Xirrus RF Innovation: High Performance 802.11n Multi-Link Wireless Mesh

Multi-radio 802.11n Wireless Distribution System (WDS) Provides Unprecedented Wi-Fi Mesh / Backbone Capacity

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Feb 10, 2010, 01:33 ET

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Xirrus, Inc., the only Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, and user density in the industry, announced today its next step in RF Innovation: multi-link 802.11n wireless mesh. The advent of the 802.11n standard has enabled unprecedented data capacity over Wi-Fi networks. Combining this with the unique, multi-radio architecture of the Xirrus XN Wi-Fi Arrays, a Wi-Fi mesh backbone can now be accomplished with a level of performance previously only possible with dedicated, expensive, point-to-point systems…or wire itself.

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A Wireless Distribution System, or WDS, is a system that uses Wi-Fi to connect multiple Access Points together in a daisy chain or mesh configuration. In the past, Wi-Fi has not been very effective for deploying high performance WDS because of legacy Wi-Fi bandwidth limitations and the limited number of radios used in standard products. A traditional Access Point typically has only two radios, with one radio allocated to the WDS or a repeated mesh link and one radio servicing local Wi-Fi stations. There are several fundamental limitations with this design:

A single 802.11n radio in the Access Point limits the wireless backbone link to a maximum 300Mbps data rate. This single radio's bandwidth is typically shared among multiple APs in a meshed fashion that significantly reduces the effective bandwidth even further.
The second 802.11n radio remaining in the AP is used for station connectivity and must operate in only one of the two available Wi-Fi bands, 2.4GHz or 5GHz, limiting performance and flexibility of the network.
A single radio backhaul link creates a bottleneck for all traffic and a single point of failure.
The limitations mentioned above can be alleviated in part by dedicated wireless backbone / backhaul devices, but this means additional components and cost added to the network.

Xirrus has overcome these limitations with its enhanced WDS implementation in the 802.11n XN Wi-Fi Arrays. Up to 3 802.11n radios can be dedicated and aggregated into a single wireless link, and up to 4 such links can be created per Array. The radio density of Xirrus' new XN12 and XN16 Arrays provides the flexibility to create multiple wireless links in one device to create a Wi-Fi backbone as an element of an all wireless network, while at the same time servicing up to hundreds of 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi clients – all in one device.

"With up to 16 radios, the Array offers tremendous flexibility and advantages when designing wireless networks," said Jose Villarreal, Xirrus Wi-Fi Consulting Engineer. "We can offer customers solutions to deploy Wi-Fi across a campus environment with multiple buildings without having to spec out a multitude of different devices. And most importantly, performance is not compromised as it typically is with shared radio mesh networks," Jose explains. "The Array can dedicate radios at the full performance 802.11n provides for either backhaul or servicing clients without the need to chop up resources to fit the application."

Key advantages of the XN Array for WDS include:

Aggregation of up to 3 radios per WDS connection, providing near gigabit speeds of up to 900Mbps Wi-Fi bandwidth in a single link
Up to 4 links per Array, each providing a dedicated mesh link with dedicated Wi-Fi bandwidth:
The Xirrus Array uses multiple radios for backhaul capability, allowing full-duplex operation with traffic sent in both upstream and downstream directions simultaneously. This increases the performance, scalability, and reliability of the entire wireless network.
The Xirrus Array uses multiple radios for backhaul capability to provide interference immunity. Unlike legacy APs where interference on a single channel (radio) can degrade or stop the link, Xirrus Arrays have multiple radios operating on different channels that allow for continuous robust operation even in the presence of interference.
Internal high gain, directional antennas in the Array that can be directly used for WDS, or connections for external antennas an option.
Both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands can be serviced with multiple radios available for both frequencies.

"We designed the WDS implementation in the Xirrus Array with performance, resiliency, and network integration as key requirements," said Aaron Smith, Xirrus Embedded Software Engineering Director. "802.11n significantly increases performance compared to our previous 802.11a/b/g WDS implementations. In addition we group up to 3 radios together on top of the boost 802.11n gives us. Multi-radio links provide resiliency and take advantage of standard network protocols which treat each link as a standard network interface with full failover support."

Multi-radio 802.11n WDS is now available on all Xirrus XN Array models. See accompanying release from February 9, 2010, "Xirrus Outlines Six Month Product Roadmap Through Early Q3 2010" for a an overall view of Xirrus' continuing innovation plans.

For more information about Xirrus product offerings, visit the Xirrus website at www.xirrus.com.

About Xirrus

Xirrus, the only Wi-Fi Power-Play™, manufactures the Wi-Fi Array® architecture that displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet or Fast Ethernet to the desktop. Unlike traditional access points, the Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16 or 24 802.11abgn radios along with a high-gain directional antenna system, onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer into a single energy-efficient and cost-effective device using 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering. For more information, please visit http://www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus – The Wi-Fi Power-Play™

Xirrus – Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus – High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus – Wi-Fi Array®

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SOURCE Xirrus