Proxim Wireless

The Statue of Liberty reopened to the public on July 4, 2013, following the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. While most of the island and services were hard hit by Sandy, the wireless network used to connect the video security cameras island wide and the wireless link off the island to Manhattan continued to operate with no loss in service. This was quite a challenging environment, as Liberty Island is located in the middle of the New York harbor, which has ships going through all the time. “They wanted to connect the video security cameras that were covering the island to both a local control center as well as transport the video traffic, to Manhattan,” says David Sumi, SVP Marketing and Product Management, Proxim Wireless. “We provided the equipment for the wireless network that supported this service.” Proxim supplied the gear for a wireless network on the island using their Tsunami product line to connect video surveillance cameras. Liberty Island deployment is a testimony to Proxim’s over two decades of proficiency in Point-to-Point, Point-to-Multipoint and WLAN solutions for wireless internet, video surveillance and backhaul applications.

Proxim’s offerings can be categorized into two main product lines—ORiNOCO and Tsunami. The ORiNOCO product family is a brand well known for its standard Wi-Fi products—USB dongles, plus indoor and outdoor access points, while Tsunami products are designed for outdoor infrastructure for citywide networks of point-to-point or point-to-multipoint WANs. “We are not just a WLAN, Wi-Fi, WLAN controller company but the larger part of our portfolio lies in building mission critical outdoor networks,” says Sumi. Proxims’ infrastructure for outdoor networks powers connectivity that typically covers ranges of several miles.

We are not just a WLAN, Wi-Fi, WLAN controller company but the larger part of our portfolio lies in building mission critical outdoor networks

“We have also integrated our Tsunami outdoor wireless infrastructure product line with ORiNOCO APs to deliver an easy to deploy and manage wireless networks,” states Sumi.

“Everybody loves to have Wi-Fi wherever they go,” says Sumi. However, they fail to understand the difficulty that operators face to power and backhaul access points on the street corners or other public locations. From the management side, typical WLAN controllers don’t have the necessary features to administer, manage and control a large scale widespread geographic Wi-Fi network. Proxim’s products are designed with the idea that if carriers offer 100s and 1000s of access points in public domains across the city, they are going to need a management system like Proxim’s to control and administer not only the WiFi networks but the wireless infrastructure that provides backhaul as well. “Our products are aimed at addressing the complexities of widespread WiFi deployments,” stresses Sumi.

In the near future, the company wants to play an active role in increasing adoption of BYOD and IoT technologies. Working in this direction, the company will be releasing a hybrid management system in 2017, which will encompass a cognitive network. “What we need is big brain in the sky when talking about citywide deployments,” says Sumi. A cognitive network controller will manage the plethora of devices in a city wide wireless network, including APs, by constantly tuning the network, changing the frequency, adjusting power and load balancing, in real time. “We will continue upgrading our wireless solutions set not only for getting connected to the internet but also for managing the security concerns,” concludes Sumi.