Wireless Design Services is one of the most underrated functions in not just tech but every aspect of our day-to-day life. Wireless Design Services serve as the very basis for some of the most sophisticated and cutting-edge technology that is used all over the world today. This blog is about the unsung strategy that goes into implementing state of the art network connectivity.
Since the wireless communication network is playing an increasingly vital role in machine-to-machine communication, the scope of wireless services is no longer restricted to guest users. Business everywhere have heavily invested in wireless technology to ensure seamless connectivity and workflow optimization.
There are several use cases for wireless design services in the context of industries. A basic design framework is important to ensure deployment of desired features in operations like continuous process monitoring, discrete system control, mobile applications, and spectrum harmonization.
Wireless network design in the instance of Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) is a multi-disciplinary challenge. It requires the development of verticals and networked industrial systems on a case-to-case basis. These varied configuration requirements call for identifying and tackling potential performance markers within the fundamental design framework itself. The design of such wireless services requires the collaboration of operational technology system engineers, enterprise IT architects and wireless network planners.
Designing a framework for wireless services, especially for industrial purposes, demands an understanding of the impact factors from distinct practices like industrial operations, data service domain and IT infrastructure. Once impact factors are identified, the next step involves grouping several factors and ascertaining their respective resource utilization and performance metrics.
There are five main strategic steps taken before laying down a design framework for any wireless service.
- A thorough analysis of the complex use cases in separate technical practices in an organization. For example, OT applications, IIOT data services and IT infrastructures. Each of these verticals will inevitably have distinct demands, in terms of wireless network performance. By adopting a collaborative framework, OT engineers, IT administrators and network planners can address design issues and benefit from their collective domain expertise.
- Wireless network design at such a huge organizational scale does not happen in isolation, it is a unified process. Available resources and service requirements must be identified for this purpose.
- Further classification of service performance in terms of throughput, volume, and coverage along with Resource Utilization (Computing, time and power consumed) is measured and quantified as a part of system metrics.
- This must be further distilled to problem objectives and the constraints or conditions pertaining to the development of the wireless model.
- The next step is to bridge the impact factors to design elements. After verifying a unified logical model of design, comes the solutions delivery stage. Insights are compiled and integrated into creating new system protocols, algorithms, optimization, and necessary customization.
In a general sense, a few questions to consider even before the deployment of a WLAN are as follows:
- Why is the wireless network needed?
- How many clients will be using it at a time or always?
- Who are the various target users and what are their unique requirements?
- What level of data security and network protection is required?
- What applications will be utilized over the wireless medium?
- As mentioned before, what are the systemic preconditions for the wireless design deliverables.
- What are the infrastructural constraints and are they adequate to support use cases like mobility and roaming for various applications?
When designing a comprehensive framework to deploy Wi-Fi network design, one must keep the following in mind:
- Prioritizing and adequately allocating resources to build capacity and coverage in a distinct manner.
- Accommodate scalability for future modifications and additions in the planning phase itself.
- Confirm device types and the existing capabilities of different channels, sensitivity, authentication norms and encryption methods.
- Gauge the transmit power requirement for devices. The access point (AP) transmit power should be equal or lower than that of whom you are servicing.
- Ensure protection against factors like Co- Channel Interference (CCI), transmit power, frequency band in use, data rates etc.
- Leverage the information gathered from physical site surveys and identify where all APs cannot be installed and where it can be positioned alternatively. In case of high-density locations, APs must be placed in a way that it minimizes CCI.
- Recognize that the placement for AP differs from a data or voice wireless LAN. In case of deploying tools like Real Time Location System (RTLS), APs are usually installed in a triangulation pattern in and around the perimeters of the coverage area.
- Consider use of cloud-based operations for small and medium sized deployments.
- Incorporating resilience and tolerance in every layer of the stack, whether it is for AP controllers, switches, management, network devices etc.
- Need for constant maintenance, performance monitoring, modification and evaluation is also vital to the design process.
To boil it down, the essence of wireless network design rests on considerations like availability, devices, applications, performance and system metrics, security policies, and scalability. Wireless design services are intricate but powerfully enable complex business operations. The future is wireless and wireless design services are an indispensable part of that transformation.