<s>
A	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
site	I-General_Concept
survey	I-General_Concept
,	O
sometimes	O
called	O
an	O
RF	O
(	O
Radio	O
Frequency	O
)	O
site	O
survey	O
or	O
wireless	O
survey	O
,	O
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
planning	O
and	O
designing	O
a	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
,	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
wireless	O
solution	O
that	O
will	O
deliver	O
the	O
required	O
wireless	O
coverage	O
,	O
data	O
rates	O
,	O
network	O
capacity	O
,	O
roaming	O
capability	O
and	O
quality	O
of	O
service	O
(	O
QoS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Interviews	O
with	O
IT	O
management	O
and	O
the	O
end	O
users	O
of	O
the	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
are	O
also	O
important	O
to	O
determine	O
the	O
design	O
parameters	O
for	O
the	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
site	I-General_Concept
survey	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
effective	O
range	O
boundary	O
is	O
set	O
,	O
which	O
defines	O
the	O
area	O
over	O
which	O
signal	O
levels	O
needed	O
support	O
the	O
intended	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wireless	B-General_Concept
site	I-General_Concept
survey	I-General_Concept
can	O
also	O
mean	O
the	O
walk-testing	O
,	O
auditing	O
,	O
analysis	O
or	O
diagnosis	O
of	O
an	O
existing	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
network	I-General_Concept
,	O
particularly	O
one	O
which	O
is	O
not	O
providing	O
the	O
level	O
of	O
service	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wireless	B-General_Concept
site	I-General_Concept
surveys	I-General_Concept
are	O
typically	O
conducted	O
using	O
computer	O
software	O
that	O
collects	O
and	O
analyses	O
WLAN	B-Architecture
metrics	O
and/or	O
RF	O
spectrum	O
characteristics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
three	O
main	O
types	O
of	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
site	I-General_Concept
surveys	I-General_Concept
:	O
passive	O
,	O
active	O
,	O
and	O
predictive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
a	O
passive	O
survey	O
,	O
a	O
site	O
survey	O
application	O
passively	O
listens	O
to	O
WLAN	B-Architecture
traffic	O
to	O
detect	O
active	O
access	O
points	O
,	O
measure	O
signal	O
strength	O
and	O
noise	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
wireless	O
adapter	O
being	O
used	O
for	O
a	O
survey	O
is	O
not	O
associated	O
to	O
any	O
WLANs	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
system	O
design	O
purposes	O
,	O
one	O
or	O
more	O
temporary	O
access	O
points	O
are	O
deployed	O
to	O
identify	O
and	O
qualify	O
access	B-Device
point	I-Device
locations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
value	O
of	O
a	O
predictive	O
survey	O
as	O
a	O
design	O
tool	O
versus	O
a	O
passive	O
survey	O
done	O
with	O
only	O
a	O
few	O
access	B-Device
point	I-Device
is	O
that	O
modeled	O
interference	O
can	O
be	O
taken	O
into	O
account	O
in	O
the	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Depending	O
on	O
the	O
survey	O
type	O
,	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
software	O
and	O
software/hardware	O
options	O
are	O
available	O
to	O
WLAN	B-Architecture
surveyors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
professional-level	O
site	O
survey	O
applications	O
exist	O
primarily	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
site	O
survey	O
applications	O
for	O
other	O
platforms	O
,	O
including	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
Android	B-Application
,	O
also	O
exist	O
,	O
however	O
they	O
are	O
limited	O
in	O
functionality	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
limitations	O
of	O
the	O
underlying	O
platform	O
API	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
signal	O
level	O
measurements	O
cannot	O
be	O
obtained	O
on	O
iOS	B-Application
without	O
jailbreaking	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
portability	O
is	O
a	O
decisive	O
factor	O
in	O
conducting	O
wireless	B-General_Concept
site	I-General_Concept
surveys	I-General_Concept
,	O
PC-based	O
spectrum	O
analyzers	O
in	O
CardBus	O
and	O
USB	O
form	O
factors	O
are	O
widely	O
used	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WLAN	B-Architecture
chipset	O
manufacturers	O
are	O
starting	O
to	O
incorporate	O
spectrum	O
analysis	O
into	O
their	O
chipset	O
designs	O
;	O
this	O
functionality	O
is	O
integrated	O
into	O
some	O
high-end	O
enterprise-class	O
802.11n	O
access	O
points	O
.	O
</s>
