Monitoring the Health and Performance of Base Stations and the RF Network RNI Release 3.1 SP2

1. Monitoring the Health and Performance of Base Stationsand the RF Network RNI Release 3.1 SP2 C-PAMRAMI-WGE-0133-01

2. Introduce the daily tasks used to monitor health and performance of Base Stations and the Radio Frequency (RF) network deployed in a FlexNet system using the RNI reports, charts, and tools. The goal of this module is to:

3. Review: Verifying FBS and RF Network Operation Monitoring Base Stations and RF Network Are Base Stations collecting meter/SmartPoint data and forwarding it to the RNI? Is the RF Network performing as expected? Are there alarms related to data losses, device function or tampering, and/or communications? 3 FBS Ops

4. Monitoring Base Stations & the RF Network With the RNI Monitoring Base Stations and RF Network 3 FBS Ops

5. Monitoring FlexNet Base Stations Section One

6. Verify a Base Station is powered up and online. • View alarms for a selected Base Station. • View a summary of alarms received for all Base Stations in the last 24 hours. Section One Objectives

7. Monitoring Base Station Operations Monitoring FBS Status Performed daily during system installation and periodically after that Problems with Base Station operation cause problems with meter reading Verify: • Powered and online • Alarms • Recent status messages

8. Verifying Base Stations Are Online: Steps 1-2 Monitoring FBS Status Log in to your FlexNet RNI web server with your username and password Click Diagnostics > FBS Status

9. Verifying Base Stations Are Online: Steps 3-4 Monitoring FBS Status View the Connection and Up Since column values Connection = OK, perfect Connection = x days latent, indicates the number of days the Base Station has been down Connection = Never Connected,this Base Station may be in the installation process

10. Monitoring Base Station Alarms Monitoring FBS Alarms Look for critical alarms, such as Power Fail, for each tower

11. Alarms Available on the Tower Status Page Monitoring FBS Alarms Power Fail: Base Station has lost AC power to outdoor enclosure or power supply has failed on indoor models • Use the Connection and Up Since data to determine if power has been restored Battery Low: One or more of the Base Station batteries has died; Base Station will be disconnected within 60 seconds Voltage Fault: Indication of 48-volt-to-24-volt converter issue on M400A Base Station

12. Alarms Available on the Tower Status Page (Continued) Monitoring FBS Alarms Over Temp: Base Station is experiencing temperature of 40°C (104°F) or higher • View the CPC Status for detailed temperature information Under Temp: Base Station is experiencing temperature 5°C (41°F) or lower • View the CPC Status for detailed temperature information Door Tamper: Door is open on the Base Station unit Refer to the Base Station Environmental Alarms Quick Guide for more detail about these alarms

13. Viewing Potential CPC Warnings Monitoring FBS Alarms Base Stations contain up to 10 ten channels. Each channel is monitored for activity, temperature, and unit door open notifications. Click CPC status (Channel Processing Card) to view Base Station door is open • Temperatures in: • Black are normal (≤ 85°F) • Orange are warm (86-90°F) • Red are critically hot (≥ 91°F)

14. Viewing Recent Base Station Status Messages Monitoring FBS Alarms Click Recent Status messages tab to view all status messages received in the last 24 hours View the date, time, Base Station that triggered the alarm, the alarm bits, and the names of alarms

16. Which diagnostic report displays Base Station is connected, current alarms, and alarms over the last 24 hours? • Communication Statistics report • Overall System Statistics report • FBS Status report • Event Log report

17. Which of the following alarms are available from the FBS Status report Tower Status tab? • Power Fail • Over Temp • Door Tamper • All of the above

18. Monitoring Base Station RF Communications Section Two

19. Determine if the volume of messages handled by a Base Station is remaining constant over time. • Determine if a Base Station is overloaded or handling more traffic than is appropriate for optimum performance. • Evaluate potential impact of idle noise in the system, signal strength, and SNR on RF communications. • View alarms in the Event Log. Section Two Objectives

20. Monitoring Base Station RF Communications Monitoring FBS RF Communications Performed daily during system installation and periodically after that Verify: • Status • Throughput and load • Connectivity/Interference • Signal quality: Idle noise level, Signal strength, Signal-to-Noise (SNR) ratio • Alarms

21. Viewing Message Traffic Status for Base Stations Monitoring FBS RF Communications Click Message Counts View the totals for all Base Stations View the totals for a single Base Station

22. Look for Consistent Volume of Messages Monitoring FBS RF Communications Click Received Msgsto open a graph of the messages received over time

23. Viewing Messages Received Over Time Monitoring FBS RF Communications 3. Change the zoom level to view the desired detail 1. Select the Base Station(s) to view 4. Optionally, put the data you want to focus on in the center of the graph by clicking on the chart 2. Select the scale—Raw data gives the most detail, averages give smoother lines • Each time a selection is made, the displayed graph automatically updates

24. Analyzing the Graph Monitoring FBS RF Communications 1. Look for a relatively flat or slightly increasing number of messages during normal business hours 2. Expect dips in the early hours of the morning, but investigate other dips or spikes 3. Optionally view data for a specific physical channel • Each time a selection is made, the displayed graph automatically updates

25. About Base Station Physical Channel Metrics Monitoring FBS RF Communications Physical channels act like individual pipes for communication from meters to Base Station Allows more efficient processing of critical data Each channel is used to receive a different type of data For example: • ALOHA channels: typically contains meter data • Poll Response channels: typically shared between Demand Response and Distribution Automation data • Priority channels: typically used for alarms or outage data

26. Looking for Overloaded Base Stations: Steps 1-2 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Return to the Message Counts tab Look at the Received Msgsfor the individual Base Stations

27. Looking for Overloaded Base Stations: Step 3 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Compare the percentage of received messages handled by each Base Station versus all Base Stations • Does one Base Station have a much higher load than the others in your network? This Base Station handled 35% of the load at some point during the 8 hour period, but has leveled out again in the last hour to 7% Most of these Base Station handle 7-13% of the load, over an 8 hour period

28. Verifying Idle Noise in System: Steps 1-2 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Click Diagnostics Select TGB Status

29. Verifying Idle Noise in System: Step 3 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Click Idle Noise • Signal noise and standard deviation are displayed for the last hour and the last 30 days for each Base Station • Signal noise = electrical disturbance to signal that interferes with transmission or reception of information • Standard deviation = dispersion of signal frequency from normal; indicator of signal degradation

30. Verifying Idle Noise in System: Step 4 Monitoring FBS RF Communications 4. Look for noise levels greater than 12 dB and large standard deviations, as these Base Stations are more likely to have communication issues Each chart shows the value for each physical channel—four in this example Hover over bar/channel to see exact value and data type

31. Verifying Signal Strength: Steps 1-2 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Click Sensus Click Diagnostics > Overall System Graphs

32. Verifying Signal Strength: Steps 3-4 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Select the Signal Strength Histogram from the Graph Type drop-down list Select a specific city or Base Station to view from the For TGB drop-down list • Default is to show all cities and Base Stations

33. Viewing the Signal Strength Histogram Monitoring FBS RF Communications Look for meters with a low signal strength, as these are more likely to have noise issues 3. Click Filters to open the Filter Option window

34. Verifying the Signal-to-Noise Ratio Monitoring FBS RF Communications Select the SNR Histogram from the Graph Type drop-down list Look for meters with low SNRs, as these are more likely to have communication issues

35. Using the Event Log to Monitor Alarms: Steps 1-2 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Click Reports > Event Log Click Filters

36. Using the Event Log to Monitor Alarms: Steps 3-5 Monitoring FBS RF Communications Modify criteria as needed Select the FBS Alarms option Click Search Event Log 3 4 Alarms displayed are those described in the Base Station Environmental Alarms Quick Guide 5

38. Complete the steps:To determine if the volume of messages handled by a Base Station is remaining constant over time, • Click Diagnostics • Click ___________ • Click Message Counts • Click Received Msgsto view the graph FBS Status

39. What parameter is used to determine if a Base Station is overloaded? • Received messages • Message count • Transmit interval • None of the above

40. Describe the potential impact of idle noise in the system, signal strength, and SNR on RF communications.Both high idle noise and low signal strength can impact the SNR, making interference more likely on the RF network.

41. Which reports show Base Station alarms? • Communications Statistics and Event Log • Event Log and Tower Status • Tower Status and Communications Statistics • None of the above