Wavion, a provider of metro Wi-Fi gear using beamforming, and ADC Telecommunications, a leading provider of high-end networking solutions, announced today that the two companies are cooperating to create an open architecture for municipal Wi-Fi networks.
Wavion’s WS410 spatially adaptive outdoor access point will be integrated with ADC’s SG-1 Service Gateway (pdf) to create a powerful and open environment, say the companies, while still enabling them to seamlessly combine other vendors’ products into their networks.
The WS410 uses six radio transceivers and six 7.5 dBi omni-directional antennas. It employs advanced digital beamforming to optimally focus radio energy to and from network clients on a per-packet basis. While conventional access points are limited to 36 dBm of effective radiated power, Wavion’s system is allowed to deliver up to 42 dBm (since it’s classified as point-to-point service).
A single WS410, which serves up to 254 standard Wi-Fi clients, is designed to perform the work of three to four conventional access points, reducing costs. A 2-3 fold reduction in the number of APs in a typical deployment is expected, with improved network quality. Each antenna operates on a separate rf propagation path, and the six signals combine coherently at the client, explains Wavion founder and CTO Mati Wax.
The City of Cumberland, Maryland (pdf) used 90 Wavions to cover their 7 square miles. Most municipal WiFi implementations use about about 25 nodes per sq mile (5×5 per sq mile), or about twice as many APs as used by Cumberland’s Wavion system. The 20-pound AP can tap standard AC, streetlights, NEMA photoelectric controls or Power over Ethernet for power. The City of Cumberland planned to replace water meters with wireless models and generate savings, using about 12 Wavion spatially adaptive access points per square mile.
ADC’s SG-1 (pdf), provides quality of service (QoS), application usage management per user, seamless roaming and other networking features. Earthlink will also use ADC’s SG-1 for wireless Internet access in areas where it’s building municipal Wi-Fi networks.
Ruckus Wireless has a related technology called “BeamFlex” and “ZoneFlex”to automatically select the highest quality signal path. It uses a single radio and “beams” a signal with multiple antennas.
The Ruckus ZoneFlex 2942 ($349) is their first centrally managed, multimedia 802.11g Wi-Fi access point. Ruckus says it supports up to 50 simultaneous data users or 20 concurrent voice calls, and can reduce by half the number of APs required using BeamFlex.
The Ruckus ZoneFlex 2942 APs are automatically configured by the Ruckus Zone Director.
The ZoneFlex 2925 ($259), is designed for the hotspot market. It supports up to four unique BSSIDs that lets operators uniquely segment traffic and services. The Ruckus ZoneDirector 1000 is a centrally managed multimedia Wi-Fi controller developed specifically for small-to-medium businesses. It manages the ZoneFlex network of APs – automatically adjusting transmit power levels and RF channel assignments and enabling redundant coverage in the event of an AP failure.
Ruckus’ ZoneFlex APs are said to deliver directional Wi-Fi signals in 360º, with up to 7 dBi in signal gain and 30 dB in interference rejection. With wireless meshing, each ZoneFlex AP functions as a wireless node within the mesh. Up to 10 ZoneFlex APs can participate in a wireless mesh cluster.
Vivato’s beamforming system uses multiple radios and multiple beams versus multiple beams on a single channel, for Wavion. Mobile WiMAX will also do beamforming using technology pioneered by Navini and Arraycomm.
The FCC allows phased array sector beams up to 120 degrees. The total EIRP on any beam may not exceed the EIRP limits for conventional point-to-point operation. Under FCC rules, the transmitter output power be reduced by 1 dB for each 3 dB that the directional antenna gain.
Netgear’s RangeMax “N” and D-Link “N” Routers feature MIMO but not beamforming.
Enterprise WiFi networks are adopting MIMO-based 802.11n, too. More than 900 Meru Networks AP300 access points, each equipped with 802.11n radios, are being installed at Morrisville State College. Trapeze Networks supports their Mobility Point 432, a true 3×3 MIMO with 40 Mhz channels. Aruba Networks’ 6000 and Cisco’s Catalyst 6500 WiSM also provide enhanced thoughput controllers.
According to ABI Research, the total area covered by municipal Wi-Fi networks was 1,500 square miles in 2005 but is expected to jump to 126,000 square miles by 2010. The market for metro Wi-Fi access equipment is expected to exceed $600 million in 2008 and nearly double that amount to $1.2 billion in 2010.
Related DailyWireless links include; Wavion Beams CityFi, Wavion on Metro Beam, Navini Beamforms Voice, Navini Ships Mobile WiMAX Ready Gear and 2 Dot 3 Comes to Town.
