Wireless Access Point Enhances Network Performance

SUNNYVALE, Ca. – Ruckus Networks, an ARRIS company, announced the Ruckus R730, the industry’s first IoT- and LTE-ready, 802.11ax wireless access point (AP). The high-capacity, 12 spatial-stream R730 works in concert with the new Ruckus Ultra-High Density Technology Suite to smoothly deliver high-resolution, latency-sensitive video in ultra-high density user environments such as stadiums, train stations and schools. In addition, the R730 complies with both the new WPA3 security protocol and Wi-Fi Enhanced Open for more secure connections on public networks.

Worldwide data and video traffic is growing at double-digit rates, driven by an increase in connected devices. ABI Research predicts that Wi-Fi device shipments will grow to nearly 35 billion by 2022. Data and video traffic also will surge due to increased per-device data consumption driven by applications like 4K video streaming, virtual and augmented reality and live-stream gaming.

The congestion of people, devices and bandwidth-hungry apps makes for challenges that current wireless tech cannot handle. Adding to the complexity of this environment are diversifying device categories and apps, such as instant messaging, IoT control messages and voice-over-Wi-Fi.

802.11ax: More connections and bandwidth, higher QoS

The new 802.11ax standard was designed for high-density connectivity, with the ability to support up to a four-fold capacity increase over its 802.11ac Wave 2 predecessor. With 802.11ax, multiple APs used in dense device environments are collectively able to deliver required quality-of-service (QoS) to more clients with more diverse usage profiles due to the use of orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi-user multiple-in multiple-out (MU-MIMO) technologies.

Delivering expected service levels in ultra-high-density environments

Increased end-user expectations and application QoS requirements pose unique difficulties to network designers. Locations such as stadiums, public venues, train stations, and schools in which video content and applications are central to the curriculum, are representative examples. The R730, supporting eight spatial streams on 5 GHz and four spatial streams on 2.4 GHz, is better able to address those expectations through increased capacity, improved coverage and performance.

The Ruckus Ultra-High Density Technology Suite addresses these challenges using techniques that go beyond the 802.11ax standard, including:

• Airtime decongestion—Increases average client throughput in heavily congested environments by using patent-pending techniques to reduce unnecessary management traffic.
• Transient client management—Maintains throughput levels for priority clients in high transient-client environments such as rail stations by using patent-pending techniques to delay AP association with low-priority transient clients.
• BeamFlex+ antennas—Patented technology improves AP coverage and capacity by continuously optimizing antenna patterns on a per-device, per-packet basis.

Converging IoT access networks

The R730 includes embedded Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Zigbee radios and can be augmented with Ruckus IoT modules to support additional physical layer protocols such as LoRa. Using the Ruckus IoT controller, these separate networks and the IoT endpoints associated with them, can be managed, coordinated and connected to IoT cloud services as part a single, converged IoT access network.

Preparing for private LTE

The R730 accommodates modular Ruckus OpenG LTE APs operating in the U.S. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) 3.5 GHz band, enabling existing Wi-Fi APs to provide LTE service. Using modular or stand-alone LTE APs, organizations will be able to build their own private LTE networks to improve the quality of indoor cellular service within their facilities.

Making users safer at home, in the office and in public

The R730 will implement the next-generation WPA3 wireless security protocol and Wi-Fi Enhanced Open. Users with compatible devices will benefit from significant security enhancements, including:

• Protection against brute-force dictionary attacks through use of a new key exchange protocol known as a simultaneous authentication of equals handshake.
• Protection against traffic-sniffing attacks common to unauthenticated networks associated with public venues.

Getting the most out of your 802.11ax deployment

The 802.11ax standard and the R730 offer a step-function increase in over-the-air throughput. To make the best use of that new capacity, network designers need to optimize the wired access infrastructure to support it, while minimizing upgrade costs. Ruckus helps network designers by:

• Offering two switches—the entry-level ICX 7150 Z-series and the ICX 7650—that meet the increased power-over-Ethernet (PoE) requirements of the R730.
• Providing the access port capacity needed to support multi-gigabit throughput on the ICX 7650 Z-series—with up to 24 auto-sensing 1/2.5/5/10 gigabit Ethernet (GbE) ports—and the 100 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) uplink capacity required for ultra-high-density deployments.
• Enabling them to replace APs without extensive network redesign by using the adaptive Wi-Fi cell sizing feature included in the Ultra-High-Density Technology Suite.

 For more information, visit www.arris.com.