API Migration Guide

This guide is for developers who are currently using the Unwired Labs LocationAPI process endpoint and want to migrate to the nRF Cloud Ground Fix API. It covers field mappings for LTE, LTE-CAT-M, NB-IoT, and Wi-Fi location requests.

Key structural differences

	Unwired Labs	nRF Cloud
Endpoint	POST /v2/process	POST /location/ground-fix
Cell radio type	radio at the root level of the request	Separate field per radio type: lte, ltecatm, nbiot
Wi-Fi APs	Flat array under wifi key	Flat array under wifi key
Auth	API token in request body	Bearer token (Organization Auth Token) in Authorization header
Maximum Wi-Fi APs Limit	15	None
Maximum Cells Limit	7	None

Cell location

Unwired Labs uses a single cells array where each object includes a radio field to indicate the network type ("lte", "umts", "gsm", etc.). nRF Cloud uses separate typed arrays — lte, ltecatm, and nbiot — with identical field schemas. Split your cells by radio type when building the nRF Cloud request.

note

nRF Cloud supports LTE, LTE-CAT-M, and NB-IoT only.

LTE field mapping

The same field mapping applies to all three nRF Cloud cell array types: lte, ltecatm, and nbiot.

Unwired Labs field	nRF Cloud field	Required (nRF Cloud)	Notes
mcc	mcc	Yes	Mobile Country Code — identical
mnc	mnc	Yes	Mobile Network Code — identical; nRF Cloud also accepts string format (e.g. "01")
cid	eci	Yes	Cell ID → E-UTRA Cell Identifier
lac	tac	Yes	Location Area Code → Tracking Area Code (LTE uses TAC, not LAC)
signal	rsrp	No	Signal strength in dBm
psc	pci	No	Physical Cell ID
ta	adv	No	Timing Advance

LTE-CAT-M and NB-IoT follow the same structure, using ltecatm or nbiot as the top-level array key instead of lte.

Wi-Fi location

Both APIs use a flat array of access point objects under a wifi key. The main differences are field names and a few additional optional fields available in nRF Cloud.

Wi-Fi field mapping

Unwired Labs field	nRF Cloud field	Required (nRF Cloud)	Notes
bssid	macAddress	Yes	MAC address of the access point — same data, different field name
(not supported)	signalStrength	Yes	Signal strength detected of the Wi-Fi AP
channel	channel	No	Wi-Fi channel number — identical
frequency	frequency	No	Channel frequency in MHz — identical. Mutually exclusive with channel in nRF Cloud
timestamp	(not supported)	No	-

note

nRF Cloud requires a minimum of 2 access points per request.

Example: Wi-Fi request

Unwired Labs:

{
  "token": "YOUR_TOKEN",
  "wifi": [
    { "bssid": "30:86:2d:c4:29:d0", "channel": 6, "frequency": 2437 },
    { "bssid": "3c:37:86:5d:75:d4", "channel": 11, "frequency": 2462 }
  ]
}

nRF Cloud:

{
  "wifi": [
    { "macAddress": "30:86:2d:c4:29:d0", "channel": 6, "signalStrength": -45 },
    { "macAddress": "3c:37:86:5d:75:d4", "channel": 11, "signalStrength": -50 }
  ]
}

Cell and Wi-Fi combined requests

nRF Cloud supports requests that include both cell and Wi-Fi data, same as Unwired Labs. Just include both lte (or ltecatm/nbiot) and wifi arrays in the same request body.

Example: Cell and Wi-Fi request

Unwired Labs:

{
  "token": "YOUR_TOKEN",
  "radio": "lte",
  "mcc": 242,
  "mnc": 2,
  "cells": [
    {
      "cid": 33903884,
      "lac": 2801,
      "signal": -66,
      "psc": 123,
      "ta": 16
    }
  ],
  "wifi": [
    { "bssid": "30:86:2d:c4:29:d0", "channel": 6, "frequency": 2437 },
    { "bssid": "3c:37:86:5d:75:d4", "channel": 11, "frequency": 2462 }
  ]
}

nRF Cloud:

{
  "lte": [
    {
      "mcc": 242,
      "mnc": 2,
      "eci": 33903884,
      "tac": 2801,
      "rsrp": -66,
      "pci": 123,
      "adv": 16
    }
  ],
  "wifi": [
    {
      "macAddress": "30:86:2d:c4:29:d0",
      "channel": 6,
      "frequency": 2437,
      "signalStrength": -45
    },
    {
      "macAddress": "3c:37:86:5d:75:d4",
      "channel": 11,
      "frequency": 2462,
      "signalStrength": -50
    }
  ]
}

Response format

Both APIs return a latitude, longitude, and accuracy estimate. Field names differ:

Unwired Labs field	nRF Cloud field	Description
lat	lat	Latitude
lon	lon	Longitude
accuracy	uncertainty	Radius in meters, 1-sigma probability (68%) that your device is within this circle.
address	(not returned)	nRF Cloud does not return a geocoded address at this time
(not returned)	fulfilledWith	Method used: SCELL, MCELL, or WIFI

Auth

Unwired Labs requires an API token to be included in the request body. nRF Cloud uses Bearer token authentication with an Organization Auth Token, which must be included in the Authorization header of the HTTP request.

Example: Auth

Unwired Labs:

URL: https://us1.unwiredlabs.com/v2/process

HEADERS: NONE

BODY:

{
  "token": "YOUR_TOKEN",
  "radio": "lte",
  "mcc": 242,
  "mnc": 2,
  "cells": [
    {
      "cid": 33903884,
      "lac": 2801,
      "signal": -66,
      "psc": 123,
      "ta": 16
    }
  ]
}

nRF Cloud:

URL: https://api.nrfcloud.com/v1/organizations/<YOUR_ORG>/projects/<YOUR_PROJECT>/location/ground-fix

HEADERS: Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_OAT_TOKEN>

BODY:

{
  "lte": [
    {
      "mcc": 242,
      "mnc": 2,
      "eci": 33903884,
      "tac": 2801,
      "rsrp": -66,
      "adv": 16
    }
  ]
}

Example nRF Cloud request

In order to make a request to location services, you need an organization, project, and an OAT. See the details in the Location Services Quickstart Guide to get set up.

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.nrfcloud.com/v1/organizations/<YOUR_ORG>/projects/<YOUR_PROJECT>/location/ground-fix \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_OAT_TOKEN>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "lte": [
    {
      "mcc": 242,
      "mnc": 2,
      "eci": 33903884,
      "tac": 2801,
      "rsrp": -66,
      "adv": 16
    }
  ],
  "wifi": [
    {
      "macAddress": "30:86:2d:c4:29:d0",
      "channel": 6,
      "frequency": 2437,
      "signalStrength": -45
    },
    {
      "macAddress": "3c:37:86:5d:75:d4",
      "channel": 11,
      "frequency": 2462,
      "signalStrength": -50
    }
  ]
}'