Getting passionate about wireless technology at Gestalt #TechFieldDay

[#1]

By Rich Horsley, HP WLAN Product Manager and WLAN Enthusiast

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in Gestalt IT’s first Wireless Field Day with two of my colleagues, Chris Ruybal and Andres Chavez. It was a great event organized by Stephen Foskett to bring together a world-class group of industry bloggers and wireless vendors to “talk shop.” I always enjoy being with people who have a passion for wireless technology, and this group did not disappoint. I found myself in the room with not only wireless enthusiasts, but also genuinely good people. 

                                

We had great conversations about the wireless LAN, and some of the new challenges to the industry. It was great to get the insight of this group, and even better to know that the challenges they are facing— from security to managing the RF spectrum for optimal performance. These are the very things that we are working on and delivering at HP. 

Andres Chavez did a great job putting together a live demonstration to show the performance of the new HP access points (APs). Here is a video of a quick overview of the demo.

                                                      

Here is a slide deck that gives an overview of the HP E Series WLAN solution and select HP MSM series Access Points Management and Configuration Guides. 

New RF optimization features in HP access points

The throughput and new RF optimization features of these new APs is really exciting. And when we shared with the delegates that these APs were powered by standard 802.3af (no PoE+ required!), that became the focus of discussion. HP engineers did a great job with this. In addition, the spectrum analyzer is built right into the current chip (which is already powered), so no additional power will be required to activate the spec analyzer. THAT is innovation. 

We get to do a lot of fun things in the wireless world. Wireless isn’t just used to surf the web anymore. It’s using technologies like RFID to track medical equipment and even newborn patients in hospitals. And common, everyday things can influence or interrupt its performance. Show me another technology where you breathe the physical layer. But these challenges are what make this a great industry to be in. 

If you missed the Gestalt IT Wireless Field Day, well, that’s a bummer. Make sure you don’t miss the next one. My hat goes off to Stephen Foskett, Jennifer Huber, the blogger delegates and all those who made the event possible.

Come check out what HP is doing in wireless at www.hp.com/networking. 

[#2]

1. How does your new AP works with 3*3 MIMO? practically not possible.

--client cant upport 3*3 MIMO

-- 802.11n standard doesnt says the 3*3 MIMO practically.

2. How do you say the data rate is 250Mbps?

--practically in the wifi shared media not possible

-- wifi works in half duplex (only half of the theoritical data rate can be achieved in the practical)

Please provide the technical reason, how 3*3 MIMO achieved with these new APs??

Thanks,

Prakash

[#3]

The 802.11n standard allows for data UP TO 600Mbps, using up to 4 spatial streams.  3x3 MIMO refers to the transmit and receive (3 transmit, 3 receive).  The proper description of the new MSM460 and MSM466 is "3x3:3", meaning 3 transmit, 3 receive on 3 spatial streams.  The third spatial stream is what makes this technically possible.

Intel has a internal Wi-Fi NIC that supports 3x3:3. That NIC is shipping today in HP Workstation laptops. 

The throughput (signal rate) that the MSM460 & 466 can produce is now 450Mbps.  As we demonstrated in the Gestalt IT Wireless Field Day, the actual through put is 230-250Mbps.  That is in line with typical wireless LAN environments where the actual throughput is 50-55% of the signal rate (in this case, 450Mbps).