- Cisco Aironet Access Point Manual

Cisco Aironet Series 1600/2600/3600 Access Point Deployment Guide, Release 7.5

802.11n Primer - Understanding Spatial Streams

Figure 54 ClientLink 2.0

With beamforming technology, changing the timing of two transmitters creates a stronger signal for the

receiver, e.g, a client device. This is referred to as constructive interference. Sometimes, however, the

opposite happens and the signals cancel each other out. This is called destructive interference. Refer to

Figure 55.

Figure 55 Beamforming (constructive and destructive interference)

Figure 56 provides a visual comparison of ClientLink 1.0, using 1 spatial stream, and ClientLink 2.0,

using 3 spatial streams. Unlike the AP 3500, the AP 3600 provides multiple spatial streams using four

transceivers for even greater performance. AP 3600 can beamform to all 802.11a/g and 802.11n 1, 2 and

3 spatial stream clients. The signal is x3 as each stream is beamformed.