Ruckus Wireless SmartMesh
Ruckus Wireless Smart Mesh Networking is a unique, new approach to building high-performance wireless LANs. It reduces the cumbersome RF planning and costly cable backhaul by lowering the need to run Ethernet wiring to individual ZoneFlex™ Smart Wi-Fi access points.
Smart Mesh Networking dramatically simplifies, speeds up and reduces the cost of WLAN deployment. With Smart Mesh Networking, enterprises now simply plug ZoneFlex access points into any convenient power source, and walk away.
SmartMesh Features
- Built on patented Ruckus BeamFlex™ directional smart Wi-Fi antenna array technology
- Centrally managed by Ruckus ZoneDirector smart WLAN controller
- Self-forming network topology
- Automatic access point provisioning
- Secure encrypted backhaul links
- Self-healing around mesh AP failures and environmental problems
- Flexible Hybrid Mesh topology
- Supported on all Ruckus ZoneFlex 802.11g and 802.11n smart Wi-Fi access points
- Real-time interference avoidance and automatic interference rejection
- Best path signal selection to clients
- High quality of service and rate
Smart Wi-Fi Makes all the Difference
Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi technology is used by the Smart Mesh Networking to form, direct and steer Wi-Fi signals over the best performing paths between mesh nodes, as well as to associated clients. This enables the Smart Mesh Network to adapt in real time to environmental changes, ensuring highly reliable and available wireless trunk links.
Each ZoneFlex AP within the Smart Mesh Network integrates an intelligent, high-gain antenna array that provides diversity and extended signal range. This ensures high performance by minimizing the number
of mesh hops and reducing the number of mesh APs required.
Additionally, this same smart antenna array allows the Smart Mesh Network to continuously choose from thousands of antenna patterns, to avoid or reject interference, and to maintain high performance connections between mesh nodes.
How Ruckus Smart Mesh Networking Works
With Smart Mesh Networking, each ZoneFlex AP functions as a wireless node within the mesh. Smart Mesh Networking uses antenna-ranking techniques to determine the best upstream path through the RF to the backhaul AP.
Smart Mesh Networking topology is automatically determined based on the potential throughput of each node. Potential throughput is the actual throughput of its uplink (i.e., how fast the uplink AP can get a packet to the wired network) as well as the potential throughput to the uplink AP. This is based on the actual throughput to the uplink AP, signal strength, and other considerations such as AP load and hop count.
Each AP in the mesh determines the best mesh node with which to associate. Each upstream ZoneFlex AP continually advertises its Smart Mesh Networking characteristics including its own potential throughput and the path through which it is connected to the wired network. This allows other APs to make real-time topology decisions, reacting to any changes in the environment.
In the event of an AP failure or if an upstream path drops below a set performance threshold due to overloading or interference, a new path to the best performing AP is selected. This efficient “tree” topology minimizes convergence risks and latency while maximizing performance.
If you would like more information about a Ruckus Wireless SmartMesh network please give us a call or use the contact us page.
