Point-To-Multipoint Mesh Network - Cisco Aironet 1550 Series Getting Started Manual

Point-to-Multipoint Mesh Network

The access point is typically deployed in a mesh network configuration. In a typical mesh deployment,
one or more RAPs have a wired network connection through a switch to a controller. Other remote
MAPs without wired network connections use the backhaul feature to optimally link to a RAP that is
connected to the wired network. In the mesh network, the links between the access points are referred
to as the backhaul links.
Intelligent wireless routing is provided by the Adaptive Wireless Path protocol (AWPP). This enables
each MAP to identify its neighbors and intelligently choose the optimal path to the RAP with the wired
network connection by calculating the cost of each path in terms of signal strength and the number of
hops required to get to a controller with signal strength given priority since signal strength determines
the data rate available for backhaul.
Figure 16 illustrates a typical mesh configuration using access points.
Figure 16 Typical Mesh Configuration Using Access Points
RAP
Network
WCS
MAP 1 MAP 3
MAP 2
MAP 6
MAP 4
MAP 5
MAP 8
MAP 9
MAP 7
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