Site Planner

RF Network Planning Tools for Campus Environments
Ben Henty Dr. Eric Reifsneider
www.wirelessvalley.com
March 27, 2001 Conference on Wireless Campus Networks

2001 Wireless Valley Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Patents Pending
Planning Tool History: Macrocell Design

Original use of planning tools was outdoor cellular networks Planning tools became widely accepted Planning decisions could be simulated and analyzed prior to deployment Design strategies and techniques improved Cell tower designs became more efficient
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Wireless Access Issues on Campus

Campuses and large enterprises need planned wireless internet and cellular/PCS strategy Campus environments require ongoing facilities management and present unique wireless planning challenges In-building wireless deployment in its infancy but will explode with Wireless Office, Wireless LANs, Wireless Video, VoIP, Bluetooth, and Wireless PDAs.
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Why Campus/Indoor Wireless Access Points?

Shared classrooms and public areas need coverage Universities have highly mobile pool of techno-savvy users Coverage and capacity demands of current wireless users Customers need and want indoor service Cost savings through integrated services and billing
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Service Types
Cellular/PCS/WAP Wireless Office Service Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11) Wireless PDAs (Compaq IPAQ, Handspring) Wireless VoIP Wireless Video Bluetooth
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Why use an RF Planning Tool?

Efficient system design while minimizing costs and providing coverage and capacity needs
Indoor wireless prediction is non-intuitive and complex, but huge cost savings are possible
Planning tools allow flexibility and rapid what if designs to meet building-specific needs Easy visualization of side-by-side comparisons between competing or proposed systems/bids SitePlanner also allows simultaneous integration of wireless equipment tracking and asset management
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The SitePlanner Design Environment

Optimatic
optimize 3-D wireless designs using field measurements
Predictor
3-D site-specific design, prediction, asset management
InFielder
ultra-portable 3-D site-specific measurements
BDM
3-D site modeling and archiving environment
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SitePlanner 2000 and Add-On Modules Work Together

SitePlanner
LANFielder
3-D site-specific 802.11b WLAN measurement
InFielder
Predictor BDM
Optimatic
SiteSpy
802.11b WLAN measurement, traffic generation
WaveSpyTM
GPS Drive-Test Option for WaveSpy
Lightweight portable fast scanning receiver for all digital and analog wireless standards
PalmFielder
ultra-portable 3-D site-specific measurement, asset management, and visualization of network performance on the Palm IIICTM
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SitePlanner Graphical System Design

Fiber Remote Leaky Feeder Antenna
Components are drawn from a customizable Parts List Library consisting of more than 3,000 components from over three dozen manufacturers Point and click with the mouse to visually position wireless system components such as cables, antennas, amplifiers, splitters, and many more!
9 2000 Wireless Valley Communications, Inc. All rights Patents reserved. 2001 Wireless Valley Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. PendingPatents Pending
SitePlanner Built-in Components Database
Parts List Library contains thousands of antennas, amplifiers, cables, splitters, and leaky feeder antennas
Quickly and easily analyze design tradeoffs in terms of cost and performance with the click of the mouse
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SitePlanner Instant Point Predictions
Simply move the mouse cursor and watch in real-time as the composite system coverage is updated and displayed at that point instantly!
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SitePlanner Instant Antenna Positioning

Moving the mouse on the screen corresponds to repositioning or re-orienting a selected antenna. The new coverage area of the antenna is updated in real-time!
New antenna position
Updated coverage region
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SitePlanner Wireless System Layout
Shows antenna system component interconnections graphically
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SitePlanner Features and Benefits

Facilitates rapid cost and performance tradeoff analysis of all technologies at low overall cost
Simultaneous site design, survey, verification, and documentation with 3D graphical representation
Automatic archiving of installed infrastructure
Automatic bill of materials created during design

Asset management facilities built in Cellular, PCS, 3G, WLAN, MMDS, and beyond Accurate and practical modeling of any campus wireless system
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RF Planning Objectives
Satisfaction of Specific Customer Needs RF and Network Performance (Coverage and Capacity) Minimal Cost (Equipment and Installation) Cooperation with macrocell systems and interference minimization Ease of installation and integration Ongoing infrastructure maintenance
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RF Planning Obstacles
Meeting cost criteria Sufficient received signal power (enough, but not too much interference) Sufficient capacity to meet user demand Signal leakage: only where desired Meeting quality of service requirements RF Safety concerns (Meeting FCC regulations for indoor measurement)
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Typical Design Steps

Comparison of RF System Technologies Use SitePlanner to simulate RF performance of several straw-man designs in facility of interest In-situ site survey and measurement with SitePlanner, including throughput or signal strength with transmitter locations from most promising straw-man design Use SitePlanner field measurements to optimize network performance and select final layout
System Installation and Verification

Regular Maintenance and Design Archiving
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Wireless LAN Planning: TM TM LANFielder and SiteSpy

Measurement results that you can understand without being an RF Engineer Provides wireless data network measurement using client/server technique
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Case Study: WLAN Design

100,000 sq. ft., multi-story academic building on the University of Virginia Tech campus Technology:
IEEE 802.11b, 2.4 GHz DSSS 11 Mbps Cabletron RoamAbout access points and modems (Lucent/ORiNOCO OEM)
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WLAN Design: 3D Model
10 minutes from CAD file to SitePlanner model
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WLAN Design: Predicted Performance
<60 seconds on PII 300 Predicted signal strength for 3 Wireless LAN Access Points
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Visualizing WLAN Measurements
Required < 1 minute on a Pentium II 300 MHz PC
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Conclusions: WLAN Design

Rapid predictions enabled analysis of 3 completely different system configurations accompanied by
VA Tech CNS engineers
3D modeling enabled designer to leverage crossfloor coverage of signal Enabled accurate outdoor coverage estimates Verification measurements validated predictions to within 3 feet
Complete design (12 access points) required only an hour and was performed interactively
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Conclusions: WLAN Design

Significant time savings on overall design and deployment
Verification confirmed an accuracy within 5 dB standard deviation (predicted vs. measured) Rapid predictions enabled numerous design tradeoffs to be analyzed
Greater RF designer satisfaction

Designer can see performance
Greater building owner satisfaction

Building owner can see performance
Automatic design archiving a key benefit

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Final Remarks
RF Planning tools ease wireless system design
allow intelligent design tradeoff and competitive system analysis and comparisons
SitePlanner offers a revolutionary design environment that supports visual and textual records required for common procedures, shared strategies, and archiving for any wireless system SitePlanner facilitates cost and time savings for rapid deployment and ongoing maintenance for any in-building or campus system Come visit our booth for more information about SitePlanner and LANFielder
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RF Network Planning Tools for Campus Environments

Ben Henty Dr. Eric Reifsneider

March 27, 2001 Conference on Wireless Campus Networks

Planning Tool History: Macrocell Design

Wireless Access Issues on Campus

Why Campus/Indoor Wireless Access Points?

Why use an RF Planning Tool?

The SitePlanner Design Environment

SitePlanner 2000 and Add-On Modules Work Together

SitePlanner Graphical System Design

SitePlanner Built-in Components Database

SitePlanner Instant Point Predictions

SitePlanner Instant Antenna Positioning

New antenna position

Updated coverage region

SitePlanner Wireless System Layout

Shows antenna system component interconnections graphically

SitePlanner Features and Benefits

Automatic bill of materials created during design

Typical Design Steps

System Installation and Verification

Wireless LAN Planning: TM TM LANFielder and SiteSpy

Case Study: WLAN Design

WLAN Design: 3D Model

10 minutes from CAD file to SitePlanner model

WLAN Design: Predicted Performance

Visualizing WLAN Measurements

Required < 1 minute on a Pentium II 300 MHz PC

Conclusions: WLAN Design

VA Tech CNS engineers

Conclusions: WLAN Design

Greater RF designer satisfaction

Greater building owner satisfaction

Automatic design archiving a key benefit

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