Location Engine Overview

Station location tracking is one of the advanced ExtremeWireless Radar features designed for managing a wireless environment and its resources. The Location Engine works in conjunction with Extreme Management Center maps to define specific floor plan areas for Location Aware Services.

The Location Engine determines location based on measured Received Signal Strength (RSS) of the client stations at the AP. The location algorithm uses RF finger printing based on a Path Loss model and determines location by triangulating RSS reported from one or more APs.

Estimating location using readings from multiple APs provides a more accurate location estimate. Estimating location using RSS from a single AP is sufficient to determine the location of client in terms of proximity to the associated AP. The client location is indicated on the map as a circle around the AP. Estimation using multiple RSS offers a pinpoint location estimate of the client. The client location is indicated as a pin, in the most probable position, on the map. The colors displayed around the pin indicate the level of confidence that the client is physically located there.

The Location Engine tracks location of multiple clients simultaneously and returns position relative to the floor plan.

No additional license is required to use the Location Engine functionality in the controller. However, to draw maps and to visualize location tracking, Extreme Management Center is required, which comes with its own licensing requirements.