OpenCAPWAP: An open source CAPWAP implementation for the management and configuration of WiFi hot-spots

The Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) protocol is under definition within the IETF to enable an Access Controller (AC) to manage a collection of Wireless Termination Points (WTPs). CAPWAP aims at simplifying the deployment and control of large scale, possibly heterogeneous, wireless networks. We present the first open source implementation of the CAPWAP protocol along with early experimental results aiming at the assessment of its reliability and performances. The paper ends describing applications of the CAPWAP protocol to management and QoS scenarios and discussing benefits and technical issues concerning its use.