historical location data for up to 2,500 clients.

Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

Cisco WCS Plus

A Cisco WCS PLUS license supports Cisco WCS Location license features Plus High availability.

The Plus license is required to enable the mobility service engine which is used to ensure data is synchronized between servers.
Wireless Control System (WCS) versions

System Requirements
Windows 2003/SP2 32-bit installations.
Windows 2003/SP2 64-bit installations are not supported.

Red Hat Linux Enterprise Server 5.X 32-bit operating system installations.
Red Hat Linux Enterprise Server 5.X 64-bit operating system installations are not supported.

Wireless Control System (WCS)

System Requirements
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Red Hat Linux version support on VMware ESX version 3.0.1 and above with either local storage or SAN over fiber channel.

Wireless Control System (WCS)

Home Page

WCS Network Summary Page

WCS Controller Summary Page

WCS Client Page

WCS Maps Page

WCS Location Tracking with the Location Appliance

The Wireless Location Appliance uses a technique known as RF Fingerprinting to calculate the location of tracked devices. RF Fingerprinting resolves location coordinates by determining how RF signals will be received at every grid point within a building. The WCS location tool predicts how the RF interacts with the building.
Wireless Control System (WCS)

WCS Location Tracking using RF Fingerprinting

RF fingerprinting traces signal strength for every signal heard by a Cisco AP this allows accounting for reflection and multipath

Wireless Control System (WCS)

Location Appliance Overview

Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance Advanced RF Fingerprinting utilized for high accuracy location tracking. Real Time Location Tracking
Wi-Fi Devices Wi-Fi Active RFID Tags Rogue clients & APs

Location Appliance
Device is Linux & Java based Interface defined in SOAP/XML Client API for WCS to hide details of SOAP/XML details for Java clients SNMP operates between Location Appliance and network Requires WCS Location version for management

Location Appliance Applications Visibility and tracking of 1500 mobile devices for 30 days Work-flow automation and people tracking WLAN security and network control RF capacity management and visibility