Increasing Network Coverage; Lan Cable Extension - Sirona CEREC Radio Device Operating Manual

5.5 Increasing Network Coverage

This chapter describes how the network coverage can be increased in case the network
suffers from severe interference or needs to cover long distances.

5.5.1 LAN Cable Extension

Normally, a network unit is either connected to a milling unit or to the PC inside the
acquisition unit. With this configuration the communication always goes from the PC to
the connected network unit, then to the neighboring network unit which is connected to
the milling unit and finally to the connected milling unit: AC PC → network unit →
network unit → milling unit
For a network unit it does not matter where the Ethernet data is coming from. It simply
will forward the data.
Should the network suffer from severe interference or needs to cover distances longer
than the transmission range, additional network units can be added and interconnected
using a LAN cable.
1. In the communication the mobile network unit in the acquisition unit sends the
packet to stationary network unit A.
2. Stationary network unit A forwards the packets onto the LAN.
3. Stationary network unit B receives the packet and forwards it to the wireless
network, i.e. to stationary network unit C.
4. Stationary network unit C forwards this packet to the connected milling unit.
Note that the basic functionality of a network unit is to relay data from the Ethernet
connection onto the wireless network and vice versa. Extending the network is always
done using LAN cables. Simply placing an extra network unit in between two network
units that are out-of-range does not work since this would mean relaying data from
wireless to wireless. This is not implemented in the CEREC Radio Device because this
would quickly lead to unsatisfactory performance in most cases.
17/33