* Start-up Azimuth Systems develops testing platform for wireless LANs
One of the nagging problems with wireless LANs is testing them. Even makers of WLAN equipment are challenged to come up with testing equipment and setups that cover real-world scenarios – a requirement that increases in importance as enterprise firms look to use WLANs in large installations.
Azimuth Systems is a start-up that makes its debut this week with a WLAN testing platform, the W-Series. It designed the platform with the intent of making wireless tests repeatable and scalable to large deployments. Azimuth also intends to keep the platform up to date with security and quality-of-service tests.
Azimuth also touts its system as a way for vendors to benchmark the performance of their equipment. WLAN performance can vary based on a variety of factors, such as interference from walls and solid objects, or from other wireless equipment, and so forth.
The W-Series can test IEEE 802.11 wireless access points, clients and other devices, Azimuth says. Wireless networks with multiple access points and hundreds of clients can be tested at once. In fact, Azimuth says its 800W Chassis, the first of the series, can scale to 16 access points and thousands of clients. The test platform includes a library of scripts and test suites.
Azimuth is located in Acton, Mass., and has received a total of $12.9 million in venture funding. Symbol Technologies is one of its first customers.
