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Proximity pairing is inconsistent

Adriana Vindas Altamirano
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

Hello Experts, 

 

Hope you are doing well. I need your help on a particular issue, I have tried all of the troubleshooting steps recommended but still we are having issues pairing with Proximity. 

Issue: Some users get paired with Proximity and after 5 minutes or so they get unpaired. Some other cannot pair at all. 

Action taken:

 

Checked logs, educated customer about the correct configuration that she should have on the endpoint and best practices of how to isolate the pairing issue with Proximity.

 

All.log

2017-05-01T10:23:26.850-05:00 a9 appl[1757]: 551941.62 CuilApp User root about to execute command '/Peripherals/Connect HardwareInfo: proximity-desktop-win ID: f4f1a878 Name: EMD0015 NetworkAddress: 155.109.97.26 SerialNumber: unknown SoftwareInfo: desktop-2.0.5 Type: Byod' from 155.109.97.26.

2017-05-01T10:23:26.861-05:00 a9 eventlog[1757]: Pairing device with sw info: desktop-2.0.5

2017-05-01T10:23:32.915-05:00 a9 eventlog: Last message 'Pairing device with ' repeated 1 times, suppressed by syslog-ng on R-NMC-STL-M2-CR3

It does not show a pairing issue​ with Proximity.
.........................
2017-05-04T09:02:17.939-05:00 a9 appl[1775]: 250564.79 CuilApp User root about to execute command '/Peripherals/Connect HardwareInfo: proximity-desktop-win ID: 5e872ae0 Name: EMD0038 NetworkAddress: 155.109.97.20 SerialNumber: unknown SoftwareInfo: desktop-2.0.5 Type: Byod' from 155.109.97.20.

2017-05-04T09:02:17.948-05:00 a9 eventlog[1775]: Pairing device with sw info: desktop-2.0.5

2017-05-04T09:02:47.206-05:00 a9 eventlog: Last message 'Pairing device with ' repeated 1 times, suppressed by syslog-ng on R-NMC-STL-M2-CR3
.........................
2017-05-08T12:03:47.939-05:00 a9 appl[1775]: 607054.63 CuilApp User root about to execute command '/Peripherals/Connect HardwareInfo: proximity-desktop-win ID: 34476f92 Name: EDD0270 NetworkAddress: 155.109.96.208 SerialNumber: unknown SoftwareInfo: desktop-2.0.5 Type: Byod' from 155.109.96.208.

2017-05-08T12:03:47.951-05:00 a9 eventlog[1775]: Pairing device with sw info: desktop-2.0.5

2017-05-08T12:04:17.205-05:00 a9 eventlog: Last message 'Pairing device with ' repeated 1 times, suppressed by syslog-ng on R-NMC-STL-M2-CR3

******

xstatus


*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 HardwareInfo: "proximity-desktop-win"
*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 ID: "34476f92"
*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 Name: "EDD0270"
*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 SoftwareInfo: "desktop-2.0.5"
*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 Status: Connected
*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 Type: Byod
*s Peripherals ConnectedDevice 1058 UpgradeStatus: None
*s Peripherals Pairing Ultrasound Volume: 70


*s Proximity Services Availability: Available​

------------

xconfiguration


*c xConfiguration NetworkServices HTTPS OCSP Mode: Off
*c xConfiguration NetworkServices HTTPS OCSP URL: ""
*c xConfiguration NetworkServices HTTPS VerifyClientCertificate: Off
*c xConfiguration NetworkServices HTTPS VerifyServerCertificate: On​


*c xConfiguration Proximity Mode: On
*c xConfiguration Proximity Services CallControl: Enabled
*c xConfiguration Proximity Services ContentShare FromClients: Enabled
*c xConfiguration Proximity Services ContentShare ToClients: Enabled


The current configuration is correct.

* Already upgraded from version TC7.3.3 up to version CE8.1.1
* Customer has SX10 (8)/20 (2)/80 (2)
* The frequency is inconsistent
* Customer can connect automatically with her laptop and sometimes when the user is using older laptop or even the same model and version of the laptop that customer is using they cannot connect at all
* 2 main rooms that they use a lot are not close to each other.
* With this information I called customer and explained this technology is really sensitive and any other devices on close range could affect the pairing.
* Customer entered to the room, it took about a minute for her to connect SX10
* Came to the room, it took about a minute for her to connect SX10
* We accessed to the endpoint and it is a SX10, running version CE8.1.1
* We gathered the log bundle from the SX10 and were not able to find any error related with Proximity

 

Took into consideration the following points:


* Make sure device is not on StandbyMode.
* Check that no other devices are causing interference ( a free app to do it is https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spectrumview/id472662922?mt=8 for iOS)
* Start the app and enter settings.
* Set the audio sample rate to 48000
* Start the spectrum analyzer. Click to microphone icon if it is paused.
* Try experimenting by enabling and disabling Proximity Mode.
* For component systems (3 party audio systems or speakers), Cisco has no control over the audio. The pairing feature plays high-frequency audio that could cause interference with some audio systems.

Note: It is not possible to specify what speakers would work on Component systems (integrated systems (endpoints with integrated audio system), Cisco has tested and verified that audio pairing works).

* Make sure if the Ultrasound pattern detected is strong.
* Take into consideration that this technology is really sensitive and any other devices on close range could affect the pairing.
* If you try to pair the PC close to SX10 there shouldn't be an issue, now if you try to pair far than display range (1 foot) , is the PC pairing?
* Pairing interference, if two systems are enabling Cisco Proximity in the same room, you will get interference. This may lead to problems with the discovery.

 

Pointed out several times to the customer that maximum one system should have Cisco Proximity enabled in the same room.


* There should be 50 meters range between endpoints for proximity to work correctly.
* Test the devices turning off and on proximity and let us know the results.
* If there are endpoints close by with proximity turns those off.

 

The application that Jane installed on her device 'Spectrum View' is basically a frequency scan that you can use in the room. If Cisco Proximity is not working as it should (not pairing etc) it may be because of interference from other sources that interfere with the signalling in the ultrasound bound.

 

Customer should get signals around 20kHz in the spectrum analyzer. If she is picking up noise when Proximity Mode is turned off, there might be other endpoints nearby interfering, or another ultrasound source nearby. This may explain poor pairing performance. Having several endpoints with Proximity enabled in range of each other is not supported.

Some of the models that are currently experiencing pairing issues with Proximity are: 

 

Surface Book

Dell E5470

HP ProBook 645

 

Those units work for some users and for other do not. I need your recommendation on what else we can try or do to isolate the proximity issue that the customer is currently facing with some users...

 

Thank you, hope to hear back from you soon. Much appreciated.

3 Replies 3

Patrick Sparkman
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

It sounds as if there might be an issue with the TV or room speakers, or the microphone of the laptop.  What happens if you try using a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPad, etc?

Note: I moved your question to the Proximity section of the forums where they can help troubleshoot the application and pairing issues.

Hello Patrick, 

Thank you for your quick response. About your question "What happens if you try using a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPad, etc?" my customer responded with the following: 

"Same issues with an iPhone. We have tried moving the volume up on the TV screens and the laptops and still the same issue."

I appreciate that you have moved my question to the Proximity forum to troubleshoot the application.

Regards,

Sorry about the delay in replying.

If issues are the same across platforms, the easiest way for us to debug is with a client log. Assuming you will debug using Windows. First, check the following microphone settings to ensure ultrasound reception:

  1. 1. Check that the correct device is selected and set recording rate to 44.1khz. See https://proximity.cisco.com/help/?platform=win&code=AUDCLNT_E_UNSUPPORTED_FORMAT for an example (you can ignore most of the text, just giving you screenshots for reference)
  2. Check levels on the microphone. Set volume to 100% and boost to 0 dB.
  3. Check that all enhancements are disabled under the "Enhancements" tab.

If you could send us a log from a client that'd be great. Please do as follows:

  1. Exit Proximity.
  2. Go to the room where you will be testing, e.g. the SX10 room.
  3. Start Proximity.
  4. Wait until it has paired and unpaired.
  5. Exit Proximity.

After that, there should be a log file in the TEMP folder (Enter %TEMP% in the address bar of a file explorer.) with a file name along the lines of proximity_<date>_XXXXXX.log

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