Epiq solutions Epiq prism User manual

Epiq™ PRiSM

RF Sensing • Application

USER MANUAL

V2.0.0 - OCTOBER 26, 2022

Epiq™ PRiSM | User Manual

CHANGELOG

Revision Date Description Author

2.0.0 2022-10-26 Major updates to reflect significant changes to PCI Survey UI in release 2.1.0 seth

1.3.1 2022-08-25 Minor updates regarding GPS status/permission settings. Additional

updates/corrections for Spectrum Analyzer screenshots Chad S

1.3.0 2022-06-21 Added Appendix A: Software Updates seth

1.0.3 2022-03-15 Added GPS Section Gary S

1.0.2 2022-01-26 Initial Release Gary S

1.0.0 2021-10-22 Initial draft Gary S

Epiq™ PRiSM | User Manual

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRiSM User Manual

Preparing PRiSM

Connecting the Antenna

Connecting to the Device

Getting Started with PRiSM

Opening the PCI Scanner

PCI Scanner Application

Technology Selector

Channel List

Survey Summary

Stop Current Survey

Restart Last Survey

Channel Details

Exporting Survey Results

Survey Configuration

Manual Configuration

Configuring Bands

Survey Presets

Importing and Exporting Presets

Licensing

Configuring GPS

GPS Status Icon

Switching to Spectrum Analyzer

PRiSM Spectrum Analyzer

Using the Spectrum Analyzer

Primary Controls

Spectrum Display

Waterfall Display

Sidebar

Auxiliary Controls

Tuning the Receiver

Frequency

Span

Start

Stop

Gain

Using Frequency Fields

Number Entry

Stepping

Resolution Bandwidth (RBW)

Video Bandwidth (VBW)

Receiver Configuration

Epiq™ PRiSM | User Manual

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Adjusting the Spectrum Display

Plot Range

Fit to Signal

Reference Level

dB per Division

RF Loss Offset

Persistence

Charge and Decay

Waterfall Threshold

Color Theme

Pausing Live Spectrum

Scroll Through the Waterfall

Using Traces

current

min

max

user

Using Markers

Adding a Marker

Adding a Delta Marker

Moving a Marker

Moving a Marker to the Nearest Peak

Removing a Marker

Centering the Receiver on a Marker

Switching to the PCI Scanner

Appendix A - Software Updates

Software Update in the web browser

Open the Admin page in your web browser

Login to the Admin page

Upload the software package

Wait for update to complete

Reboot

Manual Software Update

Copy the package file to the PRiSM sensor

Log in to the PRiSM sensor

Install the software package

Reboot the PRiSM sensor

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PRiSM converts mobile devices into a 5G, 4G, and P25 network survey, scanning, testing, and

troubleshooting scanner and spectrum analyzer. The PRiSM scanner can be connected to a

compatible laptop, tablet, or smartphone with no apps to download.

Connect the antenna to the SMA port labeled RF1.

CAUTION: Take care to tighten the antenna to the PRiSM unit by rotating the nut and holding the

antenna stationary. Rotating the antenna to attach to the unit will damage the connector.

PRISM USER MANUAL

PREPARING PRISM

CONNECTING THE ANTENNA

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The PRiSM connects to PCs, tablets, and smartphones by a USB-C port.

Mobile devices with an available USB-C port and those which support USB-OTG can be used with

PRiSM.

Laptops can be connected to a PRiSM device using a USB-A to USB-C cable (not included) if a

USB-C port is not available.

NOTE:

When using PRiSM with an Android device, first switch the device to airplane mode and disable Wi-

Fi. Android is limited to supporting only a single network adapter.

Upon connecting the PRiSM to the device, it will boot in about 10 seconds (the status LED will go

from solid to heartbeat). It will be ready to access 15-20 seconds after plugging it in.

Connect to the PRiSM by opening a browser and setting the URL to http://192.168.3.1

NOTE: Be sure to use HTTP, not HTTPS.

CONNECTING TO THE DEVICE

GETTING STARTED WITH PRISM

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At the opening splash screen, choose the PCI Survey option.

NOTE: If PRiSM is not licensed for any PCI scanning technologies, the PCI Survey selection will

not function.

The PRiSM PCI scanner application supports configuration, viewing, and saving PCI scanning

results. Results will be displayed as they come in, organized by technology and frequency band. To

change the configuration, click the cog icon at the top-right corner of the UI.

OPENING THE PCI SCANNER

PCI SCANNER APPLICATION

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Use the Technology Selector toward the bottom right edge of the window to choose which

technology to show in the channel list.

Figure 1: Technology Selector

The Channel List displays the channels discovered by PRiSM for the selected technology. The list

contains unique entries sorted by channel number. All entries are further divided by the frequency

band in which they were found, when applicable. Select a channel to see its Channel Details.

Figure 2: Channel List

TECHNOLOGY SELECTOR

CHANNEL LIST

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When no channel is selected, the rest of the window displays a summary of the currently configured

survey. It includes information about how many passes of the configured survey have occurred and it

tracks progress through the current pass.

Figure 3: Survey Summary

While a survey is in progress, a Stop button is displayed in the upper right corner of the UI. Pressing

this button will cause the scanner to discontinue looking for channels, making it idle.

Figure 4: Stop Current Survey

While the scanner is idle, the Stop button becomes a Restart button. Pressing the Restart button will

start a new survey with the same configuration as the most recent survey.

Figure 5: Restart Last Survey

SURVEY SUMMARY

STOP CURRENT SURVEY

RESTART LAST SURVEY

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When a channel is selected in the Channel List, a panel with details for that channel is displayed.

The details displayed will depend on the channel's technology.

Cellular channels details will include an entry for each decoded PCI found on the channel's carrier

frequency. Any PCI that has been decoded further, with at least a SIB1 decode will include additional

fields and be colored differently to indicate that carrier information has been decoded for the PCI.

Figure 6: Channel Details

TIP: To return to the Survey Summary, either de-select the channel or click the back button at the

top of the Channel Details section.

Figure 7: Deselect Channel

CHANNEL DETAILS

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The results of the currently-running survey can be exported to a CSV (Comma Separated Values)

file. To download the complete set of scan records for the current Survey, from the Survey Summary,

click the "Export" button. All scan records for the current Survey will be downloaded into individual

.csv files per configured technology.

Figure 8: Download Scans Button

NOTE: The current version of PRiSM only captures records for the current survey since the

moment the UI connected to the scanner. This means that if the user refreshes the browser in the

middle of a survey, only the records received after the refresh will be exported. A future release will

improve this functionality.

This view provides an easy way to configure the scanner. You can either select a Regional Preset, a

User Preset, or manually configure the technology and frequency bands to be scanned. When you

have made changes to the current configuration and are ready to apply them, click the apply (✓)

button in the top-right corner. To return to the Survey Summary without making any changes, click

the cancel (x) button.

In the Survey Configuration section, you may switch on and off desired technologies. When a

technology is switched on, the scanner will survey the bands and channels as described in the

technology's section. When a technology is switched off, it will not be included in the survey.

NOTE: Only licensed technologies will be present in the Survey Configuration section.

EXPORTING SURVEY RESULTS

SURVEY CONFIGURATION

MANUAL CONFIGURATION

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Figure 9: Manual Configuration

To specify which bands should be scanned, click the "Edit" button for the desired technology, once it

has been enabled. A list of available bands will load. You may determine whether or not the scanner

will survey each band by switching them on or off in the panel on the right.

Figure 10: Configure Bands

Configuring Bands

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IMPORTANT: There is a bug in the PRiSM application preventing surveys with no bands selected

from being started. NOTE: When no bands are selected, the scanner will Survey ALL bands and

ALL channels for that technology.

It is possible to save a Survey Configuration as a preset to be recalled later. Click "Save as Preset"

to save the currently displaying configuration as a preset. The preset will appear in the list of presets

with the prefix "User Survey" and a number (e.g. "User Survey 1")

Figure 11: Survey Presets

NOTE: User Presets are saved in the browser, so they will not be present when connecting to the

scanner from another machine or browser. User Presets will also not be saved when using a

private window.

The scanner also includes several regional presets that can be used, as-is, or tweaked before being

applied.

To export your current configuration to a file that can be loaded onto another system, from the

Configuration view, click the "Export" button and your current working configuration (whether you

have applied it or not) will be downloaded to a JSON file that can be imported to another system.

To import a previously saved configuration, click the "Import" button at the bottom of the Presets list,

then select the file from the file browser.

SURVEY PRESETS

Importing and Exporting Presets

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Example Preset File:

my-prism-preset.json

{

"config": {

"rx_port": "J3",

"survey_parameters": [

{

"tech": "lte",

"bands": [

{ "band": "2", "channels": [] },

{ "band": "4", "channels": [] },

{ "band": "5", "channels": [] }

],

"type": "band"

},

{

"tech": "nr",

"bands": [

{ "band": "5", "channels": [] },

{ "band": "71", "channels": [] }

],

"type": "band"

}

]

},

"name": "My PRiSM Preset"

}

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To view or update the current license, go to the Survey Settings view and scroll past the Survey

Configuration section. Under the "License Info" heading, you can see which technologies are

currently licensed.

Figure 12: License Section in Configuration View

To Update the license, click the "Browse" button and select the new license file using your native file

browser. If a survey is currently running, it will be stopped before the license is updated.

Exported data can be tagged with GPS using the GPS from the host device. In order to enable this

feature, configure a GPS application that provides a NMEA GPS server on the device. One such

application is NetGPS available from the Google Play Store. Without an NMEA helper application

configured properly, exports will not contain GPS coordinates.

To configure NetGPS, be sure you're logged into the Google Play Store and Install NetGPS.

LICENSING

CONFIGURING GPS

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It is recommended to purchase the license to get all the settings available in the app. Do so by

selecting the Buy License popup.

Ensure that the application has a GPS fix -- this can be done by verifying it is showing a latitude and

longitude in the main window. It should also be noted that the user should ensure that the GPS

application be given adequate Location permissions which allows for location access all the time. As

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a check, typically, a GPS icon will be present in the notification bar when GPS is being utilized (as

shown in the screenshot above).

Configure the server function by setting the port number to 2947 and clicking enable.

Finally, configure a PCI scan and run a survey. Switching back to NetGPS should show that there is

a server connection and PRiSM is using the GPS coordinates from the device.

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The PCI Scanner application provides a GPS status icon which can be referenced to quickly

determine the GPS Fix state. The images below show a "No Fix" status (left) and a "Has Fix" status

(right).

Figure 13: GPS Fix Indicator

GPS Status Icon

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When in the PCI Scanner application, switching to the spectrum analyzer can be done from the

configuration menu. Select the cog icon from the top right of the window. At the bottom of the screen,

select the button labeled "Switch To Spectrum Analyzer".

Figure 14: Switch to Spectrum Analyzer

SWITCHING TO SPECTRUM ANALYZER

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The PRiSM Spectrum Analyzer is an application that provides a realtime view of RF spectrum based

on a flexible configuration of radio frequency, sample rate, and filtering configuration.

Upon launching the spectrum analyzer, the loading screen will appear while the UI loads any user

preferences and establishes a connection to the PRiSM unit.

Figure 15: ERA Connecting to Radio

PRISM SPECTRUM ANALYZER

USING THE SPECTRUM ANALYZER

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