Aginova Sentinel PRO User manual

1
Sentinel
Desktop Version
User Guide
Software version 1.0.3
Document revision 6

Contents
2
What You Need .....................................................................................................................................................3
Sentinel Setup ..........................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................4
The Sentinel Pro and Micro compared.................................................................................................................4
Introduction to the Sentinel....................................................................................................................................4
Low-power WiFi Sensors......................................................................................................................................5
Overview...............................................................................................................................................................6
Configure your Wi-Fi router.................................................................................................................................6
Desktop Software Setup..........................................................................................................................................6
Changing the PC’s network IP address................................................................................................................7
Installing the Desktop Software............................................................................................................................8
Setup of the Sentinel Sensor..................................................................................................................................9
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................10
Running the Desktop Software............................................................................................................................10
Desktop Software Guide .......................................................................................................................................10
The Overview section..........................................................................................................................................11
The List of Sensors section..................................................................................................................................12
Reconfiguring your sensors ................................................................................................................................13
Reprogramming your sensors.............................................................................................................................14
The Graphs & Data section................................................................................................................................15
The Configuration section ..................................................................................................................................15
The Communications section..............................................................................................................................16
Overview of the data flow...................................................................................................................................17
Troubleshooting.....................................................................................................................................................17
Common problems..............................................................................................................................................18
Understanding LEDs’ meaning ..........................................................................................................................18
Using Wireshark to sense Ethernet packets........................................................................................................19
Using Wireshark to sense Wi-Fi packets ............................................................................................................19

Chapter 1 Sentinel Setup
3
What You Need
To use the Sentinel and the Desktop Software, you will need:
At least one Sentinel Pro or Sentinel Micro.
Windows 2000 operating system or better
At least 1 GB of Physical RAM
At least 1 GB of Hard Disk space
Screen resolution of 800x600 or better, 16-bit color depth
Aginova Desktop Software (CD-ROM)
A WiFi Access Point with the following capabilities:
o802.11 b/g
oOpen security or WPA2 PSK
oDHCP (or provided by your network)
o1,2 Mbps basic rate set
Sentinel Setup
1

4
Chapter 2 Introduction to the Sentinel
Introduction
The Sentinel Wi-Fi Sensors are devices with various sensors (depending on
configuration temperature, humidity, moisture, light) that use your existing
802.11b/g Wi-Fi network infrastructure.
The sensors will take a measurement at a regular time interval (for the remaining of
this guide, we will use temperature as an example) and report them to a local PC.
When not taking a measurement, the sensor will enter a low power sleep mode to
preserve the internal lithium battery.
The Sentinel Pro and Micro compared
Sentinel PRO
Sentinel MICRO
Introduction to the Sentinel
2

Chapter 2 Introduction to the Sentinel
5
Low-power WiFi Sensors
The Sentinel uses a low-power duty cycling algorithm to preserve battery power
and perform scheduled temperature measurements.
Measure
SendSleep
Wake up CPU Wake up WLAN TX
Shutdown
Sleep
Send
ConfigUpdate
Trap
Wait for
ConfigUpdate
SET/GET
Wake up WLAN TX
Wake up WLAN
RX for 1 sec
Shutdown

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Chapter 3 Desktop Software Setup
You only need to go through these steps if the sensor was
configured for DESKTOP application. This will not work for
WEB application.
Overview
In the desktop software application, the sensor is pre-configured to send its data to
a Personal Computer (PC) whose IP address is set by default to 172.19.0.10.
In order to connect to the sensors, you will first need to configure your WiFi router,
reconfigure your PC with the appropriate settings, and install the Desktop
Software. Once you are able to connect to the sensors, you can reconfigure them
to send the data packets to a different IP address.
In summary:
- Configure the Wi-Fi router
- Change your PC IP address (and network addressing)
- Install the Software on the PC
- Turn on the sensor(s) and wait until they appear on the Desktop Software
- Reconfigure the sensors to point to a different IP address
- Reconfigure your PC IP address back to its original settings
Configure your Wi-Fi router
For desktop software configure the Access Point with the following settings:
SSID: demokit (case sensitive)
Channel: 1
Mode: 802.11 b/g
DHCP: enabled
Security: Either Open or WPA2 Personal, with PSK “demokit1234”
Basic rate set: 1, 2 Mbps
IP Address: 172.19.0.1
Netmask: 255.255.0.0
Desktop Software Setup
3

Chapter 3 Desktop Software Setup
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NOTE
- WEP, or WPA1+2 is not supported at this moment
- You must connect your PC to the one of the LAN ports of your router
An illustrated reconfiguration of a Linksys WRT54GC router is available at
www.aginova.com
Changing the PC’s network IP address
Computer has to be set up as follows when using the desktop software OR the
RTMS (No set up necessary when using Aginova’s hosted solution):
A. Open the Control Panel, Network
Connections
Go to START
Select Control Panel
Double-click on the network connections
icon.
B. Disable the Ethernet network interface
Right-click on the Ethernet network
interface and select disable.

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Chapter 3 Desktop Software Setup
C. Open the TCP/IP configuration
Right-click on the Ethernet network
interface and select Properties.
Double-click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
D. Change the configuration to use static
IP
Write down your previous settings.
Select Use the following address:
IP address: 172.19.0.10
Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0
Default gateway: 172.19.0.1
E. Enable the Ethernet network interface
Right-click on the Ethernet network
interface and select enable.
Installing the Desktop Software
Insert the provided CD-ROM or download the latest release from
www.aginova.com .
The installer should start automatically. If not, locate and run the installer file.
Once the installation starts, you can leave all options with default values.

Chapter 3 Desktop Software Setup
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Setup of the Sentinel Sensor
The Sentinel Pro & Micro come pre-installed with a 3.6V
lithium battery.
Perform the following steps:
- Connect the sensor probe (depending on setup)
- Connect the power supply (optional)
- Turn the power switch to LED (to see LED indications)
OFF LEDONSENSORPOWER

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Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
Introduction
The Aginova Sentinel Application allowsthe user to quickly set up a full sensor-
based environment. It has a small embedded database that stores temperature
information for several months. The Desktop Software features :
- A simple installation (no database or web server needed)
- Embedded database for temperature storage
- Graphs & simple data extraction
- Visual map of the sensors
The Gold Edition has the same features as the Silver Edition but also includes:
- Email alerting
- Reports
Running the Desktop Software
When the installer finishes, it will prompt you to automatically start the Desktop
Software application. To run it manually,
Go to Start All Programs Aginova Desktop Software Silver Edition
Aginova Desktop Software Silver Edition
Note: If you see this security warning, please click on the
“Unblock” button. This will allow the Application to receive
sensor data.
Desktop Software Guide
4

Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
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The Overview section
The Desktop Software always begins in the Overview page. The Overview page
displays instantaneous information about all the sensors on one screen. It features
a placeholder that displays a map (of the building, for example) for visualization of
the sensors.
At the beginning, this page is empty since no sensor is detected.
You can drag & drop an image to define a Map of your location.
When sensors are detected, they will start appearing on the Map (see on next
picture). You can drag a sensor to a new location using the mouse. When clicking
on a sensor, detailed information will be displayed on the right panel.
You can use the zoom factor slider to zoom in and out of the picture.

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Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
The List of Sensors section
Clicking on the List of Sensors section displays all the sensors that ever connected
to the system.
Give a meaningful name to each sensor by double-clicking on its Sensor N°.
Note: You can change the temperature unit to °F under the Setup section.

Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
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Reconfiguring your sensors
To reconfigure one (or many sensors), go to the List of Sensors page (refer to
previous section for more details), and select the sensor(s) that you would like to
reconfigure. Then click on the Configure selected sensors button. A screen like
this one should appear:
The following parameters can be set from the Desktop Software application:
- Sampling period
- Heartbeat period (not available in this version)
- Configuration period
- WiBox / Desktop Software IP address
- Wi-Fi parameters: SSIDs, channels, PSK password
Sampling period
The sensors will use this duration to determine at which moment the temperature
(or humidity, light etc) measurement is made. Typical applications require a 60
second sampling period.
Configuration period
The sensor will wake up at this specified interval to poll the server for updates. If
you want to change a setting (like the sampling period), you must wait until the
next configuration period. Setting a low value (like 60 seconds) will let you update
the configuration faster but will lower the battery life significantly.Typical
applications require a 600 second configuration period.

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Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
WiBox / Desktop Software IP address
This parameter (an IP address, for example 172.19.0.10), controls where the
sensor sends its data information. By default (factory settings), the sensor will send
its information to 172.19.0.10. Once you connect to the sensor, you can change
this value to your preferred IP destination. Once the sensor is reconfigured, it will
try to communicate to the new address. Make sure that you also update your PC to
match the new settings.
SSID (1/2/3)
SSIDs are used to differentiate different IEE 802.11 Wi-Fi networks. For example,
you might have settheSSID to myhome.
The sensor will try to connect to SSID1, if not found, SSID2, and if still not found,
SSID3.
By default, the sensor will try to connect to the demokit SSID (for SSID1) and then
demokit for SSID2. If everything fails, it will use the Key written at the back of your
sensor as SSID3 (in case you forget to what it is set).
Channel (1/2/3)
These channels are set by default to 1, 6 and 11. They should not be changed
unless you want to use different channels.
WPA2 Personal Pre-Shared Key (PSK)
By default, this is set to demokit. You can change that security key to match your
existing setup.
Reconfigure multiple settings in one shot. Afterward, click on the Schedule
Reconfiguration button. Go to the Communications section to verify that your
Reconfiguration was effective.
Reprogramming your sensors
The Sentinel Sensors can be reprogrammed wirelessly.

Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
15
To reprogram a sensor, go to the List of sensors section, select the sensor(s) to
reprogram and click on the Update firmware button.
Select the new firmware (can be found on Aginova.com) and click on the Update
firmware button. You can verify that the firmware was updated properly on the
Communications section.
The Graphs & Data section
The Graphs & Data section allows the user to quickly view the temperature
evolution of a subset of your sensors.
Select multiple sensors by holding the “Ctrl” key while selecting sensors on the list.
Select various durations (from 1 year to the last 15 minutes) and use the slider to
adjust the desired time window .
Note: depending on the duration scale, data might be averaged in order to reduce
computation time.
The Data section shows the same data as currently displayed on the Graph.
The Configuration section
Temperature unit can be changed in the Configuration section.

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Chapter 4 Desktop Software Guide
The Communications section
In case of problems, troubleshoot communications in the Communications section.
This shows the latest packets received by this software from the sensors.

Chapter 5 Troubleshooting
17
Overview of the data flow
Here is the typical path of data between the Sentinel Sensor and the Desktop
Software.
Device
Common issues
Sensor Probe
Bad temperature reading
- Wrong probe attached
- Wrong product number set
Sentinel Pro / Micro
Cannot see sensor
- No batteries (or voltage too low)
- Not turned ON (middle position)
-
Cannot see sensor
- Sensor too far
Access Point
Cannot see sensor
- SSID wrong
- Channel wrong
- DHCP not enabled
- Security type or PSK wrong
Sensor disappears
- Group key update causes
problems (set it to high value)
Desktop Software
Cannot see sensor
- IP address of PC not configured
properly
Troubleshooting
5

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Chapter 5 Troubleshooting
Common problems
Not able to see any sensors?
Verify the following points:
Make sure that you can reach your WiFi Access Point (AP) from your PC
Verify that the AP is correctly configured (SSID, channels, DHCP, etc). You
can use another device (PDA, laptop) to verify that it can reach your PC.
Verify that your PC has the correct IP address set (172.19.0.10)
Disable any firewall/antivirus that could prevent sending/receiving
UDP/SNMP packets
Try to restart your networking equipments (routers) as well as computers
Understanding LEDs’ meaning
At the time of writing, the LEDs were not configured to
display these values. Reprogram the Sensors with the latest
Firmware to update the LEDs.
When the switch is set to the LED position:
LEDS
Problem description
One Amber
No Access Point with the corresponding SSIDs was
found.
One Red
Low battery
Two Red
Association / Authentication problems
Two Amber
Unable to complete DHCP
Three Amber
Cannot resolve route to WiBox / Desktop
Three Red
Configuration messages not acknowledged by WiBox
/ Desktop
Four Amber
SNMP or UDP packet sending error
Four Red
Flash Write error
Five Red
Other sensor error
Five Amber
Unknown error
No Access Point with the corresponding SSIDs was found
Verify that your Access Point (AP) is set with the correct SSID and enable
broadcast of SSID. Make sure that the AP also uses the correct channel.

Chapter 5 Troubleshooting
19
Factory settings are: SSID: demokit, Channels: 1or 6or 11
Association / Authentication problems
Try to disable security on your Access Point and try again. If that works, make sure
that when you enable security, please only use WPA2 –PSK.
Unable to complete DHCP
Make sure that a DHCP server is running on the same network where the sensors
are placed. Make sure that the DHCP offer is broadcasted using 1,2Mbps only
(rendering some routers like the Devolo incompatible).
Cannot resolve route to WiBox / Desktop
Verify that the Sensor can “ping” the WiBox or Desktop. There must be a possible
route between the two.
Configuration messages not acknowledged by WiBox / Desktop
The Sentinel did not receive an acknowledgment from the WiBox / Desktop when
sending a reconfiguration message.
SNMP or UDP packet sending error
There was an error when the Sentinel tried to send a packet (data or other) to the
WiBox / Desktop.
Other sensor error / Unknown error
Please contact Aginova support if the error persists.
Using Wireshark to sense Ethernet packets
Please refer to http://www.wireshark.org.
Using Wireshark to sense Wi-Fi packets
Please refer to http://www.wireshark.org.
You can setup Wireshark to sniff Wi-Fi packets using a Ubuntu Linux Desktop 7.10
or better. We found that using the US Robotics USR805423 was the best option.

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Chapter 5 Troubleshooting
Under Linux, enable the correct mode on the terminal:
sudo iwconfig
sudo iwconfig <interface> mode monitor # for example interface=eth1
sudo iwconfig <interface> freq 1 # (to listen to channel 1)
sudo iwconfig <interface> essid null # to discard any relationship with SSID
sudo iwconfig # to check that the change was done properly