Wireless Controller, Service Platform and Access Point CLI Reference Guide

Enables auto-provisioning of APs as sensor within a site (RF Domain).

In a typical WLAN, getting the right balance between the number of APs functioning as sensors and APs providing WLAN service is a serious challenge. The challenge increases exponentially with increase in the size of the deployment. As a rule, approximately 1/3 of the APs within a site should be configured as sensors to provide adequate coverage and monitor WLAN activity. Determining the minimum number of APs required for sufficient coverage of the entire site, selecting the APs ideally located to work as sensors and provisioning them as sensors is a cumbersome process. The Smart-sensor feature automates this process using an algorithm to identify sensor APs.

In a Smart-RF monitored deployment, neighbor details and configuration updates are collected in the Smart-RF neighbor table. This information is used in the algorithm to create a cluster of cells, with each cell representing an AP. The algorithm then identifies APs with best coverage area and provisions them as sensors. The algorithmic calculations vary depending on the cell size. The current implementation provides two algorithms based on whether the AP deployment is dense (small cell size) or sparse (big cell size).

Note

Currently Smart-sensor is only supported on the tri-radio AP8533 and AP4xx model APs. The Smart-sensor calibration only selects tri-radio APs from the Smart-RF neighbor table to provision as sensors.

Supported in the following platforms:

Access Points — AP4XX, AP8533

Syntax

smart-sensor {algorithm|auto-trigger|band}

smart-sensor algorithm cell-size [dense|sparse]

smart-sensor {auto-trigger}

smart-sensor {band [smart-band-24GHz|smart-band-5GHz]}

Parameters

smart-sensor algorithm cell-size [dense|sparse]


smart-sensor	Enables the Smart-sensor feature and configures the required parameters
algorithm	Uses an algorithm to calibrate a cluster of cells and identify APs best suited to be provisioned as sensors.
cell-size [dense\|sparse]	Selects the algorithm to use based on the cell size. The options are: sparse - Selects the algorithm suitable for sparse deployments. In sparse deployments, the cell-size is 'big', with APs deployed far apart from each other. dense - Selects the algorithm suitable for dense deployments. In dense deployments, the cell-size is 'small', with APs deployed close to each other. Note: By default none of the algorithmic options is selected.

smart-sensor {auto-trigger|band [smart-band-24GHz|smart-band-5GHz]}


smart-sensor	Enables the Smart-sensor feature and configures the required parameters
auto-trigger	Optional. Enables/disables auto-triggering of smart-sensor calibration. Note: The auto-trigger option is enabled by default. To disable auto-trigger, use the no > smart-sensor > auto-trigger command. The Smart-sensor feature uses an algorithmic function to identify tri-radio APs best suited to be provisioned as sensors. This algorithmic function is auto-triggered when the Smart-sensor feature is enabled for the first time. Auto-triggering of calibration is a one-time process. In case, post auto-provisioning of the APs as sensor, the number of APs deployed has changed or if the AP deployment pattern has changed a re-calibration maybe need. To initiate re-calibration, you will have to manually issue the trigger-smart-sensor command to trigger the algorithm. However, ensure that the algorithm-type selected is in line with the changed AP deployment scenario.
band [smart-band-24GHZ\|smart-band-5GHZ]	Optional. Selects the band (2.4GHz/ 5GHz) used for neighbor list selection for the Smart-sensor feature. Selects the 2.4 GHz band. When selected Smart-sensor uses neighbor APs in the 2.4 GHz band to assign as sensors. Selects the 5 GHz band. When selected Smart-sensor uses neighbor APs in the 5 GHz band to assign as sensors. Note: This is the default setting.

Examples

To enable the Smart-sensor feature:

Create a Smart-RF policy, and configure the following parameters:
1. Enable smart-sensor.
```
nx9500-6C8809(config)#smart-rf-policy smt-sensor
```
```
nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#smart-sensor
```
  Note
  If needed specify the band (2.4GHz/ 5GHz) used for neighbor list selection. The default value is 'smart-band-5GHZ'.
```
nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-test)#smart-sensor band smart-band-24GHZ
```
2. Select the algorithmic function best suited for your deployment.
```
nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#smart-sensor-algorithm cell-size [dense|sparse]
```
  Note
  Select 'dense' if the cell size is small (distance between neighboring APs is small). Select 'sparse' if the cell size if large (distance between neighboring APs is large).
```
nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#show context
smart-rf-policy smt-sensor
 no select-shutdown
 smart-sensor
 smart-sensor-algorithm cell-size sparse
 smart-sensor auto-trigger
 smart-sensor band smart-band-24GHZ
nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#
```
  Note
  Auto-trigger option is enabled by default.
Apply the Smart-RF policy to the AP's RF Domain.
```
nx9500-6C8809(config-rf-domain-smt-sensor)#use smart-rf-policy smt-sensor
```

Related Commands


no (smart-rf-policy-config-mode-command)	Disables the smart-sensor feature