Wireless LAN Design Guide For High Density Client Environments in Higher Education
Wireless LAN Design Guide For High Density Client Environments in Higher Education
Wireless LAN Design Guide For High Density Client Environments in Higher Education
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Design Point #3: Choose a High Minimum Data Rate to Support Increased Efficiency, 14
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Design point #4: 5 GHz Support will be Critical for High Density,
so Determine the Channel Plan that you will Support and How it will be Administered
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Design Point #5: Account for and Manage all Energy within the Operating Spectrum to Ensure all of it is Available for Use
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Related Documentation
Cisco Mobility 4.1 Design Guide
Cisco Campus Wireless LAN Controller Configuration Design Guide
Optimize the Cisco Unified Wireless Network to Support Wi-Fi Enabled Phones and Tablets
802.11n: Mission-Critical Wireless
Executive Summary
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Introduction
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PDLQWDLQHGXVLQJCisco’s Unified Wireless NetworkDUFKLWHFWXUHLVGHWDLOHG,WLQFOXGHVWKHVHJHQHUDOVWHSV
• Plan: Determine application and device requirements such as bandwidth, protocols, frequencies,
service level agreement (SLA), etc.
• Design: Determine density, cell sizing, antennas, coverage, site survey, etc.
• Implement: Install, test, tune, establish baseline, etc.
• Optimize: Monitor, report, adjust, review baseline for SLA
• Operate: Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) monitoring, troubleshooting tools, capacity monitoring and reporting tools, etc.
The general concepts underlying high density Wi-Fi design remain true for many environments. But it is important to note that
the content and solutions presented here will not fit every WLAN design scenario. Rather, the intent of the guide is to explain
the challenges in WLAN design for high density client environments and to offer successful strategies so that engineers and
administrators understand them and are able to articulate the impact design decisions will have.
A typical office environment, Figure 1, may have APs deployed for 2500 to 5000 square feet with a signal of -67 decibels in
millowatts (dBm) coverage and a maximum of 20 to 30 users per cell. That is a density of one user every 120 square foot
(sq. ft.) and yields a minimum signal of -67 dBm.
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In planning and deploying such a WLAN, an AP is typically placed in an area expected to have a higher user density, such as in a
conference room, while common areas are left with less coverage. In this way, pre-planning for high density areas is anticipated.
Conference rooms are often placed in clusters, so it is best to design for the maximum capacity of the area. For example,
maximum occupancy for the three rooms is 32, so user density would be one user per 28 square feet, Figure 2.
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In a high-density environment such as a lecture hall or auditorium, the densities of users in the occupied space increase
dramatically. User seating is typically clustered very close together to achieve high occupancy. The overall dimensions of
the space are really only useful for getting an idea of the free space path loss of the AP signal. User densities are not evenly
distributed over the entire space as aisle ways, stages, and podiums represent a percentage of space which is relatively
unoccupied. The RF dynamics of the AP are very different from those experienced at the user level. The APs are exposed with
an excellent view of the room and the user devices will be packed closely together with attenuating bodies surrounding them.
The single biggest sources of interference in the room are the client devices themselves. For each user sitting in the auditorium
who can rest their hand comfortably on the back of the seat in front of them, the distance is approximately three feet, with an
average seat width of 24 inches. This yields what is defined as a high-density environment, with less than 1 square meter per
device deployed, assuming one or more devices connected per seat.
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What is ultimately going to effect the client devices more than any other factor is the degradation of signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR) through both co-channel and adjacent channel interference driven by co-located devices. Proper system engineering
can minimize the impact by maximizing proper spatial reuse but it cannot be eliminated in highly dense environments entirely.
Operating margins become more critical as space is condensed and a bad radio or behavior in the mix can have a large impact
within a cell. Client behavior under these conditions will vary widely and trends based on environment and event type have also
been reported. There is not much that can be done about the particular client mix or behavior. The design goal is to engineer the
network side as robustly as possible and to control and understand all variables.
Within environments that qualify as high-density, there are also submodels built by use case. For example, in a high-density
environment such as a public venue or stadium, capacity is planned based on what percentage of users are likely to be active
on the network at any one time. In higher education there is a different model, where casual WLAN activity is one use case while
activity when a professor is lecturing may increase dramatically, up to 100 percent.
Planning
The WLAN design process can begin in many ways but generally it begins with an expressed desire to provide connections to
a specific area where a number of users will participate in a focused activity. To evaluate what is possible, it is first necessary
to understand what is required as well as what is possible. There is generally a primary application that is driving the need
for connectivity. Understanding the throughput requirements for this application and for other activities that will take place
on the network will provide the designer with a per-user bandwidth goal. Multiplying this number by the number of expected
connections yields the aggregate bandwidth that will be required.
The required per connection bandwidth will be used to drive subsequent design decisions.
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In all cases, it is highly advisable to test the target application and validate its actual bandwidth requirements. Software designers
are often required to pick just one average number to represent the application’s requirements when there are actually many
modes and deployment decisions that can make up a more accurate number. It is also important to validate applications on
a representative sample of the devices that are to be supported in the WLAN. Additionally, not all browsers and operating
systems enjoy the same efficiencies, and an application that runs fine in 100 kilobits per second (Kbps) on a Windows laptop
with Microsoft Internet Explorer or Firefox, may require more bandwidth when being viewed on a smart phone or tablet with an
embedded browser and operating system.
Once the required bandwidth throughput per connection and application is known, this number can be used to determine the
aggregate bandwidth required in the WLAN coverage area. To arrive at this number, multiply the minimum acceptable bandwidth
by the number of connections expected in the WLAN coverage area. This yields the target bandwidth needed for the need
series of steps.
Design Point #2: Calculate the Aggregate Throughput Required for the Coverage Area
If this design guide was for a wired rather than wireless network, calculating aggregate throughput requirements would entail
dividing the aggregate capacity by the channel bandwidth available. Then, the number of channels would be established and
these would be plugged into a switch. But in a WLAN, a channel’s speed is effected by multiple factors including protocols,
environmental conditions, and operating band of the adapter. Before calculating aggregate throughput, several things must
be considered.
In the aggregate throughput calculation, the connections instead of the seats were used as the basis for calculation. The number
of connections in a cell is what determines the total throughput that will be realized per connection instead of the number of
seats. Most users today carry both a primary computing device (such as a smartphone, tablet computer, or laptop) as well as a
second device (such as a smartphone). Each connection operating in the high-density WLAN consumes air time and network
resources and will therefore be part of the aggregate bandwidth calculation. An increase in numbers of device connections is
one of the primary reasons older WLAN designs are reaching oversubscription today.
Wi-Fi is a shared medium. Much like an un-switched Ethernet segment, it operates as a half duplex connection. Only one station
can use the channel at a time and both the uplink and downlink operate on the same channel. Each channel or cell used in a
Wi-Fi deployment represents a potential unit of bandwidth much like an Ethernet connection to a hub. In Ethernet, switching
technology was developed to increase the efficiency of the medium by limiting the broadcast and collision domains of a user to a
physical port and creating point-to-point connections between ports on an as-needed basis, dramatically increasing the overall
capacity.
Users and applications also tend to be bursty (a measure of the unevenness or variations in the traffic flow) in nature and often
access layer networks are designed with a 20:1 oversubscription to account for these variances. Application and end user
anticipated usage patterns must be determined and also accounted for. Some applications, such as streaming multicast video,
will drive this oversubscription ratio down while others may drive this factor even higher to determine an acceptable SLA for each
cell’s designed capacity.
For 802.11 wireless networks or any radio network in general, air is the medium of propagation. While there have been many
advances in efficiency, it is not possible to logically limit the physical broadcast and collision domain of an RF signal or separate
it’s spectrum footprint from other radios operating in the same spectrum. For that reason, Wi-Fi uses a band plan that breaks up
the available spectrums into a group of non-overlapping channels. A channel represents a cell. Using the analogy of Ethernet, a
cell represents a single contiguous collision domain.
How many users can access an AP comfortably? Hundreds. But the question should not be how many users can successfully
associate to an AP but how many users can be packed into a room and still obtain per-user bandwidth throughput
that is acceptable.
In real WLANs, the actual application throughput is what matters to the end user, and this differs from the signaling speed. Data
rates represent the rate at which data packets will be carried over the medium. Packets contain a certain amount of overhead
that is required to address and control the packets. The application throughput is carried as payload data within that overhead.
Table 2 shows average application throughput by protocol under good RF conditions.
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The graph above shows throughput rates under varying mixes of HT20 modulation coding scheme-15 (MCS15) 2SS data rates
and legacy 802.11a/g (for the purpose of this discussion 802.11a and 802.11g are the same protocol – different bands and are
considered equal) data rates within a single isolated cell.
• With either all MCS15 or all 802.11a/g clients, the difference in throughput is 480 percent
• With a 50/50 mix, there is a 400 percent increase over legacy throughput
• With a drop to just 25 percent of MCS15 clients, the increase is 300 percent
In this example using 30 connections, the application throughput to the end user would be 833 Kbps with all legacy connections
or 3.9 Mbps with all 802.11n connections. A mix drives throughput down. Other variables, such as user density or environmental
noise, can and likely will change over time and will effect the throughput as well.
Using legacy data rates as a nominal value, Table 3 shows the relationship between cell bandwidth and per
connection bandwidth.
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A mixed cell containing both 802.11b and 802.11g traffic results in a throughput rate that is less than double that of 802.11b
alone and roughly half of 802.11g alone. A similar effect was seen when 802.11n and legacy 802.11a/g rates were compared.
Until the inclusion of 802.11n, all advances in Wi-Fi technology have come through incremental increases in encoding
technology. 802.11n changed the encoding and streamlined the logistics of bonding 20 MHz channels and increasing the
available channel bandwidth. In implementing new technology, it is also necessary to provide a mechanism that allows the
old and the new protocols to coexist. It is this mechanism that reduces the overall efficiency of the channel due to additional
overhead. An 802.11b modem was not designed to speak 802.11g. In order to avoid collisions, the 802.11b radios must be
informed that the channel is needed by 802.11g for a period of time.
In a high-density environment, every available efficiency must be taken advantage of to achieve the desired goal of maximum
throughput and access. Figure 5 shows the relationship of per frame air time (channel utilization), frame sizes, and data rates.
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The time scale above is in microseconds (µs). At the top end of the chart, a 2048 byte packet is transmitted at 1 Mbps, taking
almost .02 seconds of airtime. Only one packet can be in the air at a time, and the faster that packet gets through, the better use
made of the time available. Looking at this from a different perspective, reaching the bandwidth goals while supporting 802.11b
and 802.11g will require more radios and cells and more advanced isolation techniques to implement them successfully.
Theoretically, if three radios could be put on the same pole serving all three non-overlapping channels in the same cell, a cell
could be created that holds three times the bandwidth in 2.4 GHz and as much as 20 times that in 5 GHz, Figure 6.
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In 5 GHz, there is more spectrum and the resulting bandwidth for a theoretical single cell increases dramatically, Figure 7.
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With today’s radio designs, the radio could almost be placed on top of each another, but that would not serve the high-density
design well. It would result in the same coverage area of a single cell and likely would not cover the required area, even in a
relatively small lecture hall.
Data rates are a function of the received signal strength and the signal to noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver. It is not practical
or efficient to lock a radio down to a particular data rate since the radio makes efficiency decisions based on available link
conditions. Not every client will respond the same in an otherwise static environment. Variables such as receiver sensitivity,
antenna configuration, driver version, and even position within the cell in relation to attenuating or reflecting objects will have a
variable effect on the client. An environment that is conducive to good radio efficiency can be helped by appropriate design. The
higher the average received signal strength and the better the SNR, the faster the data rate will be.
Cisco’s ClientLink technology can increase the signal selectively for legacy 802.11 a/g Orthogonal Frequency-Division
Multiplexing (OFDM) clients. Since legacy clients do not support the efficiency gains realized with 802.11n clients, they represent
the least efficient clients in our design. Using ClientLink in a high-density user design allows the AP to improve SNR from 3-6 dB
on a packet-by-packet basis for a client that is indicating the need to rate shift. This has the overall effect of increasing the range
and rate equation for the network and encourages legacy clients to maintain higher data rates under adverse conditions. This
is an excellent addition to a high-density design. The document Cisco ClientLink: Optimized Device Performance for 802.11n
provides a full discussion of the Cisco ClientLink technology.
In a high-density deployment, channels will be aggregated to increase the total bandwidth. This means moving the APs ever
closer together in the design space. A key success factor is Co-Channel Interference (CCI). CCI effects capacity of the cell by
reducing the available bandwidth.
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Basic CCI – AP’s on the same Channel interfere with one another
802,11 networks are contention based and rely on Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) mechanisms to judge the medium state
(if busy we wait, when free we transmit). In the example above, this client’s performance is being impacted because it can hear
both APs. To this client, the two AP cells are coupled or acting as one super cell. For the uplink, both APs’ transmissions will be
seen as a busy channel by the client and the client will simply wait for an opportunity to transmit. Worse yet, on the downlink,
transmissions from either AP will potentially collide and retries will increase the contention for the medium and continue to drive
the data rates down overall. The effects of CCI are not limited to just the AP cell. In a high-density environment, the clients
themselves will have the effect of increasing the overall cell size.
CCA is based on a receive threshold that evaluates the carrier for activity. It is generally a good practice to consider -85 decibels
per milliwatt (dBm) as that threshold. Figure 9 shows a coverage model based on data rates. Higher data rates do not propagate
as far. If the distances look long in this model, it is because it was calculated using an outdoor open space model rather than an
indoor model which assumes attenuating factors in the environment. There are not many walls between the APs and clients in
most high-density deployments.
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In any Wi-Fi design, the effects of CCI can be limited by isolating the individual cells from one another through the use of
non-overlapping channels and natural environment attenuation (walls, ceilings, file cabinets and cubes). We would not place two
APs on the same channel directly next to one another intentionally. In a normal design, the environment and distances we are
covering generally permit adequate coverage without a lot of CCI. But in a high-density network design, the distances are going
to be constrained and propagation will be good, as such cell coupling and resulting CCI will become much more likely.
Design Point #3: Choose a High Minimum Data Rate to Support Increased Efficiency, Lower
Duty Cycle, and Reduce the Effective Size of the Resulting Cell
CCI is not only an issue that will be faced in aggregating channels within the high-density deployment but something that must
be kept in mind regarding existing deployments of surrounding areas. Lecture halls and classrooms tend to be co-located in the
same facility, so overall design must be considered.
The Cisco Voice over Wireless LAN Design Guide is an excellent resource that presents CCI and best practices for Wi-Fi
implementation. As an older document, it does not cover the extreme densities found in a high-density WLAN.
The Cisco WCS and controllers make monitoring co-channel interference and identifying the responsible AP or APs a fairly
straightforward exercise. Cisco Radio Resource Management (RRM) algorithms are centralized and are a network-wide resource
that continuously evaluates every single AP in the RF network to determine its relationship to every other AP in the system.
It does this through the use of over the air (OTA) measurements and observations. Knowing how well other APs can hear a
selected AP is a very useful feature when considering or planning a high-density WLAN deployment. Using Cisco WCS, it is
possible to evaluate how well APs can hear one another―independent of a channel. This information is shown in a graphic display
that shows not only how APs are effecting each other on a particular map, but also how other APs that are not on the map can
impact a WLAN as well.
The wireless LAN controller maintains two lists of APs, Figure 10, both transmit and receive (TX and RX) neighbors that
indicate how other APs hear a selected AP and how a selected AP hears other APs. This can be viewed using the Wireless
LAN Controller (WLC) Configuration Analyzer tool and used to tune the resulting network and identify sources of RF as the APs
themselves see it. Since this observation is based on OTA metrics and not based on predictive modeling, these values are
independent of the antenna and AP combination.
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NOTE: Before considering a four-channel plan in 2.4 GHz, see Channel Deployment Issues for 2.4-GHz 802.11 WLANs for an
excellent discussion on the issues. The conclusion is that it is better for two APs to share a channel than to have two channels
overlapping on the edge. Two APs sharing a channel can demodulate each others’ transmissions and share the bandwidth
amicably. When two channels overlap at the edge, it is just noise to both and will result in collisions, retransmits, and SNR
degradation.
Additionally, if the WLAN is located in a regulatory domain where the bandwidth to deploy four channels is available
(e.g., availability of channel 13 and 14) unless the WLAN is sufficiently isolated from every other network it is likely that someone
will deploy using the standard 1, 6, 11 model and drastically increase the interference to the WLAN.
If it is necessary to maximize a 2.4 GHz connection, it is possible to increase the bandwidth and efficiency of cells by physically
limiting the propagation through the use of antennas and creative placement options. This will require site specific engineering
and careful measurement and design. Cisco Advanced Services and experienced Cisco partners can help with this type of
design and have achieved amazing results in extremely large and complex environments. This, however, is not always an option
for budgetary or aesthetics reasons. We will discuss this in much more detail in the section on AP placement.
Cisco APs were some of the first in the industry to support DFS channels. Client support for DFS channels has been inconsistent,
however. Client devices do not have the ability to detect radar and rely on the infrastructure established by a DFS certified AP.
Most clients today support channels 52-64. Client support for channels 100-140 has been slow in coming. Often it is a matter
of not only the hardware but the version of the driver for the client that determines its operating channel range.
Client support has been steadily increasing and to-date Intel 5100 a/g/n, 5300 a/g/n, and 6300 a/g/n all operate on channels
52-64 and 100-140. The Cisco Cius and the Apple iPad and the Cisco 7925 IP phone also support the full range of DFS
channels.
The effect of using channels that are not supported by all clients can result in coverage holes for those clients. Channels
100-140 are disabled by default on a Cisco Unified Wireless Network but can be enabled easily in the DCA channel selections
by choosing the extended UNII-2 channels. Before doing so, it is highly advisable to inventory the clients and drivers that must
be supported.
If DFS channels have been used in a WLAN installation, their suitability within the WLAN will be established. If they have not
been enabled previously, it is advisable that the DFS channels are surveyed using Cisco equipment and that monitoring for
radar detection is done before enabling the channels. In public and other venues within higher education environments, it is
often recommended to avoid using these extended UNII-2 channels due to their current lack of client support. The base UNII-2
channel availability in clients is more pervasive and these are channels that could be considered but ongoing monitoring of client
capabilities should not be overlooked.
Dual band adapters have been shipping with most laptops for some time. This does not mean that every laptop is a dual band
client, but many are. Simply having a dual band client does not guarantee that it will choose 5 GHz over 2.4 GHz. The Microsoft
Windows operating system defaults to a Wi-Fi channel search that starts with the 5 GHz channel 36 and continues searching
through all of the 5 GHz channels that the client is capable of. If no 5 GHz AP is found then it will continue the search in 2.4 GHz
starting at channel 1. Unless the Windows default is changed or the user has chosen a third party Wi-Fi utility to set spectrum
preference to 2.4 GHz, the client radio will first try to associate to a 5 GHz AP. Apple Computer’s latest release for Atheros and
Broadcom chipsets also searches 5 GHz first.
The Cisco BandSelect feature enables the infrastructure to optimize these types of client connection choices. Where possible, it
helps make sure that devices are attaching to the 5 GHz spectrum channels where interference sources tend to be significantly
lighter. A much greater channel selection leads to the alleviation of bandwidth challenges.
Tablet computers and smartphones have begun entering the market at a staggering rate. The vast majority of smartphones
shipping today operate in 2.4 GHz only. While many of them are 802.11n clients, of these most have implemented a single input
single output (SISO) rather than Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO). A SISO device is only capable of supporting MCS7 data
rates, or 54 Mbps.
Design point #4: 5 GHz Support will be Critical for High Density, so Determine the Channel
Plan that you will Support and How it will be Administered
Evaluating the particular client mix for the WLAN can be done easily on Cisco wireless networks by utilizing the reporting features
in the Cisco Wireless Control System or by reviewing the WLAN controller’s connection logs.
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If DFS channels will not be used, with 15 channels needed, use the nine non-DFS channels and reuse six of these. The cells
must all be isolated from one another to prevent CCI from robbing available bandwidth.
When the 802.11 standards were being drafted, there was great concern that proliferation of Wi-Fi networks would create
interference for licensed users operating in the same frequency bands. As a result of this concern, Wi-Fi was designed to be
very “polite”, yielding the band to almost anything else found operating there. Twenty years later, there are many consumer
devices sharing the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) bands with Wi-Fi. The challenge is that while these devices operate
under the same power restrictions of Wi-Fi devices, they are in no way obligated to yield the band for Wi-Fi traffic, and most do
not. This creates a problem for normal Wi-Fi operations, since a Wi-Fi modem can only classify energy as:
The impact of non Wi-Fi interference is logarithmic in its impact on Wi-Fi network operations. The higher the utilization of the
Wi-Fi network, the more destructive non Wi-Fi energy will be. This means that if there is interference present and the network
is only slightly utilized (e.g., there is ample duty cycle available within the spectrum), the presence of non Wi-Fi energy may not
even be noticeable. There is space for both to share the spectrum. However, if the Wi-Fi network is highly utilized, then even a
small amount of non Wi-Fi interference can have a large and noticeable effect.
This is why Cisco created CleanAir, a system-level, proactive monitoring, reporting, and mitigation mechanism as a core
system resource for the CUWN. A high-density WLAN is designed to take advantage of every bit of the available spectrum.
Any spectrum being consumed by even a relatively benign non Wi-Fi interference source will have a large impact in a dense
environment. Interference needs to be identified, managed, and eliminated to provide the required bandwidth for a high-density
network to work properly.
Design Point #5: Account for and Manage all Energy within the Operating Spectrum to Ensure
all of it is Available for Use
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The discussion until now has centered on a use case where every client in the room will be competing for bandwidth
simultaneously. This is the case when the users in the room simultaneously access a resource on queue. However there are
many instances where the design requirement is to offer access to resources or the Internet for casual use at an event or
within a venue such as a sports arena. Planning and sizing for these types of events can be quite different and will be based on
expected Client Duty Cycle.
At a sporting event, for example, there are certain areas that will require ubiquitous and instant access during the entire event.
Ticketing, vendor sales, staff, and press areas will generally require the highest amount of access. Of these, the press area is the
only one that requires a high level of capacity in the arena itself. For the fans attending the event, only a percentage will be active
on the WLAN at any one time From experience we see a 20 to 30 percent take rate with some well defined peaks occurring
during period breaks. During play, very few fans are accessing the WLAN. However, this is changing as applications such as
video replay, instant stats, and concession orders from the seat become more commonplace.
Observation and understanding of the requirements of WLAN users and situational requirements will guide the development of
reasonable design goals. 500 users in a room who require simultaneous access to a single resource is a different design challenge
than 1000 or 1500 users who only occasionally use the wireless network. Also, be aware that user patterns can and do change
with time. This has been seen with the increase in the number of network clients per user. Monitoring network access and keeping
good statistics will allow wireless engineers to stay on top of user trends on the university campus. Good management platforms
such as Cisco WCS or Cisco Network Control System (NCS) are essential for managing the resulting network in real time
and monitoring trends in a proactive manner.
APs have evolved rapidly in short period of time. If an AP with external antenna capabilities is to be used, it is essential that an
antenna that was designed for that AP also be used. MIMO or 802.11n APs need MIMO antennas to perform properly. Even if HT
rates are not being counted on, the antenna and the radios are a system and the system is designed to perform with all of these
elements. A good overview of antennas and pattern information can be found in Antenna Patterns and Their Meaning.
The best approach to engineering a specific space for a high-density WLAN is to first do a thorough, active site survey to determine
how and where the APs should be optimally installed. This will clarify what is possible in the space and provide a design to work
from. Any changes to the optimal placement imposed by restrictions will require another survey because the final throughput for the
space will likely change. If the environment and requirements neccesitate the use of directional antennas, remember that once the
APs are mounted, physical adjustments can become a lot more complex, depending on the mounting location. So it is best to test
them while they are being installing to ensure that the anticipated coverage results from what is installed.
Omnidirectional Antennas
Use of an AP with attached low gain omnidirectional MIMO antenna is recommended if mounting is to be done on the ceiling of
a modest-sized auditorium (averaging 20 feet or lower) with no channel reuse required in 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. Omnidirectional
antennas provide better ceiling-to-floor coverage, thereby reducing the likelihood that a packet traveling to or from the client has
bounced off some object (usually a wall or the ceiling) before reaching the receiving antenna. This reduces the opportunity for
multipath interference.
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• Use of a high gain omnidirectional antenna should be avoided. This type of antenna will increase the size of the cell and the
number of users that will be sharing the bandwidth. Higher gain in an omnidirectional antenna design generally means increased
horizontal beamwidth with a decrease in vertical beamwidth. This effect will be more pronounced as the ceiling height increases.
• The low-gain omnidirectional antenna has less horizontal coverage and in an auditorium will have less floor coverage than a
high-gain antenna. This supports the goal of small channel and small floor size and it will serve to limit the number of users in
the coverage area, effectively managing client-based co-channel interference. The low-gain antenna will also provide a better
quality signal.
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Note: The same integrated antennas are used on these devices but AP-1040 only has two elements per band.
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MIMO low gain omnidirectional antenna options for the Cisco 802.11n Series APs are shown in Table 7.
If the Cisco Aironet 1250, 1260, or 3500e Series AP are to be used, there are several external omnidirectional
antenna options to allow broader mounting options and to meet differing aesthetic requirements. Consult the
Cisco Aironet Antenna Reference Guide for full details.
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Using 802.11n capable radios is a fundamental design consideration for today’s high client density environments. The above
advantages, especially in a mixed environment, lend themselves well to a high-density deployment.
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Directional Antennas
It is not always going to be possible to solve challenges in a high-density environment using strictly omnidirectional antennas. If
a WLAN requires channel reuse within the same floor space or if coverage is required for non-standard areas such as indoor or
outdoor arenas, mounting options for a usable design may be limited. Therefore directional antennas come in many coverage
patterns that are more suited to challenging environments where an omnidirectional will not be adequate.
When an environment requires the use of directional antennas, the complexity of the design and the implementation both will go
up accordingly. It should, however, also be noted that outstanding results can be achieved.
• Better ceiling to floor coverage, if mounted in the ceiling or on catwalks with antennas oriented in a direct downward direction.
This creates smaller cells of coverage directly beneath the APs and allows for better channel isolation between adjacent cells
while maintaining power levels and sensitivity in the direction of the covered clients.
• Coverage in larger venues with very high ceilings or perhaps where ceiling access is not available. Placing directional
antennas at mid level from the sides or from behind the coverage zone and using downtilt can provide controllable coverage
zones and better installation options in difficult environments.
• A much narrower coverage lobe or beam, thus allowing smaller cells so the number of cells and channels for both 2.4 GHz
and 5 GHz can occupy a common room providing increased cell isolation and reducing CCI. This is critical in any environment
where the design solution requires channel reuse for either band.
Directional antennas like omnidirectional antennas are classified by their 3 dB beamwidth in the horizontal and elevation planes.
But directional antennas typically have much higher gain than an antenna that is classified as omnidirectional. For example, the
AIR-ANT2460NP-R antenna, Table 7, has a 3 dB horizontal beamwidth of 80° and a 75° elevation plane. This is quite useful in
isolating the AP and antenna from surrounding energy and providing better coverage in the intended zone.
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Front to back ratio (FTB) is another measurement that is typically provided with directional antenna specifications. Since the gain
is increased in one direction, it is reduced elsewhere. The FTB ratio spells out the amount of isolation that can be achieved in the
opposite direction of the antenna’s intended coverage. For the ANT-2460NP-R, the FTB is nominally 8 dBi. Combined with the
density of an average load-bearing wall, that equals minimal leakage to or from the other side.
Here’s an example of how this might be used as an advantage in a campus environment: today, most campuses have achieved a
level of ubiquitous coverage and it is likely that HD WLAN design requirements will be sharing at least a portion of their airspace
with another coverage zone. Typically, when engineering for pure coverage, lower data rates will be enabled to maximize
coverage (increase the cell size). This is adequate for the intended coverage zone but will negatively impact the HD coverage
zone where the cell size has been carefully engineered to exclude lower data rates. By reengineering the normal coverage zone,
the desired coverage can be achieved and the amount of coupling between coverage zones can be reduced, Figure 11.
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Normal Coverage
HD-Coverage
Less Sensitivity
FTB Ratio
Border Area between coverage and HD coverage
Table 8 features MIMO directional antenna products for Cisco 802.11n Series APs.
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One challenge often faced in a lecture hall or auditorium is the need to provide more bandwidth than a single use of the channels
available in 2.4 GHz will allow. Using a directional antenna can provide cell-to-cell isolation if placed, mounted, and adjusted
properly. One aspect of using directional antennas is the concept of mechanical downtilt. Downtilt involves adjusting the antenna
down to change the coverage pattern that is created.
The coverage pattern can be adjusted by changing the mounting height or the mechanical downtilt angle, Figure 12.
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• H = height of the antenna
• A = downtilt angle
• BW = the 3 dB horizontal beamwidth of the antenna
By adjusting the downtilt of the antenna, it is possible to “dial in” ― or add WLAN coverage― to specific areas within the coverage
zone. APs and RF energy operate much like light cast by lighting fixtures. It is possible to light an entire warehouse with a bare
bulb on the ceiling, but the result is low levels of light in some areas. But if there are multiple fixtures, including some with
higher patterns of luminosity to illuminate larger, the result is comprehensive overall lighting. RF is invisible, so measuring the
coverage and adjusting it appropriately requires tools to measure the coverage. For each antenna placement, simply walking
the area below it and adjusting the antenna to change the pattern based on Received Strength Signal Indication (RSSI) levels to
match coverage requirements is generally all that is required at the initial installation. Antennas hear the same as they transmit.
If measuring and adjusting are done carefully, using consistent measurements and tools, good results can be achieved. Any
additional tuning can be managed with power threshold adjustments through RRM. In all cases, a full site survey to compare the
results to the plan is required once all assets are installed.
Directionality in an antenna increases the overall gain and resulting power that will be delivered. Modest gains (4-8 dBi) can be
easily managed by RRM. Some situations, however, require higher gain antennas (10-13- 17 dBi) to achieve a desired coverage
area pattern. It is important to pay attention to the effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) as this will rise with the antenna gain.
Physically attenuating the transmission line using good quality RF attenuators rated for the spectrum and power may be required.
With TX power set to its minimum (-1 dBm), a 13 dBi antenna will have an EIRP of 12 dBm. If a WLAN design calls for a transmit
power of 4-5 dBm, then a 10 dB attenuator will be needed to put the EIRP back in the tunable range of the AP’s transmit power.
Attenuators will reduce the overall signal level that is on transmit and receive and will thereby reduce the received power of the
clients at the AP. This is not a problem since the approach is to compensate for higher antenna gain.
AP Placement Options
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The most common method of achieving even coverage is to evenly space the APs directly over the clients they will serve. There
are multiple options to accommodate overhead mounting of the APs in an unobtrusive manner. Although many people do not
consider any AP to be a welcome stylistic addition to a room, APs with internal antennas can be flush mounted to a variety of
surfaces and offer an option with less impact on a room’s aesthetics. In these cases, a flush mount antenna can be much less
obtrusive. External antennas increase the cost and complexity of the installation slightly, but can be justified if the end result is
the ability to cover the room at a sufficient density and meet aesthetic requirements. Once the decision is made to incorporate
external antennas, numerous options are opened for shaping the RF cell through the use of directional antennas. Channel reuse
in 2.4 GHz can be achieved in smaller spaces by using directional antennas overhead. Ceiling height and antenna choice will
determine cell boundaries and taking measurements is required.
In Figure 13, assuming the room is 9000 square feet, using the internal antenna enables AP nine channels of 5 GHz, and three
channels of 2.4 GHz to be provided comfortably. Using an external omnidirectional antenna, the results would be much the
same. Using omnidirectional antennas on 5 GHz and directional antennas on 2.4 GHz, one, two, or three additional 2.4 GHz
channels could be added within this space. Throughput improvements would largely be gained by more even client distribution
and less resulting CCI at the client. Some additional capacity will be gained, but only to the extent that CCI can be eliminated
between the cells and this will depend on ceiling height, antenna pattern, and power levels in 2.4 GHz.
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Ceiling heights can be much higher in a college lecture hall than they would be in a normal classroom environment. A normal
ceiling height may be 8-12 feet but in a lecture hall it could be 20 feet or more. This will impact the resulting RF levels seen
at the client’s position if it is not taken into consideration in the design. Because Cisco APs centralize their RF management,
AP to AP neighbor relations will not be effected between the APs, but the APs will be closer to one another than they are to
the client and this will require some threshold tuning. Typically, an adjustment of 3-8 dB on the transmit power control (TPC)
threshold will be sufficient to increase the power to a comfortable level at the floor. This is a one-time adjustment that biases the
entire installation. Very good results can be achieved in this way. If directional antennas are used in this way, the additional gain
associated with the antenna will generally offset the path loss associated with a high ceiling, but with very high ceilings (30+ feet)
adjustments to TPC may be required, depending on the antenna chosen.
If overhead mounting is not an option, (e.g., there is no access above the ceiling level for cables or the entire room was designed
so that nothing is on the ceiling or if there is a large skylight) there are many other mounting options.
Side Mounting
Depending on the dimensions of the room, it may be possible to cover the entire room from the sides. If the room is wider than
two cells will accommodate (assuming each cell is covering one half of the room), it will be necessary to use directional antennas
and mechanical downtilt to cover individual sections of the room for each radio. Large rooms will have aisles separating seating
sections and this space may be used to design cell overlap areas. If mechanical downtilt and directional antennas are used to
achieve this, the higher the antenna may be mounted and the larger the resulting cell will be. Good results can be achieved with
antennas mounted as low as eight feet up on the wall with 30-60 degrees of downtilt.
In Figure 14, APs have been mounted low to the floor, providing a cell that will use the users to attenuate the propagation
distance. APs have also been mounted near the ceiling using mechanical downtilt to manage the resulting cell size.
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Shadows
Features in a room such as support columns or balconies can represent natural shadows within a room. Under normal
densities, such features would require an additional AP to ensure coverage for users placed in such a shadow. In a high-density
installation, these features can be used to advantage, increasing the channel reuse by designing to maximize this effect and then
filling with another channel.
It is important to note that metal chair legs and desk components will interact with the antenna of the AP and change the pattern
of the radiation. Surveying the results of placement decisions with a good tool is necessary before making permanent mounting
decisions. This can be done by selecting a representative section of the room and placing a minimum of 4 APs (even more is
better) temporarily in place. Analyzing more than one mounting option will yield comparative data that will be helpful in making a
final decision.
The solution chosen should provide decent attenuation and a usable pattern. Having shadows in this type of mounting is not
a problem and may be useful if the shadows are consistent and filled in by other cells. This may sound like considerable work
but the results can be well worth the effort. Generally, use of APs with internal antennas is recommended for this type of
installation. Experiment with the AP antennas pointed both up and down. Do not be overly concerned about the power levels;
in an empty room they will generally look very high when compared to a normal installation. As a final test, select a portion
of the room―perhaps 25 percent of the seating area―and measure the site with users present. This can be done using a non
production service set identifier (SSID) to prevent attracting live users. What we are evaluating at this stage is placement, not
user throughput. Look at CCI and the coverage pattern to evaluate the effectiveness of the design.
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Room A has a total of six APs deployed. Two APs have directional antennas used from the sides, two APs with internal antennas
are positioned at the front, one internal antenna AP is positioned at the rear of the room, and one internal AP is floor mounted to
fill in for a shadow behind a pillar in the room. Power levels are set to 11 dBm and result in good coverage levels for the room.
Minimum data rates are set to 9 Mbps. BandSelect and Cisco ClientLink are enabled.
Room B has a total of 12 APs deployed. Eight are positioned under the seating in the room. Two APs are at the rear and two APs
are in the front of the room. Power levels were reduced to 5 dBm. Minimum data rates were held at 12 Mbps, BandSelect and
Cisco ClientLink were enabled.
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• Room A did not have an even balance of clients on all six of the APs, with a pronounced number staying on the AP that
was near the entrance to the room indicating that they never roamed. Performance was moderate, but there were no user
complaints.
• Room B had a much more balanced load distributed across all the APs in the room and performance was significantly better,
as indicated by the throughput observed in the room and on the network supplying it.
Reviewing the duty cycle in the two rooms from the same period, there was a significant difference in the RF conditions between
room A and B. Over a 10 minute period, the duty cycle for channels 6,11 in Room A averaged near 100%, and channel 1
exhibited spikes of 100%, as shown in Figure 16.
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Over a 10 minute period, the duty cycle for channels 1,6,11 in Room B averaged 50 percent with brief spikes of 70%, Figure 17.
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The duty cycle measures the actual RF utilization; it is the percentage of time Tx is active for a given frequency. Channel
utilization is different, and normally a higher value than RF duty cycle as it adds protocol timers into the metric to show overall
Wi-fi channel availability. By adding the contention window minimum (CW_min), network allocation vector (NAV) and CCA high
times together, it shows the percentage of time a Wi-Fi station cannot access the channel. As mentioned previously, Wi-Fi is
contention based and while signals are present above the CCA threshold no station can access the channel. 100 percent RF
duty cycle is bad. In this case, it is attributable to inefficient spectrum use.
From the physical layer, these spectrum views, Figures 18-19, were taken using Cisco Spectrum expert and CleanAir from a
monitoring AP located in the center of each room.
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Note that for Room A the scale of the swept spectrogram in the lower left corner of the display had the red level set to -39 dBm
and in Room B it was adjusted to -50 dBm. Signals were quite a bit hotter in Room A. Room A had fewer channels and the APs
were further from the client; this in turn caused the clients to increase their power. The combination of the increased power and
fewer channels in roughly the same space caused more noise and faster deterioration of the overall available spectrum.
In high-density WLAN design, more APs and less power mean higher spectral efficiency. Higher spectral efficiency encourages
higher speeds and requires less airtime for the same relative load and less airtime dedicated to recovery and retransmissions or
overhead.
The closer that the APs and clients can be to one another, the higher the spectral efficiency will be. If the APs and clients must
be operated at a distance due to architectural requirements, use of directional antennas will improve the cell isolation, and
reduce the power required for Tx in both directions.
The foremost failure in most high-density designs is not enough APs or channels. The secondary reason for failure in most
high-density designs is poor channel isolation; too many APs and channels in the space
Information in this section is not intended to replace the recommended design guides for campus and WLAN deployments
referenced elsewhere within this document. This is a partial list of considerations that pertain specifically to high-density
design considerations. Local Cisco sales teams or Cisco partners are the best resource for questions concerning the goals and
requirements of a particular WLAN design.
RF Interference
• The site may have pre-existing WLANs as part of the same RF network
• There may be nearby WLANs that are not part of the existing RF network
• There may be nearby sources of microwaves and/or surveillance cameras or other forms of non Wi-Fi interference
• There will most likely be Bluetooth
• The WCS and the WLAN controller provide accurate reporting on CCI conditions
• Cisco CleanAir provides in-depth interference analysis and monitoring 7×24
Site Survey
• Visually inspect the site for multipath potential and placement options for the APs and antennas
• Walking the site using a good survey tool is highly recommended. Using a Live RF tool such as AirMagnet Surveyor will enable
an evaluation of RF propagation and the ability to actively transmit data and evaluate range and data rate coverage.
Cisco WCS version 7.0 MR1 enjoys integration with both Ekahau Site Survey 5.1 and AirMagnet/Fluke Survey Pro and Planner
v 8.1. These integrations will reduce the effort involved in processing and sharing information between the management
platform and survey tools. This reduces both the time and effort required while maximizing accuracy for planning and lifecycle
management of the resulting network.
• For more information on Cisco WCS and Ekahau Site Survey: Recording: Integration between Ekahau Site Survey and Cisco WCS
• For more information on Cisco WCS and AirMagnet Surveyor and Planner pro integration see:
Webinar: Cisco WCS Integration with AirMagnet Survey and Planner
Calibration
When the word calibration is used in the context of tools, it generally refers to the need to test and adjust the accuracy of certain
measurement tools against a reference signal to certify that the results produced are accurate. In wireless networking, most tools
rely on a network adapter used for site surveys or to conduct specific measurements. Network adapters rarely if ever require
calibration. Network adapters can and do vary widely on their assessment of the physical layer. Here are some best practices
that can be used to ensure that data produced from multiple sources is useful and accurate when compared.
For laptop-based tools, it is important to be certain that the network adapter used is consistent between different tools and data
sets that will be compared. This means that all laptops used for surveying should have the same adapter and driver software.
Different results can be derived even when using the same adapter with the same driver software on different platforms.
Antennas and the placement of the antennas are generally driven by the physical space available in a platform and design
compromises will vary platform to platform. This will effect how the radio perceives the world. Compare different platforms in a
static environment before committing to a survey.
Infrastructure Readiness
The wired LAN should remove all protocol traffic not required by the applications on the WLAN endpoints. The wired LAN should
be designed to maintain the quality of service (QoS) configurations of the WLAN. The LAN should be designed to support a burst
of authentication traffic.
SSID Assignment
Users connect via distinct SSIDs for each user segment, with each SSID being segregated to its own respective VLAN. This
wireless connection is secured by respective wireless authentication protocols. Table 9 provides an example of SSIDs that are
used in universities.
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Note: The number of SSIDs should be kept to a minimum to avoid a negative performance impact because of excessive
management traffic. Each SSID requires a separate beacon message that will be broadcast at the lowest mandatory data rate
and can significantly impact the performance in a high density design.
For all of the above commands, it is strongly suggested that WCS and the AP and Controller Templates be used to make
changes and assignments. Using the AP groups feature is also highly recommended for organizing APs by coverage zone and
WLAN SSID configuration.
Conclusion
The performance of a high-density WLAN within a higher education environment is highly dependent on how well the network
requirements are understood before the network is deployed. A good understanding of these concepts will enable the designer
to modify the design to accommodate the unforeseen.
It is important to have alternate options available, based on changing factors, and to remain flexible in approach as new
requirements and challenges are presented. For example, in most venues, aesthetics will be of paramount importance, and
anticipating a design response to an aesthetic critique in advance is useful. Understanding the performance differences between
an optimal solution and the less intrusive (or more aesthetically acceptable, with hidden APs) solution will leave the designer
prepared to have that discussion and to re-set expectations if necessary.
This paper has presented several design areas as concepts. Recommended values have been offered as examples, based
on experience with past solutions. The recommended values should be treated as a starting point and will provide a robust
performance window. Performance may vary based on conditions that are beyond the designer’s control, but understanding
these concepts and controls will allow the designer to design and communicate a realistic expectation of performance.
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