Most wi-fi applications are traditionally deployed indoors such as homes, malls or office complexes and broadband must be brought to the edge of these facilities or complexes by cables or WiMAX for it to be available in other parts of the facilities or buildings.
To get around this problem, Ruckus, a wi-fi technology pioneer headquartered in Silicon Valley in the US, has now developed outdoor access points with a range of up to 20 km.
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According to Bart Burstein, president of product management and business development for Ruckus Wireless, Ruckus can now deploy end-to-end broadband wireless access offering DSL capabilities. The solution includes a smart wi-fi outdoor access point with a 20 km range, a point-to-point backhaul system, and a wireless gateway to beam the wi-fi signals indoors.
First end-to-end wireless broadband solution
Ruckus Wireless' new wi-fi technology products can be used to provide wireless services to businesses, housing complexes and schools. It calls its solution the industry's first end-to-end wireless broadband solution.
The products, which include two outdoor mesh access points (ZoneFlex 7762 and ZoneFlex 2741), a backhaul antenna system (ZoneFlex 7731), a customer premise gateway (MediaFlex 2200), combined with a remote wi-fi service management system, are called Wireless Broadband Access (WBA), said Burstein. They rely on unlicensed wi-fi spectrum using the 802.11g and faster 802.11n specification.
Ruckus has been serving its enterprise customers with its products for a few years now. Burstein told Computerworld Singapore that out of all these products, the latest innovation is the high-speed wireless backhaul, ZoneFlex 7731.
With the introduction of the ZoneFlex 7731, Burstein hopes that Ruckus' end-to-end wireless broadband solution will provide service providers a cost-effective, build-as-you- grow model for offering broadband data services in developing urban environments at a fraction of the cost of alternative approaches.
One of the breakthrough features of Ruckus's technology is that fewer access points (APs) are required with the WBA technology, because of its "beam forming" technology. This innovative technology helps reduce costs and directs the transmissions most effectively. Beam forming is basically the ability to focus a radio beam for a more reliable connection, avoiding obstacles.
Southeast Asia: strongest market
"We believe Southeast Asia would be our strongest market," said Burstein, referring to its newly launched product lines, "because it is designed to bring wireless broadband to areas that don't have established copper or fibre [networks]."
In other words, Ruckus sees great opportunity in this region as the telecom infrastructure is not well-developed here. The region's "growing middle class, and a growing awareness of Internet via cell phones" makes Ruckus hopeful about its success in this market. "So we believe that Asia and Southeast Asia would be the first market followed by Africa and Eastern Europe which also would be strong."
Burstein quotes a Gartner study which says 54 per cent of worldwide growth in consumer broadband connections will come from emerging markets.
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