Ruckus Wireless Extends Smart Wi-Fi to Urban Mesh Networks

Ruckus Wireless has extended its "Smart Wi-Fi" intelligent beam steering technology beyond home and enterprise networking into an end-to-end managed, wireless broadband access (WBA) solution.


By combining its beam steering technology with the additional performance boost of 802.11n, Ruckus Wireless believes carrier-grade Wi-Fi services can be delivered in developing urban environments at a fraction of the cost of WiMAX, while overcoming technical hurdles that stymied previous metro Wi-Fi attempts. In particular, the company's dynamic beamforming software addresses the interference problems that have plagued previous outdoor Wi-Fi networks. The Ruckus dynamic antenna system also enables more efficient spatial reuse in wireless mesh networks - by varying the direction of each packet transmission, adjacent mesh APs often can transmit simultaneously on the same channel thereby maximizing network capacity. The solution is aimed at concentrated urban areas where people eat, shop, live or congregate.


The Ruckus WBA solution includes outdoor mesh APs, customer premises equipment (CPE), a new line of smart Wi-Fi backhaul systems and system-wide remote management. These include: ZoneFlex 7762, a dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi outdoor access point; ZoneFlex 2741, an 802.11g Smart Wi-Fi outdoor access point; and ZoneFlex 7731, a new high-gain, point-to-point 802.11n (5GHz) backhaul system that extends Wi-Fi signals over kilometers at data rates up to 300 Mbps over a secure link. The company's customer premises equipment includes its MediaFlex 2200, a purpose-built wireless gateway that reliably extends Wi-Fi signals indoors.


Ruckus Smart Mesh networking routes traffic over wired and wirelessly meshed APs, using the highest performing path in real time. It allows APs to be aggregated over gigabit Ethernet for capacity without the overhead of additional mesh hops.

Ruckus Wireless cited two lead customers: WiNet Broadband in Malaysia, which plans to deploy 4,000 nodes by the end of 2010 and is targeting to attract 250,000 subscribers by the end of 2010; and India's Tikona Digital Network.
http://www.ruckuswireless.com/