Meru Networks Brings Virtual Reality To Wireless LAN Management

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Apr. 21, 2008 – Meru Networks has introduced a network management software product that lets users "walk" through three-dimensional representations of their Meru wireless LAN deployments, seeing detailed, real-time, color-coded views of network coverage and signal propagation patterns throughout buildings, across campuses and even in remote sites.

Using a wireless version of the advanced 3D monitoring and visualization techniques found in medical imaging and architectural systems, Meru Wireless Virtual Reality shows users areas of weak or strong coverage as well as floor-to-floor and cross-elevation interactions that are difficult, if not impossible, to understand with existing 2D monitoring technologies.   Fully immersed in the deployment, users can move in all three dimensions of the radio-frequency (RF) environment, seeing properties of the wireless coverage from any position or angle.

The easy-to-use Wireless Virtual Reality system requires only that the user upload floor plans, enter floor and building locations, and drag-and-drop access points onto the map.   The Wireless Virtual Reality engine then creates a 3D walkthrough that reveals the nature of the complex interactions of wireless propagation throughout the deployment.   Because no complex RF modeling is required of the user, setup is greatly simplified and the potential for inaccuracy minimized.

Do 3D 'Virtual Walkthrough' Without Leaving the Desk

With Meru Wireless Virtual Reality, users can do a virtual 'walkthrough' from their desks, viewing walls, floors, access points, clients and other wireless devices across the entire deployment.   They can monitor coverage patterns and wireless system behavior in physically remote or difficult-to-reach areas, saving time in visiting those sites or gaining visibility that would otherwise be unavailable.  

In comparison, said Joe Epstein, Meru's senior director of technology, "the most sophisticated 2D 'heatmap'-based management tools are limited in their ability to show the complex nature of RF coverage spanning multiple stories within buildings.   Current tools cannot easily or accurately represent irregular building spaces, such as high-ceilinged auditoriums or low mezzanines, or distinguish between interference coming from a weak signal nearby or a strong one three floors below.   These kinds of capabilities will become even more critical as growing numbers of users adopt IEEE 802.11n technology and need a way to understand the complexities of its impact on network performance."

'Wireless Dipstick' Monitors Coverage Effectiveness at Any Point

Wireless Virtual Reality incorporates an array of newly-developed 3D interactive tools to monitor and manage the WLAN deployment.

• Wireless Dipstickâ„¢, a virtual tool similar in features to a site-monitoring laptop, allows the user to see signal strength, performance and other critical coverage factors at any place in the WLAN deployment.   The Wireless Dipstick can monitor areas such as high ceilings and basements, where it would be impractical or time-consuming for users to go.   It can be user-customized to show depth of channel layers, identity of channels providing coverage, access points, and/or wireless LAN names.

• Coverage Bubble marks the 3D surface of coverage as it propagates through the RF environment.   The user can interactively "peel" successive layers of coverage off the bubble, animating the signal propagation process and exposing the unique structure and interaction of the RF signals.

• Coverage shading and logical shading.   Coverage is shaded on all 3D surfaces (walls, floors, ceilings) within the RF environment, showing how coverage and other RF properties (e.g., signal strength, noise, throughput, loss) interact through the various surfaces.   The depth of channels or networks is shaded on the wall, providing an at-any-point view of how much network is available.

Pricing and Availability

Available in August 2008, Meru's Wireless Virtual Reality management system is priced at $9,995 (U.S. list).   A prerequisite for use of the product is Meru's E(z)RF network management application suite, a comprehensive set of tools for planning, monitoring, securing and administering Meru WLANs.

About Meru Networks
Meru Networks is the global leader in wireless infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise. Its industry-leading innovations deliver pervasive, wireless service fidelity for business-critical applications to major Fortune 500 enterprises, universities, healthcare organizations and local, state and federal government agencies. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control technology brings the benefits of the cellular world to the wireless LAN environment, and its WLAN System is the only solution on the market that delivers predictable bandwidth and over-the-air Quality of Service with the reliability, scalability, and security necessary to deliver converged voice and data services over a single WLAN infrastructure. Founded in 2002, Meru is based in Sunnyvale, California. For more information on Meru Networks and its products, visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300.