W-LAN Networks

Planning of W-LAN networks

Application


Wireless LANs (W-LANs) are installed within various environments (indoor, office building, university campus, ...) to provide high data rate connections to mobile terminals. Different air interfaces are defined by IEEE 802.11 (a/b/g/n) for various frequency bands enabling Wireless Fidelity (WiFi).

Due to the limited number of carriers available for W-LANs, the coverage area of W-LANs is often limited by the interference between the access points.



To save time and money, time-consuming measurement campaigns can be substituted by accurate propagation models. WinProp's NET-L module offers a convenient possibility for the planning of W-LANs.

Wireless Air Interfaces

The following air interfaces/standards are pre-defined in WinProp's NET-L module:
  • IEEE 802.11a
  • IEEE 802.11b
  • IEEE 802.11g
  • IEEE 802.11n 
Further air interfaces (incl. modifications of predefined air interfaces) and frequency bands can be defined by the user.

MIMO transmission mode (e.g. for 802.11n) is supported as well as different models for the cell assignment (strongest signal level, best SNIR, etc.).

Antennas with arbitrary radiation patterns, leaky feeder cables, and DAS (distributed antenna systems) are available in WinProp to model the W-LAN in a very accuarte way.

Power backoffs for the cell assignment and the data transmission can be defined for each cell individually (if required).

To consider the interference, the cell load can be defined either for all cells (identically) or for each cell individually.




Network Planning

Based on the predictions of the received power with accurate propagation models (for various scenarios), WinProp's NET-L module predicts:
  • Cell assignment
    • Best server / carrier
    • Cell Area => Coverage area
    • Neighbor cell list
  • Performance
    • Max. Throughput (for all users)
    • Max. achievable data rate (for single user)
    • Number of MIMO streams (IEEE 801.11 n)
  • For each transmission mode in down- and uplink:
    • Max. received signal level
    • Min. required Tx power
    • Reception probability (assuming Rayleigh-Fading) 

 ___
Cell Area
Assignment of MS locations to AP
Best Server Area
Assignment of MS locations to carriers






Maximum Received Rx Power
Max. power which can be received
by a mobile station in downlink
SNIR (Signal to Noise & Interference Ratio)
Signal relative to noise and interference (on same carrier)
Output only for carriers assigned in best server map

Brochure: WLAN Network Planning
Read more about WiMAX network planning.
Read more about customers using WinProp for W-LAN planning
Read more about Propagation Models 
Read scientific publications related to W-LAN planning








Winprop supports all air interfaces
of IEEE 802.11 (a/b/g/n).








Click to enlarge

W-LAN in a campus scenario with
 outdoor and indoor access points
(Click to enlarge)








Some examples for commercial
W-LAN planning with WinProp
are presented here.








An auto-optimization module
is optionally available for WinProp
to select the best locations and
carriers for the access points.

Building Databases


For most W-LAN planning tools, the handling of the building data is the most critical and time-consuming part.
If the effort to define the scenario (building database) is too high, it makes no sense to plan the -WLAN with a software tool.

To accelerate and simplify the generation of the building data, WinProp includes the CAD tool WallMan to make the handling of building databases as simple as possible.

The user can enter the building data (walls, windows, doors, ...) in an innovative way - even in buildings with multiple floors. Either via converting CAD files or it is possible to work with scanned maps of the building floors.

Path Loss Analysis 




With ProMan the path loss for the whole area inside a (multi floor) building is predicted for each access point individually.

Highly accurate deterministic prediction models provide a detailed analysis of the mobile radio channel. The models consider the building structure as well as the material properties of the different objects.

These models are very fast and so W-LANs can be planned within a few minutes.

Brochure

Download brochure for WLAN planning.