Wavion Announces Availability of the WS410 Spatially Adaptive Access Point for Metro Wi-Fi; Details Dramatic Field Trial Results.

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

Wavion(TM), 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, minimize 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 United States. 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 realization 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 organizations, 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 optimize 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 customized 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 unauthorized 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 minimizing 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, Israel. To learn more, please visit Wavion at http://www.wavion.net.