Trapeze Networks Adds Key Network Topology and Voice Enhancements To Its Wireless LAN Mobility System

PLEASANTON, Calif. – Dec. 16 2003 – Trapeze Networksâ„? today announced significant enhancements to its wireless LAN (WLAN) Mobility Systemâ„?, including new system software and a new family of Mobility Pointsâ„?.

The new Mobility System Software (MSSâ„?) enables the Mobility Points to connect to either existing Ethernet switches or the Trapeze Mobility Exchangeâ„? (MXâ„?) wireless LAN switch. It extends the Mobility System’s support for voice services by integrating SpectraLink Voice Priority (SVP) for SpectraLink voice-over-wireless IP (VoWIP) telephones. It also adds continuous rogue detection and other security enhancements.

The new Mobility Points support the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) in hardware and 802.11g. Given the Mobility System’s award-winning best-in-class mobility, lowest total cost of ownership, and richest set of WLAN services, the enhancements solidify the system’s standing as the most secure and feature-rich WLAN solution available.

“I chose the Trapeze solution because no other WLAN switch could match its easy and secure deployment of enterprise VLANs for enhanced mobility,” said Dominick Arcuri, chief technical officer at CommHub. “These upgrades give me more flexibility in how I deploy the system and the services I run over it, enhancing both its cost efficiency and performance.”

Support for the market-leading SpectraLink Voice Priority for VoWIP further eases deployment and improves service delivery.

“Voice has emerged as a major factor in many businesses deciding to deploy wireless LANs,” said Joel Conover, principal analyst at Current Analysis. “Trapeze’s support for seamless roaming, even as users cross subnet boundaries, is critical to enabling applications such as voice that cannot withstand the interruptions that wireless LAN systems typically cause when clients roam.”

Greater Deployment Flexibility

The ability to deploy Mobility Exchanges anywhere in their infrastructure and connect Mobility Points to any LAN switch enables IT managers to focus on the critical mobility functions of the wireless LAN architecture rather than on topology issues. The system’s delivery of Identity-Based Networking, which provides security and services based on a user’s identity, remains independent of the topology an IT manager chooses.

The update also offers IT managers more choices in radio technologies. The Mobility Points now support 802.11g, and IT can choose single-radio or dual-radio Mobility Points and software-configure the radio technology. Software-configurable radios enable strong investment protection since future migrations to 802.11a, for example, are free. The Trapeze Mobility System continues to support third-party APs as well, enabling the IT manager to control their channel and power settings.

Strong Voice Support

Trapeze Mobility Points support multiple queues per user which enable a broad range of services including VoWIP. The Trapeze Mobility System extends its support of VoWIP quality of service (QoS) with the integration of SpectraLink Voice Priority (SVP). Now the Trapeze system can automatically deliver the required connection quality between SpectraLink 802.11 telephones and SVP servers tied to IP PBXes. Trapeze has a similar partnership with VoWIP vendors Vocera and Telesym.

As another means of boosting the performance of the Trapeze Mobility System, this software update supports load balancing across Mobility Points.

Rogue Detection and Other Security Features

The Trapeze Mobility System now supports SentrySweepâ„?, which enables Mobility Points to continuously scan the air for rogue APs and ad hoc users without any interruption to network service. Only Trapeze offers such a broad a range of RF detection configurations: IT can software-configure radios in a Mobility Point to be in Sentry mode, in which the radio continuously performs an RF sweep; in WLAN mode, in which the radio only serves WLAN clients; or in mixed mode, in which the radio predominantly serves WLAN clients but periodically performs an RF sweep. Dual-radio Mobility Points can both serve wireless clients without interruption while they continuously scan the air.

To strengthen security, a single radio in a Mobility Point can now sweep both the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequencies. This affords an 802.11b network the required protection against 802.11b and 802.11a rogues.

Trapeze also provides the industry’s only accurate depiction of rogue locations on a floor plan. The Trapeze RingMaster planning and management tool suite is the only software of its kind to factor in the impact of building obstacles on RF. With this release, RingMaster now runs on Linux, Solaris, Windows 2000 and Windows XP platforms and integrates with HP OpenView Network Node Manager.

Additional security features include new authorizations, which IT can apply to a user or user group, including the time of day a group can access the WLAN, the type of encryption members of a group must use, and Location Policy Rules, which enables IT to override and reassign AAA authorizations according to a user’s location.

The MP-200-series Mobility Points support AES in hardware, further enhancing the system’s current support for dynamic WEP, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) in hardware. Trapeze Mobility Points also support beaconing of multiple service-set IDs (SSIDs), enabling IT to define encrypted and unencrypted SSIDs to simplify deployment of internal and guest WLAN access.

Pricing and Availability

The new hardware and software started shipping on December 1, 2003. The MP-200-series Mobility Points have a U.S. list price of $679 for the single-radio version and $899 for the dual-radio version. Updates to the Mobility System Software are free for customers with SafetyNetâ„? service.

About Trapeze Networks

Trapeze Networks delivers the power of business applications and services to the mobile enterprise workforce. The company’s wireless LAN Mobility System enhances productivity, introduces new efficiencies and accelerates business response time by delivering secure mobility to users, pre and post deployment planning and management tools to IT, and seamless integration between wired and wireless. In the first four months of shipping its WLAN Mobility System, Trapeze has been the recipient of five industry awards in recognition of its product and technology strength. Founded in March 2002, Trapeze raised $50 million in venture funding to date and is headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., U.S.A. For more information, please visit www.trapezenetworks.com.