WebSphere brand IBM WebSphere Sensor Events, Version 6.2

Business Rules

Use this page to define the business rules for your zones. Rules define the circumstances that trigger alerts.

Note: You need to define a zone before you can define a rule for it.

When you define a rule, you can check for future events, but not for events that have already happened. This means that you cannot define an rule for conditions that have already occurred. For example, if a person is already in Zone A and you then define a rule that items defined in the Person class cannot enter Zone A, the result is no alert. No alert occurs because rule checking is triggered by zone entry and exits events, which did not occur in this situation. The logic is similar with a rule for duration of stay. If a person has already been in Zone A for 30 minutes, and you define a rule that the person cannot stay in Zone A for longer than 10 minutes, no alert occurs.

When setting rules, keep in mind that tag IDs are attributes of items, and they can change dynamically. If you relate a rule to a tag ID, then you need to make sure that the tag ID is valid. In addition, if a tag ID is removed from the system, there is no alert to let you know that the rule associated with that tag ID is not longer valid.

Click the type of business rule you want to work with. Business rule types include:

A list of rules displays that are of the business type you selected. Click Add to define a new rule. Click Delete to delete an existing rule or click Edit to edit details for an existing rule.

The following fields are available for all business rules except for Visitor Escorting:

Duration of Stay in Zone

This rule type allows you to specify how long specified persons or items that can be in a specific zone at one time before an alert is triggered.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Items Association

This rule type allows creating associations between items. An association is created when two items fulfilling the specified filtering criteria are close to each other for a configurable period of time. Even though the rule can be applied to classes and group of items, associations are always created between two individuals.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Tips for using this rule:
  • Both the container tag and the associated tag must move into the target zone after the zone-related rule has been defined.
  • The associated tag must be "inside" the edge length of the container tag longer than the minimum time without interruption.
  • The base item must be the last item moving because the association rule is evaluated when the container items move.
  • Both the base item and the associated tag must blink continuously in order for the association to occur.

Man Down Detection

This rule type allows detection for a tag that either did not blink or did not move for more than a configurable period of time. Typically, this rule is applied to a tag associated with a person in order to detect a "man down" situation in hazardous zones. For this rule, alerting does not happen immediately because it is dependent on the WatchdogDelay system property.

Note: The MaxUnrecognizedMovement system property is used for specifying which minimum location change is interpreted as a movement. Keep in mind that real-time location systems (RTLS) may report slightly different positions for tags that do not move in reality.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Maximum Items per Zone Threshold

This rule type allows you to specify the maximum number of persons or items satisfying the specified criteria that can be in a specific zone at one time. When you define a rule, make sure that none of the tags in the rule are already in the target zone. When a rule is defined for a zone, the entry and exit events are counted. The rules engine count begins at 0, so if you have 5 tags in the zone when you create the rule, then the offset is -5.

Note: If the number of tags in a zone exceeds the threshold, then you will receive an alert. If the number of tags in the zone falls below the threshold and then exceeds it again, you will receive another alert.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Visitor Escorting

This rule type allows you to specify rules that enforce the escorting of visitors and that govern how visitors will be escorted at the location. This rule type has less configuration options than the others, and its activity cannot be temporarily restricted.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Zone Access Restriction

This rule type allows you to specify the times when specific classes or groups of persons or items cannot enter specific zones.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Zone Exit Restriction

This rule type allows you to specify the times when specific classes or groups of persons or items must not leave specific zones.

Complete the following fields to create a new rule:

Click Save to save your settings or click Cancel to exit without saving the changes. Click Delete to delete the rule.

Note: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required. All other fields are optional.

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