MULTI-RADIO, MULTI-CHANNEL, MULTI-RF MESH SOLUTION DELIVERS HIGH THROUGHPUT AND LOW LATENCY FOR REAL TIME APPLICATIONS

CALABASAS, Calif., April 25, 2005 – Strix Systems, the leader in high-performance wireless mesh networking, today announced the general availability of its Access/One Network Outdoor Wireless System (OWS), the highest capacity multi-radio, multi-channel, and multi-RF mesh solution deployed today.Unlike competing mesh products that use either single or dual radios, Strix’s Access/One Network OWS supports up to six radios per node, providing dedicated high-speed wireless bandwidth for backhaul ingress, backhaul egress, and client connectivity. The Strix approach ensures the highest throughput and lowest latency over multiple hops, while enabling easy and cost-effective future network expansion. With the Strix Access/One Network OWS, city governments, municipalities, enterprises, and multi-dwelling units can now offer high-performance wireless access that supports the most demanding applications, including voice and video.

“We chose Strix Systems’ Access/One Network OWS for our deployments in the city of Chandler, AZ because it is the only system we found that can guarantee the levels of performance necessary for deploying real-time services across multiple virtual networks,” said Bruce Sanguinetti, president and CEO of MobilePro’s wireless division Neoreach, who’s team of partners installed the city’s network. “As we continue to design and deploy other municipal and metro-area mesh networks, the ability to add new nodes and new wireless technologies to the system while maintaining the highest level of performance is crucial. Only Strix’s Access/One Network OWS, with its multi-radio capabilities and modular design, can ensure the ability to grow the mesh network to meet future demands.”

Supporting Real-Time Services in Outdoor Environments
As wireless mesh networks become more popular and their size and complexity continues to grow, mesh networks that contain multiple hops will become increasingly vulnerable to bandwidth degradation, radio interference, and network latency. For example, network throughput can decline by as much as 50 percent per hop, with performance degradation compounding after every hop. In cases where real-time applications like voice and video are involved, this performance degradation can result in a complete loss of connection, therefore interrupting calls and video streams. Also, as mobile applications of mesh evolve, such as use in transportation (cars, trains, etc.), the ability to maintain performance over multiple hops will become even more crucial.

Using patent-pending Strix technology, the Access/One Network OWS integrates multiple radios per node and utilizes multiple channels per radio to redefine “high performance” for mesh networks. Single- and dual-radio alternatives are not true wireless meshes in that they require additional termination points for every 5-10 mesh nodes in order to maintain performance levels. Strix’s Access/One Network OWS fully delivers on the concept of a “network without wires” and can maintain support for real-time applications with only one termination point per 50 nodes. The result is less physical wiring of nodes, which further reduces the cost of deployment and increases the scalability of the system.

“As a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) serving several communities throughout Wisconsin, we need to deploy large rural mesh networks and cover very long hops – up to nine miles – between nodes,” said Bill Grube, systems administrator of Phoenix PC, Wisconsin. “Strix’s Access/One Network OWS was the only system that provided integrated backbone and client access capable of facilitating long hops while maintaining network performance.”

Using any mix of 802.11 a, b, or g radios, the Access/One Network OWS supports link rates of up to 108 Mbps between nodes. By operating at both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrums, the Access/One Network OWS separates client access from the mesh backbone, enabling the system to dynamically optimize data paths, circumnavigate network congestion and interference, and adjust in real-time to avoid network failure. This is the basis of the self-configuring, self-tuning, and self-healing nature of the Strix Access/One Network OWS.

Superior Security and Manageability
Strix’s Manager/One network management tool enables IT managers to manage the entire mesh network from a single location via its simple, browser-based interface while also providing the option for network administrators to use carrier-class SNMP tools. Manager/One provides the ability to monitor, diagnose, and re-configure any node in the system from one location, reducing the cost and complexity of network management. Using Virtual/Strix, separate virtual wireless networks can be established for public safety, residential access, guest access, and more. The system also maintains the highest level of network security with AES encryption for all links while supporting 802.1i, 802.1x, and all encryption types to client devices.

“VARs are seeing a strong demand for metro-scale mesh networks, but they require assurance that the system they deploy will be easy to manage without a large dedicated IT staff,” said Michael Bridge, Sales Manager at Connectronics, a U.S. distributor of Strix’s equipment. “We already have a number of VARs who have pre-ordered Strix’s Access/One Network OWS based on its ability to scale with limited IT support and management.”

The Access/One Network OWS 2400 and 3600 model products are available in two NEMA 4X-rated environmentally-hardened enclosures, ensuring maximum ability to withstand severe weather conditions and the ability to be deployed in any outdoor deployment. Both models support a range of external antennas and are field upgradeable.

“There is a demand for wireless ubiquity, and metro-scale mesh networks are making city-wide wireless access a reality,” said Doug Huemme, AVP of marketing for Strix Systems. “Cities deploying mesh networks today must think not only of their current connectivity needs, but also the future demands the network may have for the delivery of voice and video over mesh as well. Single- and dual-radio mesh architectures are unable to meet the bandwidth and low latency requirements of these real-time applications, and are unable to scale. The Strix Access/One Network OWS is the only system that future-proofs these metro Wi-Fi deployments by enabling the system to grow to meet future network demands.”

Availability
The Strix Access/One Network OWS is now generally available in North America through Strix’s authorized channel partners. For more information, please contact Strix Systems at sales@strixsystems.com.

About Strix Systems
The Strix Systems Access/One Network family of products represent the next generation of wireless LAN products, leaping past the traditional access point and switch architecture to mesh; a self-discovering, self-configuring, self-tuning, and self-healing wireless network incorporating robust security and comprehensive management. The Access/One Network family of products support all 802.11 RF technologies and offer multi-radio and multi-channel high performance managed mesh networking systems for indoor enterprise deployments and outdoor public safely, municipal and metropolitan networks. The Access/One Network can be configured and managed via Manager/One, a comprehensive browser based management platform that allows IT administrators to control all key elements of their wireless network, or using Access/One Networks carrier grade support for SNMP based management. Additional features of the Access/One Network products include Virtual/Strix and Priority/One. Virtual/Strix supports deployments of multi-use or virtual networks where various user segments are sharing one Access/One network. Priority/One allows administrators of these multi-use networks to ensure quality of service by assigning varying class of service filters to any type of network traffic or user group. Access/One Networks are ideal for data, voice, and other real time communication network applications. Access/One Networks have been deployed in numerous environments throughout the world including; enterprise, hospitality, education, public safety, housing, and metropolitan area networks. For more information about Strix Systems, please visit www.strixsystems.com