Siemens solves power over Ethernet challenge for 802.11n wireless

Its Enterprise Communications division’s HiPath Wireless 802.11n involves a new architecture and greatly improved power consumption, and the company says it makes the migration to fully functional, faster, more reliable 802.11n networks easier and cheaper than ever. Which is good news: 802.11n offers substantial benefits over previous wireless standards, with speeds up to five times faster than other WLANs, greater range and improved reliability for supporting high-performance mobile applications, such as HD video, high-resolution imaging and voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN). HiPath Wireless is the first solution to provide full dual-band 3x3 MIMO and 802.11n functionality that complies with the 802.3af ‘Power-over Ethernet’ (PoE) standard. Most enterprise WLANs rely on 802.3af switches, but the six radios used by 802.11n access points draw more power than these can provide over a single connection. Some existing 802.11n solutions also use a reduced number of radios or frequency bands, or force users to simultaneously upgrade to higher-wattage, proprietary non-standard PoE switching infrastructure, resulting in reduced performance and more complex and costly deployments. “The unique architecture and capabilities that we have designed into HiPath Wireless can give any enterprise the confidence that they can easily and cost-effectively deploy a high-performance wireless network, while taking care of ever increasing mobile business,” says Luc Roy, vice president of Enterprise Mobility for Siemens.