User guide

Glossary
Wireless Controller Terms and Abbreviations
SCALANCE WLC711
User Guide, V8.11, 07/2012, C79000-G8976-C260-03 A-15
Wireless Controller Terms and Abbreviations
Table A-2 Wireless Controller Terms and Abbreviations
Term Explanation
DRM (dynamic radio/RF
management)
Dynamic Radio Management (DRM) functionality of the SCALANCE IWLAN Controller is
used to help establish the optimum radio configuration for your Wireless APs. DRM is
enabled by default. The SCALANCE IWLAN Controller’s DRM:
• Adjusts power levels to balance coverage if another Wireless AP, which is assigned to
the same SSID and is on the same channel, is added to or leaves the network.
• Allows wireless clients to be moved to another Wireless AP if the load is too high.
• Scans automatically for a channel, using a channel selection algorithm.
• Avoids other WLANs by reducing transmit power whenever other Wireless APs with the
same channel, but different SSIDs are detected.
The DRM feature is comprised of two functions:
• Auto Channel Selection (ACS) — ACS provides an easy way to optimize channel
arrangement based on the current situation in the field. ACS provides an optimal
solution only if it is triggered on all Wireless APs in a deployment. Triggering ACS on a
single Wireless AP or on a subset of Wireless APs provides a useful but suboptimal
solution. Also, ACS only relies on the information observed at the time it is triggered.
Once a Wireless AP has selected a channel, it will remain operating on that channel until
the user changes the channel or triggers ACS.
• Auto Tx Power Control (ATPC) — ATPC guarantees your LAN a stable RF environment
by automatically adapting transmission power signals according to the coverage
provided by the Wireless APs. ATPC can be either enabled or disabled.
SCALANCE IWLAN
Controller
The SCALANCE IWLAN Controller is a rack-mountable network device designed to be
integrated into an existing wired Local Area Network (LAN). It provides centralized control
over all access points (both Wireless APs and third-party access points) and manages the
network assignment of wireless device clients associating through access points.
Langley Langley is a SCALANCE WLC711 term for the inter-process messaging infrastructure on
the SCALANCE IWLAN Controller.
Mitigator The Mitigator is a mechanism that assists in the detection of rogue access points. The
feature has three components: (1) a radio frequency (RF) scanning task that runs on the
Wireless AP, (2) an application called the Data Collector on the SCALANCE IWLAN
Controller that receives and manages the RF scan messages sent by the Wireless AP, (3)
an Analysis Engine on the SCALANCE IWLAN Controller that processes the scan data.
Mobility manager (and
mobility agent)
The technique by which multiple SCALANCE IWLAN Controllers on a network can discover
each other and exchange information about a client session. This enables a wireless
device user to roam seamlessly between different Wireless APs on different SCALANCE
IWLAN Controllers, to provide mobility to the wireless device user.
One SCALANCE IWLAN Controller on the network must be designated as the mobility
manager. All other SCALANCE IWLAN Controllers are designated as mobility agents.
Relying on SLP, the mobility manager registers with the Directory Agent and the mobility
agents discover the location of the mobility manager.
Data Collector The Data Collector is an application on the SCALANCE IWLAN Controller that receives and
manages the Radio Frequency (RF) scan messages sent by the Wireless AP. This
application is part of the Mitigator technique, working in conjunction with the scanner
mechanism and the Analysis Engine to assist in detecting rogue access points.