OmniAccess RF Plan
TM
User Guide
i
OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 Alcatel Internetworking, Inc. All rights reserved.
Specifications in this manual are subject to change without notice.
Originated in the USA.
Trademarks
RF Director, AOS-W, OmniAccess 6000, OmniAccess AP60, OmniAccess
AP61, and and OmniAccess AP70 are trademarks of Alcatel Internetworking,
Inc. in the United States and certain other countries.
Any other trademarks appearing in this manual are the property of their
respective companies.
Legal Notice
The use of Alcatel Internetworking, Inc. switching platforms and software, by all
individuals or corporations, to terminate Cisco VPN client devices constitutes
complete acceptance of liability by that individual or corporation for this action
and indemnifies, in full, Alcatel Internetworking, Inc. from any and all legal
actions that might be taken against it with respect to infringement of copyright
on behalf of Cisco Corporation.
ii Part 031649-00 May 2005
Table of Contents
Table of Contents iii
Preface v
Related Documents
Text Conventions
Contacting Alcatel
The Alcatel RF Plan Tool 1
Getting Started
System Requirements
Installing RF Plan
Launching RF Plan
RF Plan Basics
Page Summary
Screen Layout
Page Fields
Applying and Saving
Next Step Button
Using RF Plan
Task Overview
Planning Requirements
Building Pages
Building List Page . . . . . . . . .8
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Table of Contents iii
OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
Building Specifications
Overview Page . . . . . . . . . 9
Building Specification Page 10
AP Modeling Page . . . . . . . 12
AM Modeling Page . . . . . . . 14
Import and Export . . . . . . . . 16
Locate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Planning Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Planning Floors Page . . . . . 19
Floor Editor Page . . . . . . . . 21
Area Editor Page . . . . . . . . . 22
Access Editor Page . . . . . . 23
AP Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
AM Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
RF Plan Tutorial
Our Sample Building
Create a Building
Model the Access Points
Model the Air Monitors
Add and Edit a Floor
Defining Areas
Running the AP Plan
Running the AM Plan
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Notes 41
iv Part 031649-00 May 2005
Preface
This preface includes the following information:
z A list of related documentation for further reading
z A key to the various text conventions used throughout this manual
z Alcatel support and service information
Related Documents
The following items are part of the complete documentation for the Alcatel system:
z Alcatel AOS-W User Guide
z Alcatel AOS-W Reference Guide
Text Conventions
The following conventions are used throughout this manual to emphasize
important concepts:
TABLE P-1 Text Conventions
Type Style Description
Italics This style is used to emphasize important terms and to
mark the titles of books.
System items This fixed-width font depicts the following:
z Sample screen output
z System prompts
z Filenames, software devices, and certain commands
when mentioned in the text.
Commands In the command examples, this bold font depicts text
that the user must type exactly as shown.
Preface v
OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
TABLE P-1 Text Conventions
<Arguments> In the command examples, italicized text within angle
brackets represents items that the user should replace
with information appropriate to their specific situation.
For example:
# send <text message>
In this example, the user would type “send” at the
system prompt exactly as shown, followed by the text of
the message they wish to send. Do not type the angle
brackets.
[ Optional ] In the command examples, items enclosed in brackets
are optional. Do not type the brackets.
{ Item A | Item B } In the command examples, items within curled braces
and separated by a vertical bar represent the available
choices. Enter only one choice. Do not type the braces or
bars.
Contacting Alcatel
Web Site
z Main Site http://www.alcatel.com
z Support http://www.alcatel.com/enterprise
Telephone Numbers
z Main US/Canada (800) 995-2612
z Main Outside US (818) 880-3500
vi Part 031649-00 May 2005
The Alcatel RF Plan Tool
RF Plan is a three-dimensional wireless deployment modeling tool that enables
Network Administrators to design an efficient Wireless Local Area Network
(Wireless LAN) for their corporate environment, optimizing coverage and
performance, and eliminating complicated Wireless LAN network setup.
RF Plan provides the following critical functionality:
z Defines Wireless LAN Coverage
z Defines Wireless LAN environment security coverage
z Assesses equipment requirements
z Optimizes radio resources
z Creates an exportable Wireless LAN profile that may be imported into an Alcatel
switch and be used to configure and deploy the Wireless LAN.
RF Plan provides a view of each floor, allowing Network Administrators to specify
how Wi-Fi coverage should be provided. RF Plan then provides coverage maps and
AP/AM placement locations.
Unlike other static site survey tools that require administrators to have intricate
knowledge of building materials and other potential Radio Frequency (RF) hazards,
RF Plan calibrates coverage on the fly through a sophisticated RF calibration
algorithm. This real-time calibration lets administrators characterize the indoor
propagation of RF signals in order to determine the best channel and transmission
power settings for each AP. Real-time calibration can be automatically programmed
or manually undertaken at any time in order to quickly adapt to changes in the
wireless environment.
Getting Started
System Requirements
Alcatel RF Plan requires the a PC with the following:
z Intel Pentium® III 800Mhz (minimum) or equivalent
The Alcatel RF Plan Tool 1
OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
z 128MB RAM
z 10MB available hard drive space
z Windows 2000 or Windows XP
z Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 (or higher)
z Macromedia Flash 6.0 (of higher) plug-in for Internet Explorer
NOTE—Internet Explorer on Windows XP with Service Pack 2 blocks RF Plan by
default. To run RF Plan on this platform, configure Internet Explorer to
Blocked Content
.
Installing RF Plan
To install RF Plan, use the following procedure.
NOTE—RF Plan only runs on Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
1
Locate the file named Alcatel RF Plan.version.
2
Unzip the file.
3
Launch setup.exe.
Allow
The installer will automatically place the files in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\Alcatel RF Plan
Launching RF Plan
Launching RF Plan is like any other Windows program installed on your PC.
From the desktop taskbar, select the following:
Start > All Programs > Alcatel RF Plan > Alcatel RF Plan
2 Part 031649-00 May 2005
RF Plan Basics
Page Summary
The following is a summary of the functionality of each of the pages in RF
Plan.
z Building List Page The Building List is the first page displayed when
RF Plan is launched. This page provides a list of
buildings that you have created and saved. You
may use this page to add or delete buildings
from you saved database. You may also import
or export buildings here.
z Building Specifica-
tions Overview Page
z Building Specification
Page
z AP Modeling Page Specify the AP Modeling parameters on this
z AM Modeling Page Specify the AM Modeling parameters on this
z Import and Export Use this page to import and export building
z Planning Floors Page The Planning Floors page allows you to see
z Floor Editor Page Use this page to upload background images for
z Area Editor Page Use this page to specify areas on each floor
z Access Editor Page Use this page to manually create, position, or
z AP Plan The AP Plan page is used to initialize the position
The Building Specifications Overview page
allows you to see all the dimensional data and
modeling parameters for your buildings.
Specify the dimensions of your building and
name it in the Building Specifications page.
page.
page.
database files.
approximate coverages of APs and AMs, as well
as any floor plans you may have imported as
background images.
each floor, name the floor and delete floors.
where coverage is not desirable or where Access
Points/Air Monitors may not be physically
deployed.
configure Access Points or Air Monitors.
of Access Points and launch RF Plan’s
positioning algorithm.
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OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
z AM Plan The AP Plan page is used to initialize the position
of Air Monitors and launch RF Plan’s positioning
algorithm.
Screen Layout
When RF Plan is started, the browser window will show the default RF Plan
page. For ease of navigation, all of the pages in the RF Plan tool have a similar
page structure. For example, as shown on the Building Overview page:
Feature
Tre e
Selected
Feature
Page
Display
FIGURE 0-1 RF Director Page Elements
z Feature Tree–Each feature has its own information or configuration pages
and sub-pages.
The feature tree lists all of the available features. You can navigate to any of the
listed features by clicking on the feature name.
z Selected Feature–The name of the currently selected feature is highlighted
in the feature tree.
z Page Display–This area displays all the information and/or input fields rele-
vant to the selected feature.
Page Fields
Each tool in the RF Plan has its own unique information or configuration pages,
each with specialized data and control fields. Some of the page items appear
on multiple pages and provide a similar navigation or configuration function in
each.
z Information Fields–These fields are used only for displaying information.
The data in these fields cannot be edited directly on the displayed screen.
4 Part 031649-00 May 2005
z Data Entry Fields–Boxed text fields contain user-configurable data. To enter
or edit the information, click inside the field box.
z Pull-down Menus–These fields allow you to select an item from a preset
list. The currently selected item is displayed in the box. When the arrow
button is selected, a list of available options will appear. You can change
the current selection by clicking on any item in the options list.
z Scrolling Menus–These fields allow you to select an item from a preset list.
Use the scroll arrows to view the available options. To select a specific
item from the list, click on the item when displayed.
z Check Boxes–These fields are represented as small squares in front of the
item text. These fields allow you to turn items on or off by clicking on the
check box. A feature or option will be turned on, selected, or enabled (as
appropriate) when the box is checked. A feature or option will be turned
off, unselected, or disabled when the box is empty.
z Radio Buttons–These fields are represented as small circles in front of the
item text. When a group of these items appears together, only one can be
selected at any given time. An item is selected when its circle is filled. An
item is unselected when the circle is empty.
Applying and Saving
When you edit information on any of the RF Plan pages you need to apply that
information before it is effective. However, applying the information doesn’t
save it to your hard drive. You must click on the Save button to permanently
save the information.
The following buttons are generally available on configuration pages.
z Apply–Accept all configuration changes made on the current page (does
not save changes).
z Save–Save all applied configuration changes made since during this config-
uration session to a database file. Unsaved configuration changes will be
lost when the RF Plan tool is exited.
OTE–Always Apply. If you advance to the next step without clicking on the
N
Apply button the information will be lost.
Next Step Button
RF Plan will sequence you through all the pages as you setup your Wireless
LAN. When you have finished entering the information for each page, click on
the Next Step button located in the upper right-hand portion of the page.
The Alcatel RF Plan Tool 5
OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
Using RF Plan
Task Overview
Before you begin, review the following points. These points outline the general
steps to create a building model and to plan the Wireless LAN for it.
z Gather information about your building’s dimensions and floor plan
z Determine the level of coverage you want for your Access Points and Air
Monitors
z Create a new building and add its dimensions
z Enter the parameters of your Access Point coverage
z Enter the parameters of your Air Monitor coverage
z Add floors to your building and import the floor plans
z Define special areas
z Generate suggested AP and AM tables by executing the AP/AM Plan fea-
tures
z Export the building
6 Part 031649-00 May 2005
Planning Requirements
You should collect the following information before beginning to plan your
network. Having the information below readily available will expedite your
planning efforts.
z Building Dimensions
z Number of floors
z Distance between floors
z Number of users and number of users per AP
z Radio type(s)
z Overlap Factor
z Desired data rates for access points
z Desired monitoring rates for air monitors
z Areas of your building(s) that you don’t necessarily want coverage
z Areas of your building(s) where you don’t want to, or cannot, deploy an AP
or AM
z Any area where you want to deploy a fixed AP or AM
Building Dimensions
Height: Width:
Number of Floors:
User Information
Number of Users: Users per AP:
Radio Types:
Overlap Factor:
AP Desired Rates
802.11b|g: 802.11a:
AM Desired Rates
802.11b|g: 802.11a:
Don’t Care/Don’t Deploy Areas
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OmniAccess RF Plan User Guide: User Guide
Building Pages
Building List Page
The Building list is the first page you see when you start RF Plan. This list
contains all the buildings you have defined using the RF Plan software. The
first time you run the application, there should be no buildings in the list.
You may add, edit, and delete buildings using this window. You may also
import and export buildings. This page includes the following buttons:
z New Building Use this button to create a new building. See
“Building Specifications Overview Page” on
page 9.
z Edit Buildings Use this button to edit existing buildings in the
building list. See “Building Specifications Overview
Page” on page 9.
z Delete Buildings Use this button to delete existing buildings in the
building list.
z Export Use this button to export a database file with all
the specifications and background images of a
selected building(s) in the building list. See “Import
and Export” on page 16.
z Import Use this button to import database files defining
pre-existing buildings into the RF Plan building list.
See “Import and Export” on page 16.
z Locate Use this button to find a building.
8 Part 031649-00 May 2005
Building Specifications Overview Page
The Overview page shows the default values for your new or existing
building, most of which you can change in the following pages.
The Overview page includes the following:
z Building Dimensions: Your building’s name and dimensions
z Access Point Modeling Parameters
z Air Monitor Modeling Parameters
z Building Dimensions button (in the upper right-hand corner of the page).
Click on this button to edit the building dimensions settings.
The Alcatel RF Plan Tool 9
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