All,
I watched the replay of the 6.1 session held on Thursday and I have a question for anyone who is able to answer it. We have a network of ALL 5.7 NON-ADVANTAGE units. According to the presentation, one of the features of release 6.1 for NON-ADVANTAGE products is MIR on a PER SUBSCRIBER level, instead of ONLY at the AP as in previous versions. Does this mean that I can cap customers upload and download speeds on a per SM basis?
They mention MIR and CIR and I got very confused. They even tried to explain the difference at one point but I think they just added to the confusion for all of us. As an example, if I tell a customer that they can have 1Mbps download and 800Kbps upload, am I able to do this using the MIR settings that come in Release 6.1?
Thanks in advance.
First off I am just getting into to this business so the following comments represent what I understand, but may not be correct.
As I understand it the Canopy product line always, at least recent versions, provided the ability to limit/control the bandwidth a subscriber used. To do this required the BAM software.
The 6.1 software allows you to set the MIR and CIR via a WEB page entry on the SM with out the use of the BAM software.
The MIR is the Maximum Information Rate. This was basically the setting provided and controlled by the BAM software in previous versions. This setting limited the subscriber to a specific amount of bandwidth, but did not guarantee that the subscriber would be provided with this amount of bandwidth.
The CIR is the Committed Information Rate. This is new. It is a setting that allows you to configure the entire system including the AP and other network componets to guarantee that the subscriber has this much bandwidth at all times. This setting when configured through out the system allows you to provide a higher level of service to selected customers. Naturally, if you did this for all of your customers, your internet access requirements and costs would increase.
From one view point it is like the difference between First Class and Coach on an airplane. Both are on the same plane/network, but one receives special treatment. And like the data network, if everyone were treated like first class the plane/internet access would have to be bigger or it would service fewer customers.
Thanks for the reply. I called Motorola Tech Support and they also confirmed that I would be able to do what I want to do with 6.1 and MIR. I don’t know about everyone else, but I would think this would upset some people who have invested the $1000+ into BAM software.
I realize that the BAM software still offers the service of authenticating SM’s on a network. I really do not see that being a problem for where we are providing service because no one else uses Canopy and it is proprietary stuff.
The whole 6.1 web seminar focused around the order in which upgrades should be made when going to 6.1 if using ADVANTAGE products and enabling the “hardware” scheduler. Am I correct in saying that if I am using all NON-ADVANTAGE products that my upgrade from 4.2.1 to 6.1 should be done as it would normally be?
I attended the presentation also. What I got out of it was that the main problem was the hardware scheduler.
Once it was turned on at an AP a legacy or Advantage SM would no longer be able to talk to the AP unless it also had the hardware scheduler turned on.
The hardware scheduler is a function of 6.1 software not the Advantage platform. So you could in fact have all legacy equipment, upgrade to 6.1 and turn on the hardware scheduler for all upgraded units (AP and SM’s).
If later you found out that an SM was turned off and was missed, the only way to access it via the AP is to turn off hardware scheduling (which by the will block communications with all SM’s that do have hardware scheduling turn on) upgrade the the missing SM and then turn hardware scheduling back on.
Of course you can always take a PC out to the SM and upgrade it on site.
The hardware scheduler is a function of 6.1 software not the Advantage platform. So you could in fact have all legacy equipment, upgrade to 6.1 and turn on the hardware scheduler for all upgraded units (AP and SM's).
I downloaded and upgraded our network to 6.1 tonight. If you recall, our whole network is non-advantage legacy stuff. I saw nothing on either the AP or the SMs about enabling a hardware scheduler, so it must be something that appears only when it detects that the device is advantage-ready.
I still have a few more branches to update, but I tested the MIR feature. I throttled myself back to burst and sustained of 256k and it worked great. I use www.giganews.com as my speed test site, as it shows you your speed changing in as close to real time as it gets. It stayed steady around 250-270. Pretty cool.
Hardware Sync is limited to the Advantage product line and 6.1 will not deliver this functionality to non-Advantage AP-SM pairs.
In the 900 MHz gear (all 900 MHz gear is advantage gear) you will get a significant performance boost when HW sync is used.