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Aruba Wireless Networks (Aruba) today introduced the wireless grid, the industry's first structured architecture for deploying high-performance enterprise wireless networks, while lowering the costs of deployment by over 80 percent. Aruba's wireless grid architecture integrates WLANs with structured building distribution systems and builds on Aruba's pioneering centralized approach to securing and managing enterprise Wi-Fi networks. "At Cisco, a decade ago, we seized the opportunity created by the introduction of high-performance LAN switches and structured cabling systems and drove the unprecedented transformation of corporate networks," said Don LeBeau, President and CEO of Aruba. "The wireless grid architecture represents a similar confluence of high-performance WLAN switches with structured WLAN distribution systems and is a very exciting development for the industry. It is the first architectural innovation that enables enterprises to move WLANs from a convenience connectivity solution to a mainstream, high-performance mobile networking utility" Aruba's wireless grid employs densely deployed Wi-Fi radios with powerful centralized control to deliver predictable wired-LAN-like performance with the flexibility of WLANs. The wireless grid is the first structured approach to enterprise wireless deployment. The architecture brings access points (APs) out of the ceiling and into the existing structured cabling infrastructure to deliver a low-cost deployment model for WLANs. Fundamental to enabling Aruba's wireless grids, is the introduction of new grid points (GPs) - low-cost 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi radios - that can be deployed alongside or integrated with existing structured cabling systems and the industry's highest-capacity, centralized WLAN system (see related release "Aruba Wireless Networks Introduces New Products for Enterprise Wireless Grids"). In addition, Aruba unveiled a strategic development agreement with Ortronics, a premier manufacturer of structured cabling solutions, to build the world's first Wi-Fi wall outlet. The Wi-Fi wall outlet integrates Aruba next-generation GP technology directly into a conventional network wall jack. The Wi-Fi wall outlet further extends the performance and deployment benefits of Aruba's new wireless grid architecture (see related release "Aruba Wireless Networks and Ortronics Unveil the World's First Wi-Fi Wall Outlet"). "Even with the non-stop innovation that typifies the wireless-LAN world, this is a very exciting announcement," said Craig Mathias, a Principal with the wireless advisory firm Farpoint Group. "Users can now move away from sparsely-deployed infrastructures previously dictated by labor-intensive installation costs and towards a rapidly- and densely-deployed environment of excellent coverage and capacity." Wireless Grids Deliver Predictable Performance with Dense Wireless Deployments Just as switched Ethernet delivered a dedicated wired connection to each user, Aruba's wireless grid architecture effectively allows dense deployment of wireless so that the issues of performance and network connectivity disappear. Wireless grids deliver this predictable and resilient performance through dense deployments of Wi-Fi radios and the creation of micro-cells around each GP. RF signals are then focused on a small coverage area, with each GP serving a small number of wireless clients. This approach minimizes contention and enables superior performance. Wireless grids then utilize new RF management services that run pervasively throughout the grid infrastructure and are centrally controlled from a WLAN switch to constantly tune the grid for high performance. Aruba delivers on the promise of high density grid deployments by ensuring a high-performance RF environment throughout the enterprise. Aruba's new RF management services include proprietary dynamic interference avoidance and on-demand capacity management algorithms that automatically manage the RF environment and guarantee delivery of a clear, high-performance RF signal to any client, anywhere. Wireless Grids Lower Costs by Integrating Wi-Fi into the Building Infrastructure Wireless grids are a practical and cost-effective way to significantly boost WLAN performance using current 802.11a/b/g technologies. Wireless Grids integrate 802.11a/b/g radios with existing structured cabling and eliminate the need to create a parallel cabling infrastructure inside the ceiling for supporting densely deployed APs. Ongoing repair and replacement are also easier to perform when radios are deployed in concert with existing structured cabling. "We need a wireless model that lets us quickly and easily drop Wi-Fi radios everywhere to slash the costs of our wireless deployment," said Al Foitag, chief network architect at a major motion picture studio. "For wireless to become pervasive to the point where it becomes the primary network connection, performance, coverage and price per connection must be taken out of the equation. Aruba is clearly moving wireless in this direction." Wireless grids further gut the cost of deployment by eliminating the need for RF planning. Network managers can simply install low-cost radios every few meters and let automated RF management take over for calibration and performance tuning of the WLAN. Aruba's centralized radio calibration algorithms uniquely enable Wireless Grids to learn a building's RF propagation characteristics in real-time and to automatically adjust as conditions change. This approach eliminates the need for expensive site surveys that are optimized for coverage or virtual site survey tools that require the knowledge of building materials to predict RF propagation. Centralized calibration is complimented with distributed radio-resource allocation algorithms that fine-tune RF performance for local RF conditions at each GP. Wireless Grids Enable Wireless Capacity and RF Services On-Demand Similar to electrical grids that deliver power on-demand, the wireless grid delivers wireless capacity and services on-demand to enable a high-performance mobile networking utility for enterprises. Wireless Grids deliver adaptive capacity management features that control network performance based on the number of 802.11a/b/g clients in the network. This allows enterprises to deploy low-cost single radio 802.11a/b/g GPs and have capacity management software dictate the frequency band and the number of GPs required for each band. This greatly reduces the need for deploying expensive multi-radio APs in anticipation of greater demand. If performance requirements exceed the total capacity of the wireless grid, it can be easily addressed by increasing the number of GPs in the grid. Wireless grids also offer performance optimization of infrastructure RF services such as security enforcement, location tracking, air monitoring, diagnostics, calibration and troubleshooting by dedicating GPs for specific RF services based on current demand for that service. Instead of time-slicing these services in a single AP and impacting the performance of every service, the wireless grid distributes RF service processing among multiple radios with each radio serving a single function at any given time. The centralized grid control system ensures that all RF services are available in the grid, but does not assume that every service is needed at every radio at all times. It delivers these services on-demand by dynamically selecting the function of any given GP. Wireless Grids Automate Real-time Location Tracking Wireless grids deliver real-time location tracking services by dynamically selecting RF service functions based on what service is required at a specific time and location. When a 802.11a/b/g radio source moves around, it can be tracked in real-time on a floor plan, giving visibility into the movement of people or expensive resources. Any Wi-Fi compatible radio tag may be attached to expensive resources for tracking purposes. In addition to real-time tracking, wireless grids completely eliminate the need for manual RF fingerprinting to gain better accuracy for location determination. With dense deployment of Wi-Fi radios, wireless grids can employ multi-point triangulation to deliver better accuracy in location estimation. Traditional deployment models with sparse AP deployments require a detailed analysis of RF propagation via signal strength recording at various test points on a floor in order to estimate the location of given radio source. This manually intensive process becomes impractical as the overall coverage of WLANs increase to multi-floor, multi-building deployments. Wireless Grid Pricing and Availability Aruba's wireless grid is made possible by new higher performance, lower cost WLAN products. These include the Aruba 5100, a double capacity version of its signature 5000 series of modular WLAN switches and a new line of low-cost grid points -the Aruba AP 60 Series. With these new products, enterprises can realize a greater than 80 percent reduction in the operational costs associated with WLAN deployment. Aruba Wireless Networks develops and markets centralized systems that enable corporations to secure their networks from the dual threats of Wi-Fi and mobility. Aruba's solution consists of a full range of programmable security platforms designed to securely connect mobile users and mobile devices to corporate applications. Aruba is privately-held and has operations in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific and India and employs staff around the world. Aruba has received over $59 million in three rounds of venture funding from top-tier venture firms - Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Trinity Ventures and WK Technology Fund. Visit Aruba Wireless Networks at http://www.arubanetworks.com