Overview

RFeye Mobile is a fully standalone and cost-effective spectrum monitoring solution for collection, management and analysis of very large spectrum data sets. RFeye Mobile comprises high performance mobile and portable RFeye receivers and RFeye DAS (Data Analysis System), a powerful relational database software package that enables efficient visualisation and analysis of collected data and report generation.

RFeye Mobile has been developed specifically to meet the needs of spectrum regulatory agencies. It produces detailed maps of spectrum usage from national level down to individual street locations enabling regulators to understand and anticipate “pinch” points and vulnerabilities, monitor compliance, identify and monitor trends over the long term. It provides a unique view of spectrum usage that can greatly inform policy and improve regulatory planning and decision-making. In addition, it is a valuable tool for licence enforcement teams who can carry out background research on a given location prior to any site visit.

Why Mobile Monitoring?

RFeye Mobile spectrum monitoring has two significant advantages over traditional fixed site monitoring systems. It enables gathering of data over a much wider frequency range. Where fixed monitoring typically has a useful range up to 1.3 GHz, RFeye Mobile will capture frequencies from 20 MHz up to 6 GHz. This provides coverage of important bands such as UMTS, GPS and DCS1800. In addition, many devices have a single physical layer that operates at higher frequencies over relatively short ranges, making their transmissions largely invisible to fixed monitoring. Mobile monitoring captures events that would otherwise be missed and gives a fuller indication of what is happening across the spectrum.

RFeye Mobile is therefore complementary to existing fixed site monitoring. It provides a unique breadth of coverage that can sit alongside the depth of coverage from fixed sites to provide spectrum planners and regulators with a much fuller picture of spectrum usage. The more mobile data that can be gathered, the more detailed the picture that emerges.

Various Configurations of Hardware

The RFeye receiver can be deployed in various system configurations – StormCase, BackPack or RoofBox. In all cases, data can be logged to a local storage device or relayed remotely via Ethernet, UMTS modem, WiFi or Inmarsat satellite using Inmarsat data modem. The whole system is modular such that it is simple to grow the network by deploying further nodes in the field in any configuration or mixed configurations.

The RFeye StormCase is a highly versatile and complete man-portable system containing a ready-deployed and ruggedised RFeye receiver embedded in a sturdy Peli StormCase IM2400. The system is fully confi­gured and ready to go “out of the box”. It can be simply put into the back of a vehicle, connected to suitable antenna and switched on to start logging. It can run from the internal battery or be connected to the 12V vehicle power supply.

The RFeye BackPack is a compact lightweight system for discreet spectrum surveys on foot in urban or security-critical environments. It has a rechargeable battery with approximately 6 hours operation time.

The RFeye RoofBox is a complete pre-integrated vehicle-mounted solution built into a standard commercial roofbox and includes the RFeye receiver, antennas, power controller and back-up battery. It comes configured with a choice of internally mounted broadband omnidirectional antenna and/or DF antenna array for AOA direction finding.

We can tailor packages of RFeye Mobile hardware to suit the individual requirements of customers.

Powerful Data Analyser

At the heart of RFeye Mobile is RFeye DAS. This is an enterprise level spectrum mapping and analysis database application for the management, analysis and visualisation of the very large data sets collected by modern spectrum monitoring organisations. Using a proprietary database architecture and data processing tools designed specifically for this purpose, RFeye DAS provides fast, fully interactive analysis and visualisation of spectrum usage from the data gathered by the RFeye nodes.

RFeye DAS is able to display and analyse spectral data in a number of different ways, including synchronised map-based displays, spectrum plots and spectrograms, occupancy plots, and time evolutions. Data can be selected by any combination of RFeye node/network, location, time window or frequency range, and resolution can be displayed from national level to individual street location. Many different reports can be produced and tailored to speci­fic requirements.

RFeye DAS can be operated from a standalone PC, as a client-server, or via a web-interface to enable remote users to access the data analyser.


Direction Finding Capability

The RFeye receiver is capable of simultaneous monitoring and DF geo-location using the multiple RF inputs on the unit. By connecting the receiver to a directional antenna array, it will gather AOA vectors that can be subsequently analysed and mapped in the RFeye DAS application (or viewed live with RFeye Live software). In addition, groups of receivers can be synchronised to a GPS reference clock allowing synchronous spectrum sweeps. TDOA calculations can then be carried out in RFeye DAS using logged data for post-event geo-location of transmitters.