Industry hones wireless net architectures

Symbol merges multi-net mgmt; Meru eliminates more wires

Industry analysis by expert Joanie Wexler, plus links to the day's wireless news headlines

It’s now widely accepted that enterprises will scale very large wireless LAN deployments using thin access points provisioned, managed, and secured by intelligent controllers. But that doesn’t mean that the wireless industry is finished inventing architectures that could further benefit 802.11 and other wireless deployments.

Meru Networks and Symbol Technologies, for example, last week unveiled new wireless architectures at the Interop trade show in Las Vegas.

Symbol is extending the idea of WLAN management controllers to accommodate radio-frequency identification (RFID), WiMAX and mesh networks. Eventually, cellular networks will also join the provisioning and management system, giving network managers visibility into the performance of all these kinds of wireless networks, says Chris McGugan, senior director in Symbol’s Wireless Infrastructure Division.

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It’s now widely accepted that enterprises will scale very large wireless LAN deployments using thin access points provisioned, managed, and secured by intelligent controllers. But that doesn’t mean that the wireless industry is finished inventing architectures that could further benefit 802.11 and other wireless deployments.

Meru Networks and Symbol Technologies, for example, last week unveiled new wireless architectures at the Interop trade show in Las Vegas.

Symbol is extending the idea of WLAN management controllers to accommodate radio-frequency identification (RFID), WiMAX and mesh networks. Eventually, cellular networks will also join the provisioning and management system, giving network managers visibility into the performance of all these kinds of wireless networks, says Chris McGugan, senior director in Symbol’s Wireless Infrastructure Division.

McGugan said that in September, the Symbol WS5100 switch will gain the additional Wireless Next Generation (Wi-NG) network management capabilities, and existing customers with maintenance contracts can get a free upgrade. At the end of 2006, a new Wi-NG-capable product called the RF Switch is scheduled for release. It will support up to 256 APs (compared to Symbol’s 48-AP limit today) and will support multiple Gigabit Ethernet ports, McGugan added. No pricing has been developed yet for that gear.

For its part, Meru seeks to accommodate enterprises that want to go “all wireless.” Meru’s Wireless Backbone System is intended to extend wireless communication beyond the mobile client-to-AP link and deeper into the network core. It aims to eliminate the rigors and expense of cabling not only in the mobile access network, as today’s WLANs do, but between the AP and the network gear that lies upstream from it.

If you are familiar with the Cisco best-practices “access-distribution-core” network topology for wired LANs, picture that. Then remove the wires except among core-network elements, and you basically have the Meru Wireless Backbone System.

More details and a comparison with mesh as a wire-free alternative next time.

Read more about wireless & mobile in Network World's Wireless & Mobile section.

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Silicon Valley.