1. The Problems – 3rd Generation inc Cisco, Aruba, Trapeze The Solution – 4th Generation – Extricom
Design and Maintenance
- Extensive RF surveys and cell planning must be conducted. - The Extricom WLAN System reduces the complexity of RF surveys and cell
planning.
- Each AP may only require basic configuration, however parts of the
network must be reconfigured to support the Wireless infrastructure. - Extricom’s UltraThin APs are placed where needed for best coverage and do
not require configuration.
- Careful location of Access Points must be considered. Alterations in the
environment affect the RF coverage and re-planning may be required. - All APs use the same channel and the Extricom Switch coordinates the APs to
eliminate co-channel interference.
- All Access Points require a source of power and network connectivity.
Additional power supplies/power injectors and LAN infrastructure may be - The Extricom WLAN Switch supplies power for all the connected Extricom APs
required. through built-in PoE.
Reliable Wireless Connectivity
- Clients are only able to communicate with one AP per transmission. - With every AP on the same channel, the Extricom switch receives multiple
When APs are deployed in difficult environments, RF retries will be copies of each client transmission and chooses the best AP to transmit the
increased reducing the overall performance. If the AP becomes reply, making the system highly resilient to RF interference and ensuring the
congested, reduced throughput will significantly impact voice clients. highest possible throughput.
The Future of Wireless – 802.11n
- Channel and cell planning becomes very difficult due to the unpredictable
- The Extricom Channel Blanket Architecture is a perfect match for the
coverage patterns of 802.11n.
unpredictable coverage patterns of 802.11n APs. In an Extricom system,
overlapping coverage from adjacent APs is not a problem.
- 802.11n cannot be used for full performance in the 2.4GHz range due
insufficient non-overlapping channels when bonded.
- 802.11n can be deployed in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz without compromising the
performance. Multiple radios can be configured for 802.11n in the same AP.
- Existing 802.11a/b/g clients reduce the overall throughput of the high
speed WLAN. The only option is to prevent the devices from connecting
- Existing 802.11a/b/g clients can be placed on separate blankets to optimize
at all, however with an array of 802.11a/b/g/n clients present on today’s
service for both ‘n’ and legacy devices
networks this proves almost impossible.

2. Seamless Roaming
- Clients are required to re-associate to each AP as they move through the - Client devices move anywhere within the Extricom Channel Blanket without
site. Higher levels of security cannot be implemented as the overhead will experiencing inter-AP handoffs, re-authentication or latency, enabling no-
increase the hand-off with voice clients impacted the most. handoff mobility for enterprise wireless LANs.
Service Levels
- Each AP has to logically divide its radios in order to provide separate - Extricom provides physical segregation of wireless clients and applications.
voice, data and legacy WLANs. Policies are used to attempt to provide Voice clients can be isolated on one channel, data clients use another, and
appropriate air time however it relies on all clients on the network to legacy 802.11b clients can be separated from newer 802.11n clients. This
abiding by the rules. This also means that older clients joining an AP flexible approach translates into more stable and predictable wireless LAN
impact on all other devices attached. performance and the ability to offer service level guarantees.
Location Services
- Additional APs with reduced transmit power must be deployed to provide - As all AP’s operate on the same channel, clients will be heard by each AP in
greater accuracy. Even then, as several channels are used in cell based the area providing greater accuracy. Separate blankets can be dedicated to
architecture, a client won’t be heard by all APs in an area. This requires monitor devices whilst other blankets can still transmit to clients.
further APs to be configured in a monitor only state, not able to serve
client transmissions. - As all blankets operate within the same channel, RFID Active Tags do not
need to continually scan, improving battery life x 3.
- As multiple channels are used, battery life in RFID Active Tags is reduced
due to scanning requirements.
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