PR releases

Wavion announces availability of the WS410 spatially adaptive access point for metro Wi-Fi; details dramatic field trial results

Field Trials by CONXX Reveal the Wavion WS410 Delivers Significantly  Greater Coverage and Capacity over Conventional Outdoor Access Points  for Metro Wi-Fi Deployments

 SAN JOSE, Calif. , Aug. 7, 2006 – Wavion™, a company transforming the  metro Wi-Fi market with a new category of access points, today announced  the general availability of the WS410, a spatially adaptive Wi-Fi access  point specifically designed to dramatically improve the economics and  performance of metro Wi-Fi deployments. The Wavion WS410 can quadruple  the coverage of existing access points in metro Wi-Fi deployments,  support new applications, minimise dead spots, and better penetrate  walls for a significantly improved user experience. In addition, Wavion  revealed the results of field trials with CONXX, which demonstrates the  power of the WS410.

 CONXX built and operates Maryland’s Allegany County Network, one of the  oldest municipal wireless networks in the . The  carrier-class communication network, called AllCoNet2, provides  high-quality communication services to public safety, government,  education, commercial, and residential users. Based on their tests with  other outdoor access points, CONXX engineers expected 200 to 250 meters  of radial coverage with data rates averaging between 1-6 megabits per  second (Mbps). Instead, results from their first field trials revealed  more than double the coverage in NLOS (non line-of-sight) and LOS and  conditions. During the same tests, data rates routinely hit 10-15 Mbps  and peaked at 21 Mbps.

 “Frankly, we are impressed. We have been testing many types and  manufacturers of Wi-Fi equipment over the past several months. Of all  the equipment we tested, we found that coverage was fairly  undistinguishing between manufacturers, until we received the Wavion  WS410,” said Jeff Blank, Chief Technical Officer of CONXX. “We had  incorrectly concluded that all Wi-Fi equipment was mostly the same from  a radio frequency (RF) standpoint. As a result, we had come to the false  realisation that Wi-Fi equipment would have to be evaluated solely on  its software features and not its RF performance. The WS410 changed  everything.”

 “The Wavion WS410 offers significant benefits to infrastructure  equipment vendors, service providers, municipal organisations, and  customers eager for metro Wi-Fi deployments to deliver Internet access  where they work, drive and live,” said Ran Eisenberg, Wavion’s CEO.  “Launching the world’s first metro-scale access point with digital  beamforming is a big first step on the road to transform the metro Wi-Fi  market.”

 The Wavion WS410 Improves Performance, Penetration and Profitability 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 service providers’ capital and operating expenditures  by more than 50 percent.

 “This ability to continually optimise the wireless signal, regardless of  the changes in the electromagnetic environment, moving objects and other  environmental factors, is critical to any successful metro-scale Wi-Fi  deployment in a dense urban area,” said Sam Lucero, senior analyst for  ABI Research. “Wavion's use of digital beamforming in outdoor access  points is an important technological development that will help to  improve performance, reliability, and capacity.”

 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,  significantly improving the range and quality of the link. The key to  this significant performance gain is the ability to exploit the  different propagation paths from the access point antennas to the client  and assuring that all propagating signals sum coherently at the client.  Pre-authentication ensures fast handoffs and consistent performance  across the network. This advanced technology provides significant  performance gains for any off-the-shelf, 802.11 standards-based Wi-Fi  clients — such as those found in nearly all recently manufactured  notebook computers.

 The technology also allows Wavion to gain from a new U.S. Federal  Communications Commission (FCC) regulation. This new FCC regulation  allows multiple-antenna systems that utilize beamforming technology to  deliver more power than conventional systems, as they adaptively focus  their energy directly at a client. While conventional access points are  limited to 36 dBm (decibels of measured power referenced to one  milliwatt) in effective radiated power, Wavion’s system is allowed to  deliver up to 42 dBm.

 The WS410’s intelligence resides in customised ASICs, which tightly  integrate beamforming signal processing with the PHY and MAC network  layers, incorporating advanced algorithms that continually compensate  for dynamic outdoor conditions.

The Wavion WS410:

May be mounted on light poles, rooftops, or any other suitable outdoor  location, and can be easily integrated with other backhaul options. The  20-pound AP can tap standard AC, streetlights, NEMA photoelectric  controls or Power over Ethernet for power. With its rugged construction,  the WS410 can withstand salt, fog, rust, and winds up to 140 mph.  Supports up to 16 Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) and up to 16 virtual  LANs (IEEE 802.1q VLANs) for wholesale and retail services. Different  security options can be associated to each VLAN. To prevent unauthorised  network intrusion, the WS410 supports Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), and  is software upgradeable to WPA2 Enterprise (IEEE 802.11i) security  methods.

 Will provide the latest IEEE 802.11e and the Wireless Multimedia (WMM)  quality of service (QoS) to prioritize traffic, ensuring the strength  and clarity of voice transmissions by reducing latency and jitter. The  higher throughput offered by the WS410 also contributes to voice quality  by minimising delays.

 Includes a complete suite of remote management capabilities, including  web-based configuration and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)  traffic monitoring with a full set of system performance and switching  statistics. The onboard management system features an easy-to-use  graphical user interface.

 The WS410 is the first in a family of spatially adaptive access points  Wavion will be releasing to original equipment manufacturers and other  partners. Complete product specifications for the WS410 are available  now from Wavion’s website, http://www.wavion.net. Pricing and  availability information is available now from Wavion and soon from OEMs  and partners.

 About Wavion

Wavion is transforming the metro Wi-Fi market with a new category of  spatially adaptive access point. The company’s digital beamforming and  SDMA technologies are the first and only to resolve the significant  performance, penetration and profitability challenges facing metro Wi-Fi  deployments. Wavion is privately held and backed by world-class  investors including Sequoia Capital, Tel Aviv-based Elron Electronic  Industries Ltd., Star Ventures, and BRM Capital. Wavion has offices in  Silicon Valley and Yoqne’am, .

To learn more, please visit Wavion  at http://www.wavion.net.