Ruckus Wireless Delivers First Carrier-Purposed 802.11n System, Enabling Picture-Perfect High Definition IPTV Without Cabling

    SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Ruckus Wireless(R), a Wi-Fi
 technology pioneer in the carrier and enterprise wireless LAN markets,
 today announced the immediate availability of its new MediaFlex(TM) 7000
 series, the first commercial 802.11n (http://www.ruckuswireless.com) system
 specifically developed for operators to distribute multiple streams of
 high-definition (HD) IPTV content throughout a subscriber's home without
 costly and time-consuming cable installation.
 
     Belgacom is among the first service providers to select the MediaFlex
 7000 for its BelgacomTV service, one of the most successful IPTV services
 with over 390,000 subscribers throughout Belgium. The Ruckus MediaFlex
 (http://www.ruckuswireless.com/products/mediaflex/) 7000 beat out
 competitive 802.11n products in a series of stringent lab and home trials
 conducted by Belgacom, including a test to deliver 20 hours of non-stop HD
 IPTV (http://www.ruckuswireless.com/products/mediaflex/) streams at 20Mbps
 aggregate, to six different locations throughout a simulated home
 environment with injected interference, without dropping a single packet.
 
     "The IPTV market is moving quickly to high-definition service and we're
 helping providers get there as fast as possible by eliminating serious pain
 points in the installation and upgrade process," said Selina Lo, president
 and CEO of Ruckus Wireless.
 
     "We are the only Wi-Fi company that has focused on the unique needs of
 service providers and it has paid off. Our carrier business continues to
 grow as providers focus on streamlining the last hundred feet of the IPTV
 delivery infrastructure. Extending our IPTV success with 802.11n is a
 natural next step and one that is greeted with great enthusiasm by
 providers everywhere," concluded Lo.
 
     To date, nearly a million Ruckus MediaFlex 802.11g/a systems have been
 installed around the world by over 140 broadband providers including
 Deutsche Telekom, Telekom Austria, Swisscom, TeliaSonera, Telenor, Fastweb,
 Telefonica Del Sur, PCCW, SingTel, Elion, Belgacom and many others.
 
     Lo noted that the success of the Ruckus MediaFlex stems from its
 ability to help providers reduce installation times and labor costs by 50
 percent or more, speed time to revenue by turning up more subscriptions per
 day, and provide greater flexibility and better experience to subscribers
 who want to add or move televisions without being tethered by cabling.
 
     "With high definition IPTV content, the need for a reliable
 distribution network in the home has never been more important," said Robin
 Belliere, product manager of Residential Terminals at Belgacom. "Having now
 deployed the Ruckus MediaFlex in tens of thousands of subscriber homes over
 the last two years, we have found it to be among the best performing and
 most reliable in-home platforms we have ever worked with. We are now
 extending this unique technology to new high definition IPTV services with
 the new 802.11n MediaFlex system."
 
     Belliere said Belgacom is quickly moving to offer HD IPTV and needed a
 higher bandwidth system to support the simultaneous transmission of
 multiple HD streams. "With the Ruckus MediaFlex 7000, our customers can
 self-install the system in a matter of minutes where and when they desire
 with the assurance of high quality. It also gives our subscribers greater
 flexibility while helping us to bring more users online faster at a lower
 overall deployment cost," said Belliere.
 
     What's the Deal with IPTV?
 
     IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is a system where a digital
 television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a private
 broadband network infrastructure. Instead of being delivered through
 traditional broadcast and cable formats, television programs are received
 by the viewer through computer networking technologies.
 
     According to Infonetics Research, worldwide IPTV service revenue will
 jump to over $44 billion in 2009. DSL providers account for the bulk of
 service revenue now, but cable broadband providers will also migrate to
 all-IP triple-play services in the next few years. IPTV subscribers are
 expected to explode, topping 97 million worldwide in 2011.
 
     "IPTV providers are pushing the envelope in terms of content and
 technology. This includes re-thinking how video is distributed in the home,
 where Ruckus is leading the charge with its MediaFlex wireless adapters,"
 said Jeff Heynen, directing analyst for Infonetics Research. "We expect to
 see this market pick up dramatically in the next year or two and Ruckus'
 new product can have a positive impact on carriers' roll-outs."
 
     HD over Wi-Fi: Easier Said Than Done
 
     While Wi-Fi is widely recognized as the home networking technology of
 choice, inconsistent performance, interference, insufficient range and
 unreliable signal quality had prevented carriers from using the technology
 to distribute real-time TV services in the home. Many service providers
 have opted to manually wire subscriber homes with Ethernet or other cables
 which results in high installation costs, long installation times and slow
 subscriber acquisition. The existing Ruckus MediaFlex 802.11g/a systems
 were the first and only in-home Wi-Fi solution that overcame these problems
 to deliver whole-home sustainable performance that supports multiple
 streams of standard definition IPTV.
 
     While off-the-shelf 802.11n products demonstrate markedly higher
 average throughputs compared to their 802.11g/a predecessor, it is not a
 foregone conclusion that they could deliver the sustainable throughput
 required to support real-time HD IPTV. In fact, as 802.11n performance
 depends on the use of multiple radios for simultaneous signal transmissions
 (a technique called spatial multiplexing), it is more sensitive to noise
 and subject to environmental variability.
 
     By integrating next-generation 802.11n with Ruckus' state-of-the art
 beam steering technology, known as BeamFlex(TM), the new Ruckus MediaFlex
 7000 controls and coordinates the forms and directions of multiple signal
 streams in real time to maximize 802.11n spatial multiplexing while
 navigating around interference and physical obstructions.
 
     The MediaFlex 7811 also offers unique remote management capabilities
 through the Ruckus FlexMaster system, a remote wireless LAN and service
 management platform. FlexMaster gives broadband operators complete
 visibility into subscribers' home networks and enables them to securely
 monitor, update, provision and troubleshoot a large number of devices from
 a central location.
 
     Remote Wi-Fi Management is Key to Delivering a World-Class IPTV Service
 
     The Ruckus FlexMaster is the first TR069-based system to provide
 complete control of and visibility into hundreds of thousands of MediaFlex
 units from a single console.
 
     With FlexMaster, providers can visualize remote RF environments,
 configure individual Ruckus MediaFlex systems or bulk-configure groups of
 systems over any public, private or hybrid IP network. Once installed, each
 Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi (http://www.ruckuswireless.com) AP automatically "phones
 home" to the Ruckus FlexMaster system to register and gain its
 configuration. FlexMaster streamlines deployment and minimizes problems
 that occur from manual configuration of devices. It also allows more
 efficient troubleshooting, management and monitoring of Ruckus MediaFlex
 systems. Operators can group Ruckus APs by geographic region, device type,
 serial number, MAC address or customer name enabling providers to create
 unique service level agreements for each client in order to offer
 revenue-generating services.
 
     FlexMaster also enables operators to remotely run diagnostic tests on
 MediaFlex systems located within the home and automatically upgrade
 firmware to ensure MediaFlex devices are kept up-to-date with the latest
 software. Service providers can also remotely upgrade a subscriber's
 MediaFlex 7000 system and trigger a restart or let the system automatically
 restart when it becomes idle.
 
     FlexMaster provides detailed real-time and historical statistics such
 as the amount of traffic transmitted and received by each device, packet
 error rates, signal-to-noise ratios and throughput, and also includes a NOC
 mapping capability to display where each device is being deployed and how
 it's used in the home. This comprehensive reporting engine gives the
 service provider a quick at-a-glance view of network health.
 
     Product Details, Pricing and Availability
 
     The Ruckus MediaFlex 7000 series includes the MediaFlex 7811 multimedia
 802.11n one-port access point and MediaFlex 7111 one-port multimedia
 adapter. With the system's self-installing and auto-configuration features,
 subscribers can easily self-deploy and set up the MediaFlex access point
 and adapter in plug-and-play fashion in the home, in a matter of minutes.
 
     The Ruckus MediaFlex 7111 adapter also provides video-grade, 802.11n
 connectivity to any Ethernet-equipped video server, including
 set-top-boxes; personal video recorders, media centers and media center
 extenders. The MediaFlex adapter is one of the most sensitive Wi-Fi
 receivers on the market with the ability to reliably receive Wi-Fi signals
 down to -96 dBm.
 
     The list prices for the Ruckus MediaFlex 7811 access point and 7111
 adapter are US $199 and US $139 respectively. Visit
 http://www.ruckuswireless.com for more details.
 
     About Ruckus Wireless, Inc.
 
     Based in Sunnyvale, California, Ruckus Wireless is a next-generation
 Wi-Fi company credited with pioneering "Smart Wi-Fi" technology. Named a
 2007 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, Ruckus Wireless was
 formed in 2004 at Sequoia Capital. The company designs, develops and
 markets Smart Wireless LAN systems that provide reliable and adaptive
 distribution of delay-sensitive multimedia content and services over
 standard 802.11a/b/g/n technology. The company's patented hardware and
 software technologies deliver predictable performance, extended range and
 real-time adaptability to changing Wi-Fi environments. The company has
 raised approximately $42 million in financing from premier venture capital
 investors, consumer electronics companies and broadband operators. Visit
 http://www.ruckuswireless.com, and see the company's blog at
 http://www.theruckusroom.net.
 
 

      Media Contacts
      David Callisch
      Ruckus Wireless
      david@ruckuswireless.com
      +1-408-504-5487 mobile
 
      Nancy MacGregor Hill
      RealTime Communications
      nancy@realtime-comm.com
      +1-510-733-6228 office
      +1-415-309-5185 mobile
 
 

SOURCE Ruckus Wireless, Inc.