Airaya Competition

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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Airaya (802.11n) Systems

802.11 Products were designed for indoor wireless LANs. The 802.11 protocol trades off lower throughput and higher latency to achieve reliable indoor connectivity.

802.11n products have fundamental weaknesses compared to AN-80i Design distances are less than 300 meters 802.11 uses a contention based protocol which cannot guarantee quality of service In addition, throughput and latency are highly impacted by interference and packet size PMP is generally not available in outdoor products, and is even more susceptible to interference than the PTP versions Security requirements are not as stringent

The volumes of outdoor wireless products are tiny compared to the volumes of indoor wireless products. Therefore, chipset makers do not concern themselves with the support issues specific to outdoor products.

Redlines AN-80i chipset is purpose built for high performance outdoor wireless connections.
2009 Redline Communications Inc.
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Problems with Airaya (802.11n) Designs

802.11 products are build on a chipset designed for 300 m range

The 802.11 protocol is build with internal timing that assumes the longest distance between transmitter and receiver is 300 m Some vendors extend the timer to fix this problem, but at the expense of performance at longer ranges Complex software changes are be required to improve protocol efficiency at longer range

The 802.11 protocol is very sensitive to interference

802.11n radios switch to Rx mode immediately after Tx As a result if any interference is present the unit will miss an acknowledgement with severe performance implications Latency will typically increase by 600% in the presence of interference There is no solution for this issue for users of 802.11 chipsets

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

www.redlinecommunications.com

Problems with Airaya (802.11n) Designs

A contention based MAC cannot provide consistent performance

The 802.11 design sacrifices performance to achieve connection Latency and throughput cannot be guaranteed as the 802.11 protocol as overthe-air-packets are not scheduled. Performance in the presence of interference can become severely inconsistent

Limited frequencies and channel widths

Typically the chipsets only support 4.9-5 .8 GHz Typically only 20 and 40 MHz channel widths are supported Redline supports 5, 10, 20, and 40 MHz channel widths at 4.9-5.8 GHz Redline supports 3.3-3.8 GHz in 3.5, 5, 7, 10, 14 and 20 MHz channel widths

Poor small packet performance

Vendor claims usually assume large packets However 802.11n small packet performance will be as low as 1/10 to 1/20 of the specified performance This is a HUGE impact on VoIP AN-80i throughput for large or small packets is virtually unchanged

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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Problems with Airaya (802.11n) Designs

Chips use build in radios designed for indoor LANS

802.11 chipsets provide lower power output Some manufacturers add external radios to improve RF quality Redlines AN80i radios are purpose built for outdoor use, and output up to 25 dBm of power

Limited security

802.11n Chipsets have not been designed meet the most stringent security measures Redlines AN-80i is designed to meet the FIPS-140-2 standard

Limited QoS Quality of Service

802.11n products use a contention based protocol which cannot guarantee minimum performance. QoS features (such) as minimum information rate and peak information rate are typically not available

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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Advantages of the Redline AN-80i

Excellent Low Latency

Less than 1 ms in PTP mode Less than 6 ms in PMP mode Latency is typically 1-3 ms even in the presence of interference, while 802.11n designs will exceed 12 ms in the presence of interference

High Quality Packaging

IP 67 submergible rated keeps the humidity out Temperature ranges from -40 to +60 degrees C

Point to Multipoint

Up to 30 subscribers can share a single PMP master station

Support for More Frequencies

3.3 3.8 Licensed Bands 3.65 GHz Light Licensed Bands (USA) 4.9 Public Safety USA 4.9-5.3 GHz, 5.4 and 5.8 GHz Licence Exempt Bands

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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Advantages in the Redline AN-80i (contd)

Dynamic TDD

AN-80i rapidly adjusts upstream and downstream TDD ratios for greatly improved real world performance.

Dynamic ARQ The AN-80i adjusts modulation levels on a packet by packet basis Resent packets are configured to a slightly more robust level of Modulation Some competitive products only jump down to the lowest level of Modulation

Support for Multiple Hops

AN-80i is VERY GOOD at multiple hops. Current installations have up to 7 hops with low latency 802.11 and mesh dramatically reduce throughput and high latency per hop.

An-80I HAS Management Features Ideal for Outdoor Use

Diagnostic Tools NMS Support

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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Performance Chart AN80i vs. 802.11 (n, a/g)

Performance Features AN-80i
Dynamic Adaptive TDD Scheduled MAC Rx sensitivity, dBm Yes Yes

802.11a/g
No No

802.11n 2x2
No No

-87 @6Mb/s -84@12 Mb/s -65@108 Mb/s Total RF power @ 5 Ghz, dBm -25 @6Mb/s -23@12 Mb/s -18@108 Mb/s Supported Bands GHz 3.3-3.8 4.9-5.8
Channelization @5 GHz Max Bit Rate at MAC output 1514-byte packets, Mb/s Max Bit Rate at MAC output 64-byte packets, Mb/s Latency, 20 MHz channel, no interference Max latency, 20 MHz channel, with interference
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-86 @6Mb/s -83@12 Mb/s -66@108 Mb/s -20 @6Mb/s -20@12 Mb/s -15@108 Mb/s 2.4, 4.9-5.8
20, 40 27 1 5 ms 12+ ms

-88 @6Mb/s -83@15 Mb/s -67@150 Mb/s -25 @6Mb/s (for enhanced products) 2.4, 4.9-5.8
20, 40 270 22-44 2 ms 12+ ms

5, 10, 20, 40 88 87 <1 ms 1-3 ms

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Feature Comparison AN80i vs. Airaya

Features
Price (min/max) Ethernet Rate (min/max) Price / bit Frequency Range Latency Output Power Channel Size Configuration Modulation Adaptive Modulation Duplexing Spectrum Analyzer Security Interface Power Consumption Wireless Frame & ARQ DFS Operating Temperature
2009 Redline Communications Inc.

Comparison
Airaya Wireless GRID 1/108 Mbps 4.9, 5.4 or 5.8 1-2 msec 21 dbm 5,10,20 & 40 MHz PTP & PMP on different Hardware(radio) OFDM Yes TDD Fixed No AES 128/WEP 152 Prop. PoE >20 W Fixed No -20 to 55 deg. C
9

AN80i 4.5/108 Mbps 4.9, 5.4, 5.8 or 3.5 1 msec 25 dbm 5,10,20 & 40 MHz PTP & PMP on same Hardware(radio) OFDM Yes Dynamic TDD Yes FIPS 140-2 AES 256 IEEE 802.3 af - PoE < 15 W Dynamic Yes -40 to 60 deg. C
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Key Counters Against Airaya

Fixed TDD & Frame architecture. Not suitable for real time services, whereas dynamic TDD & Frame architecture in AN80i makes it ideal for real time services (Video Surveillance, VoIP, TDM etc.) AN80i has very high PPS (Packet per second) capability (FPGA based radio) making it an ideal solution for real time applications i.e. Video Surveillance. Fixed TDD results in poor spectral efficiency. Their 108 Mbps is two way implying 54 UL & 54 DL (54 Mbps effective), whereas AN80i has Dynamic TDD which gives 90 Mbps one way (on demand basis).

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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Key Counters Against Airaya (contd)

Low TX Out results in lower link margins and distances. No dynamic ARQ results in high probability of errors in noisy conditions. Absence of spectrum analyzer, makes it harder to have stable link operation in Un-licensed environment. Non-standard PoE introducing another box in the network. High power consumption whereas AN80i has only 15.4 Watts of consumption, making it ideal to be used without adding much into the existing power infrastructure.

2009 Redline Communications Inc.

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