Ruckus - SmartZone & Conference Tool

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Configuration Steps
  • Zone Configuration
  • WLAN Groups
  • AP Groups
• Configuration and Connectivity Overview

Introduction

Ruckus SmartZone is one of the vendor solutions that are supported for use with Conference Tool. When a Conference Tool instance is created, the platform configures the SmartZone system to create the required wireless network (SSID) for the conference. However, for Conference Tool to successfully stand up a conference network, a number of pre-existing configuration parameters must be setup on the wireless network.

This guide provides the specific configuration steps required on SmartZone to support Conference Tool.

This document does not provide detailed instructions around the general operation or access methods for the SmartZone controller. The reader will need to consult the vendor documentation for these details.

Note: the screen shots in this document are taken from a v6.0.0 lab setup. The layout and options seen may vary between versions of code running on your controller. However, the configuration concepts shown below should apply across all code versions. 

Configuration Steps

To configure SmartZone for use with Conference Tool, the following steps need to be completed:

• Zone configuration
• Creation of WLAN Groups
• Creation of AP Groups

Instructions for each of these steps are provided below. Note that the exact configuration in real-world venue environments will vary depending on the requirements of each particular site. There will be choices that need to be made regarding how the RF environment will be configured, which wireless network features are required and how devices are grouped to meet the requirements of the venue. However, the configuration samples provided will provide an indication of which areas need to be configured to work specifically with Conference Tool.

Note: The reader is advised to consult the logical network diagram at the end of this page for a visualisation of many of the concepts discussed below.

Zone Configuration

Each “zone” on a SmartZone instance are analogous to a virtual controller. Generally, each venue will be assigned to its own zone on the SmartZone controller.

The creation and configuration of the venue’s  zone will be part of the initial deployment of the wireless solution to provide general guest access around a venue. No additional configuration for the zone steps are required to support Conference Tool - it will use the same zone as other wireless networks provisioned at the venue.

WLAN Groups

WLAN Groups are a useful administrative tool used on the SmartZone solution to group together one or more wireless LANs (also known as “SSIDs” and “WLANs”). In most venues there will be one or more static SSIDs that are permanently available to provide general day to day guest access- these could be venue-wide, or perhaps just in public areas (the implementation will vary from venue to venue). Whatever the use-case, the SSID(s) will be assigned to WLAN Groups.

Within Conference Tool, WLAN Groups are shown as “Locations”. When you select a “location” in Conference Tool, under the hood, a WLAN Group on Smartzone is being selected.

WLAN groups on their own are just an administrative container to group together SSIDs. To make their wireless networks appear on APs around a venue, each WLAN group needs to be assigned to an AP group. Once assigned to an AP group, all APs in that AP group will make the WLAN group SSIDs available.  WLAN-specific parameters, such as the VLAN to be used for wireless LAN connectivity, will also be applied to the APs.

In the screen-shot below, we can see that WLAN groups are accessed via the “Network” top-bar option (Network > Wireless > Wireless LANs) . Once selected, a summary of configured WLAN Groups is displayed. If a group is selected, the WLANs in that group are shown in the right panel. The example below shows a single wireless network (SSID) called “Guest” assigned to WLAN group “Conf_Suite1_Rm2_WG”. This network is likely to be a venue-wide SSID that is used to provide standard guest access to customers. This WLAN group will be assigned to an AP group (see next section) to ensuring that the SSID is available in all areas covered by the APs in that AP group.

Fig.1 - Wireless LANs Listing in a Wireless Group on SmartZone

When Conference Tool is used to create a custom conference network, it will create a new (temporary) wireless LAN network on the controller. It will then assign that wireless LAN to one or more WLAN groups. Due to the one to one mapping of wireless LAN groups to AP groups, this will ensure that the newly created conference network (SSID) will appear in the desired physical venue locations. Looking at the example below, we can see that in the wireless group “Conf_Suite1_Rm1_WG”, we have an additional SSID called “Corp_Event_Conference” which has been created by Conference Tool. This network will become in the areas covered by the AP group that is mapped to this WLAN Group.

Fig.2 - Wireless LAN detail on SmartZone showing the conference network 

To allow Conference Tool to be used with a SmartZone controller, with the maximum amount of flexibility, the different physical areas of coverage where conferences may be required should be planned carefully. A WLAN group should be created for each of these areas. When a custom conference network is created in Conference Tool, it may then be accurately targeted for specific areas by only provisioning that network in the selected WLAN groups for those areas.

In general terms, smaller coverage areas are better as they allow maximum flexibility when setting up a conference area. Also, there are significant wireless performance gains that can be realised by ensuring that a wireless network is only made available in specific, limited areas, rather than across large areas of a venue.

The next section discusses AP groups, which allow the targeting of wireless networks to specific areas of a venue.

AP Groups

AP groups in the SmartZone solution are used to group wireless access points that share common configuration  or environmental characteristics.. These include aspects such as radio settings that will be inherited by all APs that are joined to that group. They are also a useful mechanism to group AP in the same general area of a venue. The screen-shot below shows a summary of AP groups on a test controller in the “Conference Tool” zone. Notice that they are accessed via the “Network” top-bar menu item (Network > Wireless > Access Points). Each AP group (Labelled “AG”) may contain one or more APs that will share the common configuration parameters and/or venue areas. In the example below, the AP group “Conf_Suite1_Rm1_APs” is highlighted. It has one AP in the group, whose name can be seen in the right panel : “CS1_RM1_AP1”

Fig.3 - AP Groups Listing on SmartZone

From an administrative perspective when considering the Conference Tool, it makes sense to create an AP group for each discrete area in the venue where a conference may take place. This could be an individual meeting or conference room, or could perhaps be a whole conference hall. This allows a great deal of granularity and flexibility when assigning custom wireless networks to specific areas. A conference network could be created to be available in just one meeting room, or if several areas are selected when the conference definition is created, then the same conference network could be created to appear in several meeting rooms and/or conference halls by selecting the AP groups for those areas.

The sample screenshot below shows part of the configuration form for an AP group on a SmartZone wireless controller. It shows the options available for the radio channels that may be used by APs in this group:

Fig.4 - AP Group configuration panel #1 on SmartZone

The choices around the channels to be used will be specific to each venue and geographic area. This area of configuration is beyond the scope of this document, as it has no direct impact on the operation of the conference Tool.

Notice the naming convention used for this AP group: “Conf_Suite_Rm1_APs”. This indicates that this group will contain all of the APs in Room 1 of Conference Suite 1 in the venue.

Scrolling further down the AP group configuration form reveals another important field: “WLAN Group” (see screen-shot below). By selecting the “override” option and selecting the wireless group discussed in the previous section, a one to one mapping of WLAN groups to AP groups is created. This allows a conference network that is added to a WLAN group to be targeted to the area covered by the corresponding AP group. In the screenshot below, the selection of “Conf_Suite1_RM1_WG” shows that we have selected the WLAN group for Room 1 of Conference Suite 1. As this is mapped to the AP group of “Conf_Suite_Rm1_APs”, then when Conference Tool adds the conference network to the WLAN Group of “Conf_Suite1_RM1_WG”, that network will appear in that specific AP group area. If several WLAN Groups (referred to as “Locations” in Conference Tool) are selected, then the network will appear in all of the corresponding locations.

Fig.5 - AP Group configuration panel #2 on SmartZone showing the WLAN Group override that maps a WLAN group to an AP group 

Configuration and Connectivity Overview

The diagram below is provided to clarify the relationship between zones, SSIDs, WLAN Groups and AP groups in the SmartZone configuration.  

It also shows which SSIDs are available in each location based on the configuration details shown, together with the logical network connectivity for customer traffic. In the configuration shown below, the Configuration tool has been used to create a custom SSID called “Corp_Event_Conference” in the location “Conf_Suite_1_RM1_WG” . The configuration mappings attempt to show how SSID connectivity flows through a WLAN group and AP group to make it available in the required venue area. At the AP end of things, the connectivity on to the VLAN dedicated to that SSID is also shown. Note that although all VLANs are shown trunked to all APs (as would be the case in the real world), only the VLANs appropriate to the SSIDs on that AP are used to carry traffic when a conference network is in place.

Fig. 6 Configuration mapping details & logical network connectivity