802.11ac - Wireless Gigabit Speeds Driving Changes in Wireless Analysis

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Jay Botelho

Director of Product Management

WildPackets

[email protected]

Follow me @jaybotelho

802.11ac Wireless Gigabit Speeds Driving Changes

in Wireless Analysis

© WildPackets, Inc. #wp_wirelesspackets

Were You Aware…

• How many ratified 802.11 standards are in place as of

today (April 17, 2013)? a) 12

b) 19

c) 22

d) 25

e) 28

• How many new standards are currently in process? a) 3

b) 5

c) 8

d) 9

e) 10


Administrivia

• All callers are on mute ‒ If you have problems, please let us know via the Chat window

• There will be Q&A at the end ‒ Feel free to type a question at any time

• Slides and recording will be available: ‒ Via a follow-up email

3


Agenda

• 802.11ac Basics

• 802.11ac Use Cases – Consumer vs. Enterprise

• 802.11ac vs. 802.11n

• WLAN Analysis – Then and Now

• WildPackets Corporate Overview

• WildPackets Product Line Overview

4


Were You Aware…

• How many ratified 802.11 standards are in place as of

today (March 14, 2012)? a) 12

b) 19

c) 22

d) 25

e) 28

• How many new standards are currently in process? a) 3

b) 5

c) 8

d) 9

e) 10


Ratified

• IEEE 802.11-1997: The original WLAN standard

• IEEE 802.11a: 54 Mbit/s, 5 GHz standard (1999)

• IEEE 802.11b: Enhancements to 802.11 to support 5.5 and 11 Mbit/s (1999)

• IEEE 802.11c: Bridge operation procedures; included in the IEEE 802.1D standard (2001)

• IEEE 802.11d: International (country-to-country) roaming extensions (2001)

• IEEE 802.11e: Enhancements: QoS, including packet bursting (2005)

• IEEE 802.11g: 54 Mbit/s, 2.4 GHz standard (backwards compatible with b) (2003)

• IEEE 802.11h: Spectrum Managed 802.11a (5 GHz) for European compatibility (2004)

• IEEE 802.11i: Enhanced security (2004)

• IEEE 802.11j: Extensions for Japan (2004)

• IEEE 802.11-2007: A new release of the standard that includes amendments a, b, d, e, g, h, i & j. (July 2007)

• IEEE 802.11k: Radio resource measurement enhancements (2008)

• IEEE 802.11n: Higher throughput improvements using MIMO (multiple input, multiple output antennas) (September 2009)

• IEEE 802.11p: WAVE—Wireless Access for the Vehicular Environment (such as ambulances and passenger cars) (July 2010)

• IEEE 802.11r: Fast BSS transition (FT) (2008)

• IEEE 802.11s: Mesh Networking, Extended Service Set (ESS) (July 2011)

• IEEE 802.11u: Interworking with non-802 networks (for example, cellular) (February 2011)

• IEEE 802.11v: Wireless network management (February 2011)

• IEEE 802.11w: Protected Management Frames (September 2009)

• IEEE 802.11y: 3650–3700 MHz Operation in the U.S. (2008)

• IEEE 802.11z: Extensions to Direct Link Setup (DLS) (September 2010)

• IEEE 802.11-2012: A new release of the standard that includes amendments k, n, p, r, s, u, v, w, y and z (March 2012)

• IEEE 802.11aa: Robust streaming of Audio Video Transport Streams (June 2012)

• IEEE 802.11ad: Very High Throughput 60 GHz (Dec 2012)

• IEEE 802.11ae: QoS Management (Mar 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11 6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11


In Process

• IEEE 802.11ac: Very High Throughput <6 GHz (Feb 2014)

• IEEE 802.11af: TV Whitespace (June 2014)

• IEEE 802.11ah: Sub 1 GHz (Mar 2016)

• IEEE 802.11ai: Fast Initial Link Setup (Feb 2015)

• IEEE 802.11mc: Maintenance of the standard (March 2015)

• IEEE 802.11aj: China Millimeter Wave (October 2016)

• IEEE 802.11aq: Pre-association Discovery (May 2015)

• IEEE 802.11ak: General Link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11


802.11ac Basics

8


802.11ac Highlights

• 802.11n “lessons learned”

• Wider channel bandwidths; More MIMO

‒ 80 MHz and 160 MHz channel

‒ Support for up to 8 spatial streams

• Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO)

‒ Multiple STAs transmit or receive independent data streams

simultaneously

‒ Downlink MU-MIMO (one transmitting device, multiple receiving

devices) included as an optional mode

• Low level MAC and RF improvements

‒ Beam forming improvements

‒ MAC modifications (mostly to support above changes)

‒ Coexistence mechanisms for 20/40/80/160 MHz channels, 11ac and

11a/n devices

9


Example 802.11ac Configurations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac


802.11ac Status

• Not scheduled for

IEEE ratification until

Feb 2014, but …

http://reviews.cnet.com/best-wireless-networking-devices/


802.11ac Status – And …

12

http://www.engadget.com/tag/802.11ac/


802.11ac Use Cases

Consumer vs. Enterprise

13


802.11ac – “The Multimedia Home”

• Wi-Fi Direct

• Video streaming/set-

top boxes

• Data syncing and

backup

• 3G and 4G offloading


What Will Drive Enterprise Adoption?

• Ratification and certification

• Cost and availability

• Unique bandwidth needs

• The “yet-to-be-identified killer video app” –

telepresence??

• The true “wireless office”, should it become a reality

– remember Bluetooth??

• BYOD – grassroots pressure from mobile device

users


802.11ac vs. 802.11n

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802.11n: Higher Throughput Improvements

Using MIMO

• Description ‒ Significant enhancements in data rate and range

‒ Uses new technologies including MIMO, channel

bonding, aggregation, short guard interval

• Use cases and market penetration ‒ Becoming the de-facto standard for commercially

available WLAN equipment – both consumer and

enterprise

‒ High-density deployments; multimedia

applications; forklift upgrades

• Compatibility and analysis implications ‒ Backward compatible with a/b/g, but older technologies limit overall

improvements

‒ Not all network analysis software and hardware is up to the task

‒ Make WLAN analysis upgrades part of the overall 802.11n upgrade

17

http://linksys-

de.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/21194/~

/intermittent-wireless-signal-with-802.11n-routers-

and-access-points

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=725RTQW4M6iJMM&tbnid=IcNHhvqEX7DCcM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://linksys-de.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/21194/~/intermittent-wireless-signal-with-802.11n-routers-and-access-points&ei=zi8gUfKeMMbOiwLK6YHgBA&bvm=bv.42661473,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNEoRzknpD6t3c_lPeK4TkpM-Lf6UQ&ust=1361150184685191


802.11ac: Very High Throughput <6 GHz

• Description ‒ Significant improvement over 802.11n –

higher throughput for less power

‒ Wi-Fi MIMO “multicast”

• Use cases and market penetration ‒ Commercial penetration for multimedia

over Wi-Fi

‒ WFA certification coming soon – based

on draft standard

‒ Will become the standard for 802.11

networking infrastructure going forward

• Compatibility and analysis implications ‒ Backward compatible with a/b/g/n, but older technologies limit overall

improvements

‒ Only operates at 5GHz, significantly reducing compatibility issues

‒ New speeds require new methods for detailed analysis

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http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=H7AJ97P5IF2E4M&tbnid=jK7n_vtp-bVojM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/802-11ac-gigabit-wi-fi-devices-will-be-shipping-in-2012/1867&ei=68JtUci2FueXigKm6IC4DQ&bvm=bv.45218183,d.cGE&psig=AFQjCNG0_qINiNYEqiSn8lu5vSVZc-FoGA&ust=1366234157761587


802.11ac vs. 802.11n

• Gigabit speed wireless with approximately 3 times the performance for

the same power

• Better performance at any range with fewer dead spots

• More reliable connections for media streaming with beam-forming

• More Wi-Fi bandwidth on your mobile

• Only utilizes the 5 GHz band - much less prone to interference

• Backward compatible to 802.11 a/n

http://www.netgear.com/landing/80211ac/images/wp_netgear_802_11ac_wifi.pdf

http://www.netgear.com/landing/80211ac/images/wp_netgear_802_11ac_wifi.pdf


WLAN Analysis – Then and Now

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Then …

• Locally connected

devices

• Commercially available

USB devices

• Multiple devices for

channel aggregation

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The Problem with “Then”

• I’m most probably NOT near the problem

• I still need supported devices

• I need supported devices that equal or exceed the

most capable devices on my network – now 802.11ac

• And, most importantly …

• USB is simply NOT up to the task!

22


USB

• USB 1.1 (Full Speed) ‒ September 1998

‒ 12 Mbps

‒ If you still have equipment with v1.1, get

something new!

• USB 2.0 (High Speed) ‒ April 2000

‒ 480 Mbps theoretical; 280 Mbps effective

‒ Extremely common for laptops in use

• USB 3.0 (Super Speed) ‒ November 2008

‒ 5 Gbps theoretical; 3.2 Gbps effective

23

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USB_Icon.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Certified_Hi-Speed_USB.svg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SuperSpeed_USB.svg


Now Let’s Review

24


Doing Some 802.11ac Math

• Assume 2-antenna APs and STAs at 80MHz = 867

Mbps

• Assume effective throughput of 520 Mbps (60%)

• Assume you can “hear” 3 different APs

• If our analysis requires aggregating data from the 3

distinct APs together, the aggregated analysis

throughput is

• 1.56 Gbps

• Using USB devices, v3.0 is required for both the

WLAN adapters AND the laptop – not easy to find!

25


And It Will Get Faster …

• Assume an 8-antenna AP, 4 2-antenna stations at 160

MHz using MU-MIMO (1.73 Gbps to each STA)

• Assume effective throughput of 1.04 Gbps (60%)

• If our analysis requires aggregating data from the 4

STAs together, the aggregated analysis throughput

is

• 4.16 Gbps

• This exceeds the 3.2 Gbps effect rate for USB 3.0, the

very best the market has to offer

26


So, What “Now”?

• As wireless approaches wired speeds, it’s time to

start relying on the wire

• Distributed analysis using deployed assets – APs –

is the only effective solution as wireless speeds

grow

• The choices: ‒ Remote PCap

‒ Custom Remote Adapters

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Remote Pcap

• A WinPcap feature that allows interaction with a

remote machine to capture packets

• The remote device must be running the remote Pcap

daemon (rpcapd)

• Remote Capture Protocol (RPCAP) modes: ‒ Passive Mode (default): analyzer connects to the remote

daemon, sends the appropriate commands, starts the capture

‒ Active Mode: remote daemon tries to establish a connection to

the analyzer, the analyzer sends the appropriate commands to

the daemon, starts the capture

• Simply start a capture on the analyzer and point it to

the available RPCAP interfaces

28


Remote Pcap (cont.)

29


Support for RPCAP

• Not easy to find – this isn’t a “marketed feature” for

manufacturers

• Devices we have worked with include: ‒ Aerohive: Model HiveAP 120

‒ Ruckus: ZoneFlex 7363 (requires ZoneDirector Controller)

• Others that we’re aware of: ‒ Cisco MDS 9216

• We will continue to compile a list

30


Custom Remote Adapters

• Allow an AP that can be put into promiscuous mode

to act like a direct-connected sniffing device

• Allow the full capabilities of the AP to be leveraged

• APs are “reconfigured” via the AP controller

software

• Depending on the manufacturer and the model, APs

may or may not be able to continue sending traffic

• Once configured, choosing the remote adapter from

within OmniPeek allows wireless packets to be

collected directly from the AP

31



32



• Cisco

• Aruba

• Meru

• Coming soon: Quantenna

33


OmniPeek and 802.11ac

• Continued support for USB WLAN adapters ‒ OmniWiFi for 11n

‒ New adapters for 802.11ac

• Continued support for Custom Remote Adapters ‒ Test new APs for 802.11ac

‒ New manufacturers

• RPCAP support ‒ Built into upcoming release of OmniPeek

‒ Climbing the learning curve

‒ Test with APs as they’re indentified

‒ Compile a list of APs with support

34


Q&A

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WildPackets Corporate Overview

Optimizing Network and Application Performance


Corporate Background

• Experts in network monitoring, analysis, and troubleshooting

‒ Founded: 1990 / Headquarters: Walnut Creek, CA

‒ Offices throughout the US, EMEA, and APAC

• Customers spanning leading edge organizations

‒ Mid-market and enterprise lines of business

‒ Financial, manufacturing, ISPs, major federal agencies,

state and local governments, universities

‒ Over 7,000 customers / 60+ countries / 80% of Fortune 1,000

• Award-winning solutions that improve network performance

‒ Internet Telephony, Network Magazine, Network Computing awards

‒ United States Patent 5,787,253 issued July 28, 1998 • “Apparatus and Method of Analyzing Internet Activity”


Why Our Customers Need Us

• VoIP, video, cloud, virtualization, and key business

applications are saturating critical network services

• Evolving network technologies create discontinuities ‒ 1 Gig 10 Gig 40 Gig 100 Gig networks

‒ Wireless, BYOD initiatives

• Users and business can not tolerate network

problems for mission critical services

Increasing demand for better real-time network visibility,

network analytics, network forensics, and DPI


How We Create Value

We provide innovative, industry-leading, real-time

network performance management solutions

‒ Easy-to-use, easy-to-learn user interface

‒ Uniquely extensible solutions

‒ Wireless network leadership

‒ Detailed analytics related to network applications

‒ Fastest network traffic capture appliance in its class

‒ Technical superiority at competitive price point

WildPackets has continually advanced its solution to meet the needs of its

customers


Unprecedented Network Visibility

ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS

OmniPeek network analyzer performs deep packet inspection

and can reconstruct all network activity, including e-mail and

IM, as well as analyze VoIP and video traffic quality.

PINPOINT NETWORK ISSUES ANYWHERE

Omnipliance Portable can rapidly identify and troubleshoot

issues before they become major problems—wired or

wireless—down the hall or across the globe.

UNDERSTAND END-USER PERFORMANCE TimeLine and Omnipliance network recorders monitor

and analyze performance across critical network

segments, virtual environments, and remote sites.

NETWORK HEALTH

WatchPoint can manage and report on key

device performance and availability across

the entire network, from anywhere on the network.

GLOBAL

DISTRIBUTED

PORTABLE

DPI


A History of Innovation

2003 Distributed real-time

troubleshooting

2001 • First 802.11

wireless analyzer

• First network

analyzer with

automated expert

analysis

2005 Combined distributed

network and VoIP

network analysis

2008 Enterprise-wide

Monitoring and Reporting

2009 Innovative dashboard

with drill-down for VoIP

and video

2012 • Capture, record, and

analyze from 40G

network segments

• First wireless network

analyzer to support

801.11ac, k, r, u, v, w

2011 • Total visibility with

zero packet loss

• First wireless

network analyzer to

support capture and

analysis of 802.11n

3-stream wireless

2010 First to achieve 11 Gbps

sustained capture-to-disk


Product Line Overview


Omni Distributed Analysis Platform

OmniPeek Enterprise Packet Capture, Decode and Analysis

• Ethernet,1/10 Gigabit, 802.11, and voice and video over IP

• Portable capture and OmniEngine console

• Aggregate analysis data across multiple capture points

Omnipliance / TimeLine Distributed Enterprise Network Forensics

• High-performance packet capture and real-time analysis

• Stream-to-disk for forensics analysis

• Integrated OmniAdapter network analysis cards up to 40G

WatchPoint Centralized Enterprise Network Monitoring Appliance

• Aggregation and graphical display of network data

• WildPackets OmniEngines

• NetFlow and sFlow


Omni Distributed Analysis Platform Software and Turnkey Solutions

• Enterprise monitoring and reporting

‒ WatchPoint Server

‒ OmniFlow, NetFlow, and sFlow Collectors

• Software probes and network recorders

‒ Omnipliance network recorders – Edge, Core

‒ TimeLine network recorders

‒ OmniAdapter analysis cards

• Distributed analysis software

‒ OmniPeek – Enterprise, Professional, Basic, Connect

‒ OmniEngine – Enterprise, Desktop, OmniVirtual

• Portable solutions

‒ OmniPeek network analyzer

‒ Omnipliance Portable


Key New Features in v7

• 40G network support

• Analyze issues from end to end:

Multi-Segment Analysis (MSA)

• Collect data from non-technical end users:

OmniPeek Remote Assistant (ORA)

• Single, interactive dashboard for

utilization, top talkers, top protocols,

latency, Experts, flows, and wireless

signal strength

• New wireless specifications

‒ 802.11ac 802.11k

‒ 802.11r 802.11u

‒ 802.11v 802.11w


OmniPeek Network Analyzer

• Distributed analysis manager

– Connect to and configure distributed OmniEngines, Omnipliances,

and TimeLines

• Comprehensive dashboards present network traffic in real-time

– Vital statistics and graphs display trends on network and application

performance

– Visual peer-map shows conversations and protocols

– Intuitive drill-down for root-cause analysis of performance bottlenecks

• Visual Expert diagnosis speeds problem resolution

– Packet and payload visualizers provide business-centric views

• Automated analytics and problem detection 24/7

– Easily create filters, triggers, scripting, advanced alarms, and alerts


Omnipliance Network Recorders

• Captures and analyzes all network traffic 24x7

– Runs WildPackets OmniEngine software probe

– Generates vital statistics on network and application performance

– Intuitive root-cause analysis of performance bottlenecks

• Expert analysis speeds problem resolution

– Fault analysis, statistical analysis, and independent notification

• Multiple issue digital forensics

– Real-time and post capture data mining for compliance and troubleshooting

• Intelligent data transport

– Network data analyzed locally

– Detailed analysis passed to OmniPeek on demand

– Summary statistics sent to WatchPoint for long term trending and reporting

– Efficient use of network bandwidth

• User-extensible platform

– Plug-in architecture and SDK


TimeLine Network Recorder

• Continuous network recording and comprehensive

real-time statistical display — simultaneously ‒ 12Gbps sustained capture with zero packet loss

‒ Network statistics display in TimeLine visualization format

• Rapid, intuitive forensics search and retrieval ‒ Historical network traffic analysis and quick data rewinding

‒ Several pre-defined forensics search templates making

searches easy and fast

• A natural extension to the WildPackets product line

• Turnkey bundled solution ‒ Appliance + OmniEngine, OmniAdapter, OmniPeek Connect


WildPackets Network Recorders Price/Performance Solutions for Every Application

Portable Edge Core TimeLine

Ruggedized

Troubleshooting

Small Networks

Remote Offices

Datacenter Workhorse

Easily Expandable

Enterprise, Highly-

Utilized Networks

Aluminum chassis / 17” LCD 1U rack mountable chassis 3U rack mountable chassis 3U rack mountable chassis

Dual 2.13 GHz Quad-Core Intel

Xeon L5630 "Westmere"

Quad-Core Intel Xeon X3460

2.80Ghz

Dual Intel Xeon Quad Core

E5530 2.4GHz

Dual Intel Xeon Quad Core

X5560 2.8GHz

24GB RAM 4GB RAM 6GB RAM 18GB RAM

2 PCI-E Slots 2 PCI-E Slots 4 PCI-E Slots 4 PCI-E Slots

2 Built-in Ethernet Ports 2 Built-in Ethernet Ports 2 Built-in Ethernet Ports 2 Built-in Ethernet Ports

6TB SATA storage capacity 1TB SATA storage capacity 8/16TB SATA

storage capacity

8/16/32/48TB SATA

storage capacity

4.5Gbps CTD 1.1Gbps CTD 3Gbps CTD 12Gbps CTD


WatchPoint Centralized Monitoring for Distributed Enterprise Networks

• High-level, aggregated

view of all network

segments

– Monitor per campus, per

region, per country

• Wide range of network

data

– NetFlow, sFlow, OmniFlow

• Web-based, customizable

network dashboards

• Flexible detailed reports

• Direct link to detailed,

packet-based analysis


Comprehensive Support and Services

Standard Support

Maintenance and upgrades

Telephone and email contacts

Knowledgebase

MyPeek Portal

Premier Support

24 x 7 x 365

Dedicated escalation manager

2 customer contacts per site

Plug-in reconfiguration assistance

WildPackets Training Academy

Public, web-based, and on-site classes

Complete curriculum: technology and product focused

Practical applications and labs covering network analysis,

wireless, VoIP monitoring and advanced troubleshooting

Consulting and Custom Development Services

Deployment, configuration, and assessment engagement

Systems integration and testing

Application integration, driver, decode, interface development


WildPackets Key Differentiators

• Visual Expert intelligence with intuitive drill-down

– Let computer do the hard work, and return results, real-time

– Packet /payload visualization is faster than packet-per-packet diagnostics

– Experts and analytics can be memorized and automated

• Automated capture analytics

– Filters, triggers, scripting, and advanced alarming system combine to provide

automated network problem detection 24x7

• Multiple issue network forensics

– Can be tracked by one or more people simultaneously

– Real-time or post capture

• User-extensible platform

– Plug-in architecture and SDK

• Aggregated network views and reporting

– NetFlow, sFlow, and OmniFlow


24x7 Network Monitoring,

Analysis, and Troubleshooting


Thank You!

WildPackets, Inc.

1340 Treat Boulevard, Suite 500

Walnut Creek, CA 94597

(925) 937-3200

Technology

802.11ac - Wireless Gigabit Speeds Driving Changes in Wireless Analysis