Proxim Wireless Corporation MP163650 User Manual

Hardware Description

The BS and SS equipment consists of a radio, power adaptor, and external antenna connectors (on some SS models). 
See 

 for a full list of included components.

The BS radio provides a wireless link between an Ethernet connection and SSs registered to the BS. It is installed 
outdoors in close proximity to its antenna so that the RF cable connection to the antenna has minimal loss. The power 
adaptor powers the BS over the PoE CAT5 cable.  It also provides an Ethernet connection with the same PoE CAT5 
cable, and the power adaptor’s second RJ45 connector connects the 100Base-T data signals to the backhaul network. 
The BS comes with a Type-N connector to attach external antennas. A single omni-directional antenna or multiple sector 
antennas (in combination with additional BSs) may be used to provide 360 degrees of coverage. 

The SS radio provides a wireless non-line-of-site connection with the BS. A CAT5 cable connects the SS to the user’s 
switch/router through the power adaptor to provide DC power to the radio and 100/10Base-T Ethernet service between 
the radio and a switch/router. This data port can be connected to either a single Ethernet host or to an Ethernet switch so 
that the SS can address multiple Ethernet hosts. The SS comes with an integrated panel antenna or a Type-N antenna 
connector to enable the use of external antennas. External antennas may be used to provide greater range.

See the following:

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The BS radio operates in one of 744 possible frequency channels set by the user in the licensed 3.65 - 3.675 GHz bands, 
and time duplexes between transmitting downlink bursts to SSs and receiving uplink bursts from SSs.

The major functions of the BS radio include:

• Signal Radiation/Reception: An external antenna receives downlink and radiates uplink RF signals.
• Upconversion/Downconversion: Received RF signals are amplified and downconverted to baseband for 

demodulation;  modulated uplink signals from baseband to RF are upconverted and amplified to a controlled power 
level.

• Modulation/Demodulation: Downlink MAC protocol data units (PDUs) are Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoded 

and modulate the baseband downlink. Uplink bursts received from SSs are demodulated and FEC decoded into MAC 
PDUs. The demodulation function also includes carrier-frequency, symbol-timing synchronization, and channel 
equalization. 

• Wireless MAC Functions: Control and traffic data from the Ethernet services are formatted into MAC PDUs and 

assembled into downlink bursts. Uplink bursts received from SSs are parsed into MAC control messages and traffic 
SDUs destined for the Ethernet service. The MAC also controls frame synchronization, SS network entry, SS ranging 
and power control, bandwidth requests, QoS scheduling, encryption, and key management. 

• Network Services: Services to connect a 10/100Base-T Ethernet interface to the wireless network include the 

following capabilities: bridging, VLAN awareness, ICMP, and PPPoE. 

• BS Management: Configuration and dynamic control of the BS are provided via a command line interface (CLI), an 

HTTP GUI, and SNMP. Performance and status data can be displayed to enable a local or remote operator to 
determine the operational status, usage, and link performance of the BS and its active SSs.