Table of Contents

Multipath and Diversity.....................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................1
Prerequisites............................................................................................................................................1
Requirements....................................................................................................................................1
Components Used.............................................................................................................................1
Conventions......................................................................................................................................2
Multipath.................................................................................................................................................2
Diversity..................................................................................................................................................4
Case Study..............................................................................................................................................5
Summary.................................................................................................................................................6
Related Information................................................................................................................................6
Cisco Multipath and Diversity
i
Multipath and Diversity
Introduction
Prerequisites
Requirements
Components Used
Conventions
Multipath
Diversity
Case Study
Summary
Related Information
Introduction
This document explains:
multipath distortion
how multipath distortion degrades the performance of a wireless network
diversity
how diversity helps improve performance in a multipath environment
Cisco enables antenna diversity by default on its Aironet access point (AP) products. The AP samples the
radio signal from two integrated antenna ports and chooses a preferred antenna. This diversity creates
robustness where there is multipath distortion.
Diversity antennas are not designed to extend the coverage range of a radio cell, but to enhance the coverage
of a cell. The enhanced coverage is an effort to overcome issues that arise from multipath distortion and signal
nulls. Attempts to use the two antennas on an AP to cover two different radio cells can result in connectivity
issues.
Prerequisites
Requirements
There are no specific prerequisites for this document.
Components Used
The information in this document is based on the software and hardware versions below.
Cisco Aironet Wireless LAN equipment
Cisco IOS, VxWorks, and "SOS" (BR340 Series and earlier) operating systems
The information presented in this document was created from devices in a specific lab environment. All of the
devices started with a default configuration. If testing in a live network, be sure to understand the potential
impact on network performance of any configuration command before using it.
Cisco Multipath and Diversity
Conventions
For more information on document conventions, see the Cisco Technical Tips Conventions.
Multipath
To understand diversity, you must understand multipath distortion.
Multipath propagation occurs when radio frequency (RF) signals take different paths from a source to a
destination. A part of the signal goes to the destination while another part bounces off an obstruction, then on
to the destination. As a result, part of the signal encounters delay and travels a longer path to the destination.
Multipath distortion is a form of RF interference that occurs when a radio signal has more than one path
between the receiver and the transmitter. This occurs in cells with metallic or other RF reflective surfaces,
such as furniture, walls, or coated glass.
Common wireless local area network (WLAN) environments with a high probability of multipath
interference, include these:
airport hangars
steel mills
manufacturing areas
distribution centers
other locations where the antenna of an RF device is exposed to metal structures, such as:
walls
ceilings
racks
shelving
other metallic items

A source antenna radiates RF energy in more than one definite direction. The RF moves between the source
and destination antenna in the most direct path and bounces off RF reflective surfaces. The reflected RF
waves causes these conditions to occur:
The reflected RF waves travel farther than the the direct RF wave and arrive later in time than the
direct RF wave.
1.
The reflected signal loses more RF energy than the direct route signal, because of the longer
transmission route.
2.
The signal loses energy as a result of the reflection. 3.
The desired wave, along with many reflected waves are combined in the receiver. 4.
When the different waveforms combine, they cause distortion to the desired waveform and effect the
decoding capability of the receiver. When the reflected signals are combined at the receiver, even
though the signal strength is high, the signal quality is poor.
5.
Multipath delay causes the information symbols represented in 802.11 signals to overlap, which confuses the
receiver. If the delays are great enough, bit errors in the packet occur. The receiver can not distinguish the
symbols and interpret the corresponding bits correctly. The destination station detects the problem through the
error checking process of 802.11. The cyclic redundancy check (CRC), checksum, does not compute
correctly, which indicates that there is error in the packet. In response to the bit errors, the destination station
does not send an 802.11 acknowledgment to the source station. The sender eventually retransmits the signal
after regaining access to the medium. Because of the retransmissions, users encounter lower throughput when
Cisco Multipath and Diversity
multipath interference is significant. If you change the location of the antenna, you change these reflections
and diminish the chance and effects of multipath interference.
Figure 1. Receiver hearing multiple multipath signals from the reflected surfaces
In a multipath environment, signal null points are located throughout the area. The distance an RF wave
travels, how it bounces, and where the multipath null occurs are based on the wavelength of the frequency. As
frequency changes, so does wavelength. Therefore, as frequency changes, so does the location of the
multipath null.
Figure 2. Position of the multipath null point is based on the frequency of the transmission
Delay spread (DS) is a parameter used to signify multipath. The delay of reflected signal is measured in
Cisco Multipath and Diversity
nanoseconds (nsec). The amount of DS varies for indoor home, office, and manufacturing environments.
Delay spread
Nanoseconds
Homes
< 50 nsec
Offices
~100 nsec
Manufacturing floors
~200300 nsec
A multipath signal can have a high RF signal strength, but is of poor signal quality level.
Note: Low RF signal strength does not indicate poor communication. Low signal quality, however, does
indicate poor communications.
Diversity
Diversity is the use of two antennas for each radio to increase the odds of receiving a better signal on either of
the antennas. Diversity provides relief to a wireless network in a multipath scenario. Diversity antennas are
physically separated from the radio and each other, to ensure that one encounters less multipath propagation
affects than the other. Dual antennas typically ensure that if one antenna is in an RF null, the other is not,
providing better performance in multipath environments. Moving the antenna allows movement out of the null
point and provides a way to receive the signal correctly.
Figure 3. Dual antennas typically provide that if one antenna is in a null, the other is not
The receiver only listens to one antenna at a time. Therefore, while the receiver listens to one antenna, it
ignores the other, and provides no coverage to that area.
The radio in the AP cannot physically move the antenna. Therefore, compare the diversity feature to a switch
that selects one antenna at a time. It cannot listen to both antennas simultaneously because that creates a
multipath condition with the radio signal hitting each antenna at different times. Since each antenna is selected
by itself, both antennas must have the same radiation characteristics and be located to provide similar cell
coverage. Two diversity antennas must not be used to cover two different areas.
In order to increase the coverage, conduct a site survey to determine the RF coverage of the antennas. Place
APs in the appropriate areas of the installation site. The purpose of diversity is to overcome multipath
reflections. Therefore, when you place the antennas one to eight feet apart, you provide sufficient space.
Antennas placed closer than six inches together, do not have diversity.
Cisco Multipath and Diversity
When you install antennas for diversity, only a small distance is required. The farther you separate the
antennas, the more the radio coverage cell for each antenna is different. If the coverage cells become too
different, the client or end node can experience signal loss and poor performance. An example of different
coverage cells would be a directional antenna on one antenna port with an omnidirectional or higher gain
antenna on the other.
Figure 4. Cisco Aironet 350 wireless devices with two 6.0 dBi patch antennas for diversity
Case Study
A golf course with an electronic scoring application used an AP with an outdoor antenna to cover an area of
the golf course. One antenna was used to cover the left side of the course. Since there was little multipath, one
antenna was sufficient. The course also had a directional yagi antenna for its distance capability and ease of
installation.
When the golf course added coverage to the right side of the course, they added another AP and attached a
directional yagi antenna to the other antenna connector and pointed it in another direction. The staff tested the
network by driving around in a golf cart performing a site survey. There were no issues with coverage.
However, when tournament play started and more users were added to the wireless network, they started to
encounter difficulty and loss of connectivity.
When the leftside client associated to the AP, it had very low signal strength. The low signal strength was
because the AP picked up the signal from the client on the rightpointing antenna. As a result, the client
dropped its connection because of being outofrange of the right antenna. However, the AP radio detected a
problem and sampled the left antenna port, assuming it had encountered a multipath problem. The antenna
switched over and the client increased coverage. As the client moved to the other side, retries began and the
AP radio switched over and used the other antenna port and preserved connectivity.
When the AP could not receive the client signal, it switched. The AP evaluated and used the best antenna to
receive client data. The AP then used that same antenna when it transmitted data back to the client. If the
client didn't respond on that antenna, the AP tried to send the data out the other antenna.
In this scenario, there was initially one client and two separate coverage cells. The configuration worked until
additional clients were added. As the AP communicated to clients on the left side of the course, it did not
switch to the right antenna port if no retries occurred because it didn't detect any errors. However, it caused
Cisco Multipath and Diversity
users that were not on the left antenna difficulties.
Note: The two antenna ports on the AP were designed for spatial diversity, and the radio only checked the
other antenna when it encountered errors.
The clients on the right side of the course had difficulty with connections. Only when a client with a weak
signal reached the left antenna did the AP recognize that those clients and switched over to pick them up. This
made the right antenna active, so the left side of the course started receiving errors until the antenna on the
right heard a client from the left and switched over again.
In the case of this golf course, two methods could have resolved the problem.
Replace the directional yagi antennas with omnidirectional antennas.
Although the omnis would have a slightly lower gain than the yagis, the AP radio would work in all
directions instead of the 30 degree directional pattern of the yagi. Since the gain for the omni antenna
is only 1 dBi less than the yagi, this substitution would work.

Add an additional AP to cover the other radio cell.
Both APs could handle the RF traffic and each AP could use the higher gain yagi antenna to cover its
area. This requires that each AP is configured to use a nonoverlapping frequency to reduce radio
congestion. Throughput is increased as the number of users per AP is reduced.

Summary
Diversity is an automatic process with no user intervention or configuration required.
Diversity is a method of overcoming or minimizing multipath distortion.
Multipath distortion causes radio nulls and radio reflections, also called echoes, results in data retries.
Radio waves reflect off metal surfaces such as filing cabinets, shelves, ceilings and walls.
Ensure that diversity antennas are of the same type and gain.
Place antennas close enough so that the RF coverage area is nearly identical. Avoid placing two
antennas far enough away to cover two different radio cells.

Cisco Aironet APs utilize spatial diversity.
Try to deploy antennas close to the intended coverage area and avoid long cable runs.
Always perform a site survey first to properly assess the coverage area.
Related Information
Hardware Support
Technology Support
Technical Support Cisco Systems
All contents are Copyright 19922004 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Important Notices and Privacy Statement.
Cisco Multipath and Diversity