Wireless Pioneer Bridges Gaps and Leverages Synergies between Wi-Fi and RFID
Systems with New RFS7000 RF Switch
CHICAGO, Nov. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- MOBILE BUSINESS EXPO 2006 (Booth
#205) -- Symbol Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: SBL), The Enterprise Mobility
Company(TM), today unveiled the industry's first radio frequency (RF)
wireless switch that bridges the gap between Wi-Fi, RFID and other key RF
technologies. The RFS7000 RF Switch leverages Symbol's Wireless Next
Generation (Wi-NG) architecture, and is designed to support and consolidate
Wi-Fi and emerging RF technologies such as RFID, 802.11n, mesh, Voice over
Wireless LAN (VoWLAN) and WiMAX. Businesses will now be able to efficiently
and cost-effectively deploy and centrally manage wireless voice, data and
infrastructure devices throughout the RF spectrum.
(Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061101/NYW103 )
(Logo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041029/SYMBOLOGO )
"Business needs are driving the convergence of voice, video and data,
effectively pushing the new mobile edge from the wired to the wireless touch
point, and requiring the network to adapt to the changing needs of new mobile
devices and applications," said Anthony Bartolo, vice president and general
manager of Symbol's Wireless Infrastructure and RFID Divisions. "The
industry's first RF switch will provide the platform to integrate and manage
current and future mobile devices and wireless technologies."
The RFS7000 RF Switch provides robust, highly scalable support for
enterprise mobility, and is ideal for manufacturing facilities, hospitals,
warehouse and supply chain industries, educational and government
institutions, and service providers with high-bandwidth requirements and
mission-critical applications.
"Located in Bangkok, Thailand, Bumrungrad International is the largest
private hospital in Southeast Asia, serving more than one million patients
each year. The hospital is recognized for innovative technologies, and most
recently that includes Symbol's end-to-end wireless product portfolio,
including RFID readers throughout the hospital to wirelessly collect and
share information in real-time and enhance the overall patient experience.
Our latest plan is to deploy a state of the art wireless infrastructure
across the campus to support new applications that serve both patients and
medical staff," said Chang Foo, Bumrungrad's director of IT operations. "To
fulfill our vision of an end-to-end enterprise application, we selected the
new RFS7000 RF Switch for its security, flexibility and highly redundant
uptime required to centrally manage our complex hospital network environment.
That environment must accommodate both current and future wireless
technologies, including RFID, which will be an important innovation for us.
Our preference is to manage the applications with one platform, to help
ensure that we continue to deliver quality services to our patients and
streamline hospital administrative services."
RF Switching Harmonizes Wireless Management
"Like Bumrungrad International, businesses want to move away
from 'piecemeal RF technology' installs, and be able to leverage their
wireless network investment on an ongoing basis rather than rip and replace
hardware to keep up with technology changes," added Bartolo. "Designed to
evolve and mature as requirements continue to change, the RFS7000 RF Switch
will enable simultaneous, centralized management of RFID readers and Wi-Fi
network infrastructure, creating a streamlined connection to business logic
and back-end application systems."
The innovative RFS7000 RF Switch leverages a modular Wi-NG-based
architecture, running on a Linux operating system that provides separation
between infrastructure, services, application and management layers. This
engineering conceptual leap takes advantage of multiple hardware platforms
and multiple-processor systems to enable scalable, high-performance wireless
solutions required by the next generation of enterprise mobility.
The RFS7000 RF Switch is 802.11n-ready, capable of supporting up to 256
802.11a/b/g access ports, and enables a new switch clustering concept,
providing redundancy and high-performance scalability for more than 2,000
access points. Symbol's new RF Switch is designed to support value-add,
optional add-on modules such as fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) to provide
seamless persistent connectivity for dual-mode cellular/Wi-Fi handheld
devices. The RFS7000 Switch also enables Layer 3 roaming, without additional
external applications and third-party servers, to handle multi-floor or large-
scale campus-wide deployments, allowing mobile users to maintain a persistent
connection to high-bandwidth applications as they roam throughout the
enterprise.
Integration with Symbol's RF Management software provides monitoring and
management of wireless devices throughout the spectrum to help ensure maximum
up-time and peak performance of the network system, as well as the ability to
plan, evaluate and monitor the network. Symbol's RF Management software suite
includes a location engine and Wireless Intrusion Protection System (Wireless
IPS) that enables businesses to securely deploy applications, and track
assets.
The RFS7000 RF Switch will be available with Symbol On Site System
Support services and Service from the Start programs for multi-year coverage.
The Symbol RFS7000 RF Switch will be available beginning in the first
quarter of 2007 in select regions through Symbol and its PartnerSelect
partners.
To learn more about Symbol's wireless solutions, visit
http://www.symbol.com/wireless .
About Symbol Technologies
Symbol Technologies, Inc., The Enterprise Mobility Company(TM), is a
recognized worldwide leader in enterprise mobility, delivering products and
solutions that capture, move and manage information in real time to and from
the point of business activity. Symbol enterprise mobility solutions
integrate advanced data capture products, radio frequency identification
technology, mobile computing platforms, wireless infrastructure, mobility
software and world-class services programs. Symbol enterprise mobility
products and solutions are proven to increase workforce productivity, reduce
operating costs, drive operational efficiencies and realize competitive
advantages for the world's leading companies. More information is available
at http://www.symbol.com .