Cisco Unified Wireless Network Architecture
Essam Abdelaal Systems Engineer Cisco Systems, UAE
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
Gaining Perspective
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
Centralization not a new idea
Original cellular networks were nodal. Lots of call drops Lots of administration Roaming wasnt very good Not capable of providing advanced services
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
Enter the Base Station Controller
Complete view of the network Improved roaming One point of administration
Enabled provisioning of advanced services
Management/Control
Base stations are used to handle call setup, handovers, and other functions across an entire cellular network.
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
Enter The Controller
DHCP DNS RADIUS ACS HPOV
LWAPP
Control and Management
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
What does LWAPP enable?
Zero-touch AP deployment
Centralized RF management Fast roaming between access points: CCKM, PKC, 802.1x, and other protocols Single point for administering many access points Centralization of security policies In the future: Interoperability!
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
10
Cisco Centralized WLAN Solution Architecture
Cisco WCS Cisco WLAN Controller Security Policies QoS Policies RF Management Mobility Management
SNMP v3
IE Web browser
Cisco Wireless Location Appliance Switch/Routed Network
Lightweight Access Points
Remote RF interface MAC Layer Encryption Air monitoring
Cisco Confidential
11
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Making the Network Resilient
N+1 Fault Tolerant Wireless Controllers
X
sw3 sw2
X
sw1
Primary: sw3 Secondary: sw2 Tertiary: sw1
Primary: sw1 Secondary: sw2 Tertiary: sw3
Ciscos LWAPP Failover behavior and timers are configurable
Session Number Presentation_ID 2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
13
Reliable Connectivity Through Dynamic RF Management
RF channel 1 Dynamic Channel Assignment Dynamic Power Optimization RF channel 2 RF channel 3
RF Controller Software
Hardware Layer
Eliminate coverage holes Avoid interference/Improve performance Optimize coverage area Reduce hands on WLAN mgmt
Session Number Presentation_ID 2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
14
Centralization Delivers RF Reliability
Cisco WLAN Controller
Ethernet Switch
Cisco Aironet Access Points
Cisco Hardware Layer
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
15
Better Network Performance
Dynamic Load Balancing
Solving Performance & Capacity problems in high density areas (e.g. conference rooms, cafeteria)
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
16
Better Network Performance
Dynamic Load Sharing
Solving Performance & Capacity problems in high density areas (e.g. conference rooms, cafeteria)
Session Number Presentation_ID
2005 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Cisco Confidential
17
