Rajant Corporation BreadCrumb Wireless Network manual

Br eadCrumb® W ir eless Network User Guide F or the Br eadCrumb® W ir eless Network Release 8.4 Rajant Corporation[...]

BreadCrumb® W ireless Network User Guide: F or the BreadCrumb® W ireless Network Release 8.4 by Rajant Corporation Copyright © 2005-2006 Rajant Corporation Revision History Revision 1.1 February 20, 2006 Revision 1.0 October 6, 2005[...]

T able of Contents Preface .........................................................................................................................................................i Purpose and Scope ..............................................................................................................................i User Information .....[...]

5. Using BCAdmin™ ............................................................................................................................... 20 Screen Layout .................................................................................................................................. 20 T opology Area ....................................[...]

List of T ables 3-1. A vail able BreadCrumb Models ............................................................................................................ 8 4-1. Best-Case Distances by Radio Po wer................................................................................................. 18 5-1. BCAdmin Line Colors Legend................[...]

Pr eface Purpose and Scope This manual provides information and guidance to all personnel who are in volved with and use Rajant Corporation’ s BreadCrumb® Wireless Netw ork devices ("BreadCrumb® de vices") in tactical situations. This manual begins with an introduction to the BreadCrumb W ireless Network and a brief overvie w of the v[...]

Chapter 1. Intr oduction Rajant Corporation’ s (http://www .rajant.com) BreadCrumb W ireless Networks are portable, mobile, battery-powered, automati cally-meshing, self-healing, full-duplex, secure, 802.11b access points. Their focus is on flexibility , adaptability , and simplicity . The BCWN (BreadCrumb W ireless Network) is intended for rapi[...]

Chapter 1. Intr oduction Mobility thr ough Meshing The key component to a Brea dCrumb Wireless Netw ork is a technique known as Meshing . While this is generally handled automatically by BreadCrumb de vices, complex deployment scenarios require a basic understanding of how BreadC rumb devices establish and maintain a mesh. Mesh - A Definition A me[...]

Chapter 1. Intr oduction Figure 1-1. Meshing Example 1 - Full Connecti vity Example 2 Now suppose that you change the ESSID of BreadCrumb device C to "lonely". The netw ork will adjust to this change, resulting in the follo wing configuration: Note that BreadCrumb devi ce C can no longer communicate with A or B, and vice versa. Figure 1-[...]

Chapter 2. Upgrading to V ersion 8.4 This section is only necessary for BreadCrumb de vice/BCAdmin users of versions earlier than 8.4. If your entire BCWN is operating at version 8.4 or higher , you may safely skip this chapter . New F eatur es • Fortress T echnologies’ AES-256 encryption is enabled, allowing F ortress encryption to be used on [...]

Chapter 2. Upgrading to V ersion 8.4 • Selection of a unique ESSID (network name) for the BreadCrumb network is recommended. A BreadCrumb device equipped w ith tri-color LED incorrectly indicates a meshed connection (GREEN) when in the presence of an 802.11b access point with the same ESSID. Installing / Upgrading BCAdmin 1. Install the latest JR[...]

Chapter 2. Upgrading to V ersion 8.4 Figure 2-2. V ersion 3 Power Input 2. Do wnload the correct firmware zip archiv e for the board determined in the previous step, using the link provided by your Rajant Account Manager . 3. Create a ne w , empty folder and unzip the archi ve into it. 4. Copy the unzipped files (and only those files) onto an em[...]

Chapter 2. Upgrading to V ersion 8.4 • Allow the BreadCrumb to ope rate FOR NO LESS THAN 5 MINUTES before rebooting or turning OFF . Important: After a flash update, you should ensure that at least one client device has the ne w BCAdmin installed, is "permitted" in the device’ s A CL list, and is designated as an administrator . Impo[...]

Chapter 3. Models The following table summa rizes the differences between the BreadCrumb models a vailable. Each model is described in greater detail later in this chapter . ME WE SE XL XL V XLE Usage W eight/ size-sensitiv e deployments (U A Vs, etc.) W orn by mobile individual Placed as necessary , short/ medium range use Placed as necessary , lo[...]

Chapter 3. Models ME WE SE XL XL V XLE Security 256-bit AES FIPS 140-2 using embedded AirFortress Client; Access Control Lists; WEP; Third-party VPNs 256-bit AES FIPS 140-2 using embedded AirFortress Client; Access Control Lists; WEP; Third-party VPNs 256-bit AES FIPS 140-2 using embedded AirFortress Client; Access Control Lists; WEP; Third-party V[...]

Chapter 3. Models • On U A Vs • In portable sensor packages Important: In a BCWN containing single-radio BreadCrumb devices, all BreadCrumb de vices to which the single-radio BreadCrumb device communicates must ha ve one radio on the same channel as the single-radio BreadCrumb device. External Connectors Figure 3-1. Br eadCrumb ME - External Co[...]

Chapter 3. Models External Connectors Figure 3-2. Br eadCrumb WE - External Connectors Br eadCrumb SE The BreadCrumb SE is the basic building block of most BCWN netw orks. Its two radios and ethernet interface enable the full suite of BreadCrumb features (with the e xception of long range and integrated video encoder), while its size allo ws it to [...]

Chapter 3. Models External Connectors Figure 3-3. Br eadCrumb SE - External Connectors Br eadCrumb XL The BreadCrumb XL is a long-range model, capable of 11Mb communications at distances of 7 miles (11.2km) or more, and lower -speed communications at e ven greater range. BreadCrumb XLs hav e been rapidly deployed: • In Air T raffic Control to we[...]

Chapter 3. Models External Connectors Figure 3-4. Br eadCrumb XL - External Connector Br eadCrumb XL V The BreadCrumb XL V is identical to the BreadCrumb XL, with the exception that it also accepts unfiltered vehicle po wer (6-40VDC) as a power source. This allo ws long-range communication within and among vehicle con voys and bases, and enables t[...]

Chapter 3. Models External Connectors Figure 3-5. Br eadCrumb XL V - External Connectors Br eadCrumb XLE The BreadCrumb XLE further builds upon the BreadCrumb XL V by including an MPEG video encoder and an external BNC video connector . A composite video source can be connected to the BreadCrumb XLE and its video stream will be av ailable to other [...]

Chapter 3. Models External Connectors Figure 3-6. Br eadCrumb XLE - External Connectors (fr ont) Figure 3-7. Br eadCrumb XLE - External Connectors (back) 15[...]

Chapter 4. Deployment Considerations Addr essing When routing to another network or when using its o wn embedded DHCP servers, the BreadCrumb W ireless Network requires that wireless de vices use IPv4 addresses in the Class A network 10.0.0.0/8 (that is, any address that be gins with "10."). If you are not connected to another network, or[...]

Chapter 4. Deployment Considerations In some cases, howe ver , it is necessary to manually set the radios to specific channels as described below . Channel Assignment f or Single-Radio BreadCrumb De vices (ME and WE) Single-radio BreadCrumb de vices (models ME and WE) present a challenge for deployments in which those BreadCrumb devices are needed[...]

Chapter 4. Deployment Considerations Unobstructed LOS is not necessary from e very BreadCrumb device and wireless client to e very other BreadCrumb device and wir eless client. Howe ver , each device must ha ve unobstructed LOS to the previous and subsequent de vice. Distance Many factors determine ac ceptable distances between BreadCrumb devices w[...]

Chapter 4. Deployment Considerations W eather Precipitation and fog also act as obstructions blocking the propagation of the wireless network’ s radio wa ves. Light fog or precipitation may result in a noticeable degradation of wireless netw ork performance. Heavy precipitation or fog may result in se vere performance degradation and possible los[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Note: Some portions of this section assume a working kno wledge of TCP/IP networking, including DHCP , N A T , and DNS. While the network lay person may be able to perform some BCWN management tasks, it is recommended that network configuration be performed by experienced netw ork administrators. BCAdmin is an applicati[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Figure 5-1. BCAdmin Scr een at Startup (No Network) The large area on the left is the T opology Area, showing the current shape of the netw ork at any gi ven time. The Info Area to the right sho ws detailed information for BreadCrumb devices, client de vices, and wireless links. Note: If your BCAdmin workstation does not[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Tip: BCAdmin mak es an effort to layout the T opology Area in an easily readable way , with a minimum of line intersections and superimposed boxes. Sometimes, ho wev er, the screen can get cluttered. BCAdmin pro vides two features to help cope with this, which may be used in combination: • A Play/Pause button in the to[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Individual Br eadCrumbs . This allows the administrator to distinguish between multiple BreadCrumb devices in a BCW N. If the BreadCrumb device has n o name assigned, its ID is used. The ID is a unique, alphanumeric, non-editable string used internally by the BreadCrumb de vice. 2. T ime Since Last Update Each BreadCrumb[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Figure 5-3. The Client Box 1. Client MA C Address/Nickname The MA C address or administrator-set nickname of the client de vice. Tip: An administrator can set nicknames for each client de vice. These nicknames are then displayed in the T opology Area instead of the MA C address. T o set a nickname, right-click on the cli[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ 802.11b Channel Line Color 11 Purple T able 5-1. BCAdmin Line Colors Legend Link Speed (Mbps) Line Style 11 Solid 5.5 Dashed 2 Dot-Dash 1 Dotted T able 5-2. BCAdmin Line Styles Legend Asymmetric Connections For a v ariety of en vironmental reasons (antenna placement, radio reflections, interference, etc.), asymmetric co[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Figure 5-5. Redundant Connection Example Inf o Area The Info Area shows detaile d information specific to the currently selected BreadCrumb device, if any . T o select a BreadCrumb device in the T opology Area, single-click it with your mouse. The selected BreadCrumb device will be highlighted with a dashed border . The[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ The bottom portion of the Info Area contains three tabs, each of which contains a list of connections (if any). The BreadCrumbs tab sho ws connections to other BreadCrumb devices, the Clients tab sho ws connections with client de vices, and the Pending Peers tab shows connections with other BreadCrumb devices that ha ve [...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ configured, with configuration options grouped by tabs into multiple categories. Each tab and its settings are described in this section. General Settings The "General" tab contains controls for configuring se veral simple system-wide settings: Figure 5-8. Br eadCrumb Properties - General T ab The av ailable[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ 4. Color This field controls the color of the BreadCrumb box as drawn by BCAdmin. This can be used to reflect the actual color of the BreadCrumb or to represent any other information administrators see fit. 5. ESSID The ESSID is the name of the network pro vided by the BreadCrumb device’ s internal Access Point(s) a[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Radio Settings The "Radios" tab contains controls for configuring each of the BreadCrumb de vice’ s 802.11b radio radios: Figure 5-9. Br eadCrumb Properties - Radios T ab The av ailable settings for each radio are: 1. Channel Channel selection may be automatic as described in the Section called Channel Assig[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Note: BCAdmin will not allow you disable all of the checkbox es on this tab . Reachback Settings The "Reachback" tab contains controls for configuring the BreadCrumb de vice’ s interconnection with other networks, both wired and wireless: Figure 5-10. Br eadCrumb Properties - Reachback T ab The av ailable se[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Note: The type of ethernet cable required depends upon the device to which you are connecting. If the BreadCrumb device’ s ethernet port is to be connected to a hub or a switch, a con ventional ethernet patch cable ("straight-through") should be used. If the BreadCrumb device’ s ethernet port is to be conne[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ d. Gateway (Ingr ess) In Gatew ay (Ingress) Mode, as in Gatew ay mode, the reachback interface is configured to exist on a different netw ork than the BreadCrumb device’ s other interfaces. N A T , howe ver , is configured in the direction opposite to that of Gate way Mode. Inbound traffic from the reachback network[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ a. IP Address b . Subnet Mask c. Default Gate way d. DNS Server Y ou may need to contact your network administrator in order to determine the correct settings. F orwarding Settings The "Forwarding" tab contai ns controls for configuring inbound NA T translation for BreadCrumb devices configured as g ateways. [...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ The checkbox marked "Enable" specifies whether a particular forward configuration is acti ve. This allows an administrator to pre-configure port forwards and selecti vely enable or disable them in the future. When a port forward has been configured, click the "Add" b utton to the right in order to[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ WEP WEP (W ired Equiv alency Protocol) w as the first scheme to provide security for 802.11 communications. Although since its release it has been determined to contain serious weaknesses, WEP remains an effecti ve means to prev ent casual eavesdropping. WEP settings are made network-wide; all BreadCrumb de vices and wi[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ listed in the "Permitted De vices" ACL. In Allo w by Default mode, client de vices and BreadCrumb devices are permitted on th e network unless they are listed in the "Forbidden De vices" A CL. T o edit the ACLs, click the A CL button in the toolbar . A window resembling the follo wing will appear: Fig[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ These buttons allo w indi vidual devices to be added to or remov ed from the currently selected device list. Note: The BreadCrumbs and Administrators tabs in the A CL are automatically merged into the Permitted Devices and F orbidden Devices lists. Separate tabs are only pro vided in order to ensure that the administrato[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Setting the Access ID The Access ID is a shared credential used by the AirFortress client to ne gotiate encryption keys. All devices that are to commu nicate with one another must share a common Access ID. T o set the Access ID on a BreadCrumb device, the BCAdmin workstation must be connected to the BreadCrumb device via[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ Enabling/Disabling AirF ortress Encryption AirFortress encryption is enabled and disabled on a BreadCrumb de vice using a checkbox on the General tab of the BreadCrumb Properties windo w . Unlike the Access ID, this setting may be changed when communicating wirelessly with the BreadCrumb de vice. Important: Enabling and [...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ SecNet11 K ey Filling The SecNet11 Plus PC cards included in SecNet11-enabled BreadCrumb de vices are user-accessible and do not impose any changes upon e xisting SecNet11 key fill procedures. BCAdmin Pr eferences Settings specific to BCAdmin are av ailable through the View menu, under Preferences . The Preferences win[...]

Chapter 5. Using BCAdmin™ 2. GPS staleness warning thr eshold (minutes) For GPS-enabled BreadCrumb de vices, position information shown in BCAdmin is mark ed as "stale" if it has not been updated for this period of time (for example, if the BreadCrumb de vice’ s GPS receiv er is no longer able to determine its location). 3. Default ba[...]

Chapter 6. Configuration Examples Connecting Remote W ired LANs Unencrypted P oint-to-Multipoint T o connect two or more wired LANs that are physically remote from one another , the simplest configuration is as follows : 1. Attach a BreadCrumb de vice to each LAN using the BreadCrumb devices’ ethernet interfaces. 2. Configure the LAN-connected[...]

Chapter 6. Configuration Examples The configuration steps for such a network are: 1. Attach a BreadCrumb de vice to each of the two LANs using the BreadCrumbs’ ethernet interfaces. 2. Configure the Network A BreadCrumb de vice as follows: a. Reachback Interface: Ethernet b . Reachback Mode: Gatew ay c. Alternate Gate way: Disabled d. IP Addres[...]

Chapter 6. Configuration Examples 2. Optionally encrypt the video signal as described belo w in the Section called Encrypting a V ideo F eed . 3. Install a BreadCrumb XL V in each con vo y vehicle that is to receiv e the video signal. 4. For long con voys, or for con voys that will be passing through en vironments such as urban canyons that inhibi[...]

Chapter 6. Configuration Examples b . TCP: Checked c. UDP: Unchecked d. IP Address: 192.168.3.2 (i.e., the camera’ s address) e. T o Ports: 80-80 f. Enable: Checked 5. Enable AirFortress on the BreadCrumb de vice. 6. Access the camera by directing a web bro wser to one of the BreadCrumb device’ s IPv4 addresses (as reported by BCAdmin). Settin[...]

Chapter 7. T r oubleshooting Individual Br eadCrumbs Problem Resolution When the BreadCrumb is pow ered on, its LED remains solid red, and device s cannot communicate with the BreadCrumb . Ensure that radio cards are properly seated in their PCMCIA slots. If problem persists, re-flash BreadCrumb or contact customer service. When the BreadCrumb is [...]

Chapter 7. T r oubleshooting Problem Resolution A wireless client cannot join the network. • Ensure that BreadCrumb devi ces are powered on. • Ensure that the wireless card in the client device (laptop) is enabled. Th is is usually indicated with a blinking light on the card. • Ensure that the wireless card is in "Infrastructure" or[...]

Chapter 7. T r oubleshooting T able 7-3. BreadCrumb-BCWN Connectivity Issues BCAdmin Problem Resolution The screen is red and empty . The BCAdmin workstation does do not ha ve a 10.x.x.x address, which is required to administer the BCWN. The screen is black and empty . BCAdmin is unable to communicate with any BreadCrumb devices. V erify that a per[...]

Chapter 7. T r oubleshooting 1. Open the BreadCrumb de vice. 2. Locate the radio lights and the small, black reset button on the side of the main circuit board as depicted in the following figure: Figure 7-1. F actory Reset Button 3. PRESS AND IMMEDIA TEL Y RELEASE the reset button. 4. W ait 5 seconds. 5. PRESS AND IMMEDIA TEL Y RELEASE the reset [...]

Chapter 8. Case Study: Military Exer cise in Thailand Rajant BreadCrumb device s were used by the Thai Military as an integral part of a Joint Air Land Sea Amphibious Assault Exercise last week in P attaya, Thailand. The beach assault took place at a Thai Nav al Base and Thai media from a major ne ws channel was present to document the exercise. Fi[...]

Chapter 8. Case Study: Military Exer cise in Thailand Figure 8-2. BCAdmin scr een during exercise showing Br eadCrumb network Figure 8-3. V iew of beach from command center Rajant also teamed up with the Nav al Postgraduate School, Mercury Data Systems, Redline Communications and the Thai Military to set up a demonstration border security network i[...]

Chapter 8. Case Study: Military Exer cise in Thailand the fifth and final BreadCrumb was placed in a mo ving vehicle at the foot of the mountain providing NetMeeting capabilities with military personnel back at the base. Figure 8-4. Balloon with Camera and Br eadCrumb Figure 8-5. Soldier communicating o ver BCWN using Microsoft NetMeeting Rajant [...]

Glossary A CL Access Control List; a list of MA C addresses that are used to control access to the BreadCrumb W ireless Network. AES/AES-256 Advanced Encryption Standard . An encryption standard adopted by the U.S. Government. AP Access Point; a networking de vice allowing clients with IEEE 802.11 netw ork cards in infrastructure mode to communicat[...]

DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol; the means by which some networking de vices obtain an address automatically from a network DSL Digital Subscriber Line ESSID Extended Service Set Identifier; a set of Access Points or BreadCrumbs that appear as a single network. Also referred to as a "network name." LAN Local Area Network MA C M[...]

reachback A connection to another network, such as the Internet, an of fice network, or a TOC T AN T actical Area Network TOC T actical Operations Center U A V Unmanned Aerial V ehicle 56[...]

A ppendix A. Status Indicator LED Beginning in June, 2005, each BreadCrumb includes a multi-color LED to indicate the BreadCrumb state. Use the following ta ble to interpret the LED output: Color Blinking/Solid Status Red Solid Starting up Red Blinking Error Blue Solid No Peers Green Blinking At Least 1 Peer Green Solid At Least 1 Peer at 11Mbps T [...]

A ppendix B. Radio Frequencies The BCWN uses the 11 802.11b channels allocated for use in the U.S. These channels and their frequencies are listed in the follo wing table: 802.11b Channel Frequency (GHz) 1 2.412 2 2.417 3 2.422 4 2.427 5 2.432 6 2.437 7 2.442 8 2.447 9 2.452 10 2.457 11 2.462 T able B-1. 802.11b Channel Frequency T able 58[...]

A ppendix C. Customer Service Please contact Rajant Support at +1 610-873-6788 to assist you through any issues you encounter regarding this release. Please forward all feedback re garding the BreadCrumb system functionality to < support@rajant.com >. Other than speaking with a Rajant representati ve, this is the best way to communicate with [...]