Target Point Studies in AutoCoverage
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Q: How can I use the TAP™ AutoCoverage function to set up area coverage studies to selected locations?
A: With TAP6.0.2460 or later with the AutoCoverage module and a Maintenance Subscription date of May 31, 2012, or later, you can use the TAP AutoCoverage function to set up and run Target Point studies.
Note that all values in this example are for demonstration purposes only. You should determine appropriate settings for your application.
The TAP AutoCoverage function enables you to use a file (such as Excel .XLS or comma-delimited .CSV file) to create and run Area Coverage studies in TAP. This has the advantage that you can create the AutoCoverage file outside of TAP, either in Excel or another program, or can use Excel or other software to export the values for an AutoCoverage file. Some TAP users have written their own software to create AutoCoverage files from their organization’s databases of sites and other parameters.
Earlier versions of the TAP AutoCoverage function supported the creation of Tile, Radial, and Contour studies. The newer release also supports Target Point studies.
Target Point studies are useful when the received signal level only at particular, discrete locations is of interest. The locations might be telemetry points, well heads, pipeline valve station, multipoint distribution system receivers, etc. The Target Point study enables you to compute signal level at each desired location instead of the entire area (as with Tile or Radial studies). Naturally as a result the Target Point studies often run much faster than the Tile or Radial study for the whole area.
To use AutoCoverage to create a Target Point study you will need to reference a comma-delimited file containing the coordinates (and an optional description) of each of the locations where the signal strength is desired.
The file format is very simple. The first line can be a description of the order of the data. The descriptions should be “LAT” for latitude, “LON” for longitude, and “DESC” for description:
(If that line is missing, the program assumes three data values in the order of Longitude, Latitude, Description.)
The latitude and longitude values are in decimal degrees, with southern latitude and western longitude indicated by negative values.
The fields are separated by commas. The description should not include any commas or other punctuation.
Any line starting with the forward “/” or backward “\” slash character is ignored. These can be used to skip questionable locations or to insert comments into the file.
To add a Target Point study to AutoCoverage you must be sure the AutoCoverage file includes the field (the column header) “TGT_PT_FILE” for the name of the file of target points to import.
Open the AutoCoverage function from the TAP “Area” menu:
On the HDAutoCoverage form, select the AutoCoverage file you want to use and click the “Edit File Button”
You can create a new AutoCoverage record or edit an existing record:
Be sure the “COV_TYPE” column is set to “P” for Target Points (“T” is used for Tile, “R” is used for Radial, and “C” is used for Contour studies).
If the AutoCoverage file does not already include the “TGT_PT_FILE” column edit the top header line to add the field name:
With the column added you can enter the name of the text file with the target points to use:
Enter the complete name (the folder and the file name) of the file containing the target point locations:
When you execute the AutoCoverage function the TAP Area Coverage Target Point study will be created and run. The results are shown in HDMapper at the locations specified:
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