Symbol Technologies unveils the industry's first RF switch to drive the next generation of enterprise mobility

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.

"Businesses 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 Tarek Hassaniyeh, sales manager, Symbol Technologies Middle East. "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.

"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 Hassaniyeh. "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. It 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.

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.

Photo caption: 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.