smart-sensor

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 sensor APs required, 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.

In a Smart-RF monitored deployment, neighbor details and configuration updates are collected in the Smart-RF neighbor table. This information is used by 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—this process is referred to as smart-sensor calibration. 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).

You can use the smart-sensor-status-timer command to set a timer to initiate a check of radio sensor status. If all sensors are "Off", recalibration for the smart-sensor feature is automatically triggered.

Smart-sensor is supported on both tri-radio and dual-radio APs. The Smart-sensor feature can be configured to select either both tri-radio and dual-radio APs or only tri-radio APs from the Smart-RF neighbor table and auto-provision them as sensors. By default, Smart-sensor selects only tri-radio APs in mixed dual-radio and tri-radio deployments. You must disable the parameter tri-radio-only to enforce selection and provisioning of both tri-radio and dual-radio APs as sensors.

Following are the possible deployment scenarios:
Deployments with only dual-radio APs
Dual-radio APs will operate in radio-share mode
Deployments with only tri-radio APs
AP5010 will operate in radio-share mode on R1
Other supported tri-radio APs will operate as dedicated sensors
Deployments with a mix of tri-radio and dual-radio APs
Dual-radio APs will operate in radio-share mode
AP5010 will operate in radio-share mode on R1
Other supported tri-radio APs will operate as dedicated sensors

Supported on the following devices:

Syntax

smart-sensor {algorithm|auto-trigger|band|tri-radio-only}

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

smart-sensor {auto-trigger}

smart-sensor {band [smart-band-24GHz|smart-band-5GHz|smart-band-6GHz]}

smart-sensor tri-radio-only

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-band-6GHz]}
smart-sensor Enables the Smart-sensor feature and configures the required parameters.
smart-sensor auto-trigger Optional. Enables/disables auto-triggering of smart-sensor calibration.
Note: The auto-trigger option is enabled by default. To disable auto-trigger, issue the no smart-sensor auto-trigger command.

The Smart-sensor feature uses an algorithmic function to identify the APs that are 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, unless the smart-sensor-status-timer is enabled, in which case, re-calibration may occur automatically.

In the event that—post auto-provisioning of the APs as sensor—the number of APs deployed changes or if the AP deployment pattern changes, a re-calibration may be needed. Under certain conditions, if the smart-sensor-status-timer is enabled, re-calibration will occur automatically. Otherwise, to initiate re-calibration you must manually issue the trigger-smart-sensor command to invoke the algorithm. In either case, ensure that the selected 'algorithm cell-type' is appropriate considering the changed AP deployment scenario.
band [smart-band-24GHz|smart-band-5GHz|smart-band-6GHz] Optional. Sets the band (2.4GHz/ 5GHz/ 6GHz) used in the neighbor list collection process for the Smart-sensor feature. Options are:
  • smart-band-24GHz: Smart-sensor assigns neighbor APs in the 2.4 GHz band as sensors.
  • smart-band-5GHz: Smart-sensor assigns neighbor APs in the 5 GHz band as sensors.
    Note: 5 GHz is the default setting.
  • smart-band-6GHz: Smart-sensor assigns neighbor APs in the 6 GHz band as sensors.
 
smart-sensor tri-radio-only
smart-sensor Enables the Smart-sensor feature and configures the required parameters
tri-radio-only This option restricts the Smart-sensor algorithm to only select and provision tri-radio APs as sensors.
Note: It is enabled by default.

If your deployment consists of a mix of tri-radio and dual-radio APs, execute the no smart-sensor tri-radio-only command. When executed, the Smart-sensor algorithm equally selects and provisions tri-radio and dual-radio APs as sensors.

Examples

To enable the Smart-sensor feature:
  1. Create a Smart-RF policy. 
    nx9500-6C8809(config)#smart-rf-policy smt-sensor
    1. Enable smart-sensor.
      nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#smart-sensor
    2. Optionally, specify the band (2.4GHz/ 5GHz/6GHz) used for sensor selection from neighbor list. The default value is smart-band-5GHz.
      nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-test)#smart-sensor band smart-band-24GHz
    3. 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

      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).
    4. View the basic Smart-sensor settings.
      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
 smart-sensor tri-radio-only
nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#
      Note

      Note

      The auto-trigger and tri-radio-only options are enabled by default.
    5. If necessary, disable the tri-radio-only option. This step is required if you have a mixed-deployment consisting of tri-radio and dual-radio APs, and you want Smart-sensor to use both tri-radio and dual-radio APs as sensors. 
      nx9500-6C8809(config-smart-rf-policy-smt-sensor)#no smart-sensor tri-radio-only
  2. Optionally, enable the smart-sensor-status-timer to automate a smart-sensor status check and re-calibration if all sensors that were assigned during the last calibration are 'Off' due, for example, to changes in the AP deployment pattern.
  3. 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
9037762-04 Rev AB