How to solve the 3C problem in 802.11n network planning

The arrival of 802.11n has caused a fundamental change in the field of wireless local area networks (WLAN). The extremely high data rate of the 802.11n final standard has laid a solid foundation for the realization of a fully wireless enterprise network. Rich multimedia applications will be seamlessly deployed at each node in the network, and its excellent performance far exceeds the previous 802.11a / b / g technology.

But the problem still exists. Although the advantages of 802.11n have been continuously valued by WLAN equipment manufacturers and have also caused large-scale discussions in the industry, no one has been able to explain how 802.11n network planning works, or more importantly. The thing is, under what circumstances will it fail!

Network planning should pay attention to three factors: Context, Coverage, and Capacity, collectively referred to as "3C" in network planning. The technological advancement of the 802.11n standard has affected all three factors. In terms of background, network planners must consider the impact of new 40MHz channel interference and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology related to specific site complex conditions on channel planning and access point settings. In terms of coverage, designers should understand the difference in coverage between 802.11n and traditional systems, and make a correct definition of coverage requirements based on network requirements. Finally, the data transmission speed of the 802.11n standard and the efficiency of the MAC layer have been improved, so the network capacity will also increase; however, only by properly planning the distribution of network customers can the increased capacity be fully utilized.

The various obstacles encountered in 802.11n planning indicate that the correct planning of 802.11n networks is a difficult task. If you do not use site-specific network modeling technology, this work will become extremely difficult. Motorola ’s assistance tool for network planners, LANPlanner 11.0, whether it ’s responding to planning projects involving the complete clean-up of design, obsolescence, and alternative network migrations, or simple pre-deployment surveys for the collection of phased migration requirements Can meet the network requirements of 802.11n.

Site-specific performance prediction

802.11a / b / g planning has always been a computationally intensive and heavy task. 802.11n involves additional non-intuitive multipath factors that enhance the importance of site-specific modeling.

LANPlanner11.0 provides support for 802.11n planning, and can take into account site-specific effects in the calculation of data transmission rates. These new prediction functions are indispensable when planning new 802.11n deployments or migrating 802.11a / b / g networks to support 802.11n networks. Motorola recommends that companies deploying 802.11n networks use LANPlanner to simulate their deployment plans before making an update decision.

"Traditional-11n" Migration Wizard

A large number of industry discussions have proved that the most likely scenario for the first round of 802.11n deployment is to migrate the existing 802.11a / b / g network to support 802.11n. In this case, LANPlanner11.0 will provide a network migration wizard (NetworkMigraTIonWizard) to help users achieve this goal. Based on user-defined migration restrictions (including areas of interest, customer distribution, and migration strategies, etc.), LANPlanner will provide recommended basic deployment strategies to meet the specific needs of various environments. Network planners can easily enter the performance requirements for the network, and then simulate multiple migration scenarios to effectively determine the optimal migration path of the network and related costs.

Comparison of 802.11a / b / g and 802.11n

With LANPlanner11.0, 802.11n performance improvement tasks will no longer be a bunch of complicated spreadsheets or icy numbers. When planning an 802.11n network, users can clearly see the performance improvement achieved by 802.11n deployment in the heatmap of a specific site; supplemented by LANPlanner's excellent automatic reporting function, the advantages of 802.11n migration can be easily Communicate effectively to users.

Investigation function realized by 802.11n

Considering the issues related to 40MHz channels, the compatibility of DFS with 5GHz channels, and the impact of customer distribution on network performance, the importance of pre-deployment surveys for 802.11n implementation is clearly greater than its significance for 802.11a / b / g networks. In view of this, the LANPlanner survey tool, Motorola SiteScanner, provides local support for 802.11n surveys through the widely used, industry-standard 802.11n WLAN card.

In addition to pre-deployment surveys, this feature can also help customers verify the performance of 802.11n access points after network deployment is complete. Because the system characteristics of MIMO require customer connection and data transmission from the access point, Motorola has improved SiteScanner's access point performance model to meet these new requirements.

Automatic adjustment of performance prediction

All along, LANPlanner has provided users with a powerful LANPlanner network planning mode optimization tool. Performance data collected from SiteScanner measurement surveys can be used to form a feedback closed loop for 802.11n performance prediction. Through optimization, users can achieve the most accurate prediction of 802.11n access point mode.

LANPlanner is an integral part of Motorola's 802.11n overall solution. The solution also includes Motorola's AP-7131802.11n access point and RFS6000 and RFS700 can be used for 802.11n WLAN switches. In recent years, Motorola has provided a series of wireless LAN infrastructure solution portfolios aimed at real wireless enterprises for many enterprises. Motorola's innovative wireless enterprise product portfolio can provide indoor and outdoor wireless coverage. Motorola's wireless solutions are equal to or significantly better than fixed networks in terms of flexibility, security, and performance, which can significantly reduce the cost of network deployment and maintenance, and ensure cost-effective wireless connectivity within the enterprise.