Overview of Cisco Spaces: IoT Service (Wireless)

[Note] Cisco DNA Spaces is now Cisco Spaces. This documentation is being updated to reflect the new name, including GUIs, procedures, and URLs. Occurrences of both names may appear during this transition.

Cisco Spaces: IoT Service (Wireless) is a platform service within Cisco Spaces that enables the claiming, management, and monitoring of IoT devices using Cisco's wireless infrastructure. It is designed to manage IoT devices across various vendors, form factors, and technology protocols. Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is the initial technology supported for management via IoT services.

The IoT service (wireless) comprises hardware, software, and partner components to facilitate device management for critical business outcomes. It utilizes Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers, Cisco Spaces: Connector, Cisco Wi-Fi6 access points, and Cisco Spaces. This service adopts a next-generation approach to manage complexity in enterprise environments.

Key IoT Management Activities

Deploy BLE gateways on supported APs within the network.
Claim BLE beacons acquired from the Cisco Spaces: IoT Device Marketplace.
Configure APs and manage floor beacons.
Monitor device attributes such as location, telemetry, battery status, and movement status.

Components of Cisco Spaces: IoT Service

This section outlines the components that constitute the Cisco Spaces: IoT Service solution.

The Cisco Catalyst 9100 Series Family of Access Points serves as the communication gateway between Cisco Spaces and IoT devices. Cisco Spaces: IoT Service leverages common APIs to interact with edge devices and applications. It collects data from these devices and applications, forwarding it to Cisco-partnered Device Manager websites for more extensive management and industry-specific outcomes.

Diagram: Components of IoT Service

The architecture depicts Cisco DNA Spaces at the top, with the Cisco DNA Spaces Connector below. The Connector interfaces with a Controller (likely a wireless controller) via NETCONF and WSA (TDL). The Controller manages Access Points (APs) using CAPWAP. APs can run either an IOx Hosted BLE App or a Native BLE App, which communicate with BLE devices (supporting BLE ADV, BLE CONNECT). Data flows from APs to the Controller via gRPC and CAPWAP, and from the Controller to the Connector via gRPC. The diagram also indicates provisioning and telemetry data flows.

Access Points

Access points can be configured as gateways within Cisco Spaces. A list of supported APs is available in the Compatibility Matrix section.

Cisco APs can be configured as one of the following types of BLE gateways:

Base BLE Gateway

This AP type supports two modes: Transmit and Scan.

Transmit mode: The AP broadcasts iBeacon, Eddystone URL, and Eddystone UID profiles.
Scan mode: The AP scans the vicinity for other BLE devices. Using gRPC, it sends scanned data to Cisco Spaces: Connector, which decodes and displays the information. The AP can also receive telemetry data from floor beacons.

Advanced BLE Gateway

This gateway is an AP equipped with the Cisco IOx App. It allows configuration of floor beacons via the Cisco Spaces dashboard and firmware upgrades for these beacons.

This AP can operate in both Scan and Transmit modes:

Transmit mode: Broadcasts iBeacon, Eddystone URL, and Eddystone UID profiles.
Scan mode: Scans for BLE devices and sends data to Cisco Spaces: Connector via gRPC. It also receives telemetry data from floor beacons.

Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers

The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controller (Catalyst 9800 controller) integrates RF excellence with Cisco IOS-XE benefits, available in physical or virtual form factors. It is designed for reliability and security, manageable via CLI, GUI, NETCONF, Yang, or Catalyst Center.

The Catalyst 9800 controller acts as a central point for wireless network and access point configuration and management, using the CAPWAP protocol. It receives BLE configurations from Cisco Spaces via NETCONF, passing them to APs over CAPWAP. Feedback from APs to the controller occurs via CAPWAP, and telemetry data is streamed to Cisco Spaces via the Telemetry Data Logger (TDL). gRPC configurations from Cisco Spaces also route through the controller to the AP, establishing a gRPC channel. APs report gRPC channel statistics back to the controller.

Only one gRPC session is supported between an AP and the connector.
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers running Cisco IOS XE Amsterdam 17.3.x support either IoT service (wireless) with Cisco Spaces OR Network Assurance with Catalyst Center (iCAP), but not both simultaneously.
IoT service (wireless) and Intelligent Capture (iCAP) can coexist on Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.7.x and later versions.

Cisco Spaces: IoT Device Marketplace

Cisco Spaces: IoT Device Marketplace is a platform for discovering, researching, and purchasing IoT devices. It is part of the Cisco Spaces full-stack partner ecosystem, offering devices preconfigured for an out-of-the-box experience with sensors, tags, and wearables. These devices are compatible with applications in the App Center. The marketplace leverages BLE for telemetry transmission and plans to incorporate other technologies like Ultra Wide Band (UWB) and Zigbee.

Cisco Spaces: Connector

Cisco Spaces: Connector enables Cisco Spaces to communicate with multiple Cisco AireOS Wireless Controllers and Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers. APs establish connections to the connector using the gRPC framework. The gRPC protocol configures floor beacons and receives telemetry data from them. As a bidirectional streaming service, gRPC requires certificates for host validation and tokens for authentication. Each AP creates a gRPC connection, allowing the Connector to support numerous simultaneous connections.

Compatibility Matrix for IoT Service (Wireless)

Supported Wireless Controllers

Application Name	Support for Cisco Spaces: IoT Service
Supported wireless controllers	Supported on Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers, Release 17.3.1 and later Not supported on Cisco AireOS Wireless Controller Not supported on Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller on Cisco Catalyst Access Points (Cisco EWC-AP) Not supported on Catalyst 9800 Controller running on Catalyst Switches in SD-Access mode (ECA)
Cisco Spaces: Connector Docker	2.0.455 and later
Cisco Spaces: Connector OVA	2.3 and later
Cisco Prime Infrastructure	Cisco Prime Infrastructure Release 3.8 MR1 and later
Catalyst Center (for map import)	Catalyst Center Release 2.1.1 and later

Access Points and App Support

Application Name	Support for Cisco Spaces: IoT Service
Access Points for advanced BLE gateway (Wi-Fi 6)	Cisco Catalyst 9105 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9115 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9117 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9120 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9130 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9164 Series Access Points Cisco Catalyst 9166 Series Access Points Cisco Aironet 4800 Series Access Points
Access points for basic BLE gateway	Cisco Aironet 1815 Series Access Points Cisco Aironet 2800 Series Access Points (USB dongle needed. No in-built USB radio) Cisco Aironet 3800 Series Access Points (USB dongle needed. No in-built USB radio)
Cisco IOx App Version	1.0.46 and later For Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers Cisco IOS XE Cupertino 17.7.x, ensure that the IoX Application version is upgraded to Version 1.3.x

IoT Service is not supported on the following:

Directly connected and CMX Tethering connectors.

AP Modes and App Support

AP Mode	Advanced BLE Gateway App	Base BLE Gateway App
P1: Local	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Not supported	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Supported
P1: Flex	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Not supported	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Supported
P2: Fabric	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Not supported	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Supported
P3: Mesh	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Not supported	11-AX: Supported Wave2: Supported

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