Strix Systems Announces the Industry's Highest-Capacity Compact Wireless Mesh System: The New 2400-30 Powered by Strix Dynamic Mesh

18 April 2006

Strix Systems, the leader in high-performance wireless mesh networking, today announced the expansion of its industry-leading Access/One(R) product line with the new Outdoor Wireless System (OWS) 2400-30, a powerful new third-generation solution that enables customers to build large-scale mesh networks with the industry's highest throughput, greatest scalability, and carrier-class reliability. The new Strix Dynamic Mesh Architecture(TM) (DMA(TM)) of the OWS 2400-30 optimizes mesh networking through industry-leading improvements in hardware and software design.

The new OWS 2400-30 powered by Strix Dynamic Mesh delivers industry-leading performance and unparalleled benefits and cost-effectiveness to Strix customers worldwide:

1. Strix Dynamic Mesh powers a self-configuring, self-tuning,

self-healing, and highly scalable network with instant fast re-route

and instant roaming, delivering carrier-class resiliency and new

revenue-generating applications.

2. The lowest cost per radio in the industry results in significantly

lower capital expenditures (CapEx).

3. The broadest coverage in the industry reduces the number of nodes

required per square mile and accelerates deployment therefore lowers

CapEx and operational expenditures (OpEx).

4. Unrivaled value is delivered via the highest capacity in the

industry -- a maximum of 768 users per node as well as over 100 Mbps

throughput per node resulting in 3-6 times the norm.

5. Zero throughput loss and zero latency for over 10 hops means real-time

application support with a minimum number of wired connections required

for a given area and significantly lower CapEx and OpEx.

6. Modularity lets the OWS 2400-30 scale to up to six radios as needed and

migrate smoothly to WiMAX without a forklift upgrade.

7. Strix Dynamic Mesh enables zero-configuration for ease of mass and

rapid network deployments, and provides a carrier-class network

management system.

"With the OWS 2400-30, we improved our architecture to solve the business issues facing our customers, thus giving them greater return on their investment," said Bruce Brown, chairman and CEO of Strix Systems. "Optimized hardware design enables our service provider and integrator customers to accelerate deployments and reduce CapEx and OpEx by installing fewer nodes to cover a given area. Strix Dynamic Mesh Architecture adjusts on the fly to changing conditions without affecting the performance of networks that span regions and countries."

Dynamic Mesh Architecture

On the hardware side, a new High Performance Modular Architecture (HPMA(TM)) supports any radio and any technology in any configuration via integrated hardware design. HPMA dynamically adapts to individual needs and environments, supporting up to six of the same powerful radios used in other Strix products, but with enhanced transmit power and receive sensitivity, and packaged in a 30 percent smaller form factor. Strix DMA(TM) supports new 3.0 software, encompassing Scalable Mesh Fast Re-route (SMFR) capabilities for distributed localized node intelligence, network topology-independent fast re-route, instant roaming, zero throughput loss, and zero latency over multiple hops.

New Hardware Architecture Provides More Functionality in Smaller Footprint

Strix's HPMA is a scalable, modular, and integrated hardware design that enables Strix mesh networks to accommodate any technology and any radio. The OWS 2400-30 supports the 802.11a/b/g/j, 802.16d/e standards in any combination in one chassis, as well as the 4.9 GHz band used by public safety services. Strix HPMA modularity enables new technologies, such as WiMAX, to be plugged in on-site. Strix's HPMA automatically adjusts to network needs and the environment via self-tuning RF management, automatic interference mitigation, packet aggregation, and timing enhancements.

To achieve the combination of maximum functionality and small size, Strix HPMA's improvements in hardware design provide a fully loaded system with doubled data rate, packet-bursting capabilities, and hardware-accelerated encryption in a 12"x10"x6" chassis.

New Software Provides Improved Scalability, Reliability

Strix's SMFR enables the industry's greatest scalability, fastest roaming handoff, and largest capacity achieved via distributed node intelligence, dynamic zero-latency path selection, and maximum multi-hop traffic distribution. When networks are turned up, every node automatically scans to locate all other network nodes and selects the best path to the wired node based on round-trip delay (RTD), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and other criteria. The nodes continue to scan and evaluate the best path and alternate paths to the wired node, automatically self-healing to the next-best path within milliseconds if the criteria of the best path drops below the set threshold or the path is blocked. SMFR continues to perform self-tuning, optimizing each path for best performance and congestive redirection, even for mobile OWS nodes moving at 200MPH.

Strix's SMFR optimizes path selection regardless of network topology or size. Unlike traditional routing solutions that may require an entire network to re-converge and route around an unavailable path, SMFR makes rerouting decisions locally at the node, ensuring the best quality transmission and no downtime. The resulting mesh network is highly scalable and reliable, and enables instant roaming handoff. SMFR also supports real-time node-state status indication, real-time backhaul path analysis, a congestion-avoidance algorithm, and an optimal channel re-use algorithm. Strix's 3.0 software also makes network management and monitoring easier; administrators can choose from various topology maps that organize network elements into logical positions for carrier-class management.

"Strix literally keeps pushing the boundaries of wireless mesh networking," said Richard Webb, directing analyst of wireless LANs, Infonetics Research. "The company's new third-generation hardware/software architecture meets the growing market demand for ever more powerful, intelligent mesh networks that provide optimal performance while serving ever larger areas."

Availability and Price

Strix's new Access/One OWS 2400-30 is available now. Strix's new 3.0 software is available to existing customers as a free upgrade, downloadable from Strix's website. The new platform is backward compatible with existing Strix mesh networks and utilizes the same plug-in radio modules of existing platforms.

About Strix Systems

Strix Systems is the technology leader in wireless mesh networking. Strix's Access/One(TM) products are the industry's only modular (chassis-based) mesh systems, delivering the largest capacity, highest throughput, and lowest latency. This new generation of products provides the broadband mobility and reach to support voice, video, and data applications. Sold globally by a network of first-class distributors and integrators, Access/One(TM) solutions have been deployed in hundreds of networks worldwide, outdoor and indoor, for the metro, public safety, government, energy, transportation, hospitality, education, enterprise, residential, and carrier access markets. For more information about Strix Systems, please visit http://www.strixsystems.com.

NOTE: Strix Systems and Access/One Network are trademarks or registered trademarks, in the United States and certain other countries, of Strix Systems. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.

Source: prnewswire