Xirrus

Xirrus, Inc is a Wi-Fi technology company based in Westlake Village, California, USA, that designs and sells wireless networking equipment based on the IEEE standards 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. The company has been independently selling these products since 2005. Xirrus currently manufactures multiple radio wi-Fi Arrays that combine a WLAN switch and APs into a single device [cite news | title = Xirrus Array Debuts | author = Eric Griffith | date = 28 March 2005 | publisher = Wi-Fi Planet | page = 1] . Each Array unit bundles the controller with four, eight or 16 access points, and a special sectored directional antenna, into a single package [cite news | title = Two wireless LANs better than one, Carnegie Mellon says | author = John Cox | date = 11 December 2007 | publisher = Network World | page = 1]

Xirrus provided the wireless network coverage for the Interop trade conferences [ [http://www.interop.com/blog/?p=372 Interop] Snoopy vs The Red Barron.] at New York in 2006 [ [http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=438 TechRepublic] describes Interop 2006 experience with Xirrus.] and at Las Vegas in May 2007, despite being a relative newcomer. [cite news | title = Some of the gems at Interop | author = John Dix | date = 31 May 2007 | publisher = Network World | page = 28] For Interop 2007, Xirrus installed 12 wireless arrays which could support up to 4,000 concurrent users.

History

Xirrus was founded in 2004 by Dirk Gates, Patrick Parker, and Steve DeGennaro. Gates founded Xircom in 1988 and sold the company to Intel for US $748 million in March 2001 [ [http://news.com.com/2100-1001-982950.html CNET News Article] on Intel winding down Xircom acquisition in 2003] . In 2003, Gates established Xirrus together with Patrick Parker, then ex-Chief Executive Officer [ [http://www.xirrus.com/aboutus/management.html Management Biographies] from Xirrus.] of Nomadix and Steve DeGennaro, then ex-Vice President of Finance [ [http://www.calixnetworks.com/news/press_releases/CalixPressRelease20030203.html Calix Press Release] , announcing new CFO.] of Calix. The company began marketing the Wi-Fi Array products in early 2005. [cite news | title = Xirrus comes to aid of tornado-ravaged town | author = Gerry Blackwell | date = 4 October 2007 | publisher = Wi-Fi Planet | page = 1] In 2007 Xirrus announced a research collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University to beta-test a software update that, along with new radio modules, adds support for 802.11n [ [http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6959431443.html Linuxdevices cite news] ] . The cyptographic module in Xirrus's 802.11a/b/g-compliant "Wi-Fi Arrays" received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 validation in 2008 [ [http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6580015724.html Linuxdevices cite news] ] Also in 2008 Xirrus presented a new access point module that meets 802.11n standards. This new module provides up to 300Mbps data rate per radio, and there are up to 12 radios for each access point [ [http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/Top-Picks-from-Interop/7/ e-week cite news] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.xirrus.com Xirrus homepage]
* [http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1843726,00.asp Xirrus Reviewed in eWeek Lab]
* [http://www.techworld.com/networking/reviews/index.cfm?ReviewID=326&ProductID=339 Xirrus Reviewed by TechWorld]
* [http://www.networkcomputing.com/channels/networkinfrastructure/showArticle.jhtml?queryText=&articleID=163100285&pgno=4 Best of Interop]