Aruba Networks has unveiled a new release of software that’s designed to improve wireless LAN throughput and reliability, reports Network World.
The 2.0 version its Adaptive Radio Management software adds features that automatically shift WLAN clients to different channels or frequencies for better performance. The automated adjustments can boost throughput for individual clients, and increase the network’s overall capacity, Aruba says.
The new release extends controls to the 802.11 clients, and coordinating their requirements, behavior and activities with that of the access point infrastructure.
Through the Aruba WLAN controller, with data supplied by clients and access points, ARM 2.0 now can move 2.4GHz clients to a specific access point with available bandwidth on a given radio frequency channel. Clients that might have flocked to a particular access point, over-subscribing it and reducing performance, will get assigned to less crowded bandwidth.
The WLAN controller can also switch 802.11a and 11n clients from the 2.4GHz band to the 5GHz band, and without the presence of 11b and 11g clients, they can associate at higher data rates.
The controller also can use a new timing method to schedule fair access for all clients on all bands, either giving them equal access or giving 11a and 11n clients longer access. That’s important because an uncontrolled WLAN client can hog the connection to the access point. With what Aruba calls airtime fairness, “no single client is going to dominate the spectrum,” says Michael Tennefoss, head of strategic marketing for Aruba.
A Farpoint Group white paper is available for downloading (pdf) from Aruba’s Web site.
.gif)
