The Economics of Cooperative Control
Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 3
Cooperative Control ............................................................................................. 4
Economic Deficiencies of a Controller-based WLAN Architecture ......................... 5
Economic Benefits of a Cooperative Control WLAN Architecture .......................... 7
Deployment Examples ......................................................................................... 9
Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 10

Introduction
Today's de facto standard architecture is commonly referred to as the, ―controller-based‖
architecture, sometimes referred to as the ―split MAC‖ architecture. It involves one or more
controllers and controller-based (lightweight, thin) APs. The controller-based architecture
was created to solve manageability, mobility (as opposed to portability), and high
operational expenditure (OPEX) problems that were prevalent in autonomous (fat, thick,
standalone) AP implementations.