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August 21, 2007

Wireless LAN technology has rapidly grown from a niche technology into a mainstream connectivity solution. Adam Kleemeyer , product and solution marketing manager, Nortel Asia, believes the promise of coming 802.11n wireless will help businesses get unwired like never before.

Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology has dramatically improved over the years and businesses around the world have embraced WLANs with ever increasing enthusiasm. Whereas companies first used WLANs for basic data services in a few locations, many workplaces now use the technology to provide omnipresent network access that allows employees to utilize converged applications anywhere throughout office buildings, warehouses, and other business sites.

Easy network connectivity is spawning a broad range of new business processes built around devices that can stay connected no matter where they are located - even when they're far away from a fixed network point. This has created a completely new outlook on design of office equipment, smartphones, VoIP handsets, industrial process monitoring equipment, inventory management systems, and other devices that are now being designed with a mindframe in which being online is simply taken for granted.

This mindframe is paying real business dividends for companies that adapt their business processes to take advantage of WLAN connectivity. For example, wireless IP security cameras can be positioned around the perimeter of a building without being limited by availability of fixed cabling. Those cameras can not only automatically detect motion in their detection range, but can wirelessly transmit live footage to a security monitoring system. Real time data can also be sent over the company WLAN directly to a WLAN handset or PDA.

In buildings or underground where mobile phone network reception is patchy, employees can use WLAN enabled devices to make and receive phone calls, instant messaging alerts, email, voicemail and other communications wherever they are. Because a WLAN provides a companywide cloud of connectivity, physical assets can also be tracked and located as they move around the building. Some hospitals, for example, are using their WLANs to locate ward beds and other medical devices no matter where they are on the site.

With WLANs becoming increasingly pervasive, they are also being used to carry traffic from different kinds of systems. Companies used to have to set up separate networks to carry data to and from specialized devices like HVAC environmental control equipment or SCADA production line equipment. By connecting these devices to the company WLAN, sensors can be located anywhere and still be continuously monitored without requiring separate control networks.

This scenario reflects a fast-approaching new era in communications, where anything that would benefit from being connected to the network will be connected - encompassing person-to-person communication, person-to-machine and machine-to-machine. We call this megatrend Hyperconnectivity . And as it becomes even more prevalent, it is fueling huge increases in bandwidth demand because of the complexity, diversity and integration of new applications and devices using the network.

New applications' demand for additional bandwidth will put staggering loads on current enterprise networks, driving the construction of networks that are scalable enough to keep up. When it comes to wireless LANs, businesses have two main strategies for keeping up: by adding more access points to support more simultaneously connected devices, or by using new technologies to increase the efficiency of wireless communication.

Current efforts to improve enterprise WLANs are focused on the second option. As businesses face the increasing burden placed on their networks in this era of Hyperconnectivity, the next generation of wireless LAN technology - known as 802.11n and expected to be standardized in 2008 - is expected to be rapidly adopted.

The 802.11n standard will carry data over the airwaves at speeds significantly more than the maximum of just 54Mbps that current 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN technology provides. This increase in transmission speed means that companies using 802.11n will be able to provide richer, more intelligent applications that link machines and people in ever more sophisticated ways.

A fundamental tenet of Hyperconnectivity is the idea that anything that will benefit from being connected, will be connected. Wide deployment of 802.11n technology will provide this connectivity. In the long run, it will also provide the means for companies to move their key data and communications services off of the wired network altogether.

In line with this vision and businesses' growing need to adopt 802.11n, Nortel recently outlined its Unwired Enterprise vision, which will make 802.11n a driving force in the effort to help businesses realize the benefits of running completely over wireless networks. High-speed WLANs will provide seamless universal mobility in and out of the office, with true wireless broadband that can support all communications needs - including voice, video and unified communications - simultaneously.

Replicating the performance and reliability of the fixed network using wireless networking technologies is an ongoing effort. Nortel is a pioneer in the underlying OFDM/MIMO wireless technology that has made 802.11n possible. Nortel's OFDM/MIMO technology is also part of the WiMAX (802.16e-2005) standard and all 4G Mobile Broadband standards are based on OFDM/MIMO. MIMO is the only advanced antenna technology that simultaneously offers high bandwidth, improved range, and high mobility at a lower cost.

Nortel has over eight years of experience in MIMO and has developed significant intellectual property in this area. This expertise forms the basis for Nortel's plans to develop a new portfolio of wireless LAN products supporting the MIMO-based 802.11n standard. These products will be developed in full compliance with the 802.11n standard when it is formally ratified by the IEEE.

Nortel will also continue to sell and support its existing WLAN 2300 Series portfolio for customers wanting to grow their current generation networks.

By combining years of innovation in wireless technology with the proven reliability and scalability of our enterprise voice and data switches, Nortel will raise the bar in the integration of WLAN connectivity into everyday computing environments. WLANs based on the 802.11n standard will make the challenges brought about in the era of Hyperconnectivity manageable and enable businesses to connect everything that can be connected. As companies come to realize how 802.11n WLAN technology can streamline their processes and empower their employees, businesses will truly begin to appreciate the value of the Unwired Enterprise.