With the launch of iBwave Wi-Fi in March of last year, you’ve probably noticed we’ve been a lot more focused on Wi-Fi network design than in the past. And as part of that journey, some iBwavers have embarked on the CWNP certification journey – with our Director of Research, Vladan Jevromovic, receiving his CWNA certification last November. *applause* .
Recently, I was at the WLPC show with Vladan and as I was curious to know, I asked him this question: “Vladan, what are the differences that you’ve noticed between designing DAS networks and Wi-Fi networks?”
Here is what Vladan offered up.
#1 Channel Re-Use Plan
In DAS and small cells, there is no channel planning – although for small cells there is sector ID planning.
#2 Non-RF Interference
These are things like cordless phones, headsets, microwaves….and they are everywere, and depending how polluted the RF is, a Wi-Fi planner may need to abandon the 2.4GHz band and design and deploy 5GHz only.
#3 Design Targets
If voice is the predominant application, the design targets are different than if it is not (design target is the same for DAS and small cells.)
#4 Hidden Nodes
DAS always blasts at full power. With Wi-Fi you can’t just leave AP blast full power as it will increase a chance that some clients will not hear others, which will increase packet collision at the Access Point, which causes re-transmissions, which slows down everybody.
#5 Legacy Data Rates
With Wi-Fi, you need to make a decision whether to enable or disable low legacy data rates (1Mb), because having them “ON” may cause “sticky client” problem – i.e low data rate clients stay connected to an AP longer than necessary instead of handing off to another AP.
So while we are sure there are a lot more, this has been Vladan’s experience so far.
Do you design both DAS and Wi-Fi networks? What differences do you see? Comment below.
As you know, it’s extremely challenging to provide a completely connected experience for thousands of fans packed into a stadium. So you can imagine the effort it took to upgrade the University of Phoenix stadium for this year’s Big Game. But 12.79TB* of data later, we know it was a record breaking success.
We hosted a webinar on this project this month and invited AT&T, Sprint, Crown Castle, and ExteNet Systems to find out how they teamed up to tackle the massive data demands of the 2015 Big Game, and what they see as the future for networks.
Chris Hourigan from Crown Castle was our first speaker. He talked about how his company was tasked with installing new networks for the University of Phoenix Stadium and many of the surrounding venues. The stadium, for example had 228 antennas and 150,000 linear feet of cabling for its wireless network. They also had 28 staff members on-site during the Big Game, ready for anything.
Here’s a snapshot of what Crown Castle did.
Next up was Tormod Larsen of ExteNet who went over the indoor networks that they designed and built for the Big Game. These mostly consisted of key hotels for the players, VIP’s and hundreds of other employees and stakeholders for the Big Game. He reported that approximately two thirds of the data traffic during the Big Game took place outside of the stadium.
He also provided a humourous take on what was going through everyone’s mind during the Big Game, including Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman.
Our final presenter was Jim Parker from AT&T who reported some impressive AT&T Big Game stats, which stimulated a great panel discussion.
Our three presenters left us with much to discuss and a lot of questions from the audience. Luckily, we had reserved half of the hour session for a panel discussion, moderated by iBwave’s Dominique Gauthier. Also joining us for the panel portion was Richard Barth from Sprint.
Here are some of the questions that were discussed.
How do you go about dimensioning such a DAS?
Biggest challenges & lessons learned?
Who ultimately funded the system?
How do you satisfy each operator’s requirements?
How do you see the network evolving in the next five years?
You can view a recording of the webinar with full presentations from all three speakers as well as each panelist’s take on the questions above.
The wireless world might be fast-paced but it is also A LOT OFFUN and let’s be honest, nothing is more gratifying that to know that your technology can have a significant impact in the way people interact in their everyday life.
QUICK FLASHBACK:
In February last year, iBwave’s software tools were selected by AT&T to enhance the network capacity at Chicago’s Historic Navy Pier®. Since then, an impressive 8.9 MILLION VISITORS(Chicagoans of course, but also tourists from around the world) have enjoyed a great customer experience there, be it texting while waiting in line for the 15-story tall Ferris wheel, using their smartphones to purchase IMAX® movie tickets or simply calling from the parking garage. Now, I’d say that is a SERIOUSLY FUN way to stay connected and share your experience with your friends and family!
NOW, FAST FORWARD TO TODAY:
As part of our latest in-building seminar which drew close to 60 wireless professionals, we once again had another great success story, about another engaging customer experience at another Chicago landmark, to share.
Mike Alt, Director of RF Engineering, spent some time to talk about the project scope and requirements as well as the challenges that arose, particularly in terms of antenna placements – as aesthetics, museum exhibit areas and cable pathways were obviously major considerations. To illustrate his points further, Mike shared the comprehensive network layouts and predictions that were carried out during the planning and design process to accurately assess the capacity and coverage for each level.
But there again, the goal was ultimately to deliver a SUPERIOR MOBILE EXPERIENCE!
The 610,000 square-foot MSI typically hosts 1.4 million guests per year
SO, WHAT’S NEXT?
Well, if DAS systems were certainly a hot topic of discussion during our seminar, Small Cells were also prominently featured throughout the day, and our team (Dan Zych, Debra Mercier and Mekki Bennis from the U.S region but also Benoit Fleury from iBwave corporate HQ in Montreal) used the opportunity to discuss the new technologies and tools that have brought about a PARADIGM SHIFT in the in-building industry.
And what better way to do that than to use recent case studies that have been conducted with U.S tier-1 operators and which have clearly demonstrated the benefits of our award-winning mobile app which translates into faster turn-around times (60% faster than traditional methods) and significant cost savings!
“It’s about involving your field personnel and empowering them to take design decisions”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: As this tied in very well with the Hetnet Expo program, iBwave received a lot of media coverage during the event. Mekki was indeed interviewed by Urgent Communications who released this neat iBwave Mobile Planner demo video. As for RCR Wireless, they issued a great article entitled “Top skill sets for DAS engineers” –with cool testimonials from CommScope, ADRF as well as JMA Wireless – that addresses the specific need for training and certification programs.
To conclude the day, we thought that it would be interesting to advance the dialogue and get the pulse on what’s really happening with Small Cells and network deployments in general.
We therefore invited major industry players (Calvin Fu from AT&T, Asad Vaince from Boingo, Curt Klausen from Fullerton Engineering, Joseph Kurdas from Sprint and John Wierzgac from WZC Networking) to participate in a rapid-fire session so that they could share their insights and experiences with other participants.
This proved extremely successful, providing an opportunity for a well-rounded discussion that continued well past the seminar and during our networking cocktail.
So, today, we’d like to take some time to thank all those of you who attended our event. It’s always a pleasure to be able to catch up with you and as mentioned earlier…
“The wireless world might be fast-paced but it is also A LOT OF FUN. We @ iBwave love working with you all!
