MEE10:117

Integrated Coverage Measurement and

Analysis System for Outdoor Coverage
WLAN
Safak Enes Yilmazer

This thesis is presented as part of the Degree of

Master of Science in Electrical Engineering

Blekinge Institute of Technology

February 2011

Blekinge Institute of Technology

School of Engineering
Department of Electrical Engineering
Supervisor: Prof. Hans-Jrgen Zepernick
Examiner: Prof. Hans-Jrgen Zepernick

Radiobolaget AB
Mrbylnga, land
Supervisor: Niklas Gunhamn

ABSTRACT
Daily usage of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) in business life for specific
purposes has became much more critical than before since it is sometimes crucial to have
wireless connectivity and seamless roaming around the working environment. In this thesis,
steps required in order to design and implement a large scale outdoor IEEE 802.11g WLAN will
be shown. This WLAN project has been deployed in north of Sweden and target coverage was an
open area consisting of a deep pit mine, connecting roads, workshops, offices, dumps and
storage areas. All telecommunications equipment used in this project is from the manufacturer
Cisco using centralized solution. The special purpose of this project is to collect and analyze a
series of coverage measurement data and correlate this data to predict the coverage area. Linux
bash scripting and Gnuplot has been used to analyze coverage data. Finally, WRAP spectrum
management and radio planning software has been used in modeling and designing of the whole
network

Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 3
2 Overview of Wireless Networking and IEEE 802.11 Standards........................................... 4
2.1 Introduction to Wireless Networking and WLAN ............................................................... 4
2.1.1 Wireless Networks ..................................................................................................... 4
2.1.2 IEEE 802.11 Elements ............................................................................................... 5
2.1.3 Nonstandard IEEE 802.11 Topologies ....................................................................... 8
2.2 Wireless Networks and Spread Spectrum Technologies ...................................................... 8
2.3 IEEE802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) and MAC Architecture .............................. 12
2.3.1 CSMA/CA vs CSMA/CD ........................................................................................ 12
2.3.2 Distributed Coordination Function ........................................................................... 13
2.4 IEEE 802.11 Standards ..................................................................................................... 15
3 Measurement Campaign and Technique............................................................................. 17
3.1 Measurement Equipment .................................................................................................. 17
3.1.1 Cisco CT5508 WLAN Controller ............................................................................. 17
3.1.2 Cisco AP1242AG AP .............................................................................................. 17
3.1.3 GPS Receiver........................................................................................................... 18
3.1.4 Antennas .................................................................................................................. 18
3.2 Measurement Technique ................................................................................................... 21
4 Measurement Results, Analysis and Discussion .................................................................. 22
4.1 Collected Data Processing ................................................................................................ 22
4.2 Site Survey Fundamentals ................................................................................................ 22
4.3 Assisted Coverage Analysis with Measurement Data ........................................................ 25
4.3.1 Total Coverage Area Results and Analysis ............................................................... 25
4.3.2 AP Specific Results and Analysis ............................................................................ 28
4.4 Predictive Coverage Analysis with WRAP ....................................................................... 39
4.5 Correlation Between Assisted and Predictive Coverage Analysis ...................................... 41
5 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 44
6 References ............................................................................................................................. 45

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION

Demand for wireless technology has gained importance in both business life and everyday
life since the world around us is getting denser by closely spaced buildings and dramatic increase
in population. Therefore, in some cases it is almost impossible just to implement an
infrastructure network due to complex environment. A challenging outdoor area has been
considered in this project due to very complex and hilly target coverage area where a mining
company carries out their work in northern Sweden. Thus, a wireless network was to be installed
in order to provide wireless access between nodes of the whole system consisting of trucks,
workshops, offices and storages in critical points simultaneously.
IEEE 802.11g standard is the most widely used wireless networking standard in business
world because of its backward compatibility with IEEE 802.11b standard, extended coverage
range and enhanced data rate technology called Extended Rate Physical (ERP) [3] [4] [18]. In
this project, implementation of a large scale IEEE 802.11g wireless network has been performed
by doing the following tasks: Site survey of the target coverage area, installation of all
networking equipment and radio network planning. Collecting the site survey data has been
performed based on a compact Linux computer equipped with necessary hardware and then
Linux was used to analyze measurement data and predict the coverage area. Finally, with the
help of WRAP radio network planning and spectrum management software, network topology
was designed and coverage analysis was established parallel to the predicted coverage area. In
this thesis, security was not considered since the need for encryption, authentication and
regulations were already provided from the manufacturer.
This thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 2 gives background and basic information
about IEEE 802.11 wireless technology and its standards. In Chapter 3, measurement campaign
and all radio equipment used for the implementation of the network is introduced. In Chapter 4,
measurement results, coverage prediction analysis and design of the whole network is shown and
discussed. In Chapter 5, conclusion of the thesis is given.

CHAPTER 2: OVERVIEW OF WIRELESS

NETWORKING AND IEEE 802.11 STANDARDS
2.1 Introduction to Wireless Networking and WLAN
Wireless network is a type of communication network where the medium between nodes of
the system is air. These types of networks are used as an alternative to wired networks where
Radio Frequency (RF) technology is used to perform transmission.
2.1.1 Wireless Networks
A topology of a network can be defined as the layout of interconnection of different
members of the network. This definition can be treated as logical or physical layout of network
elements. Examples of well known networking topologies are bus, ring, star, mesh and hybrid.
Many of the wireless networks such as cellular mobile phone, Bluetooth and ZigBee are
designed by taking different topologies into account depending on the geographical area of the
network. There are four major categories of wireless networks: Wireless wide area network
(WWAN), Wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), Wireless personal area network
(WPAN) and WLAN as shown in Figure 1 [1] [3] [4].
WWAN
A typical WWAN spans a large coverage area such as an entire state, city or even country
by using cellular phone technologies to carry data such as Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and Long
Term Evolution (LTE). When compared to IEEE 802.11 wireless technologies, data rate of
WWAN is slower due to longer paths and more complex environments where electromagnetic
waves travel along [11].
WMAN
Coverage of a metropolitan area is provided with WMAN such as cities and surrounding
suburban area. IEEE 802.16 standard is developed for this purpose and commonly known as
Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). IEEE 802.16 technology has been
developed as a competitor against Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable networks. WiMAX
provides portable broadband wireless connectivity, Voice over IP (VoIP) and Internet Protocol
Television (IPTV) services and between cities and countries. WiMAX can be thought as a
combination of GSM, UMTS and IEEE 802.11 technologies in the sense of speed and mobility
[19].
4

WPAN
WPAN is used for close distance communications between computer devices such as
laptops, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA), mobile phones, printers etc. as portals to higher level
networks such as Internet or local area networks (LAN). Most common technologies are
Bluetooth and infrared networks. Bluetooth uses frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS)
technology to establish a connection in RF medium and infrared networks work on a light based
medium [1]. The IEEE 802.15 Working Group defines the standards in Bluetooth and ZigBee
technologies. ZigBee is another RF based technology designed for low cost network
establishments between WPAN devices [1].
WLAN
As obviously seen from its name, WLANs provide coverage for limited size areas like
buildings or campus environments. In this thesis, target area is a specific mining area of the
customer company. IEEE 802.11-2007 standard is defined as WLAN technology. The marketing
term Wi-Fi has been used for IEEE 802.11 technologies. In a typical WLAN, network connection
is established by IEEE 802.11 access points (AP) which are connected to wired network
backbone. Therefore, the main goal of a WLAN is to provide network access, network resources
and gateway to internet for mobile users [1] [3] [4].

Figure 1: Wireless Networks [11].

2.1.2 IEEE 802.11 Elements

Station is the main element of an IEEE 802.11 wireless network which is actually a radio
card. These cards are located inside an AP or can be used as client stations. There are three main
5

topologies implemented for WLANs; basic service set (BSS), extended service set (ESS) and
independent basic service set (IBBS) [1]. Here it should be noted that IEEE 802.11 wireless
networks use half duplex communications where both sides are able to function as a transmitter
and receiver but only one device can transmit at a time.
AP
APs are critical devices in wireless networks that can direct traffic either to the wired
network backbone or to the wireless medium. APs are like Ethernet hubs with a radio card and
antenna functioning half-duplex. There are two types of APs, autonomous APs and lightweight
APs. In autonomous APs, all the configuration and Media Access Control (MAC) layer
specifications reside inside the AP and it is said to have a switchlike intelligence where they have
the capability of address and direct wireless traffic at data link layer. However, lightweight APs
are managed by WLAN controller and intelligence resides inside the controller. In wired
networks, switches have MAC address tables known as content addressable memory (CAM) to
direct frames to ports based on these tables. In IEEE 802.11 wireless networks, wireless frames
contain three up to four MAC addresses helping APs to make upper layer decisions. Upper layers
information contained in a wireless frame is known as MAC Service Data Unit (MSDU). The
forwarding of this information is the switchlike intelligence compared to CAM tables and known
as distribution system services (DSS) [11].
Client Station
When radio cards are not used in APs, they are defined as client stations. Examples are
laptops, PDAs, scanners, cellular phones and many other mobile devices. When connection is
established between client and APs at layer 2, they are said to be associated [4] [11].
Integration Service (IS)
An IS provides the data frame transformation between IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.3
technologies. It can be simply defined as a frame format transfer method. For example, in a voice
over Wi-Fi (VoWiFi) communication, when mobile phone sends an IEEE 802.11 data frame to
an AP and its frame containing a final destination at a VoIP server residing at IEEE 802.3
network core, it is ISs duty to remove IEEE 802.11 header and payload of the frame and format
a new IEEE 802.3 network frame with MSDU payload [1] [3] [11].
Distribution System (DS)
A DS helps to connect different BSSs with the help of integrated LANs to create an ESS.
Two main components exits: distribution system medium (DSM) and distribution system
services (DSS). DSM is known as the logical physical medium used to connect APs. DSS are
6

software services inside an AP providing management of client station associations. Distribution

system is almost always an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network [11].
Wireless Distribution System (WDS)
WDSs describe how to use wireless data frames. Examples of WDSs are bridging,
repeaters and mesh networks. It is similar to DS but interconnecting the APs is performed by
what is known as wireless backhaul. However, in most cases, an IEEE 802.3 Ethernet network is
the best option for the distribution system. IEEE 802.11 APs with a single radio or dual radio can
be given as a WDS example. Another example is repeater APs which are used to provide extra
coverage area when it is not possible to connect AP via IEEE 802.3 Ethernet cable [11].
Service Set Identifier (SSID)
SSID is a logical name given by the administrator to identify an IEEE 802.11 wireless
network. It is configurable on all radio cards.
Basic Service Set (BSS)
It is the milestone topology for a typical IEEE 802.11 wireless network consisting of an AP
with a couple of client stations. Layer 2 connection between AP and clients are called
association. In this topology, clients have to pass their data through AP in order to communicate
between themselves [3] [4]. Figure 2 shows a typical BSS layout.

Figure 2: Basic Service Set [11]

Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID)

BSSID is the 48 bit MAC address of an AP. It is known as layer 2 identifier of a BSS.
Basic Service Area (BSA)
BSA is the physical coverage area provided by an AP of a BSS. Area depends on different
conditions such as surroundings, APs transmit power, antenna gain etc.

Extended Service Set (ESS)

Another important topology for WLANs is ESSs consisting of multiple APs with each of
them connected to the infrastructure network. Usually there is at least 10 to 25 percent of overlap
between APs so as to provide seamless roaming otherwise client loses connection whenever it
leaves the area and associates with the new AP. This roaming is known as nomadic roaming.
Third example of an ESS is known as colocation where overlapping is almost 100 percent.
Reason for doing this is to increase client capacity [11].
Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS)
This type of topology consists of only client stations communication with each other. One
station randomly generates a BSSID and it is used between participants of the network. This type
of topology is often called as peer to peer network or ad hoc network [3] [4].

2.1.3 Nonstandard 802.11 Topologies

Even though IEEE 802.11 standard defines frame formats with four MAC addresses, there
is no information on how to use these formats. Consequently, different types of topologies were
created to meet the demands such as wireless bridging, workgroup bridges (WGB), repeaters and
mesh WLANs. In wireless bridging, two wired backbone networks are connected via wireless
bridge link. A WGBs role in a wireless network is to be a gateway for a group of wired devices.
Mesh WLANs are combinations of multiple repeaters.

2.2 Wireless Networks and Spread Spectrum Technologies

In wireless communications, there are two main transmission techniques exist; narrowband
and spread spectrum. Narrowband technique transmits data in a very limited frequency range
with high powers whereas in spread spectrum, data will be spread across a wider range of
frequencies with low powers resulting low interference ratio with other technologies. However,
if one wants to cause interference and jamming to a narrowband signal, this results as signal
power degradation and distortion of data.
Multipath interference is one of the major problems in wireless communications where we
have reflected signals arrive at the receiver with a delay after the original signal. This amount of
delay is called delay spread. When delay spread is long enough to receive the next portion of
data before reflected one arrives, system experiences intersymbol interference (ISI). Fortunately,
spread spectrum systems are less susceptible to ISI than narrowband systems because of high
8

transmission frequency range [1] [3] [4] [11].

2.2.1 Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)

FHSS system works as follows as given in figure 3; data is transmitted in a specific
frequency with a given limited time and then the next data portion will be hopped to another
specific frequency range again with a given time and so on.
Hopping Sequence
FHSS type radios provide predefined hopping sequences for the data to be transmitted. In
Figure 3, 5 hops are defined between 2.402 GHz and 2.480 GHz during transmission and they
are repeating themselves. IEEE 802.11 standard defines that each frequency hop is 1 MHz in
size. Synchronization between transmitters and receivers are crucial to have a successful
transmission in FHSS technology [11].

Figure 3: FHSS Scheme [11].

Dwell Time
As given in Figure 3, dwell time is predefined as the amount of time it takes to transmit
data in each frequency hop.
Hop Time
This is the amount of time it takes to hop from one frequency to another. Hop time is not
predefined and it is a measurement and waste of time. When dwell time is longer, it will require
less hop time to change frequency and it will give better throughput otherwise frequent change in
hopping will decrease system performance.
Modulation
FHSS uses Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying (GFSK) to modulate data bits. 2 level GFSK
9

uses two different frequencies to represent data bits 0 or 1 and 4 level uses four frequencies to
represent 2 bits combination of 0 and 1 which 00, 01, 10, 11.

2.2.2 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

With DSSS technology, IEEE 802.11b enhancement provides 5.5 and 11 Mbps data rates
which are known as High-Rate DSSS (HR-DSSS). In DSSS, data is spread in one channel with
specified range of frequencies. Spreading data in DSSS is called data encoding.
DSSS Data Encoding
Since the communication medium in wireless networks is wide open to data corruption,
interference and multipath effects, encoding of each data bit to transmit multiple bits would
minimize these effects. In this system, 1 bit of data is converted to series of bits also known as
chips. Boolean XOR operation is performed on the data with a generated pseudo random number
(PN) code also known as Barker code. For example, using this PN code, each data bit can be
represented as follows totally random and depending on data;
Data bit 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1
Data bit 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
Since each data bit spans 1 MHz of frequency in IEEE 802.11 wireless networking, with
DSSS, each bit will span 22 MHz of frequency to be transmitted. Receiver radio cards are
capable of de-spreading the data and even though there are corruptions and losses in data bits,
the original data still could be recovered. With this technology, sensitivity to ISI is minimized
since data uses more bandwidth. For the 5.5 Mbps and 11 Mbps data rates, another modulation
technique Complementary Code Keying (CCK) is used with 8 chips PN [3] [11].
Modulation
Differential Phase Shift Keying (DPSK) is used in DSSS with two phase shifts for bit 0 and
1. To provide double speed, Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (DQPSK) is used with
four phase shifts to modulate 2 chips at the same time (00, 01, 10, 11) [1] [3] [11].

2.2.3 Packet Binary Convolutional Code (PBCC)

PBCC is another modulation technique to provide data rates of 5.5, 11, 22 and 33 Mbps. In
order to utilize this technique, both transmitter and receiver must support this technology. With
IEEE 802.11g amendment ratified, ERP-PBCC modulation is introduced to provide data rates of
22 and 33 Mbps. PBCC technology is not commonly used.

10

2.2.4 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

OFDM is commonly known as a spread spectrum technique but actually it is not because of
its different features. OFDM transmits data in specific frequency set which are closely spaced
and precise. These 52 frequencies are referred to as subcarriers. Each subcarrier spans 312.5 kHz
as seen in Figure 4. Since there are so many subcarriers, data rate of transmission is kept low to
get higher data rates as a result of all subcarriers transmission. With low transmission rates, ISI
performance also increases because of smaller delay spread. In addition, unwanted signal
portions are cancelled by proper selection of frequency spacing in between subcarriers as shown
in Figure 4 [11].

Figure 4: OFDM Scheme And ISI [11].

2.4 GHz Channels

2.4 GHz ISM band is divided into 14 separate channels to be used by IEEE 802.11 wireless
standards. Each channel is 22 MHz wide and spaced 5 MHz apart from each other. For example
1st channels center frequency is 2.412 GHz and spans from 2.401 GHz to 2.423 GHz. In order
for channels not to overlap with each other, there must be at least 25 MHz space in between them
as shown in Figure 5 [11].

Figure 5: 2.4 GHz Channel Overlay [11].

11

5 GHz Channels
IEEE 802.11-2007 standards define 5 GHz UNII bands: UNII-1, UNII-2, UNII-2 Extended
and UNII-3. Each band has four channels nonoverlapping with 20 MHz frequency space
between them as shown in Figure 6. Channel 36 is highlighted in the figure so as to clearly see
the main and sideband frequencies [11].

Figure 6: 5 GHz Channel Overlay [11].

2.3 IEEE 802.11 MAC and MAC Architecture

2.3.1 CSMA/CA vs. CSMA/CD
MAC is a generic term used to define and discuss different access methods in data link
layer. There are two main contention methods used in todays networks: Carrier Sense Multiple
Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) and Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Avoidance (CSMA/CA). CSMA/CD is used in Ethernet networks whereas CSMA/CA in IEEE
802.11 wireless networks. For both methods, communication medium is listened to see there is
no transmission going on otherwise station has to wait for a while to transmit data. The
difference between two techniques is that in CSMA/CD, a node can start transmitting and when
there is a collision, node stops transmitting temporarily. Since stations in wireless networking
cannot transmit and receive at the same time, they cannot detect collision [2].
In CSMA/CA, after determining that no one is transmitting, IEEE 802.11 radios wait for an
additional predefined time which is random back-off value and then starts transmitting. There are
12

still collisions when two or more stations transmit at the same time. However, CSMA/CA
introduces an access method called Distribute Coordination Function (DCF) which performs
multiple checks and controls to minimize the risk of collisions. There is an optional function
called Point Coordination Function (PCF) that helps APs inform client stations about their data.
Yet another function called Hybrid Coordination Function (HCF) is developed to define quality
of service methods [2].
In short, carrier sense checks for medium busy or not. Multiple access utilizes that every
single node of the system has equal chances of transmitting at a time. Collision avoidance means
that only one radio acts in the medium.
Collision Detection
As mentioned earlier, IEEE 802.11 radios cannot transmit and receive at the same time,
therefore they are not able to detect collision but they actually do know when there is a collision
with the help of acknowledgment (ACK) frames. Every time IEEE 802.11 radios transmit
unicast frame. If they receive ACK for a successful transmission of frame, they are ready to start
communication otherwise frame is to be retransmitted. This is not solely an indication for a
collision but assumption could be made [1] [2] [11].

2.3.2 DCF
It is the fundamental access method for IEEE 802.11 communications. There are four main
components working together as part of CSMA/CA process so as to ensure that only one radio is
transmitting at that time. These are interframe space (IFS), random back-off timer, physical and
virtual carrier-sense [2].
IFS
An IF is the amount of time between transmissions of wireless frames and also IFS defines
which type of frame is to be transmitted firstly on the medium. For example, an ACK frame has
priority to be transmitted first and waits for short interframe space (SIFS). There are five types of
interframe spaces: SIFS, point coordination function interframe space (PIFS), distributed
coordination function interframe space (DIFS), arbitration interframe space (AIFS) and extended
interframe space (EIFS). SIFS has the lowest duration and EIFS highest respectively [2].
Duration/ID Field
Represents a number which is the time, in microseconds, it takes to transmit an ACK frame
plus a SIFS interval. This field is utilized to know how long the medium will be busy [2].

13

Virtual Carrier Sense

This is very important to start communication and first step to do for CSMA/CA device
meaning sensing the medium whether it is busy or not. A special timer is used in virtual carrier
sense known as network allocation vector (NAV). When a station listens the RF medium, it looks
for frame headers of other transmissions and sets NAV timer to the duration/ID value which
indicates the time medium will be busy. Afterwards, station starts its NAV timer and waits until it
reaches 0.
Physical Carrier Sense
This type of sensing occurs at physical layer and it is performed with virtual carrier sense at
the same time. Sensing the medium before transmission is known as clear channel assessment
(CCA). CCA ensures that RF medium is clear for a transmission [2].
Random Back-off Timer
Another method used by DCF is random back-off timer. Station chooses a random back-off
value from a time window called contention window. Then it multiplies this value by the slot
time specifically for different spread spectrum technologies. Resulting value is the timer and
station waits for the timer to count down to 0. If the channel is clear, transmission starts.
Otherwise, all steps are restarted all over [2].
PCF
This method is analogous to a point coordinator. In order to implement this function, both
clients and APs support simultaneously. APs poll the clients supporting PCF and see if they want
to send data. PCF is utilized for prioritization of clients [2].
Hybrid Coordination Function (HCF)
This is a new coordination function defined by IEEE 802.11e quality of service
amendment. It combines the properties of HCF and PCF. It is utilized to give priority to delay
sensitive applications such as VoIP and video transmission. IEEE 802.11 radios with supporting
HCF are able to send multiple frames which is known as frame burst and uses SIFS interval to
ensure medium is free. HCF defines two channel access methods: Enhanced Distributed Channel
Access (EDCA) which is used to define differentiated access by using eight different user
priority levels. Second method is HCF Controlled Channel Access (HCCA) which is used to
provide a different point coordinator mechanism than PCF. There is a centralized hybrid
coordinator which is able to prioritize quality of service [2].

14

2.4 IEEE802.11 Standards

Original standards was published as IEEE Std. 802.11-1997 and often called as 802.11
Prime. After a series of amendments and updates, new standard was published as IEEE Std.
802.11-2007. This standard only defines wireless networking technologies at physical layer and
MAC sublayer of data link layer [3] [7].
IEEE 802.11b
In this standard frequency range being used is the unlicensed ISM band from 2.4 GHz to
2.4835 GHz. Physical medium is defined as High Rate DSSS (HR-DSSS). The purpose of this
amendment is to achieve higher data rates by implementing different spreading and modulation
technique. With the help of HR-DSSS spread spectrum and CCK modulation technique, data
rates of 1, 2, 5.5, and 11 Mbps have been achieved. IEEE 802.11b devices are only backward
compatible with original IEEE 802.11 DSSS data rates of 1 and 2 Mbps [4] [7].
IEEE 802.11a
The purpose of developing this amendment is to implement wireless networking in a less
crowded frequency range which are U-NII-1, U-NII-2 and U-NII-3 bands each having different
100 MHz frequency band in 5 GHz range. In addition, with OFDM technology, data rates of 6, 9,
12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 54 Mbps have been achieved. Since a different spread spectrum
technology is used in IEEE 802.11a, modulation technique and frequency range are also different
than IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.11b; therefore it is not backward compatible but both devices
can coexist in the same physical area by implementing dual radio APs as shown in Figure 7 [7].

Figure 7: AP with Diversity Antenna [11].

IEEE 802.11g
This amendment is the most successful one and widely used in market. Also in this project,
we have implemented an IEEE 802.11g network. This standard defines a new technology called
Extended Rate Physical (ERP). Main goal was to achieve higher bandwidth in physical layer.
15

There are two compulsory technologies developed; ERP-OFDM is defined to achieve higher
data rates such as 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 54 Mbps. ERP-DSSS/CCK is defined to provide
backward compatibility with 802.11/802.11b networks. There three main modes of an 802.11g
AP exist [3] [4] [7];
B-only mode: Only support for DSSS, HR-DSSS and ERP-DSSS/CCK technologies
are enabled and only IEEE 802.11b clients can communicate with AP.
G-only mode: Only IEEE 802.11g client radios can communicate with AP achieving
data rates from 6 to 54 Mbps. This is called Pure G network.
B/G mode: Mostly used operational mode what is known as mixed mode. Both IEEE
802.11b/g clients can communicate but due to the protection mechanism which
allows different radios to coexist in same place, there will be a decrease in
aggregate throughput.
IEEE 802.11n
This is an amendment to all previous standards published in October 2009. Main goal is to
achieve higher throughput from 54 Mbps up to 600 Mbps with using Multiple-Input-MultipleOutput (MIMO) technology together with Spatial Division Multiplexing (SDM) technology.
With MIMO, multiple antennas used to take advantage of multipath effect and with SDM
technology; multiple independent streams of data could be multiplexed spatially and transmitted
simultaneously in a specific given channel of bandwidth. Furthermore, channel bandwidth is
doubled in IEEE 802.11n technology to 40 MHz which also doubles the PHY data rate speed of
the system [7].
IEEE 802.11ac
This standard is now being developed and will be the best standard providing the highest
throughput, theoretically up to 1 Gbps with the help of wide RF bandwidth which is 160 MHz,
up to 8 MIMO spatial streams and enhanced modulation technique being 256 quadrature
amplitude modulation (QAM) [7].

16

CHAPTER 3: MEASUREMENT CAMPAIGN AND TECHNIQUE

In this section, measurement equipment used in designing the network will be presented. In
addition, how the measurement has been performed and under which circumstances will be
explained.

3.1 Measurement Equipment

In this subsection, equipment used to measure data will be presented and its role in the
network will be described in details.

3.1.1 Cisco CT5508 WLAN Controller

From Ciscos 5500 Series Wireless Controllers, CT5508 was chosen to control the network
as shown in Figure 8. This controller was designed to enable services for medium to large sized
campuses and environments. It is able to support up to 500 APs and around 7000 clients. It is
specifically designated to enhance mobility, RF management, wireless intrusion prevention
system (IPS) capabilities and scalability [12].

Figure 8: Cisco CT5508 [12].

3.1.2 Cisco AP1242AG AP

Cisco AP1242AG type APs with IEEE 802.11g technology have been installed to provide
coverage as shown in Figure 9. These types of antennas are special design of Cisco used for
challenging RF environments like factories, storages and large retail establishments which
enable us to use different type of antennas with freedom. Cisco AP1242AG provides high
transmit power, receiver sensitivity, and delay spread for both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios which
results as large coverage areas. Cisco AP1242AG operates in two modes; lightweight and
autonomous. Cisco AP1242AG is autonomous operating mode where it is based on Cisco IOS
Software and Cisco LAP1242AG is the lightweight operating mode runs in a centralized network
controlled fully by a WLAN controller (WLC).
17

Figure 9: Cisco AP 1242AG [13].

Moreover, this device can be used both as a client and a base station in the network. In this
project, a machine is used which is equipped with a Cisco AP1242AG configured as a Work
Group Bridge (WGB). WGB has been used as a pure client where it associates with an AP and
bridges data to the Ethernet port. This machine has been used to measure coverage data as it had
been continued to carry on its usual work [13].

3.1.3 GPS Receiver (Garmin GPS15 OEM Module)

WGB was equipped with some more hardware; a compact Linux computer and a GPS
receiver. Figure 10 shows the GPS receiver used to record the current geographical position of
the machine. It was connected to the /dev/ttyS0 of the compact Linux computer to deliver read
data which will be explained in details following section [14].

Figure 10: Garmin GPS OEM Module [14].

3.1.4 Antennas
MIMO 3x180 Panel Antenna 2.4 GHz
This is the Radiobolagets production of MIMO 3x180 panel antenna used in 16 of all APs
with 2400 2485 MHz frequency range. Here are the key features of this antenna;
Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) < 1.25
18

Gain: 3x8 dBi

Polarization: Vertical
Azimuth: 3x180
Elevation: 3x60

Figure 11: Radiobolaget AB MIMO 3x180 Panel Antenna [15].

Here as seen in figure 11, first two figures show the scale for both azimuth and elevation
radiation patterns of the antenna respectively and they are given with decreasing signal strength
with 5 dB intervals. This antenna is produced to be used in IEEE 802.11n systems but can also
be used as a diversity antenna for IEEE 802.11b/g systems. Outer antenna elements are used for
2xTX configuration and all three for 3xRX [15].
Dual Band Quad Element Omni Antenna
This is Radiobolagets production of 4 sets of 90 panel antennas each of them used for
2.4/5 GHz dual range. These types of antennas were properly used to beam the signal so as to
provide desired coverage area around challenging areas. DBQO antennas were mostly used in
about 28 APs as in two forms; front+back and single. In Figure 12, first part shows the azimuth
pattern of front+back usage and second part of the figure shows the azimuth pattern of single
usage and the last figure shows the antenna view together with weather proof. Here are the key
characteristics of this antenna. Elevation radiation pattern for both usages are the same and
shown in Figure 13 [15];
Gain: 11 dBi for front+back usage and 14 dBi for single usage
Polarization: Vertical
Azimuth: 90 for front+back usage and 0 for single usage.

19

Most of the Cisco 1242APs was mounted inside the antenna and therefore very short length
of antenna cables used to keep loss at a minimum level.

Figure 12: Dual Band Quad Element Omni Antenna [15].

Figure 13: DBQO Elevation Diagram [15].

Vertical Flat Panel Antenna

This is Smarteq Antennas production of vertical flat panel antenna. Special technique used
in this antenna to get a good elevation radiation pattern where a client receives strong enough
signal even near the AP which in most case not seen in high gain antennas. Here are key features
of this antenna [16];
VSWR < 1.5
Gain : 14 dBi
Polarization : Vertical
Azimuth : 70
Elevation : 15
20

This antenna was used only in two of the APs to cover specific areas. Here are the elevation
and radiation patterns shown in Figure 14 together with outside view of the antenna [16];

Figure 14: Vertical Flat Panel Antenna [16].

3.2 Measurement Technique

As mentioned before, WGB was equipped with special hardware used to measure coverage
data. WGB had been travelling along the roads of the target coverage in white lines on the
detailed map of the target area shown by WRAP spectrum management software in Figure 16
which will be shown later in next chapter. Maps resolution is set to 1 m2 in order not to neglect
any vital points around the area.
GPS module was used to collect current position of the machine with WGS84 position data
in NMEA format [6];
$GPRMC,095138,A,5631.1466,N,01623.8851,E,000.0,000.0,140810,002.5,E*7D
Here each field separated by a comma defines a value of the geographical position.
GPRMC means recommended minimum specific GPS / Transit data. Here first field defines the
time. In second field A agrees that navigation receiver is ok. Fourth and fifth field show latitude
and vertical direction (north). Sixth and seventh field shows longitude and horizontal direction
(east). Following fields are speed over ground, course mode, date and magnetic variation [6].
On Linux platform of WGB, SNMP v2c was used to collect necessary information such as
currently associated APs MAC address and name and received signal strength indication (RSSI)
from the management information base (MIB) tree of said AP. Since there is no other wireless
networks or any other radio signal sources around the area, signal to noise ratio (SNR)
information was not considered. Measurement results and detailed analysis have been given in
next chapter.
21

CHAPTER 4: MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

All measurement data have been analyzed with the help of Linuxs gnuplot graphing utility,
Linux bash scripting languages and packages.

4.1 Collected Data Processing

As mentioned before, all the measurements have been performed with special machine
called WGB with special equipment. Sweden has its own geographical coordinate system known
as Rikets Triangelnt (RT) 90. This system uses the crossing of prime meridian and equator as a
rooting point and central meridian as the prime meridian at Greenwich. Grid is defined by two
numbers X and Y, X being south north axis and Y being east west axis. Seven digits are
enough to present one meter resolution of the area [10]. First of all, useful information such as
only coordinate values was extracted from the GPS NMEA data as a World Geodetic System
(WGS 84) coordinate frame;
NMEA$GPRMC,095138,A,5631.1466,N,01623.8851,E,000.0,000.0,140810,002.5,E*7
Extracted WGS 84 position data 56d31.1466 16d23.8851
Afterwards, position data was converted to RT 90 Swedish grid system with the help of
Linux proj-4.7 package [9];
RT 90 position data 1717750 7452176
Linux computer has read the useful information with the help of Cisco SNMP Object
Navigator from the object tree of currently associated APs MIB. AP MAC address and current
RSSI for WGB have been read. Finally, combination of all information resulted as;
Last form of data 1716979 7451871 -57 003A98B6E3B0
where first two fields show the corresponding geographical position, third field shows RSSI in
dBm and last field is 48 bit MAC address of associated AP. All analysis was based on the process
of this data format.

4.2 Site Survey Fundamentals

In this subsection, all important criteria needs to be considered about RF site survey have
been discussed. Since the target coverage area was a challenging terrain consisting of a deep pit
mine, surrounding rocks, work stations and rugged roads, careful site survey has been conducted
by deciding where to install each and every AP with suitable type of antennas. Here are some key
factors need to considered when planning of an outdoor WLAN;
22

Data applications: Applications play a key role in the utilization of each AP and number of
users. Nevertheless, performance also depends on the purpose of the WLAN. In this project, a
typical application is to provide 1 Mb of critical data every five minutes. Therefore, amount of
data rate was quite low to implement. In addition, application data was buffered and stored on
board sometimes in order to be sent when the wireless link is available.
User Density: 40 vehicles consisting of trucks, tractors, service vehicles etc. were provided
with wireless access. 36 APs were actively used to provide connectivity for the said vehicles. As
seen in Figure 16, deep pit mine and surrounding areas were the most important areas to have RF
coverage.
Peak on/off use: It was crucial to define when access to WLAN is the heaviest and when is
the lowest so as to pay attention to defined areas. In this project, pit mine and close surrounding
areas plus office buildings were taken care of very well to meet critical timing.
Existing transmitters: Since there were no other WLAN installations or any other RF
source existing around the area, this factor was out of concern.
Mobile vs. Mobility: It was not crucial to have 100% mobility around the area since
transfer of application data could be performed in between connections.
Antenna Structure: As mentioned before, special type of antenna products have been used
to meet specific areas to be covered.
Topographic map: Since this was an outdoor installation, a topographic map, also called
contour map was necessary to show terrain information such as waters, hills and elevations etc.
which was shown in Figure 17 with 1 m2 resolution.
AP placement: After carrying out the site survey work, proper placement of APs and
according frequency assignment of them is another factor which plays an important role in
designing of WLANs. Each AP equipped with different type of antennas provides coverage for
smaller but challenging areas which will be shown later in next sections. Moreover, frequency
assignment of each antenna was considered to follow most common technique to prevent
interference between each cell as shown in Figure 15 where first, sixth and eleventh
nonoverlapping channels of 2.4 GHz band were chosen to be deployed around coverage area
suitably. As a result, co-channel interference was kept at minimum level because in IEEE
802.11g technology, nearby APs cannot communicate at the same time if both use the same
channel.

23

Figure 15: Frequency Channel Reuse [17].

Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI): RSSI is the measurement of received signal
power recorded at the receiver station. It is usually given in dBm similar to dB but referenced to
1 mW. In IEEE 802.11 technologies, most APs have radio transmit power between 1 mW to 100
mW. To make it easier to read and compare, this value is converted to dBm. Most WLAN
vendors define a receiver sensitivity which indicates the lowest power value of received signal
that can be considered as intelligible. For Cisco AP1242g radios, this value is -90 dBm.
However, one can still get data rates of 1 and 2 Mbps below the threshold as seen in Table 1.

Table 1: 802.11g RSSI vs Data Rate [11].

24

4.3 Assisted Coverage Analysis with Measurement Data

One of the most common techniques in coverage analysis of WLANs is so called assisted
coverage analysis. In this technique, a wireless network management system (WNMS) or a
WLAN controller scans all the APs and gets useful RF information which will be used for
planning and configuration of coverage cells. Mostly information from AP radio cards is used to
analyze but in this project, previously mentioned machine was used as a client radio to report the
information back to WLAN controller during measurement travel.

4.3.1 Total Coverage Area Results and Analysis

As mentioned before, measurements have been taken with the same client which was the
service bus equipped with enhanced hardware. Bus had been traveling along the indicated roads
which can be seen as white lines on 1 m2 resolution map of target coverage area in Figure 17.

Figure 16: Blueprint Map of Target Coverage Area.

Yellow colored figures are the buildings located around the area. Here are useful statistics
concluded from total of measurements:
-

Around 24 km2 of vital areas consisting of the mine, connecting roads, offices, work
stations and storages have been provided with coverage out of 50 km2 total area.

Measurements were made to receive information from AP in one second intervals. Total
number of measurements is 169156 lines which results as approximately 50 hours of
25

data and 352 km measurement travel. On the other hand, there have been measurements
resulted as erroneous data in variety of forms. Here are some examples of erroneous
data which were neglected:
-1716979 7451871 000000000000 where there is no association with an AP.
-After roaming to another AP, first RSSI measured was way higher than the following
measurements which was also a bug omitted.
-1716979 7451871 003A98B6E3B0 where RSSI is missing.
-1716979 7451871 0 003A98B6E3B0 where RSSI is 0, often seen in roaming.
-

Total number of correct measurements is 156184 lines which results as approximately

43 hours of data and 340 km measurement travel. From the measurements, it can be
concluded that 90% of utilization was achieved as criteria of getting an intelligible
signal from APs. 36 APs provided individual connection information to the WGB.

Figure 17 shows the corresponding coverage graph of total measurement survey including
erroneous data. In comparison, Figure 18 shows coverage graph with corrected measurements
with erroneous data being filtered out. RSSI level measured higher than -70 dBm considered as a
high speed connection with data rate up to 54 Mbps. Note that this is not the actual throughput of
the system but the highest possible data rate in a given bandwidth. Levels between -70 dBm and
-85 dBm were considered as average speed connection and levels lower than -85 dBm were
considered as low speed connections. Although there are some weak signals received lower than
-90 dBm, connection was still achievable. In Figure 17, it can be observed that in some time
intervals, there are continuous measurements colored as red. This might occur due to errors
mentioned above or WGB might have stopped taking measurements while traveling between
long connecting roads of the whole area. As mentioned before, pit mine, workshops and
buildings were the most critical areas to be covered. Thus, good coverage performance was
achieved around these areas as seen in Figures 17 and 18 with green colored measurement
points. However, there had been still number of dead spots recorded due to the complex hilly
terrain profile.

26

Figure 17: Total Coverage Area Including Erroneous Data.

Figure 18: Total Coverage Area.

27

Note that the following all analysis graphs and histograms were produced referring to the
corrected measurement data. Figure 19 shows the histogram of all RSSI values. Y coordinate
shows the amount of measurement records for each RSSI values which were given in dBm as X
coordinate. Average RSSI value of all measurement is -74 dBm which concludes that the total
WLAN performance is very good.

Figure 19: RSSI Distribution of Total Measurement.

4.3.2 AP Specific Results and Analysis

In this subsection, each AP coverage results were shown with explanation of different
equipment used in each AP in order to achieve specific areas to be covered. Here figures were
produced by creating a line between measurement coordinate and AP coordinate.
Before introducing each APs performance, Figure 20 shows AP utilization of the whole
network with average RSSI of each AP given in dBm. Here it can be observed that most utilized
APs are G56_AP16_99_dispatch, G56_AP16_90_truckverkstad and G56_AP16_95_Telia.
Following 20 ~ 25 APs are also utilized well and last few APs have the lowest utilization values.
Note that, average RSSI value has no relation with the utilization as it can be easily seen that the
AP having the highest average RSSI, which is 0025B4A79ED0, is one of the lowest utilized AP.
Furthermore, this histogram illustrates that the traveling bus had spent a lot of time near the most
28

utilized APs. Thus, areas covered by these APs were the most critical areas that needed to be
covered well.

Figure 20: AP RSSI Histogram.

Since there are so many APs in the network, coverage analysis of only most utilized ones
were shown with deep analysis in the following figures. X and Y axises denote the
corresponding geographical coordinate of the measurement bus where there was a RSSI recorded
in the machine. Origin was taken as the coordinate where the related AP was installed. Each line
represents a single measurement record with corresponding signal power indicated with prior
colors. In analysis graphs, there are three different scales used to show Y axis of RSSI histogram
for each AP being 4000, 7000 and 10000 highest value of measurement points. This is due to
frequent variation of utilization among all APs. Some have very low utilization with only up to
500 measurement points, on the other hand, most utilized ones have up to 30000 measurement
points recorded. Note that AP specific coverage figures depend only the measurement values do
not mean to show all area that a single AP can cover. Predicted coverage of all APs and
correlation between measured values were shown in the next section. Here are the statistics and
explanation for each APs coverage and histogram figures with each bullet represents the related
29

APs name:
AP G56_AP16_99_dispatch: Figures 21 and 22 show the coverage and RSSI
histogram figures respectively. In this AP, DBQO antenna was used with both
configurations which are single and front+back in order to take advantage of the
antenna diversity. This is the most utilized AP with 17.7% ratio of all
measurements. This AP has around 7.7 hours of data.
AP G56_AP16_90_truckverkstad: Figures 23 and 24 show the coverage and RSSI
histogram figures respectively. With the help of antenna type DBQO, coverage was
established in every direction like an omnidirectional antenna using each 90 panel
antennas. This APs location was around trucks work station, one of the most
critical areas. It can be concluded from the RSSI histogram that this AP has the best
RSSI performance of all since measurement had been taken within a close distance
to the AP. This AP was utilized in 6.7 hours of total measurement time. It has the
highest RSSI average as approximately -54 dBm.
AP G56_AP16_95_Telia: Figures 25 and 26 show the coverage and RSSI histogram
figures respectively. In this AP, combination of single and front+back
configurations was used to cover a specific area. During 5.5 hours of total
measurement time, this AP was used to have access to internet.
AP G56_AP16_87_BT2030: Figures 27 and 28 show the coverage and RSSI
histogram figures respectively. In this AP, Radiobolagets MIMO 3x180 antenna
was used to cover a specific area with an azimuth angle of 180. RSSI performance
of this AP was quite low due to the challenging terrain profile with inconsistent
heights. However, time spent close to this AP was quite high being 3 hours.
AP G56_AP16_73_RM1: Figures 29 and 30 show the coverage and RSSI histogram
figures respectively. In this AP, DBQO type antenna was used with both
configurations. RSSI performance of this AP was good because the path that
measurement bus had been travelling was quite close to this AP. 2.5 hours of data
were collected prior to this AP.
AP G56_AP16_92_kross_i_dagen: Figures 31 and 32 show the coverage and RSSI
histogram figures respectively. This AP was also equipped with DBQO antenna
with the same configuration as previous one. RSSI performance was average
because of both challenging and clear line of sight areas were to be covered. 2 hours
of data were collected.
30

AP G56_AP16_96_RM1: Figures 33 and 34 show the coverage and RSSI histogram

figures respectively. This AP was configured just like the previous one with 1.8
hours of data being collected.
AP Trafo_14_3: Figures 35 and 36 show the coverage and RSSI histogram figures
respectively. Radiobolagets MIMO 3x180 antenna was used with an azimuth
angle of 180 in one direction which was pretty close to the deep pit mine. RSSI
performance was quite good to provide access to higher levels of pit area with 1.75
hours of utilization.
It can easily be seen that in each APs coverage figure, there are few points where RSSI is
still intelligible within a quite far distance from AP. This clearly shows the strength of antennas
used in installation although all APs were installed close to each other within 300~500 meters
apart. Note that all of these coverage and histogram figures are the results of total measurements
meaning there might be recorded points multiple times at the same geographical coordinate. This
is somehow an indication of the utilization of each AP whether it had been used a lot in time or
not.

Figure 21: G56_AP16_99_dispatch Coverage.

31

Figure 22: G56_AP16_99_dispatch RSSI Histogram.

Figure 23: G56_AP16_90_truckverkstad Coverage.

32

Figure 24: G56_AP16_90_truckverkstad RSSI Histogram.

Figure 25: G56_AP16_95_telia Coverage.

33

Figure 26: G56_AP16_95_telia RSSI Histogram.

Figure 27: G56_AP16_87_BT2030 Coverage.

34

Figure 28: G56_AP16_87_BT2030.

Figure 29: G56_AP16_73_RM1 Coverage.

35

Figure 30: G56_AP16_73_RM1 RSSI Histogram.

Figure 31: G56_AP16_92_kross_i_dagen Coverage.

36

Figure 32: G56_AP16_92_kross_i_dagen RSSI Histogram.

Figure 33: G56_AP16_96_RM1 Coverage.

37

Figure 34: G56_AP16_96_RM1 RSSI Histogram.

Figure 35: Trafo_14_3 Coverage.

38

Figure 36: Trafo_14_3 RSSI Histogram..

4.4 Predictive Coverage Analysis with WRAP

WRAP is spectrum management software providing all necessary calculations and
functional analysis for frequency management and planning of RF technologies. Calculations are
performed with the help of geographical, frequency and equipment databases or manually
entered stations and equipment. In this analysis, all the AP stations and corresponding antenna
equipment were defined manually and coverage calculations were carried out for each AP
individually first. At the end, resulting total coverage area was given with each APs location and
related coverage in Figure 37.
ITU-R Rec. P.526-6
All coverage calculations were done using ITU-R Rec. P.526-6 propagation model which
was based on diffraction over one or more obstacles with respect to Deygouts construction
where the calculation was limited to three edges at most and an empirical correction. In single
obstacle cases, empirical correction is not performed due to the overestimation of loss for these
cases [5]. This model is most commonly used for ultra high frequency (UHF) and above
39

frequency range. Since WRAP uses exact geometrical calculations, it allows us to perform
calculations with arbitrary antenna heights from sea level.
Figure 38 shows the terrain profile from the measurement buss (located in north) to
G56_AP16_86_pressfilter. It is simply from north part to the south part of the most critical area
consisting of the deep pit mine. Throughout the whole area, a static point was chosen as relative
to the sea level in order to make calculation more accurate.

Figure 37: Predicted Coverage Using WRAP.

Figure 38: Terrain Profile.

40

4.4 Correlation between Assisted and Predictive Coverage Analysis

In this section, similarities between assisted and predictive coverage figures were shown to
visualize the coverage performance of the network much better. As mentioned before,
measurement data was collected prior to the roads around the area by joining coordinates.
Therefore, comparison of figures does not tell much idea but gives a lot of information of how
the measurements were performed and visualized in WRAP. There are 36 APs of similar kind as
shown in below figures which agreed with the predicted coverage analysis. Confirmation could
be easily done by checking the coordinates and prior roads whether there are measurement points
existing or not. Here are the statistics for each figure;
In Figure 39, visualization of G56_AP16_99_dispatch coverage is shown. Since
DBQO antenna was used with this AP, it can be observed from Figure 39 that AP
has strong directional coverage to the north and south which was the consequence
of front + back antenna usage and to the east where single usage of DBQO was
implemented to provide azimuth angle of 180.
In Figure 40, visualization of G56_AP16_95_telia coverage is shown. The same
scenario could be observed where there is a strong directional coverage through
east and west with the front + back usage and through south with single usage. It
can be seen from the assisted coverage figure that most measurement points were
taken in east side of the AP because of the roads.
In Figure 41, visualization of G56_AP16_87_BT2030 coverage is shown.
Radiobolagets MIMO 3x180 antenna was used to provide single coverage with
azimuth angle of 180 in northeast direction as seen in Figure 42 and it can be
easily seen that correct measurements were taken prior to the roads given.
In Figure 42, visualization of G56_AP16_73_RM1 coverage is shown. This AP
was also placed and installed just like G56_AP16_99_dispatch but due to the
complexity of the terrains height to the east, there are some dead spots where the
signal was not intelligible seen in Figure 42.

41

Figure 39: Visualization of G56_AP16_99_dispatch.

Figure 40: Visualization of G56_AP16_95_telia.

Figure 41: Visualization of G56_AP16_87_BT2030.

42

Figure 42: Visualization of G56_AP16_73_RM1.

Discussion
As shown in Figure 20 in total AP utilization histogram, there are some APs which were
utilized much less than the others. There are numerous reasons for that; since measurements
were done only with service bus traveling around the specified roads, it might had stopped or
moved around these APs for a very limited time. Actually, it can be concluded that these areas
were low utilized by the customer company. This information was considered before the
installation so that much concentration was focused on dense areas like in offices, workshops
and deep pit mine area. Therefore, suitable antennas were chosen to provide sufficient coverage
in these areas.
Answers to Some Research Questions
Is it possible to further extend the coverage area of outdoor WLAN?
There are numerous ways to extend the coverage area of an outdoor WLAN by adding
more APs, repeaters or using higher gain antennas. However, extending the coverage area further
was not a concern in this project since requirements were adhered to customer demands.
Which kind of techniques should be introduced to extend it?
Other than the methods mentioned above, strategic placement of APs with a proper
mathematical modeling could extend the coverage further a bit. Nevertheless, using more APs,
repeaters, wireless mesh APs or infrastructureless APs would be the best way to extend the
coverage area of WLANs.

43

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
Implementing a large scale outdoor WLAN solely depends on the customers wireless
needs and the area needs to be covered. First of all, proper site survey and planning for capacity
and coverage are mandatory tasks to perform. Site survey plays such an important role as it gives
most of the information about the target coverage area and limitations before deployment
process. After that, satisfactory planning for capacity will result as sufficient coverage. Looking
at the figures of APs, it can be concluded that it is crucial to decide where to place each AP and
the direction of corresponding antenna equipment taking into account of the terrain profile of the
area. Depending on different heights of the area, suitable selection of antennas and directing
them showed sufficient performance as preventing the network from having more APs. In this
way, whole network was economically optimized while keeping the cost lower.
Correlating the manual coverage analysis with the predicted coverage of a simulation tool
helps one to have an idea of how the network is being utilized, so called birds eye perspective.
Hence, necessary precautions shall be taken when needed.

44

REFERENCES
[1]

W. Stallings, Wireless Networking in Wireless Communications and Networks, 2nd ed.

New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2004.

[2]

P. Brenner. (1996, July). A Technical Tutorial on the IEEE 802.11 Protocol. SSS Online.
[Online]. Available: http://www.sss-mag.com/pdf/802_11tut.pdf

[3]

Cisco. Wireless Main Page. [Online]. Available:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/wireless/index.html

[4]

Wireless LAN [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_LAN

[5]

E. stlin, On Radio Wave Propagation Measurements and Modeling for Cellular

Mobile Radio Networks, Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. Elect. Eng., Blekinge Institute of
Technology, Karlskrona, 2009.

[6]

Glenn Baddeley. (2001, July). GPS - NMEA sentence information. [Online]. Available:
http://aprs.gids.nl/nmea/

[7]

IEEE. (2011). IEEE Advancing Technology for Humanity. [Online]. Available:

http://standards.ieee.org/

[8]

Free Software Foundation. (2010). The GNU Awk User's Guide. [Online]. Available:
http://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/html_node/

[9]

G. I. Evenden, Projection descriptions in Cartographic Projection

Procedures for the UNIX EnvironmentA Users Manual, Woods Hole: United States
Department Of The Interior Geological Survey, 2003.

[10] Lantmteriet. Two-dimensional systems - RT 90. [Online]. Available:

http://www.lantmateriet.se/
[11] D. Coleman, D. Westcott, Certified Wireless Network Administrator in Certified
Wireless Network Administrator Official Study Guide, Indiana: Wiley Publishing, 2009.
[12] Cisco 5500 Series Wireless Controller. [Online]. Available:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps10315/index.html
[13] Cisco Aironet 1240AG Series. [Online]. Available:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6521/index.html
[14] Garmin Ltd. (2011). GPS 15H/15L. [Online]. Available:
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=161
[15] Radiobolaget AB. [Online]. Available: http://radiobolaget.com/products.html
[16] Smarteq AB. [Online]. Available:
http://www.smarteq.se/5.1b27248111ee6cfde1e800011541.html
45

[17] Cisco Systems, WLAN Radio Frequency Design Considerations in Enterprise Mobility
3.0 Design Guide, San Jose: Cisco Systems, Inc., 2007.
[18] G. Bianchi, F. Formisano, D. Giustiniano, 802.11b/g Link Level Measurements for an
Outdoor Wireless Campus Network in 2006 International Symposium on a World of
Wireless Mobile and Multimedia Networks, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY, 2006.
[19] Rohde & Schwarz. (2006, July). WiMAX, General information about the standard
802.16. [Online]. Available: http://www2.rohde-schwarz.com/file_1782/1MA96_0.pdf

46