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The Anatomy of an APOnno Harms, Product Managementonno@hpe.comMarch, 2016@ArubaNetworks |

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#ATM16The anatomy lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp - Rembrandt van Rijn, 1632

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anatomy_Lesson_of_Dr._Nicolaes_Tulp

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The Anatomy of an APSubject: Aruba AP-325Dissect the 320 Series to get below the surface

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#ATM16AgendaIntroduction: Basic capabilities, vital stats, aging, life expectancySkin & bones: Housing, enclosure, mounting, plenumSenses: External InterfacesInternal Organs: Main Functional BlocksDigestive tract and Circulation: Power input, consumption, efficiency, outputBrain: CPU, Memory and TPMGuts: Ethernet, Wi-Fi radiosSixth sense: BLE radioHeart & Soul: Software

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#ATM16Plenum burn picEarthquake test videoSample. Camera?5

IntroductionBasic capabilities, vital stats, aging & life expectancy

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Patient IntroductionName: AP-325, part of the 320 Series familyPrimary job description: Interface between the wired and wireless networking domainsQualifications: Dual-radio 4x4 802.11ac MU-MIMO Access Point with two 1Gbps Ethernet portsDifferentiators: Highest performance, latest technology, immune to RF interference, highly secure (TPM module), location aware (BLE radio)Age: 7 months (born August 2015), about 5 years in human termsTotal world population: Approaching 100k and growing rapidly, joining its 7M+ cousinsHPE Aruba Family: Sister AP-324 (external antennas), half-siblings IAP-324/325 (controller-less software load), many cousins (103 Series, 200/210/220 Series, 310/330 Series), further removed (and a little weird): outdoor, hospitality and branch platformsCharacter: hard-working and serious, all about speed and efficiency, thrives in challenging environments, model-like features, tough but indoorsy type, proud member of the Aruba family

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#ATM167 month > 5 years: 10 versus 80 year life7

Basic physical exam of the AP-325Dimensions: 203mm x 203mm x 57mm, or 2.35liter (8 x 8 x 2.24, 79oz)

Weight: 950g (2.1lb)Range: from AP-103 at 300g (0.66lb) to AP-335 at 1150g (2.54lb)Total number of components: about 1,900 partsTemperature:Thriving in 0C to +50C or +32F to +122F (typical operating range for the Enterprise AP race)Skin temp can reach as high as +70C (+158F) but thats perfectly normal when patient is busy in a stressful environmentHeart rate: 1.4GHz (dual core CPU). Thats 1,400,000,000 beats per secondExpecting 440,000,000,000,000,000 beats over its projected active lifetime (10 years)

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#ATM16A human heart is expected to beat about 200,000,000,000 times in 80 years8

Life expectancy and susceptibility to illnessesAs all electronic devices, AP-325 is subject to aging and typical component failure mechanismsFailure rate is generally high when a product is first deployed (infant mortality) and when it is approaching the end of its useful life. In between, failure rate is modelled as a constant statistical parameter (defining MTBF)This is often referred to as the bathtub curveTo avoid early failures from happening in the field, products go through burn-in in the factoryWhen failure rate starts to increase again, the product has reached the end of its useful lifeThe expected product life is often determined by the one component (or class of components) that first reaches the end of its useful lifeAll HPE Aruba access points are designed with a minimum useful life target of 10 years to support 5 years of active life followed by 5 years in retirement (support)

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#ATM16Life expectancy and susceptibility to illnessesThe flat portion of the bathtub curve determines the rate of failure of products deployed in the fieldComponent and product failure rate in the is expressed using FIT (Failures in Time): number of failures expected to happen in one billion hours of active operation (thats 115,000 years)Its assumed to be a constant statistical parameter, meaning that if a product has a FIT of 1000 that product is expected to fail once every 115 years, but also that you should anticipate a failure every year when deploying 115 such productsThe failure rate of a complex electronic product is simply the sum of the failure rate of all components. In general, a handful of components will dominate the failure rate of a product, even though there may be thousands of themThere are many models to predict failure rate, but for an accurate prediction, its important to account for the stress applied to each component (voltage, current, etc.) and the temperature its operating atMean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is the inverse of FIT:MTBF (hours) = 1,000,000,000 x 1/FITMTBF target for any Aruba AP is at least 500,000 hours (57 years)Actual MTBF is well above that, and our actual failure or return rates indicate that real MTBF is much higher still (500 years based on a typical 0.2% annual failure rate)

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#ATM16MTBF 500,000 translates to one unit failing every 500 hours if you have 1,000 units. Thats over 17 every year!10

Taking a first look insideX-ray image of AP-325, courtesy of Philips Medical SystemsAP-325 is a sandwich of:Front cover (plastic)Sheet metal plate with antennasThermal pads (conductive, flexible, sticky)Main printed circuit board, with components and metal shield on both sidesRadio boards (2x) with components and metal shields on both sidesMore thermal padsRear cover (die-cast aluminum)BLE antenna module*Labels

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Skin and BonesHousing, enclosure, mounting, plenum

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#ATM16Enclosure or housingConsists of just two parts: a plastic front cover and die-cast aluminum rear coverRear cover contains all parts, front cover screws to that assemblyUsing secure TorX screws (regulatory requirement)Enclosure us not just a box, but serving a variety of purposes:Protection of internal components (elements, handling, FIPS)Defining the look and feel of the product (neutral, unobtrusive, but can still be striking)Strength and structure, mounting supportHeat sinkRF shieldingEnclosure is an integral part of the AP as a system. Its not so easy to just take the guts and put it in a different housingBut we have some customers who do just that (for example, a European company integrates the IAP-225 in their system to provide in-flight Wi-Fi)Painful and time-consuming, taking as much or more time then designing the AP from scratch

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#ATM16Most geeks have a set of secure screw drivers now..16

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#ATM16AP-325 front coverDefines the look and feel, but theres moreThere are lots of things to consider when selecting the plastic materialStrength and durability (impact, thermal)Color and finish / texture, initial and over timeRF transparencyFlammabilityBanned substances (environment, health, RoHS, REACH)Aesthetics: since not everybody may like the shiny finish, Aruba logo and/or white color, we do offer snap-on covers that are neutral and matte, and can easily be paintedRF transparency should still be considered though. Paint may contain metal or graphite.Plenum rating (UL2043): rules concerning flammability and smoke/fumes in case of a fire, for equipment that can be deployed in the plenum (in our case that translates to above ceiling)Plastics are a critical contributor for thisRestricts our material choices, adds costMuch easier for devices with metal enclosures, but newer plastics can passEarly versions of plenum rated plastic would discolor over time. There are some orange/brown AP-65 still out there

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#ATM16Inside a closet in in the Vdara hotel. AP-65 started shipping in 2005, and reached EOS in June 201119

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#ATM16AP-325 rear coverRF shielding: metal cover is integral part of overall RF and EMC designHeat sinkUsing metal and thermal pads, heat from many components is distributed to the metal backCritical ones: CPU, Ethernet PHY, wireless chipset, power amplifiers. Some of these are cozy operating at +100C or higher (+212F)Effectively spreading the heat and offering a large surface for heat to radiate from and transfer to air flowTouch temperatureThe AP rear cover is an effective heatsink, and its temperature can raise significantly above ambient temperatureBut its perfectly normal and does not indicate any issueSafety regulations are very clear: any user accessible metal surface cannot exceed +70C (+158F)That gives us a max increase over worst-case ambient of 20 degrees (36F)Some more about thermal testingAP thermals are directly related to worst-case (conditions and operation) average (time) power consumptionPower consumption varies significantly between idle (beaconing) and worst-case. Can be up to 2xIt takes time for the AP to reach steady state (many minutes or even hours)

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#ATM16Example of thermal test results (AP-225). Straight line is ambient (+50C) in test chamber

Stability after ~2 hours23

AP-325 rear coverMount supportMount features on the rear cover include two screwed-in plastic parts (cant create those in the die-casing process)Supporting a variety of mount kits for different mount surfaces and orientationsCeiling rail (many types), solid surface (wall, ceiling), attached to an existing wall-box, inside (third-part) enclosures, integrated into existing ceiling tilesEarthquake testingWe subject these APs to a broad range of environmental testsWhere relevant, these tests are done with the AP mounted as intended, and exploring worst-case situationsMost of our mounts are made out of plastic, sometimes people worry about that..

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#ATM16Will bring some samples24

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#ATM16This video is showing an AP-135, but we do these tests with every new AP25

SensesExternal Interfaces

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Network and POE power

DC powerUSBConsole portReset buttonKensington slotBLE radio antenna

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#ATM16Physical interfacesNetwork and POE power (Ethernet)AP-325 has two equivalent physical interfaces (RJ45 8-pin jacks). Fully interchangeableBoth are 100/1000Base-T capable (bidirectional speeds up to 1Gbps)Ports can be LAGged in case theres a concern that 1Gbps is not sufficient to support peak wireless throughputSome future AP platforms will support higher speeds (2.5Gbps, 5Gbps and possibly even 10Gbps; Nbase-T, Smart Rate)In reality its highly unlikely that theres a real need for >1Gbps in most 802.11ac deploymentsBoth support POE (either/or, failover, not combined)USB 2.0 Type A host jackCan supply up to 1A/5W to attached deviceSupports some cellular modems and HPE Aruba BLE beacon dongles. Mostly reserved for future useConsole port: RJ45 jack, RS232, default speed 9,600 baudDebugging onlyDo not confuse with Ethernet..

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#ATM16Baud rate configurable up to 115,200

Future: console moving to 4-pin header28

Physical interfaces the simple stuffDC Power: 12V, center-positive circular plugAny compatible source can be used (12V +/- 5%, minimum 18.5W to 24.5W, physically compatible plug)HPE Aruba model is AP-AC-12V30UN (accessory)Reset: paperclip-hole push buttonReset to factory defaults when pressed during power-upToggle LED mode in normal use*Kensington lock for physical securityLEDsDefault mode: convey basis status info, restrictions, errorsOptional: blink mode to help identify an APOptional: off mode if blinking lights are annoyingAP-325 has two tri-color LEDs (red/green/amber)The physical LED lights are on the board; the front cover integrates some plastic parts to guide the light

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#ATM16LED mode toggle: currently supported on some AP models only (not on AP-325)

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Antennas - GeneralAntennas convert electrical into radiated RF energy, and vice-versa. Behavior is completely reciprocal for both directions (transmit, receive)Reference antenna is the isotropical radiator, which radiates energy evenly in all directions (3D) and has zero loss (sphere)Practical antennas focus energy in a desired direction and have 50%-70% efficiency. Antennas do not amplify the RF signalThe resulting 3D pattern will have a peak in a certain direction. The relative strength of this peak, when compared with the isotropical radiator, is known as antenna gain, expressed in dBiThose patterns can get quite complex and messy, see next page for an exampleDepending on the type and orientation of the antenna, the radiated RF energy pulsates in a particular direction (polarization), and antennas are deaf to signals pulsating in a direction perpendicular to that of the antennaPolarization is typically vertical, horizontal or circularA vertically polarized antenna does not pick up a horizontally polarized RF signalFinally, for best MIMO performance, antenna patterns of the individual radio chains should generally be overlapping and omni-directional

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#ATM16Antenna losses/efficiency reduces the volume of the sphere. Antenna gain changes the shape. Balloon

Polarization: in reality there are no perfectly perpendicular signals or antennas. Also, polarization flips with every reflection. 30

Elevation (side)3D pattern plot

SidelobesBacklobeFrontBackSideAzimuth (top)Sector Antenna (Logarithmic View)

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#ATM16Antennas AP-325AP-325 has a total of 9 built-in antennas: four for each 4x4 MIMO Wi-Fi radio, and one for the integrated BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) radioBLE radio is primarily used for locationing services (beacons)All antennas are vertically polarizedEnergy pulsating up&down when ceiling mountedAP-325 antennas focus energy down, in a more or less omni-directional pattern around the AP, optimized for the typical ceiling mounted deploymentCreating a cone-shaped patternRemember: there are no abrupt transitions and energy is really transmitted in all directionsAmplified by reflections in a typical environment

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#ATM16Antennas AP-325Larger structures are for 2.4GHz, smaller ones for 5GHzHigher frequency = smaller structuresSpaced and oriented to minimize coupling and interferenceVery similar patterns.

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#ATM16Showing horizontal (azimuth) patterns for all four 2.4GHz elements33

Antennas AP-325

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#ATM16Showing horizontal (azimuth) and elevation patterns for all four 2.4GHz elements. AP face up for elevation plot34

Internal OrgansMain Functional Blocks

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#ATM16AP-325 Building BlocksRadios. AP-325 has two radios (2.4GHz/5GHz), each with four complete bi-directional chains (4x4)Antennas (8)Filters (some special ones to deal with interference from cellular systems)Amplifiers (Tx/Rx), combined in two sets of four front end modules (FEM)MAC/Baseband/Radio (integrated in two wireless chipsets)Processing coreCPU, memory, TPMWired network interfaces: Ethernet. Separate PHY components, MAC/BB integrated in CPUPower: DC, POE, lots of conversions and filtersOther stuff: USB, BLE, console, reset, clocks, timers, test interfaces, LEDsLots of shields and covers to contain RF energyMinimize self-interference, avoid unwanted emissions and susceptibility to external interferenceFilters do a similar job for electrical signals, but are much more selective

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#ATM16Memory: SDRAM (volatile) and FLASH (persistent)

Filters: keep interference out or contained. Can be low frequency (and even DC) to extremely high frequency36

AP-325 Functional Block Diagram

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#ATM16Digestive tract and Circulation

Power input, consumption, efficiency, output

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#ATM16Power sources and failoverAP-325 can be powered by POE or direct DC powerPOE source can be 802.3af or 802.3at compliant, delivering an AP power budget of 12.95W or 25.5WSome restrictions when limited to 802.3af power budget:Other Ethernet port disabled (can be either)USB interface disabled2.4GHz radio in 1x1 modeSlight reduction in max transmit power level from 5GHz radioWhen both sources are used, DC power is prioritized on AP-325But POE will still be negotiated and drawing a small currentWhen two POE sources are used, the first one to initiate negotiation will supply powerOther one is inactive for POECan be hard to predictAP software actually does not know which one is usedFailover: hitless between DC and POE, causing AP reboot when failing over between POE ports

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#ATM1612.95W turn into 13.8W when using CAT5E or better39

Power consumption and efficiencyAP circuitry requires multiple supply voltages5V, 3.3V, 2.5V, 1.8V, 1.35V, 1.25V, 1.05VInput voltage from POE can vary widely (37V 57V at AP), but is 48V nominallySince DC supply voltage is 12V on AP-325, POE voltage is generally converted down to 12V first. From there, all other voltages are generatedSome platforms use 48V for DC supply to avoid this additional conversion step (improved efficiency)POE to 12V conversion efficiency is ~88%To lower voltages anywhere between 55% and 92%Overall efficiency is ~76%Assuming RF transmit power is 18dBm per radio chain, thats 63mW. For 8 chains: 505mW total on the airFor Ethernet, we may put a total of another 500mW on the wire (250mW per interface, 62.5mW per pair)So, AP-325 is generating just 1W of effective energy. The rest (19W) is heat (and a fraction of LED light)

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#ATM16Starting with 20W, almost 5W is lost in the conversion circuitry

Of the remaining 15W, 14W is used to drive all the activity on the AP, 1W is delivered to the wires and airwaves

Eventually, even that remaining Watt of energy will turn into heat40

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#ATM16Create simplified version in visio41

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BrainCPU, Memory, TPM

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#ATM16CPUPicking the right CPU for an access point is tricky, and our choices are limitedCost: always critical but theres no hard limitPower consumption: affecting thermal profile and size. Exceeding the 802.3af POE budget is an obstacle, exceeding 802.3at POE+ budget is not (really) an optionPerformance: sometimes hard to assess how well it will do in an enterprise AP scenario, especially if switching to a new type of CPU (MIPS to ARM for example, single to multi-core)Interfaces and capabilities to support required AP components and capabilities (for example: number of radio cards and Ethernet ports we can connect, USB, crypto acceleration for VPN, built-in TPM, supported memory types and size, etc.)The AP-325 uses a Qualcomm-Atheros (QCA) IPQ8064 dual-core 1.4GHz CPU (Akronite)Two ARM-v7 cores, high performance DSP, 1MB L2 cache, 5Gbps network accelerator, etc.Several Ethernet MACs (we use two)Three PCIe 2.0 interfaces (we use two; one per radio)Two USB interfaces (we use one)Etc.

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#ATM16MemoryFLASHNon-volatile and programmableUsed to store bootloader, full software image, manufacturing data, config & settings, etcAP-325 uses a combination of NOR (4MB) and NAND (128MB) FLASHNAND type is more cost effective but NOR is more reliable and flexibleFor various reasons we use a combination of both (but this may change in the future)SDRAMRandom Access Memory, contents are volatile (lost when power cycling the AP)Used to store run-time code, variables, data, etcAP-325 has 512MB SDRAM, using two 2Gb parts, 16bits data interface on bothCPU can support up to 2GB of SDRAM533MHz clock speedDDR3 type (speed, efficiency)

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#ATM16DDR: double data rate. Latest version is DDR4. DDR3 is most popular currently45

TPMTrusted Platform Module (TPM) is used to store and generate security credentialsProgrammed in the factory using secure encrypted data from an Aruba serverUsed to confirm product identity to controller, software image, etc.On all HPE Aruba APs we use a dedicated standalone TPM component

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CPU

SDRAM

NOR FLASH

NAND FLASH

TPM

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#ATM16GutsEthernet, Wi-Fi Radios

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#ATM16More about Ethernet interfacesEach Ethernet interface uses four twisted pairs (so eight wires) to carry the dataData is the differential signal on the pairs, making it relatively immune to interference picked up on that Ethernet cable (up to 100m / 300ft)The common mode of the pairs is used to carry POE power (DC voltage differential between pairs)After the RJ45 jack, the first critical component is a transformer, to extract the POE DC power and transfer & isolate the data from the rest of the AP circuitryLots of filtering and protection components as wellAfter that, Ethernet PHY component which exchanges Ethernet MAC frames with the CPU

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Ethernet (802.3) MAC frame formatEthernet PHY frame (on the wire)Preamble: 7 bytesStart of Frame Delimiter (SFD): 1 byteEthernet frame: 64 1522/9022 bytes (below)Interpacket gap: 12 bytesEthernet MAC frame:MAC destination: 6 bytesMAC source: 6 bytes802.1Q tag (optional): (4 bytes)Type/Length: 2 bytesPayload: 46 1500/9000 bytesFCS: 4 bytes

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#ATM16>1500: Jumbo frame51

Transmitter TermsConducted PowerThis is the power that leaves the connectorsEIRP: Effective Isotropic Radiated PowerThis is the conducted power (dBm) + antenna gain (dBi) cable losses (dB)Peak EIRPThis is what is regulatedIt is the conducted power + peak gain cable lossesPower level reaching receiver:EIRP at receiver antenna + antenna gain (dBi) cable lossesdBm: log power ratio to milliwattdB: log gain/multiplierdBi: antenna gain relative to isotropic

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#ATM16Cable losses: between connector and actual antenna52

RF Power Basics

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#ATM16Why Use dBm Instead of milliWatts?Due to Free Space Path Loss (FSPL), the RF signal attenuates quicklymW represents the data linearly, dBm represents the data logarithmicallyExample: the amount of power received from a 2.4 GHz, 100mW (20dBm) transmitted signal:

dBm is much easier to work with

Distance (m)dBm signalmW signal1-200.0100000010-400.0001000020-460.00002500100-600.000001001000 (1km)-800.00000001

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#ATM16The unit of measure used to measure Wi-Fi transmissions is either milliwatts or dBm. When an RF signal is transmitted, due to Free Space Path Loss the amount of signal received is magnitudes less than what was transmitted.As signal moves away from the source, it naturally decreases in power due to the broadening of the wave. This decrease in power is know as Free Space Path Loss (FSPL). When using milliwatts, working with values ranging from 100 milliwatts to .000025 milliwatts or even less can be very confusing. Due to this huge variance, a different scale known as dBm is used to make working with RF communications easier. A signal transmitted at 100mW is equal to 20dBm. The .000025 mW signal that is received is equal to -46 dBm. dBm is known as decibels relative to milliwatts, with 0 dBm equal to 1 mW.As illustrated in the table, for a 2.4GHz transmitter, the signal drops by 40dB in the first meter (more later)

dBm and mW RelationshipsIncrease dBm power by 3 = double the powerDecrease dBm power by 3 = half the powerIncrease dBm power by 10 = ten times the powerDecrease dBm power by 10 = one tenth the powerdBmmW+20100+1980+1640+1320+1010+98+64+3201-30.5-60.25-90.125-100.1-130.05-160.025-190.0125-200.01

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#ATM16When dealing with milliwatts and dBms, it is important to know the rule of 10s and 3s. A 3 dBm increase is equal to double the power. A 10 dBm increase is equal to 10 times the power. This rule is also inversely true for a 3 dBm decrease or a 10 dBm decrease.

Access Point Radio Basics

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#ATM16Any system with multiple antennas qualifies as MIMO but we typically use MIMO when really talking about MIMO SDM (Spatial Division Multiplexing)

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Numerology Wave2 AP Capabilities CTX x CRX: NSU_STS : NMU_STS : SMU_STAS

Transmit chainsReceive chainsSU spatial streamsMU spatial steamsMU group sizeExamples:Aruba AP-215:3x3:3:0:0Aruba AP-325:4x4:4:3:3Aruba AP-335:4x4:4:4:3Competitor flagship product:4x4:3:3:3802.11ac Wave 2 Maximum:8x8:8:8:4

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#ATM16This is 5GHzPretty simple.. QCA chipset with MAC/BB/radio, FEMs60

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#ATM16This is the 2.4GHz radioSame here61

AP Wi-Fi Radio BasicsCPU and radio exchange layer 3 frames; Wi-Fi chipset handles conversion to MAC, BB and RFPhysical interface between CPU and radio is PCIe interfaceOn AP-325 we used separate radio cards, and these interfaces are implemented across two radio connectorsRadio handles en/de-coding to/from OFDM encoded RF dataA large number of sub carriers are individually modulatedVHT40 has 108 usable sub carriers (example below), VHT80 provides 234, VHT160 doubles thatUsing 256-QAM, we can modulate each of these in 256 distinct ways (8 bits)

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#ATM168 bits x 108 subcarriers = 864 bits312,500 symbols per second864 x 312,500 = 270MbpsAfter cyclic extension, FEC: 200MbpsVHT160: 867MbpsMIMO: multiplier62

802.11 packet/frame format

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#ATM16On the right is the PHY layer frameLeft is MAC framePayload is 0 to 11,426 bytes63

Transmitter Non-IdealitiesDAC Quantization: this is due to the limited number of bits in a practical Digital to Analog ConverterThis noise source is not affected when the power is reduced or increasedPA Non Linearity: OFDM has a high Peak to Average Ratio. The peaks in the OFDM signal cause distortions which manifest as noise like shouldersKnown as spectral regrowthFor every one 1 dB drop/gain in Tx power the regrowth drops/increases by 3 dB2 dB netThe in channel noise is referred to as EVMError Vector MagnitudeThe out of channel noise interferes with other Wi-Fi channels and determines how close we can space antennas

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802.11n Signal Frequency Domain

Digital DomainAfter DAC

PA Non Linearity802.11 Mask

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#ATM16Wideband NoiseThe quantization noise generated in the transmitter is present across all frequencies (DC to daylight)Since the radios may be tuned over either the entire 2.4 or 5 GHz band no in-band filtering can be appliedIf the radio is transmitting 18dBm conducted, per the 802.11 spec the wideband noise could be as high as -27dBm (45dB below transmit level)Our typical noise floor is at -98 dBm (20MHz BW)To operate with no impact radios in the same band need to be isolated by 71 dB (-27 + 98)Wideband noise at or below the noise floorIn reality out radios are about 10 dB better on wideband noise so the isolation requirement drops to 61 dB

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#ATM16DAS Interference: An example why filtering adds real valueWithout filtering any OOB signal that hits the receiver above -45 dBm will cause a reduction of sensitivityThis applies to any Wi-Fi receiver; the basic architecture and components are the sameThe degradation continues until about -15 dBm at which point the receiver is totally blockedWith a 100 mW (20 dBm) DAS system at 2100 MHzTx power:20 dBmEffective Rx antenna gain:3 dBi1st meter at 2100 MHz:-39 dBResulting power at 1m:-16 dBmNo impact distance (-45dBm):30 metersSummary: without special filtering the AP receiver performance will be impaired is a typical DAS antenna is within 30m (100ft)A high power outdoor cell tower can have similar impact (at a much larger distance; transmit power can be as high as 50W or 47dBm)

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#ATM16DAS: Distributed Antenna SystemOOB: Out Of Band67

Advanced Cellular CoexistenceProliferation of DAS and new LTE bands at 2.6 GHz are creating issue for Wi-Fi solutionAll HPE Aruba APs have implemented significant filtering into the 2.4 GHz radio portion to combat thisDesign solutionUse high-linear LNA followed with a high-rejection filter to achieve rejection target and little sensitivity degradation;Design target: Minimal Sensitivity degradation with -10dBm interference from 3G/4G networks (theoretical analysis).

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#ATM16Unimpaired operation at 50 cm from DAS

Strangely enough, were the only ones to implement this

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Sixth SenseBLE radio

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#ATM16AP-325 built-in BLE radioBLE beacons are rapidly gaining traction for use in locationing servicesHPE Aruba offers a complete solution for locationing with BLE beaconsThe physical beacons are offered as battery-powered standalone units, USB dongles, AC-plug-in sensor devices, and starting with the AP-325 also integrated in HPE Aruba access pointsWith previous AP models, USB dongle BLE radios could be plugged inCo-locating with APs offers the ability to interface with the BLE network from the Wi-Fi infrastructure (management, stats)Note that the AP is not self-aware of its location (no on-board GPS..). It still needs to be placed on a map or floorplan to be used as a locationing reference point

Secondary use-case: IOT gateway (future)

Bonus: wireless console interface (using app on smartphone or tablet)

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#ATM16BLE antenna on AP-325 is a bit of an after-thought..

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Heart and SoulSoftware

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#ATM16The softer side of the AP-325Weve been talking much about the body (inside and out) of the AP, the hardwareUntil now, we havent touched the heart and soul of the AP: the software.The AP code written by hundreds of engineers interacts with the radio chipsets, wired networking components, and many of the other components weve been discussing here.The primary task of the AP software running on the CPU is to efficiently moving data packets between the two primary networking interfaces without ever becoming a bottleneck for performance.In addition to that basic task, the software maintains and reports tons of data for the many devices and datastreams associated with the AP, and it manipulates the data its handling in many waysThe AP-325 can have up to 255 active clients per radio, although 100 is a more practical limitAlong with manufacturing and product data, the software image is stored (in compressed format) in FLASH. It executes from SDRAM memory, where it also maintains data, variables, tables, etc.Its the software that makes these devices truly shine. Features like ClientMatch, AppRF, UCC, etc. couldnt exist without the right AP platform. But it wouldnt be much without the software either.

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#ATM16Thank youOnno Harms, onno@hpe.com

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Join Arubas Titans of Tomorrow force in the fight against network mayhem. Find out what your IT superpower is.

Share your results with friends and receive a free superpower t-shirt.

www.arubatitans.com

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#ATM16Contest Overview - Aruba is running a marketing campaign where we ask What is your IT superpower? - Go to arubatitans.com to take a quick quiz to discover your superpower. - Share your results with friends and encourage others to play the game- Once you share, go to the Social and Community Hub, Gracia Commons, 3rd fl to pick up your free superpower shirt.

FAQ 1. What do I have to do to get a shirt? Share your IT superpower results with friends and encourage them to play the game. Then come to the Social & Community Hub, 3rd Floor Gracia Commons to pick up your shirt. We just need your name and badge for verification. 2. Where do I get my shirt?Come to the #ATM16 Social & Community hub located at Gracia Commons on the 3rd Floor3. Do I have to be at the event to get the shirt?Yes. You have to be at #ATM16 to get a shirt.4. Can I get my colleague a shirt? He/she is in a session right now. Unfortunately not. We encourage your colleague to participate so that they can win a shirt for themselves. 5. Can I bring a shirt home for my colleague? Unfortunately not. You have to be at #ATM16 to get a shirt. 6. You dont have a shirt in my size, can you ship the right size to me later? Unfortunately not. Please select the best size from our inventory on site.

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