* Xirrus QoS capability works for both switched Wi-Fi and wired networks
Xirrus this week introduced what it is calling the industry’s first QoS capability for both switched Wi-Fi and wired networks.
QoS controls are important for supporting time-dependent applications such as voice or video. So, the capability that Xirrus is touting would extend the QoS used on a wired network to a wireless network, and therefore extend the use of voice and video to wireless technologies. The QoS technology is bi-directional.
Xirrus makes the Wireless LAN Array, which is a WLAN Gigabit Ethernet switch plus up to 16 integrated access points and a high-gain antenna system that the company says maximizes Wi-Fi bandwidth and coverage with fewer devices.
The array provides Wi-Fi QoS based on IEEE 802.11e and tags wireless packets with 802.1Q virtual LAN information and 802.1p prioritization as they make their way to the wired network. The company says previous Wi-Fi switches couldn’t tag or prioritize at the packet level between the access point and the WLAN switch.
Xirrus says the array can support up to 180 simultaneous voice calls or 45 simultaneous video streams.
On a related note, my colleague John Cox recently spoke with Aruba Networks CEO Dominic Orr, who said that WLAN equipment is continuing to become a commodity, and that the upcoming 100+Mbps 802.11n standard would effectively erase the boundary between wireless and wired, making wireless a routine part of an enterprise network. Security, Orr says, is where the most action will take place.
That trend has certainly been in the works for quite a while. That’s not to say that wireless replaces wired everywhere – but certainly, network designers will be less likely to balk at a wireless component than they have been, traditionally.
