This section will introduce you to the six phases that a sound design methodology will encompass:

conducting a preliminary investigation regarding the changes necessary

performing an analysis of the existing network environment
creating a design
finalizing it
implementing that design
creating the necessary documentation that will act as a crucial tool as you troubleshoot.
Conducting a preliminary investigation
For these reasons, the first step, conducting a preliminary investigation of the existing system as well as
future needs, is vital to the health and longevity of your network. In this phase of the design process, the
primary objective is to learn as much about the network as necessary in order to understand and uncover
the problem or opportunity that exists. What is the impetus for change? Almost inevitably this will require
walking through the existing site and asking questions of those within the given environment.
Interviewees may range from network support personnel to top-level business executives. However,
information gathering may also take the form of confidential questionnaires submitted to the users of the
network themselves.
It is in this phase of the process that youll want to gather floor-plan blueprints, understand anticipated
personnel moves, and note scheduled structural remodeling efforts. In essence, you are investigating
anything that will help you to identify the who, what, when, where, and why that has
compelled the network recipient to seek a change from the current network and associated application
processes.
In this phase, keep in mind that with a wireless network, youre dealing with three-dimensional network
design impacts, not just two dimensional impacts that commonly are associated with wireline networks.
So youll want to pay close attention to the environment that youre dealing with.
Performing Analysis of the Existing Environment
Although youve performed the preliminary investigation, oftentimes it is impossible to understand the
intricacies of the network in the initial site visit. Analyzing the existing requirement, the second phase of
the process, is a critical phase to understanding the inner workings of the network environment.
The major tasks in this phase are to understand and document all network and system dependencies that
exist within the given environment in order to formulate your approach to the problem or opportunity.
Its in this phase of the process that youll begin to outline your planned strategy to counter the problem
or exploit the opportunity and assess the feasibility of your approach. Are there critical interdependencies
between network elements, security and management systems, or billing and accounting systems? Where
are they located physically and how are they interconnected logically?
Although wireless systems primarily deal with the physical and datalink layers (Layers 1 and 2 of the OSI
model), remember that, unlike a traditional wired network, access to your wireless network takes place
over the air between the client PC and the wireless access point (AP).
The point of entry for a wireless network segment is critical in order to maintain the integrity of the
overall network. As a result, youll want to ensure that users gain access at the appropriate place in your
network.
Creating a Preliminary Design
Once youve investigated the network and identified the problem or opportunity that exists, and then
established the general approach in the previous phase, it now becomes necessary to create a preliminary
design of your network and network processes. All of the information gathering
that you have done so far will prove vital to your design.

In this phase of the process, you are actually transferring your approach to paper. Your preliminary design
document should restate the problem or opportunity, report any new findings uncovered in the analysis
phase, and define your approach to the situation. Beyond this, it is useful to create a network topology
map, which identifies the location of the proposed or existing equipment, as well as the user groups to be
supported from the network. A good network topology will give the reader a thorough understanding of
all physical element locations and their connection types and line speeds, along with physical room or
landscape references. A data flow diagram (DFD) can also help explain
new process flows and amendments made to the existing network or system processes.
It is not uncommon to disclose associated costs of your proposal at this stage. However, it would be wise
to communicate that these are estimated costs only and are subject to change. When youve completed
your design, count on explaining your approach before the appropriate decision-makers, for it is at this
point that a deeper level of commitment to the design is required from both you and your client.
It is important to note that, with a wireless network environment, terminal or PC mobility should be
factored into your design as well as your network costs. Unlike a wired network, users may require
network access from multiple locations, or continuous presence on the network between locations.
Therefore, additional hardware or software, including PC docking stations, peripherals, or applications
software may be required.
Finalizing the Detailed Design
Having completed the preliminary design and received customer feedback and acceptance to proceed,
your solution is close to being implemented. However, one last phase in the design process, the detailed
design phase, must be performed prior to implementing your design.
In the detailed design phase, all changes referenced in the preliminary design review are taken into
account and incorporated into the detailed design accordingly.The objective in this phase is to finalize
your approach and capture all supporting software and requisite equipment on the final Bill Of Materials
(BOM). It is in this phase that youll want to ensure that any functional changes made in the preliminary
design review do not affect the overall approach to your design. Do the
requested number of additional network users overload my planned network capacity? Do the supporting
network elements need to be upgraded to support the additional number of users? Is the requested feature
or functionality supported through the existing design?
Although wireless networking technology is rapidly being embraced in many different user environments,
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software is on the heels of wireless deployment and is still in
development for broad applications. As a result, you may find limitations, particularly
in the consumer environment, as to what can readily be supported from an applications perspective.
Executing the Implementation
Up to this point, it may have felt like an uphill battle; however, once that youve received sign-off
approval on your detailed design and associated costs, you are now ready to begin the next phase of the
design processimplementing your design. This is where the vitality of your design
quickly becomes evident and the value of all your preplanning is realized. As you might have already
suspected, this phase involves installing, configuring, and testing all supporting hardware and software
that you have called for in your network design. Although this may be an exhilarating
time, where concept enters the realm of reality, it is vital that you manage this transition in an effective
and efficient manner. Do not assume that the implementation is always handled by the network design
engineer.
In fact, in many large-scale implementations, this is rarely the case. The key in this phase of the process is
minimizing impact on the existing network and its users, while maximizing effective installation efforts
required by the new network design. However, if your design calls for large-scale implementation efforts
or integration with an existing real-time network or critical system process, I would highly recommend

that you utilize skilled professionals trained in executing this phase of the project. In doing so, youll
ensure network survivability and reduce the potential for loss in the event of network or systems failure.
There are many good books written specifically on the subject of project management and
implementation processes that outline several different approaches to this key phase and may prove useful
to you at this point. At a minimum, from a wireless network perspective, youll want to build and test
your wireless infrastructure as an independent and isolated network, whenever possible, prior to
integrating this segment with your existing network. This will aid you in isolating problems
inherent to your design and will correct the outstanding issue(s) so that you may complete this phase of
the process. Similarly, all nodes within the wireless network should be tested independently and added to
the wireless network in building-block fashion, so that service characteristics of the wireless network can
be monitored and maintained.
Capturing the Documentation
Although the last phase of this process, capturing the documentation, has been reserved for last mention,
it is by no means a process to be conducted solely in the final stages of the overall design process. Rather,
it is an iterative process that actually is initiated at the onset of the design process. From the preliminary
investigation phase to the implementation phase, the network design engineer has captured important
details of the existing network and its behavior, along with a hardened view of a new network design and
the anomalies that were associated with its deployment.
In this process phase, capturing the documentation, the primary focus is to preserve the vitality and
functionality of the network by assembling all relevant network and system information for future
reference. Much of the information youve gathered along the way will find its way into either a users
manual, an instructional and training guide, or troubleshooting reference material. Although previous
documentation and deliverables may require some modification, much can be
gleaned from the history of the network design and implementation process. Moreover, revisiting
previous documentation or painstakingly attempting to replicate the problem itself may result in many
significant findings.
For these reasons, it is crucial to your success to ensure that the documentation procedures are rigorously
adhered to throughout the design and implementation process. Beyond network topology maps and
process flow diagrams, strongly consider using wire logs and channel plans wherever possible. Wire logs
provide a simple description of the network elements, along with the associated cable types, and entry and
exit ports on either a patch panel or junction box. Channel plans outline radio frequency (RF) channel
occupancy between wireless access points. Trouble logs are also invaluable tools for addressing network
issues during troubleshooting exercises. In all cases, the information that you have captured along the way
will serve to strengthen your operational support and system administration teams, as well as serve as an
accurate reference guide for future network enhancements.

Identifying the Design Methodology

There are many ways to create a network design, and each method must
be modified for the type of network being created. At the beginning of
this chapter, we outlined the necessary phases for a sound design
methodology (preliminary investigation, analysis, preliminary design,
detailed design, implementation, and documentation). Nevertheless, network
types can vary from service provider to enterprise, to security, and
so on. As wireless networking becomes more commonplace, new design
methodologies tuned specifically for the wireless environment will be
created.
In this chapter, we give you an overview of the piece of the engagement
methodology that provides Lucent consultants a framework for