Access Point States

Monitoring Celona Access Point states on the Orchestrator

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Written by Team Celona
Updated over a week ago

One of the unique features of Celona's LTE access points is their dual-sector design, which allows for simultaneous broadcasting of radio frequency signals, enabling multiple devices to connect to the AP at the same time. The Spectrum allocated to the AP is split evenly between the two sectors. For example, if your spectrum allocation is 40 MHz total, each radio will have 20 MHz of channel bandwidth available.

Celona 5G Access Points (APs) have a single sector/radio per AP and use the full spectrum allocation for that sector. For example: if your spectrum allocation is 40 MHz total, the sector will have 40MHz channel bandwidth available to use.

Access Point Configuration and Operational States

In the Access Point Details page for an LTE AP in Celona Orchestrator, the Operational State card displays the status of each sector. If both are marked "UP" the AP is functioning normally.

In the Access Point Details page for a 5G AP in Celona Orchestrator, the Operational Status card displays the status of the single sector. If marked "UP" with the context "Access Point has N2 Up with Edge and is ready to connect devices" the AP is functioning normally.

The Access Point Configuration Status card will say AP is Deployed as it is now already assigned to a site and is powered up.

Summarizing all the Operation and Configuration states observed under the Access Points Details page

Configuration Status

Operational Status

Status Context

Deployed

UP

AP is already assigned to a site, powered up, and connected to the network. It can now connect devices

Deployed

DOWN

AP is already assigned to a site, powered up, and ready to connect to the network. It may be pending Antenna configuration by the user or Spectrum configuration by the Celona Edge.

Deployed

Either one or both of the sectors is DOWN (US-CBRS)

"Pending Spectrum Configuration"- One of the sectors/ both sectors is shut down due to higher-tier CBRS user activity (Incumbents) and the context will say

Deployed

DOWN

"Pending Keep-Alive" - The Orchestrator cannot receive the current state due to loss of contact with the Celona Edge.

Provisioned

DOWN

"Bootstrap Process Not Initiated" - Access Point is assigned to a site and is not ready to be connected to the network. AP/ Celona Edge may be pending Power up.

New

DOWN

The AP is assigned to a customer and is pending assignment to a site. This AP cannot be connected to the network.

NOTE: Any changes made to Advanced Access Point Configurations, Time Sync Configurations, or Operational State from the Orchestrator will change Access Point Operational state temporarily.

For the AP20, multi-mode Indoor AP, the mode change between 4G and 5G radios can be made in the Access Point details page.

CBRS Higher-Tier User Activity (US Deployments)

If the CBRS Spectrum Access System (SAS) detects activity from a higher-tier user (an incumbent or Priority Access License (PAL) holder) in the United States, and that higher-tier user uses spectrum that interferes with your spectrum grant, the SAS will instruct the interfering portion of your spectrum grant to disable transmission.

Celona APs support automatic recovery from spectrum loss due to higher-tier user activity, where the AP requests a new spectrum grant that does not interfere with the higher-tier user's frequency range. Automatic recovery may take up to 2 minutes. During this time, the radio(s) transmitting on frequencies interfering with the higher-tier user will be non-operational.

If a radio is temporarily disabled because of CBRS higher-tier user activity, the Access Points page in Celona Orchestrator will display a banner noting the AP is "currently experiencing an outage and performing at reduced capacity". In some cases if the SAS event affects only one of the radios for an LTE AP, AP will continue to operate with reduced capacity.

The AP's Access Point Details page in Celona Orchestrator displays the same banner.

To determine which frequency has been impacted, refer to the Radios card on the Access Point Details page.

Radio Details

The Radio Details card can be seen on the Access Points Details Page below the Advanced Access Point Config card.

LTE Celona Access Points are dual radio hardware, and each radio can be controlled separately whereas the 5G Celona Access Points are single radio hardware

This card lists the "live" Configuration for Radio /Sector on the Access Point when it is transmitting.

Channel ID - LTE channel IDs are identifiers calculated using the center frequency of the radio frequency range configured in the operating frequency band

Channel Bandwidth (MHz) - A frequency band (in the above case, CBRS Band 48) is divided into smaller segments called channels. How wide each channel is and how much frequency range it covers is called the Channel bandwidth.

Frequency (MHz) - The center frequency of the configured frequency range on each radio on the Access Point.

For example: Center Frequency = 3640MHz with channel Bandwidth = 20MHz

The frequency range used by the radio = 3630MHz -3650MHz

PCI - Physical Cell Id (PCI) is used by the User devices to identify each radio on the Access Point. PCI planning across a multi- Access Point network results in efficient resource utilization and hence improved network performance.

Operational Power (dBm) - The Output Tx power from each Radio on the Access Point. Users can customize this value under edit config -> Advanced Configuration when the Access Point is transmitting.

Note that changing this value may impact the performance of your network and the Operational Power must ideally be equal to Celona SON Recommended Power

SAS Grant (US-CBRS Only) - SAS Grant status for the Access Point. Status observed are:

  • Authorized - AP has an active grant and can transmit RF

  • Granted - AP has a grant but cannot transmit before getting authorized by SAS

  • Registered - AP is registered with SAS and is in the process of requesting a spectrum grant.

  • Suspended - AP spectrum grant has been suspended by SAS due to higher-tier user activity. Read about the impact to Access Point states due to higher-tier user activity here

Operational Status - Each radio's operational state is represented in the card by either Up / Down.

If both Radios on the Access Point are Up, the Access Point is operating at full capacity.

If one of the Radios on the Access Point is Down, Access Point is operating at reduced capacity.

A radio could go down due to a SAS-triggered event. Some FAQs are answered in this document.

If both Radios on the Access Point are Down, the Access Point is not transmitting and user devices won't be able to connect to this Access Point.

You can find more details on Access Points here - Advanced Access Point Configurations

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