September 2002July 2004 doc.: 11-04-0684-01-0wnmdoc.: IEEE 802.11-02/340r7doc.: IEEE 802.11-02/340r7
IEEE P802.11
Wireless LANs
Draft of 5 Criteria for
Radio MeasurementWireless Network Management
Date:September 2002July 2004
Author:Richard H.PaineKennedy
The Boeing Companyandspeed, Inc.
IEEE 802 Five Criteria
1. BROAD MARKET POTENTIAL
a) Broad sets of applicability.
The explosive growth of 802.11 wireless LANs in the home environment, public areas and the enterprise requires that, as a means of maintaining network quality and security, these networks must be controlled. In the home and public areas the need to manage the RF environment is driven by interference from neighboring wireless networks; the need to secure them by the desire to maintain privacy and prevent unauthorized use. In the enterprise these needs are similar, but security is much more than just privacy, it is the control of corporate secrets, customer profiles and other information that may be critical to the survival of the organization. Network manageability is also the key to maintaining network flexibility; the ability to shape the network and reorder its resources to meet day-to-day needs. As enterprise networks expand, and the home and public wireless networks expand their capabilities and service offerings, managing these resources becomes a high priority.As more systems become mobile through the use of cellular systems and 802.11 WLANs, the requirement to know where the devices are, what radio coverage is like, and who is using them becomes imperative. In addition, as Voice Over IP (VOIP) becomes prevalent, the requirement to provide location for Enhanced 911 (E911) is mandatory. Also inherent in such systems as VOIP are the requirements for QoS. Without the information about ports, Access Points (APs), wireless link capabilities, radio signal strength, and signal to noise ratios, such QoS is not possible.
b) Multiple vendors, numerous users.
Multiple vendors from around the world have participated in the development of this PAR and 5 Criteria. In order for such requirements to be met, there is the need for information about the systems and their health. The information must be in a standard format and be defined in a common place and syntax for multiple vendors’ equipment to use the information.
c) Balanced costs (LAN versus attached stations).
The widespread commoditization of 802.11 wireless LAN devices yields an environment where standardized manageability features can be deployed cheaply and efficiently. In large deployments, standardized manageability features can reduce the currently high cost of deployment and management of the network. As the productivity of WLANs and wireless in general become prevalent, the management of devices becomes mandatory. No longer can fixed locations be counted upon and therefore there is the need for common measurement and management based on that measurement.
2. COMPATIBILITY
The proposed amendment shall be entirely compatible with the IEEE 802.11 architecture and hence, by extension, compatible with the IEEE 802 architecture, including IEEE 802.1D, IEEE 802.1Q, and IEEE 802.1F.
The compatibility with IEEE 802 requirements will result in an amendment that extends IEEE 802.11’s product portfolio to interwork with external networks that conform to this amendment.
The compatibility with IEEE 802 requirements will result in a standard that supplies radio information to all vendors in a standard way. Such a concept will stretch across all the 802.11 protocol specifications and be compatible with them all. Standardized radio measurement will enable all vendors to access information about the radios of other vendors.
3. DISTINCT IDENTITY
a) Substantially different from other 802 Projects
There exists no wireless LAN network management standard for 802.11 systems enabling network-wide management of wireless devices. The current 802.11 standards do not address the needs of current products, such as load balancing and AP virtualization. Although measurements should have been a major priority, the need to communicate wirelessly came first. Now there is the need to catch up with standards-based radio measurements to make wireless LANs reliable, available, and maintainable.
b) One unique solution per problem (not two solutions to a problem).
The PAR project will define only one set of radio measurementMAC and PHY mechanisms for wireless network management. extension to 802.11 and there is no other radio measurement activity in 802.11.
c) Easy for document reader to select the relevant specification.
It will be obvious from the title and content of the standard that it is a standard for wireless network management within 802.11.
The radio measurement specification will be the only measurement information in 802.11 and therefore easy for the document reader to select the appropriate specification.
4. TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY
a) Demonstrated system feasibility.
Network management systems are deployed in cellular networks and proprietary ways in 802.11 networks, therefore they are demonstrably feasible. The 802.11 MIB is available today, but with no specification about how to use the information or how to get such information from WLAN equipment.
Preliminary proposals from Instant802 and others indicate the technical feasibility of creating access to the information.
b) Proven technology, reasonable testing.
The main components of the technology of the radio measurement for wireless network managementto be developed have precedents proving their feasibility and testability.
c) Confidence in reliability
Wireless network management implementations are widely deployed and thus are widely demonstrated to have the capacity to be reliable.
Radio Technology: The existing IEEE 802.3 wired/fixed products already prove the technical feasibility of standardizing the wireless information.
5. ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY
a) Known cost factors, reliable data.
Wireless network management is an integral part of wireless communications systems. Standardizing such behavior is unlikely to add cost to implementations. Any additional cost will likely be insignificant.
The fundamental radio architecture and baseband architecture of the WLAN is well known and measurements of the radio characteristics are done in a proprietary means today.
b) Reasonable cost for performance.
The measuring and reportingaddition of control mechanisms of forradio resource measurementwireless network management can be done with a very small incremental cost of total system resources.
c) Consideration of installation costs.
The proposed network management standard will typically be embedded in devices and not require additional installation costs. In addition, a standardized network management system may serve to reduce installation costs of 802.11 networks.
The installation cost of radio measurement equipment will not change as a result of these enhancements.
Submissionpage 1Richard H. PaineKennedy, BoeingBandspeed