Airespace Extends Range, Security, Performance, and Predictability of Enterprise WLANs with Expanded Product Portfolio.

Business Editors

NetWorld+Interop 2004 Las Vegas 

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 10, 2004

New WLAN Architecture Creates Switched RF Environment that

Increases Productivity and End User Satisfaction

Building on its vision of extending business critical wireless services to enterprise environments, Airespace, Inc. today announced a new set of products within its award-winning Wireless LAN (WLAN) portfolio. At the Networld+Interop show in Las Vegas, Airespace is introducing the new Intelligent RF Access Point (IRAP) and enhancements to its AireWave Director(TM) Software. The two new components combine best-in-class smart antenna technology and radio resource algorithms to deliver the highest level of security, performance, and reliability of any WLAN system on the market today. The result is a unique wireless platform that improves wireless operations much in the same way that switched Ethernet revolutionized LAN technology.

"It is extremely difficult to offer predictable WLAN services given the very nature of RF," said David Passmore, research director at Burton Group. "It is nice to see companies like Airespace address this issue with the latest and greatest in antennae technology and RF management software. This goes a long way towards supporting the stringent WLAN requirements of enterprises."

Creating a Switched RF Environment

The Airespace Intelligent RF Access Point leverages Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) smart antenna technology to take advantage of the fact that RF signals propagate in multiple directions when they come in contact with common obstacles, such as walls and people. This RF characteristic, known as multi-path, can debilitate the performance of WLAN systems by presenting numerous, inefficient path options to clients. IRAP uses multi-path to its advantage by sampling all available paths and then switching between the paths that are most optimal for communications with each wireless user at any given time.

By intelligently switching between radio paths, a concept known as "RF Switching," users of Airespace's products experience consistent, reliable performance similar to that of a wired network. The Airespace solution creates an optimal path to each individual wireless client, enabling consistent bi-directional throughput, even as clients move. The Airespace IRAP also improves WLAN performance by reducing the amount of interference between APs and clients. By filtering out unnecessary paths, these devices do not waste cycles processing superfluous information.

Airespace's AireWave Director Software complements the RF Switching process by ensuring that each individual Access Point makes decisions that correspond with end-to-end enterprise policies. This ensures that WLAN security, capacity management, and performance optimization happen across an entire enterprise, as opposed to in isolated pockets of a wireless network.

"Airespace's raison d'etre is to make wireless networks as reliable and manageable as wired networks," said Alan Cohen, vice president of marketing and product management at Airespace. "When we first launched the Airespace Wireless Enterprise Platform over a year ago, we created a new category: standards-based business-critical WLAN networking. The latest additions to our product portfolio take enterprises to a new level of control and performance, much like the transition of Ethernet hubs to switches in the wired world."

Enhancing the Business Benefits of Enterprise WLANs

Intelligent RF path selection enables the Airespace Wireless Enterprise Platform to deliver consistently better performance than alternative WLAN solutions. This translates into numerous business benefits for enterprises:

-- Increased productivity as users stay connected more

consistently

-- The ability to support high-quality real-time voice and data

communications

-- Increased employee satisfaction due to a better WLAN

experience

-- Introduction of new, unique applications that assist in mobile

environments, such as asset tracking and resource auditing

In addition, RF Switching improves the way that IT staff support wireless services:

-- Improved Location Tracking: The Airespace solution provides

more data points for better collection of real-time RF

statistics. When combined with Airespace's unique RF

fingerprinting technology, IT staff can improve the accuracy

of WLAN location tracking. This assists with rogue detection

and brings asset tracking capabilities to the enterprise to

support a variety of new applications, from supply side

management to retail administration.

-- Better WLAN Security: The Airespace solution provides greater

control over where RF signals go in an enterprise environment.

This minimizes the ability to "eavesdrop" on a wireless

network, protecting sensitive corporate resources.

Same Great WLAN System

The new Airespace Intelligent RF Access Point works in conjunction with the Airespace 4000 WLAN Switch, 4100 WLAN Appliance, and Airespace Control System (ACS) Software, which provides centralized visibility and control of the air space for intelligent wireless networking. AireWave Director comes standard on all Airespace equipment, providing real-time RF management capabilities that include dynamic channel assignment, transmit power control, load balancing, dynamic coverage hole detection/correction, and automated fault tolerance.

IRAP leverages the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) for seamless integration and zero-touch provisioning into the network. In addition to the benefits noted above, IRAP offers the same features as Airespace's other LWAPP-enabled Access Points:

-- Simultaneous air monitoring and traffic delivery

-- MAC-layer encryption, including support for 802.11i (AES) and

802.11e

-- Power over Ethernet (802.3af)

-- Plenum rating

-- Multi-mode support (802.11 a, b, and g)

Product Availability

The Airespace Intelligent RF Access Point and enhancements to AireWave Director software will be available in Q3, 2004.

About Airespace, Inc.

Airespace designs and develops intelligent wireless networking platforms that support business-critical applications. The company has set the standard for enterprise Wireless LANs, having earned Network Computing's "Editor's Choice Award," Network World's "World Class Award" and "Best of the Tests Award," eWEEK's "Annual Excellence Award," Internet Telephony's "Product of the Year," and nomination as one of the "Best Wireless Products of 2003" in InfoWorld's Reader's Choice Awards. With dynamic RF management, air-tight security, seamless mobility, and support for real-time applications such as voice, Airespace helps enterprises implement secure Wireless LAN networks worldwide.

For more information on Airespace and its products, visit www.airespace.com or call 408-635-2000.