Different by Design

WLAN Infrastructure that Assures Application Delivery

andToll-Quality Voice

2

The Evolution of WLANConvenient

• Data• E-mail• Browser• Basic Connectivity

Important

• Data• E-mail• Brower• Web services

• Data• Voice• Streaming video• E-mail• Browser• Web services• Integrated messaging• Critical business applications• Primary connectivity

Business-Critical

2000-01

2nd GenerationStand Alone

2002-03

3rd GenerationCentralized

2004-05

4th GenerationTraffic-optimized

3

Guaranteed delivery of business-critical applications is a must

• Businesses today mandate guaranteed application delivery• Business-critical applications must work regardless of the medium

over which they are delivered• Applications must run as well on a wireless LAN as they do

on a wired one• The user experience and application performance must be the

same

LAN =

WLANLAN =

WLAN

4

Guaranteed application delivery doesn’t happen by chance

• WLANs must be application-aware to guarantee delivery

• Voice has unique QoS needs• Streaming video needs downlink bandwidth• Slow/fast clients need fair air time allocation • Mobility requires instantaneous handoffs

• Traditional WLANs have unpredictable application delivery

• No application awareness – the network doesn’t adapt with new clients and applications

• No upstream flow control - clients independently decide when to transmit

• The initial deployment consumes all usable channels leaving no reserve capacity

• Functional for e-mail and Web browsing but not for mission-critical applications

5

Meru’s WLAN platform is different by design

• Meru is the only WLAN vendor to provide guaranteed application delivery

• Adjusts in real-time to mission-critical data, voice, and streaming video applications

• Analyzes traffic in real-time, continuously optimizes the network for every application

• The WLAN decides when clients transmit, providing flow control and yielding the highest performance WLAN in the industry

• The result: highest bandwidth, highest density, fastest handoffs, highest MOS scores

6

Meru’s Value Proposition - Key Differentiators

1. Air Traffic Control

2. Ease of Set-up and Use

3. Virtual Cell Technology

4. Investment Protection

7

Key differentiator: Air Traffic Control

Air Traffic Control Technology

• Manages upstream and downstream application flows like a switch

• Coordinates flows between Access Points and eliminates co-channel interference

• Provides air time fairness • Enables high-density, mixed 802.11b/g client networks • Uses standard (non-proprietary) clients

• Cellular-like Architecture

8

Hubs vs. switches

• A hub shares the total bandwidth among all users without regard for fairness - this is how traditional WLANs work

• A switch provides a dedicated line at full bandwidth between every two devices yielding fairness and high throughput - this is how a Meru WLAN works

9

Real world benefits of Air Traffic Control

Active Users Per Access Point

Vendor C Meru

20-25

100+

5X5X

User Density

Fairness

802.11b/gPerformance

~16.8~20.1

~3.4

~18.1

TCP802.11g only(no b clients )

TCPMixed Environment(802.11g & b clients)

Vendor C Vendor CMeru Meru

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Key differentiator: Ease of Set-up and Use

• Traditional WLAN• To minimize interference power levels are

lower so cell size is smaller– requires more Access Points, cable drops, and labor

• Recurring site surveys• Adds/moves/ changes require channel

reassignment

• Meru WLAN• Single channel eliminates interference so full

power can be used, larger areas covered so fewer devices required

• Access Points can be added to increase capacity as needed without a channel planning survey

Expanding aMeru WLAN

Expanding a Traditional WLAN

1

111 6 111 6 11111 6 11 6 11

111 6 11 6 1 1111 61

11 6111 6 11 6 11

16 11 1 116

1 11

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1 1

1

1 1

1

1

1

1 1 1

1 1 1

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1 1161 116111 1161161 1

1 1161161111 11611 1

1161 116111 1161161 1

1 611111 6

1 6

1 11

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Key differentiator: Virtual Cell Technology

• Manages network access and handoffs• Instantaneous handoffs• Delay-free roaming• Toll-quality voice • Application load-balancing

Ch. 1Ch. 6 Ch. 11

Ch. 1

Traditional WLAN deployment

Meru WLAN deployment

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Traditional WLAN: Roaming and handoffs

• Roaming client scans for the next strongest signal then disconnects/reconnects from Access Points

• Handoff takes 50-1000ms, is noticeable to callers, and can result in dropped calls

• Client decides when to handoff and to which Access Point to connect…even though it knows nothing about the Access Point’s load or capacity

• Cannot intelligently select the optimum Access Point – it’s hit or miss• Controller cannot enforce roaming direction, only reject clients

Ch1 Ch11Ch6

XDroppedDelayed

13

Meru WLAN: Roaming and handoffs

• A roaming client stays on one channel, and the Meru Controller – not the client – decides when to switch

• Process is instantaneous (≈3ms), silent (transparent) to callers, and drop-free

• Controller knows the best Access Point for handoff based on application, load balance, and signal quality

• Unlike a client, the Controller has knowledge of the entire network and can make informed decisions

No Delay

Ch1 Ch1Ch1

No Dropout

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Meru Toll Quality VoiceMeru QoS = 5X Voice Calls Per Access Point

Today’s APProprietary Client

Today’s APStandard Client

Meru APStandard Client

Dynamic mix of voiceand data on same channels

Typically on separatechannels/network

30+ Toll Quality

7-10< 5

5X5X

AP

No over-the-air

QoS Wired QoS

Wired QoS

Over-the-air QoS

Meru AP

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Key differentiator: Investment Protection

• Future-proofing• Requires fewer Access Points, cable drops, and POE

than traditional VoWLANs• Forestalls the need to touch clients to add to 802.11a

or 802.11n for new applications or VoWLAN

Meru offered the best balance across usage, security and cost. In terms of both our current needs and our future plans to expand the network by adding voice and additional data applications, Meru’s WLAN System was the clear choice. Dan Wittekind, Director of Information Systems, LifeSphere

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Less equipment, simpler installations, better coverage

• Traditional WLAN operates at lower power to minimize interference

• Requires more Access Points, more cable drops, and more POE devices

• More Access Points require more lengthy surveys and increase interference

• Dynamic power adjustments cause erratic client behavior, distant low-speed clients consume bandwidth

Traditional WLAN

Meru Virtual Cell

Traditional WLAN

• Meru Virtual Cell WLAN operates at full power

• Requires fewer Access Points, cable drops, and POE devices

• No channel surveys or interference issues

• Stable clients, fair consumption of bandwidth

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A single channel architecture preserves RF resources

All RF channels are consumed – Access

Points must be modified or replaced

for expansion and future applications

Ch. 11Ch. 6Ch. 1

Ch. 11

Ch. 6

Ch. 1

Virtual cells can be layered to add

capacity/bandwidthwithout touching existing Access

Points

• Traditional WLAN consumes RF resources

• Meru Single Channel WLAN preserves RF resources

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Customers: Industry Firsts

Iowa

UNCC

Dade County

DoJ

FEMA

Nike

University of Miami Medical • World’s largest single channel deployment

• University of Michigan • Highest user density production deployment

• Philadelphia School District • High density and high availability in largest WLAN enterprise network

• Osaka Gas

• Largest dual-mode phone FMC deployment

• Multiple customer deployments• Zero handoff for clients as they roam from AP to AP

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Gartner Magic Quadrant

Meru’s converged voice, data, and video WLAN platform sits at what the Gartner Group calls "the high end of the technology spectrum"

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Sales, support, training worldwide

Meru NetworksCorporate HeadquartersSunnyvale, California 94087Tel: +1-408-215-5300Fax: +1-408-215-5301

www.merunetworks.com