Cisco AIR-LAP1522AG-A-K9, AIR-LAP1522PC-N-K9, AIR-LAP1522AG-N-K9, AIR-LAP1522PC-A-K9 Datasheet

Data Sheet

Cisco Aironet 1520 Series Lightweight Outdoor
Mesh Access Point

Product Overview

Cisco® Aironet® 1520 Series Lightweight Outdoor Mesh Access Point (Figure 1) enables cost­effective and scalable deployment of a secure outdoor wireless LANs. The Cisco Aironet 1520
Series is designed for municipal Wi-Fi deployments for public access, public safety, or managed
services, and for enterprise campus outdoor Wi-Fi extensions.

Figure 1. Cisco Aironet 1520 Series

The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series supports dual-band radios compliant with IEEE 802.11a and

802.11b/g standards. Various uplink connectivity options are supported such as Gigabit Ethernet
(1000BaseT), and small form-factor pluggable (SFP) slot for fiber (100BaseBX) or cable modem
interface. Power options supported includes 480VAC, 12VDC, cable power, Power over Ethernet
(POE), and internal battery backup power. It also employs Cisco’s Adaptive Wireless Path Protocol

(AWPP) to form a dynamic wireless mesh network between remote access points, while delivering

secure, high-capacity wireless access to any Wi-Fi-compliant client device (Figure 2).
The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series lightweight outdoor mesh access point’s dual-radio configuration

dedicates the 802.11a radio to access-point-to-access-point communications, allowing the mesh
network to maximize all available channels, minimize the occurrence of interference from
unlicensed devices, and minimize latency. The dual-radio configuration delivers high system
capacity through pico-cellular designs and support for real-time applications such as voice and
video.

Key Features on the Cisco Aironet 1520 Series are:



Modular design to integrate a selection of radios



Dual-radio support (802.11a, 802.11b/g)



Improved 802.11b/g radio sensitivity and range performance on the three-channel Maximal
Ratio Combining (MRC)

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Multiple uplink options (Gigabit Ethernet-1000BaseT, Fiber-100BaseBX, and cable modem
interface)

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

Multiple power options (Power over Ethernet, cable power, 480 VAC Streetlight Power, 12
VDC, and internal battery backup power)

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802.3af-compliant Power over Ethernet out to connect power source equipment (PSE) IP
devices

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NEMA 4X certified enclosure, certification for hazardous locations (Class 1, Division 2 /
Zone 2. Group B,C,D – United States/Canada/EU)



FIPS 140-2 certifiable

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Paintable enclosure



LED status indicators

Figure 2. Cisco Wireless Mesh Network Solution

Data Sheet

Architecture

The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series is a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network and Cisco

Outdoor Wireless Networking Solutions. The unified architecture centralizes key functions of the

wireless LAN to provide scalable management, advanced security, seamless mobility, proven
reliability, and mobility services, such as multiple Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) and quality of
service (QoS) for voice, video, and data applications. The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series is managed
and monitored by Cisco wireless LAN controllers and the Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS). It
supports zero-touch configuration deployment to easily and securely join the mesh network.
Flexible, high-powered, high-sensitivity radio options, along with a selection of high-gain antennas,
allow coverage to be scaled as capacity needs increase. Uplink connectivity can be via Gigabit
Ethernet, fiber, or cable. The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series is compliant with Wi-Fi Protected Access 2
(WPA2), which employs hardware-based Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption
between wireless nodes to provide end-to-end, enterprise-class security.

Self-Configuring and Self-Healing Mesh

The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series mesh access point can be installed anywhere power is available,
without the need for a network connection. Intelligent wireless routing is based on the Cisco’s
Adaptive Wireless Path Protocol (AWPP), which is designed specifically for wireless environments.
AWPP enables a remote access point to dynamically optimize the best route to the connected
network within the mesh, providing resiliency to interference and helping ensure high network
capacity.

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Data Sheet

Deployment and management costs for the Cisco Aironet 1520 Series are reduced through
support of zero-configuration deployments and through the ability of the access points to self-heal
in response to interference or outages. The mesh access point can act as a relay node and can
associate clients at the same time.

The Cisco Aironet 1520 Series has a dedicated radio for the backhaul and another radio for local
access, allowing the mesh network to maximize use of the total available channels and minimize
the occurrence of interference. This results in more capacity than is available with solutions that
use only a single radio. When more capacity is needed, additional sectors can be enabled—for
example, by provisioning a network connection to a remote access point. The mesh dynamically
re-optimizes itself when this is done.

Zero-Touch Configuration

Using the Cisco Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) features, the Cisco Aironet 1520
Series mesh access point can discover its LWAPP controller and automatically download the
correct configuration and software for its role in the wireless mesh network.

Cisco Adaptive Wireless Path Protocol (AWPP)

Wireless mesh networks have unique features and requirements, and to address these features
and requirements Cisco has built a new protocol that allows each node to determine its neighbor
or parent intelligently, choosing the optimal path toward the controller. Unlike traditional routing
protocols, AWPP takes RF details into account.

The AWPP automatically determines the best path back to the LWAPP controller by calculating
the cost of each path in terms of signal strength and number of hops. After the path is established,
AWPP continuously monitors conditions and changes routes to reflect changes in conditions.
AWPP also performs a smoothing function by signaling condition information to ensure that the
ephemeral nature of RF environments does not impact network stability.

Robust Embedded Security

A core component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Solution is the use of X.509 certificates and AES
encryption for LWAPP transactions. This X.509 and AES encryption is embedded into the wireless
mesh solution with LWAPP transactions and by AES encrypting all traffic between mesh nodes.
The complete packet path is from the Cisco controller to the access points and eventually to the
users. The controller encapsulates user packets and forwards them to the correct rooftop access
point (RAP) over Ethernet. RAP then encrypts the user data packets and transfers them over the
backhaul. Data packets may travel through multiple mesh access points (MAPs) before reaching
the destination MAP. After receiving the encrypted user data, the destination MAP decrypts them
and sends them over the air to the client using the encryption method specified by the client.

For mutual authentication, Extensible Authentication Protocol / Pre-Shared Key (EAP / PSK) is
now supported between the mesh access point nodes.

Seamless Mobility

The same seamless mobility features delivered through the Cisco Unified Wireless Solution are
delivered in the Cisco Outdoor Wireless Networking solution. Users can seamlessly roam in
outdoor environments between the various Cisco Aironet 1520 mesh access points at different
locations. If there is a Cisco indoor wireless network infrastructure, the user can also roam
between the indoor and outdoor environment.

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