-- AP300 family of dual-radio 802.11 a/b/g/n access points (APs).
-- MC5000, a modular, telco-grade, multi-gigabit, 5-blade chassis
controller for up to 1000 APs (per chassis). The MC5000 was designed to
handle the increased bandwidth requirements of 11n.
-- 3-Tier Traffic Distribution System (3TDS), available as an option to
the Meru System Director operating system, which provides a flexible and
cost-effective approach to handling the increased network load driven by
802.11n. 3TDS will significantly reduce costs of 802.11n migration by
providing a viable alternative to expensive upgrades to the wired Ethernet
switching backbone. (For details, see separate news release "Meru Networks
Announces WLAN Traffic Distribution System," also issued today.)
Collectively, the new Meru products represent the industry's most complete
802.11n solution from air to core, addressing enterprise needs for
over-the-air coverage, capacity, performance, compatibility and wired
infrastructure scalability.
"802.11n is the most important and far-reaching development in wireless
LANs since their invention," said Craig Mathias, a principal with the
wireless and mobile advisory firm Farpoint Group. "Enterprise users will
see great advantage in the higher throughput and quality of service
inherent products based on this emerging standard, Meru Networks is taking
an important and industry-leading step in bringing the benefits of .11n to
the market now."
Meru Architecture Best for 802.11n
Meru's fourth-generation WLAN architecture has been placed by Gartner in
the Visionaries Quadrant in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Wireless LAN
Infrastructure, Rachna Ahlawat and Ken Dulaney, October 6, 2006.*
With the unique channel-layering capability of the Meru WLAN System, the new Meru
AP300 APs can deliver a sustained, high wireless capacity throughout a
pervasive wireless LAN deployment. In addition, Meru's architecture allows
administrators to more easily compensate for coverage holes and fluctuating
data rates that are created by the Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)
technology used by 802.11n networks. The Meru WLAN System ensures optimal
performance for every client on the network by assigning the best physical
access point to each client. As Meru's architecture operates on a
single-channel span, it also eliminates the need for complex coverage and
channel planning and re-planning when deploying an 802.11n solution.
Meru's fourth-generation WLAN architecture provides three key benefits for
802.11n:
-- No Compromise on Network Load Demands, Performance, and Compatibility:
Unlike conventional WLAN deployments that require access points to be
placed on alternating channels, Meru's layered channel architecture allows
all available channels to simultaneously serve any given area at any time,
multiplying capacity in the area. Adding capacity is just a matter of
layering more channels, and is accomplished without increasing network
complexity. In mixed 802.11n and a/b/g networks, the throughput of 802.11n
devices may be reduced by 75 percent due to the overhead to support legacy
clients with other approaches. The Meru 802.11n solution effectively
segregates legacy clients in dedicated channels to deliver backward
compatibility and optimal capacity.
-- Maximum Return-on-Investment and Minimum Total Cost of Ownership with
Simplicity of Deployment, Migration and Operations: Meru's architecture
takes the guesswork out of coverage planning. Predictable high data rate
coverage plans are significantly harder to construct in mixed-mode
802.11n/a/b/g deployments. Meru's deployment architecture allows access
points to operate on layered channel spans, eliminating the need for
complex, costly coverage and channel planning and re-planning on an ongoing
basis. Since multiple Meru access points can be deployed as single virtual
zones of coverage, rather than individual micro-cells, organizations can
simply plug holes in coverage by adding access points with no impact to the
channel plan or network performance.
-- Cost-Effective Scalability: The capacity increase resulting from the
adoption of 802.11n APs will place tremendous demands on most enterprise
wired infrastructure. The Meru architecture and new 3TDS are designed to
meet these increased performance and capacity needs, while minimizing or
eliminating costs of upgrading wired switching backbone.
"The leap in wireless capacity provided by 802.11n significantly changes
the business case for enterprise wireless deployments," said Kamal
Anand, senior vice president, marketing and corporate strategy, Meru
Networks. "It is now possible to deliver all business-critical applications
over wireless, and organizations will increasingly realize the tremendous
productivity benefits of accessing any application anywhere and the cost
savings from eliminating wiring."
About Meru Networks
Meru Networks is the global
leader in wireless mobility
infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise for
Fortune 500 educational, healthcare, enterprise, and government markets.
Its industry-leading innovations deliver pervasive, robust wireless service
for business-critical applications. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control
technology brings the benefits of the cellular world to the WLAN
environment, and it offers the only solution on the market that delivers
the reliability, scalability, and security necessary for converged voice
and data services over a single WLAN infrastructure. Founded in 2002, Meru
is based in Sunnyvale, California. For more information on Meru Networks
and its products, visit www.merunetworks.com or call +1-408-215-5300.
*The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted October 2006 by Gartner, Inc. and is
reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of
a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's
analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that
marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor,
product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise
technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders"
quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is
not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all
warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including
any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Contact Information: Editorial Contact: Patty Oien Breakaway Communications for Meru (415) 358-2482 Email Contact