Campus "Full Wireless" Lets Data "Speak"

The construction of the campus network of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (hereinafter referred to as "BUPT") began in 1994. After 23 years of construction, the basic network has now developed to a 40G backbone network bandwidth within the school, 10G to buildings, and 1G to desktops. The Xitucheng, Shahe and Hongfu campuses of the school are supporting the operation of various information services through such a network. In an exclusive interview with "China Education Informatization" magazine, An Jie, director of the Education Informatization Department of the Institute of Science and Technology Development of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, said that through the application of wireless networks and big data and other technologies, the future Shahe main campus will be built into the most modern and intelligent campus, where students can enjoy more convenient life services and more intelligent teaching services.

"Full wireless" coverage

Beiyou Shahe Campus covers an area of ​​1,380 mu, and the project is completed in two phases. The first phase covers an area of ​​about 858 mu and a building area of ​​about 400,000 square meters; the second phase covers an area of ​​about 490 mu and a building area of ​​about 200,000 square meters. After completion, it will be able to accommodate 18,000 students. During the design phase of the network of Shahe Campus, it was demonstrated what model should be used to design, build and provide services: Can we boldly adopt a new network coverage model that is mainly based on wireless networks and basically has no wired networks?

An Jie said: "Since the Shahe new campus is a newly built campus, we must have some advanced awareness when designing it, and build Shahe into a truly wireless campus. At present, judging from the types of devices used and statistics, wireless devices (mobile devices) account for more than half of the total number of devices in BUPT, which means that everyone is accustomed to using mobile terminals to access the Internet and obtain various services."

An Jie said that the "full wireless" coverage of the Shahe campus was mainly based on the following considerations: First, in recent years, the standards and product technologies of wireless networks have developed rapidly, and the access speed, stability and security of wireless networks have been greatly improved; second, through the test of Aruba wireless products in some buildings of the main campus of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, the results are satisfactory, and whether it can meet the actual work, study and life needs of teachers and students; third, the development speed of mobile Internet is very fast, and in the future more and more wireless terminals will replace wired terminals, which has become a major trend; fourth, from the perspective of management and operation and maintenance, the cost of wireless networks is lower than that of wired networks. Compared with the simultaneous use of two networks (wired and wireless), the maintenance cost of using only wireless networks will be greatly reduced.

In terms of wireless campus construction, BUPT has chosen Aruba, the world's leading wireless network supplier, as its partner. In terms of user access, authentication, and operation management, Aruba not only provides BUPT with complete and advanced solutions, but also provides professional technical services. Currently, except for some classroom-specific equipment and security-specific equipment that still retain wired access, BUPT Shahe Campus has fully wireless coverage in teaching areas, dormitory areas, office areas, and canteens, and has achieved full wireless network management in student dormitories.

"With the widespread popularity of mobile terminals and the emergence of a large number of mobile Internet services, wireless networks have become an important way to access the Internet. The stability, reliability, security, and operational management characteristics of wireless networks are particularly important to our school management department," said An Jie.

"Aruba is a world-leading wireless network product supplier and one of our close partners. Through the cooperation over the past few years, we have increasingly felt the advancement and professionalism of Aruba in terms of products, technologies and services. In the future, we hope that Aruba can share the successful experience of the global education industry and apply it to Chinese schools. We also hope to share the successful practical experience of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications with other international colleagues. We believe that Aruba is fully capable of fulfilling this mission and responsibility."

Let the data speak

The "all-wireless" coverage network built by Aruba for BUPT has been in use for nearly two years. Currently, teachers and students are using it normally. It can be said that this "all-wireless" coverage method has achieved great success. It not only provides better stability and security for BUPT campus services, but also has management-friendly and cost-saving features for the school. In addition, the multi-wireless access points realized by Aruba's AirWave (network management system), ClearPass (policy management) and ALE (positioning function) products can also provide key applications such as big data analysis.

At BUPT, all data generated through the wireless campus network, whether it is network data, consumption data, or data on study and scientific research, will be recorded. The school uses the data on students' behavior trajectories to analyze the behavioral characteristics of some students, which can better improve student management and optimize services for students.

For example, the frequency of students appearing in a certain place can be analyzed: Do they not go to class when they should, do they come back to rest when they should? If the student's behavior is abnormal, the system will automatically generate an early warning and report it to the counselor. For example, when the school is doing psychological early warning work, it can screen out some students who may have psychological problems, analyze their consumption characteristics and behavioral characteristics, and whether they are consistent with the normal characteristic curve. If there is an abnormality, the student will be paid attention to.

Anjie believes that using this data in schools can help students a lot. For example, using this data, we can analyze the relationship between Internet access and academic performance; we can analyze the relationship between borrowing books and academic performance; we can also analyze whether poor students really meet the poverty standard. What kind of services should be provided in schools, and using data to "speak" can greatly improve school management.

In terms of data security, the school uses various technical means and security strategies to ensure that the data is not leaked. At the same time, the school also has strict standards for data use, and the extracted data is encrypted to remove personal privacy information to ensure that students' privacy is protected.

"In the future, we hope that more school management work can be achieved through data, because data can 'speak'. Of course, technology may not be able to achieve those ideal goals perfectly and completely immediately, but we are indeed constantly trying to do it," said Anjie.