Multi-Rotor--Aided Three-Dimensional 802.11 Wireless Heat Mapping

• Main Author: Pack, Scott James
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2014
• Subjects: wireless network; coverage; security; heat-map; site survey; quadcopter; multi-rotor; Construction Engineering and Management
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4015; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5014&context=etd

Traditional wireless site surveys produce a heat-map of link strength or quality over a target area, usually on the ground plane. In recent years research has gone into using aerial drones in network attack and surveillance, making three dimensional awareness of wireless coverage areas of interest. A multi-rotor drone and data collection module were built and tested as part of this research. Site assessments were conducted both in open space and near structures. Collected data was interpolated across the target area, and visualized as points and contours. These visualizations were exported to a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) for visualization in context. Resulting visualizations proved to be beneficial in identifying the coverage area of both authorized and rogue access points.