IXIA IxWLAN User manual

IxWLAN™User Guide
Release 6.20
Part No. 913-0073-03 Rev A
May 2007

ii IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20
Copyright © 2007 Ixia. All rights reserved.
This publication may not be copied, in whole or in part, without Ixia’s consent.
RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to the restrictions set forth in
subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 and FAR 52.227-
19.
Ixia, the Ixia logo, and all Ixia brand names and product names in this document are either trademarks or registered trademarks of
Ixia in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
The information herein is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change by Ixia without notice, and should not be con-
strued as a commitment by Ixia. Ixia assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies contained in this publica-
tion.
Part No. 913-0073-03 Rev A
May 14, 2007
Corporate
Headquarters Ixia Worldwide Headquarters
26601 W. Agoura Rd.
Calabasas, CA 91302
USA
+1 877 FOR IXIA (877 367 4942)
[phone] (International)
(FAX) [phone]
[e-mail]
Web site: www.ixiacom.com
General: [email protected]
Investor Relations: [email protected]
Training: tr[email protected]
Support: [e-mail]
[phone]
EMEA Ixia Europe Limited
Globeside Business Park
Building One, Unit A
Marlow, SL7 1GJ
United Kingdom
[phone]
(FAX) [phone]
[email protected]
Support: [email protected]
[phone] (Option 5)
Asia Pacific Asia Pacific Representative Office
New Shanghai International Tower, Suite 26E
360 Pudong Nan Rd
Shanghai 200120
China
[phone]
[email protected]
Support: [email protected]
[phone] (Option 1)
Japan Ixia KK
Aioi Sampo Shinjuku Building, 16th Floor
3-25-3 Yoyogi Shibuya-Ku
Tokyo 151-0053
Japan
[phone]
(FAX) [phone]
[e-mail]
Support: [email protected]
[phone] (Option 1)
India Ixia India
No. 508, 6th Main 6th Cross
ST Bed, Koramangala 4th Block
Bangalore 560 034
India
[phone]
(FAX) [phone]
[email protected]
Support: [email protected]
[phone]

IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20 iii
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
Introduction to IxWLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-1
Packaging Checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-3
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-4
WPA/RSN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-6
Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-8
System Needs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-10
Hardware Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-10
General Usage Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-12
Feature Key Dependent Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1-13
Chapter 2 Installation
Attaching the Antennas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2-1

Table of Contents
iv IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20
Connecting Directly to a Command PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Connecting Through an Ethernet Hub or Switch . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Connecting to the Serial Port. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Chapter 3 First Setup
Using the Ethernet Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Using the Serial Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Chapter 4 The Web-Based User Interface
Startup and Login. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Choosing and Creating a Scenario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Using the Main Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
vSTA Side Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
IxWLAN Side Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-40
Monitors Side Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-55
Event Log Side Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-63
Reports Side Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-66
Configuration Side Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-71
Menus and Tool Bars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-78

IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20 v
Table of Contents
Chapter 5 The Command Line Interface (CLI)
CLI Usage Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-3
User Login. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-3
User Logoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-4
CLI Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-4
System Under Test Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-7
Virtual Station Setup and Control Commands. . . . . . . . . . .5-14
Statistics File Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-52
Event Log Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-54
IxWLAN Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-59
802.11b/g Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-87
Administrative Mode Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-91
Example Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-98
CLI Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5-115
Chapter 6 The Programming Interface (Perl)
Chapter 7 Statistics Counters
Individual Virtual Station Counters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-1
Summary Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-7

Table of Contents
vi IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20
wport Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7-16
Chapter 8 Troubleshooting
Login Name and/or Password Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-1
Using a Third-Party Load Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Chassis Installation and LEDs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-2
Web-Based User Interface Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-3
Missing Key File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-7
Recovering a Corrupted Firmware File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9
Configuration Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-14
Appendix A Specifications
Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Appendix B Event Logging
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
Event Record Format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
CLI Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-3
The Web-Based User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-4

IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20 vii
Table of Contents
Appendix C Software Updates
Using the Web-Based User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-1
Using the CLI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C-3
Appendix D Cable Pin Assignments
Standard Ethernet Cable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-1
Ethernet Crossover Cable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-2
RJ-45 Connector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-2
Serial Cable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D-3
Appendix E Error and Status Messages
IxWLAN or Virtual Station Control Messages . . . . . . . . . . . .E-1
WLAN Driver Error Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E-5
MAC Layer Management Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E-6
Standard 802.11 WLAN Reason Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E-7
Standard 802.11 WLAN Status Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E-8
Appendix F Additional Copyright and Trademark Notices
Appendix G Regulatory Information
Radio Frequency Interference Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G-1
FCC Declarations of Conformity and Warning . . . . . . . . . . G-1

Table of Contents
viii IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20
RF Exposure Needs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G-2
EU Declarations of Conformity (Europe) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G-2
Glossary
Index

IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20 1-1
1Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter covers the following topics:
•Introduction to IxWLAN on page 1-1.
•Packaging Checklist on page 1-3.
•Features on page 1-4.
•WPA/RSN on page 1-6.
•Files on page 1-8.
•System Needs on page 1-10.
•Hardware Characteristics on page 1-10.
•General Usage Notes on page 1-12.
•Feature Key Dependent Parameters on page 1-13.
Introduction to IxWLAN
IxWLAN is a test and measurement device that emulates up to 128 wireless sta-
tions in an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN environment. It operates in accordance
with the IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, and IEEE 802.11g specifications. IxW-
LAN is offered in the following configurations:
•IxWLAN SED 11a/b/g – Supports IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g,
depending on regulatory certifications.
•IxWLAN SED-MR+ 11a/b/g – Supports IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, and
802.11g.
Both configurations include the IEEE 802.11i and WiFi Protected Access (WPA)
security features.
IxWLAN can be used to reduce the number of PCs and station NIC cards that are
needed to test and stage 802.11 products and wireless LANs in terms of packet

Introduction
Introduction to IxWLAN
1-2 IxWLAN User Guide, Release 6.20
1
performance and number-of-stations capacity. It allows a user to fine-tune sys-
tem parameters to maximize performance during testing.
The differences between IxWLAN and other IP load generators can be summa-
rized as follows:
•IP-based Load Generators are per-station devices that do not reduce the num-
ber of PCs and station NIC cards. You can configure only one IP per station
and then send traffic.
•IxWLAN allows all stations to be emulated on a single platform and radio
chipset, thus reducing the cost and complexity of multiple PCs.
IxWLAN creates Virtual Stations (vSTAs) and generates or passes traffic that
loads and stress tests Wireless LAN and 802.11 products in terms of:
•Frame performance
•Number-of-stations capacity
•Scalability
•WLAN optimization
Because a single physical 802.11a/b/g emulator emulates multiple vSTAs, it
reduces the number of PC and station NIC cards that are needed to test and stage
802.11 products and wireless LANs.
As of 6.20 version, IxWLAN is supported by two chassis, the IxWLAN SED and
the IxWLAN SED-MR+.
IxWLAN SED Figure 1-1 shows the IxWLAN SED chassis.
Figure 1-1. IxWLAN SED Chassis
External Traffic
Generator port
Serial port
Management port
Activity LED Status LED
Power LED