Smart RF Policies

Self Monitoring At Run Time RF Management (Smart RF) is an innovation designed to simplify RF configurations for new deployments, while (over time) providing on-going deployment optimization radio performance improvements.

A Smart RF policy can reduce deployment costs by scanning the RF environment to determine the best channel and transmit power for each radio. Smart RF policies can be added to specific RF Domains to apply site specific deployment configurations and self-healing values to device groups.

Smart RF centralizes the decision process and makes intelligent RF configuration decisions using data obtained from the RF environment. Smart RF helps reduce ongoing management and maintenance costs by constantly monitoring the network for external WiFi interference, neighbor WiFi interference, non-WiFi interference and client connectivity. Smart RF then intelligently applies various algorithms to arrive at the optimal channel and power selection for all access points in the network and constantly reacts to changes in the RF environment.

Smart RF also provides self-healing functions by monitoring the network in real-time and provides automatic mitigation from potentially problematic events such as radio interference, non-WiFi interference (noise), external WiFi interference, coverage holes and radio failures. Smart RF employs self-healing to enable a WLAN to better maintain wireless client performance and site coverage during dynamic RF environment changes, which typically require manual reconfiguration to resolve.

Smart RF is supported on any RF Domain manager. In standalone environments, an individual controller, service platform or access point manages the calibration and monitoring phases. In clustered environments, a single device is elected a Smart RF master and the remaining cluster members operate as Smart RF clients. In cluster operation, the Smart RF master co-ordinates the calibration and configuration and during the monitoring phase receives information from the Smart RF clients.

If a Smart RF managed radio is operating in WLAN mode on a channel requiring DFS, it will switch channels if radar is detected.

• If Smart RF is enabled, the radio picks a channel defined in the Smart RF policy.
• If Smart RF is disabled, but a Smart RF policy is mapped, the radio picks a channel specified in the Smart RF policy.
• If no Smart RF policy is mapped, the radio selects a random channel.

If the radio is a dedicated sensor, it stops termination on that channel if a neighboring access points detects radar. The access point attempts to come back to its original channel (statically configured or selected by Smart RF) after the channel evacuation period has expired.

Change this behavior using a no dfs-rehome command from the controller or service platform CLI. This keeps the radio on the newly selected channel and prevents the radio from coming back to the original channel, even after the channel evacuation period.

Note

RF planning must be performed to ensure overlapping coverage exists at a deployment site for Smart RF to be a viable network performance tool. Smart RF can only provide recovery when access points are deployed appropriately. Smart RF is not a solution, it's a temporary measure. Administrators need to determine the root cause of RF deterioration and fix it. Smart RF history/events can assist.