About Cloud-RF

Cloud-RF is a user-friendly service for modelling radio propagation.

This intuitive tool has interfaces that have been built and shaped from the user feedback since its inception as a popular Android app in 2011.

Cloud-RF was built for radio operators and engineers who either could not justify the $25k to $100k price tags for legacy desktop packages or do not have the expertise and weeks of training required to use those complex tools.

At Cloud-RF, we pride ourselves on innovation and have transformed the way people conduct radio coverage modelling, disrupting what was a very expensive, and thereby exclusive, windows desktop market. As the original RF planning API, built with passion by a team with a collective 50 years of RF Engineering experience, we set the bar that others aspire to beat.

Benefits

  • No Installation required - There is nothing to install but you get to access the premium features.

  • Plug and play tool - Pay for a plan and you are ready to use it in seconds on your browser.

  • No heavy downloading required – No more downloading gigabytes of terrain data, antenna patterns, or preparing clutter layers are required - we have it all installed and ready to go and add more regularly by request.

  • Empirical and deterministic models - Most of the wireless technologies and the cross-platform interfaces in the models are easy-to-use; specially designed for the novices, while the advanced features including bit error rate are devised for professional engineers.

  • Covers the entire above-HF RF spectrum - With generous height ceilings and distances for aircraft, large power limits for long-range broadcasters, meshes for WISP and IoT networks, cellular propagation models for mobile networks, and environmental variables to accommodate suburban, rural & mountain planners alike.

  • n-threaded SLEIPNIR™ propagation engine - It has been designed for use with precision LiDAR surface models and 3D buildings. It is up to ten times faster than open-source engines.

  • One-click support - There is no need to attend long and expensive training to use this tool. In case of queries, Online Help is just a click away.

Our Mission

Our mission is to make radio planning simple and accessible.

Radio modelling is complicated that usually needs an enormous number of resources and preparation to do it accurately. We want it to be affordable, accurate, and user-friendly.

Innovation Roadmap

Year

Milestones

2011

RFSignal for Android launched.
Top 50 in communications category on Play Store.

2012

CloudRF.com website launched with web interface

2013

Keyhole Radio™ interactive layer for Google Earth.

2014

Virtual machines offered.

2015

ITU propagation models added to engine.
Channel intersection.
Mesh functionality.

2016

LiDAR high resolution data in engine and interfaces.
UK 2 meter and US city DSM uploaded.

2017

Drone photogrammetry support via Pix4D.
Global 30m DSM

2018

New LiDAR propagation engine SLEIPNIR developed.
LiDAR uploaded for New Zealand, Estonia, Sweden, DC and Baltimore
GPU prototype engine

2019

30 meter landcover with 584 types for CONUS and EU.
KML “do-it-yourself” clutter upload utilty.
3D clutter with material densities.

2020

3D building support with configurable attenuation.
3D cross-platform interface.
26k antenna patterns added
ATAK integration

2021

ATAK chatbot
SOOTHSAYER™ virtual machine with BYO LiDAR
10 meter global clutter
More API client examples inc Windows
Points API for many-many analysis
CSV coverage metrics

2022

GPU area API
Satellite planning tool
MANET planning tool
Hardware API integration
GPU Best site analysis API
TBC…

Supported Technologies

  • Anything that uses radio from 2-100,000 MHz.

  • The protocol agnostic API can be used to model specific technologies like LoRa / LTE / 4G / 5G.

Platforms

The following platforms are supported:

  • Android, Linux, Mac/OSX and Windows are supported.

  • Our unique Google earth plugin Keyhole Radio™ lets you run the software directly from within the application.

  • Our 3D interface will adjust to any device from old iPhones to desktop computers.

  • Google Chrome or Firefox is recommended for best performance.

CloudRF.com (public API)

Account Registration

To Register your Account on the Cloud-RF:

  • On the Cloud-RF website (https://cloudrf.com/):

    • Click on My Account tab.

    • The My Accounts screen will appear.

    Cloud-RF My Account

  • Under the Register section,

    • In the Username field, enter the username as desired.

    • In the Email Address field, enter your email address.

    • In the Quiz field, enter your answer to the respective question.

    Cloud-RF Registration Fields

    • This is to make sure that the user is a human. If you do not know the answer, you can always Google it!

    • Click on Register button.

  • A Verification link will be sent to your registered email id.

  • Open your registered email id.

If you have not received the email, please check you registered email SPAM folder. You may set Cloud-RF email as Not Spam in your email to receive the emails directly in your inbox.

  • Click on the Verification link.

Cloud-RF Registration Email

  • The Success Message pop-up will appear, and you will be logged in into your account.

Cloud-RF Successful Registration

  • The Cloud-RF Tool Home Page will be displayed.

Login

To Log in into your Account on the Cloud-RF:

  • On the Cloud-RF website (https://cloudrf.com/):

    • Click on My Account tab.

    • The My Accounts screen will appear.

    Cloud-RF My Account

    • Under the Login section:

      • In the Username or email address field, enter your username or email address.

      • In the Password field, enter your password.

      • You may select the Remember me checkbox to save the credentials on your device.

      • Click on Log in button.

Lost Your Password?

If you have lost your password, you can reset it through your registered email address.

To do so:

  • Click on Lost your Password? link.

Cloud-RF Lost Password Link

  • The Lost Password screen will appear.

Cloud-RF Lost Password Form

  • Enter the New Password as desired.

  • Re-enter new password to confirm.

  • Click on Save button.

Cloud-RF Lost Password Save Button

  • The Success message pop-up will appear.

Cloud-RF Lost Password Success

The Home Page

After you login into your Cloud-RF account, the Home Page will be displayed.

Cloud-RF Home Page

  • You can access the Web Interface, Google Earth, API, My archive, My antennas and My clutter by clicking on the respective button on the Home Page.

    Cloud-RF Buttons

  • Click on Web Interface button to know how you will access the Cloud-RF Modeling tool itself right in your web browser.

    Cloud-RF Web Interface

  • Click on Google Earth™ button to access the Google Earth.

    • The Keyhole Radio.kml file for Google Earth will be downloaded.

      • Keyhole Radio is a unique and powerful radio planning plugin for Google Earth™.

      • The software is entirely server based, so you only need to open the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) overlay in Google Earth to use it.

      • It’s ideal for organisations already using Google Earth as it can be deployed rapidly to users as a URL and the KML output is visualised along with 3D terrain and existing data layers, for example network infrastructure.

      • The system’s terrain data, radio templates, antenna patterns and ground clutter are all managed from server side.

    • To open the downloaded Google Earth KML, you may either launch the KML File or add a network link within Google Earth with the URL: https://cloudrf.com/ui/kml

  • Click on API button to access the API.

    • You can see your API key and your current subscription plan as well.

    • The Cloud-RF API for radio planning lets you model radio coverage for any RF system between 20 and 100,000MHz.

    • A Cloud-RF account and active plan are required to use the API.

  • Click on Buy a Plan button to purchase a plan.

    • Moreover, it lets you upgrade your account as well to access all the available features.

    • You can add the desired plan(s)/subscription(s) to your cart by clicking on the Add to Cart / Sign up now button.

    • You may also scroll down to view the FAQs section.

  • The Right Navigation Menu with the following menu options will be displayed. You can click on the:

    • Dashboard icon Dashboard - for accessing the Home Page.

    • Orders icon Orders - to view all your orders.

      Cloud-RF Account Orders

      • If no orders have been made, you may click on Browse products button to browse the available products.

    • Subscriptions icon Subscriptions - to view all your subscriptions.

      Cloud-RF Account Subscriptions

      • If you have no active subscriptions , you may click on Browse products button to browse the available subscriptions.

    • Downloads icon Downloads - to view all the downloaded files.

      Cloud-RF Account Downloads

      • You may click on Browse products button to browse the available products.

    • Addresses icon Addresses - to view the shipping and billing addresses added to your account.

      Cloud-RF Account Addresses

    • Payment methods icon Payment methods - to view the payment methods added to buy your orders or subscriptions.

      Cloud-RF Account Payment Methods

      • You may also add a payment method by clicking on the Add Payment Method button.

    • Account details icon Account details - for accessing your account details and edit them if required.

      • You can change your password, contact preference, and time zone settings from here.

      Cloud-RF Account Details

      • Click on Save Changes button after making the required changes.

    • Logout icon Logout - if you wish to logout from your account.

      • The Login/Register screen will be displayed.

Dashboard

  • The API credentials of your account - UID and KEY will be displayed.

  • To copy the API Key, you can click on the copy icon.

Copy API Key

  • Under My usage section:

    • The API Calls details and the Storage used will be displayed.

    • You may click on the Delete My Data button to delete the data of your usage.

  • Under My Plans section:

    • Your Plan details (Time, Product and Expiry) will be displayed.

    • You can click on Missing your orders link as per your requirement.

  • Under My Networks section:

    • Your Network details (Network and Calculations) will be displayed.

Ordering a Plan

You can order a plan or a subscription by adding the desired product in your cart and then paying for the same.

To order a plan or a subscription:

  • Under My Accounts tab, you can click on the Buy a plan button.

OR

  • Click on Plans tab.

OR

  • Under My Accounts tab:

    • Click on Orders, Subscriptions or Downloads.

    • Click on Browse Products button.

  • The Plans screen will be displayed.

  • You can add the desired plans or subscriptions by clicking on the Add to cart or Sign up now button respectively.

    • You can also upgrade your account from here to access all the available features.

Choosing an Interface

In Cloud-RF tool, there are four major Interfaces available:

  • 3D Interface

  • Mobile Interface

  • Keyhole Radio for Google Earth

  • Cloud-RF API

The following is the description and the steps of loading of each interface:

  1. 3D Interface

    • The 3D interface is the primary user interface for Cloud-RF that works on desktops, tablets and mobiles.

    • To load the 3D Interface:

      • Under My Accounts tab, click on Web Interface button.

      • The 3D Interface will be displayed.

  2. Mobile Interface

    • The Mobile interface is the 3D Interface when the Cloud-RF is accessed from your mobile.

    • To load the Mobile Interface in your mobile,

      • Under My Accounts tab, click on Web Interface button.

      • The 3D Interface will be displayed.

  3. Keyhole Radio for Google Earth

    • Keyhole Radio™ is a unique and powerful RF planning interface, accessed by loading a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) overlay in Google Earth™. It’s ideal for busy organisations already using Google Earth as existing data can be overlaid with your RF overlays and the software with supporting terrain data is ready to go so long as a client has Google Earth and a network connection.

    • A Cloud-RF user account is required to use the service. Registration is free.

    • To load the Keyhole Radio™ interface for Google Earth,

      • Under My Accounts tab, click on Google Earth button.

      • The Keyhole Radio.kml file for Google Earth will get downloaded.

      • To open it, you may either launch the KML File or add a network link within Google Earth with the URL: https://cloudrf.com/ui/kml

  4. Cloud-RF API

    • The Cloud-RF API is a public scripting interface which allows the developers to pull upon the power and data of Cloud-RF with just a few lines of code (in a language of your choice).

      • Moreover, with this, you can integrate radio planning into your application or website without worrying about the heavy CPU, memory or disk resources required to do RF planning.

      • It’s up all year round, 24 hours a day!

    • To load the Cloud-RF API:

      • Under My Accounts tab, click on API button.

      • You can access your API and view your API key & your current subscription plan.

    • The Cloud-RF API for radio planning lets you model radio coverage for any RF system between 20 and 100,000MHz.

    • A Cloud-RF account and active plan are required to use the API.

Performance Tips

Following are the tips and tricks that can help you in scaling the overall performance to new heights:

  • If you do not have a graphics card in your desktop, reduce your desktop’s resolution.

  • Change your window size to match with your monitor using the Ctrl - and Ctrl + shortcut keys.