Wireless LAN System Design
Firstco offers wireless communications solutions in the following areas:
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have become an essential part of any modern
building communications infrastructure. Wi-Fi technology is widely used to support
users in a variety of environments, from airports to conference centres to universities
and corporate offices. The improvement of WLAN technology (such as with the introduction
and adoption of the new 802.11n-draft standard) is expected to give WLAN utilisation
a significant boost and allow it to take over services traditionally supported only
by wired LANs.
Firstco offers WLAN system design solutions with the following characteristics:
- Resilient coverage: the system can be designed in a way that avoids single points
of failure and guarantees a minimum level of coverage in case of component failures.
- Centralised architecture: The WLAN network uses central intelligent units to drive
“thin” Access Points, transferring wireless traffic over the fixed LAN. Wireless
data is segregated from the rest of the network traffic using virtual tunnelling
from the Access Point to the central units.
- Seamless client roaming: The Access Points are deployed and configured in a manner
that guarantees the seamless handover between one Access Point to another, preventing
loss of connectivity or throughput degradation.
- Services prioritisation: Intelligent bandwidth allocation and service prioritisation
can be used for effective QoS management of interruption sensitive services such
as VoIP.
- Intrusion detection and security: Intelligent Access Point configuration allows
for the quick identification and suppression of “rogue” clients and intruder devices.
The use of “thin” Access Points means that all data processing effectively takes
place in the core of the system, resulting in increased security.
The basic components of a WLAN system are the following:
- Access Points: They provide the interface between the wireless client and the fixed
LAN. Combinations of the various Wi-Fi standards can be supported by a single Access
Point. They usually come with in-built antennas but external antennas can also be
used to achieve the desired coverage characteristics.
- Fixed LAN: All data passing through the Access Points is transferred over a fixed
LAN to the core of the WLAN, the wireless controllers, where it is processed and
routed back to the Access Points or to other devices connected to the LAN. All traffic
between the Access Points and the core of the WLAN is completely segregated from
the rest of the data in the LAN.
- Wireless Controllers: These devices form the core of the WLAN and perform all the
processing of the wireless data traffic. They reside logically within the fixed
LAN and are responsible for the control, monitoring and configuration of the Access
Points.