In partnership with industry-leading technology experts, AMCC provides customers with a proven, baseline reference design for a low-power, low-cost Wireless-N enterprise Access Point based on the 405EX processor. TeamF1, experts in embedded security and wireless software, provides the Managed Access Point Solution software (MAPS) for fully-secure enterprise APs with a customizable, OEM-brandable management interface. MAPS runs on the “Makalu” network appliance reference design, developed specially for AMCC by Senao Networks, based in Taiwan with industry-leading wireless expertiseDenx Software Engineering provides the platform’s U-Boot boot firmware and custom Linux distribution. The proven, tested system design enables quick, low-risk development of Access Point products, offering significant cost and performance advantages when compared to competing solutions.

With the growth in high bandwidth applications such as high-definition video and growing use of Voice-over-IP, improved network performance is essential. AMCC’s reference design solution meets the growing business demand for access, speed and security.

Draft 802.11n-compliant wireless chipsets are used in this solution to deliver the ultimate wireless triple play experience for video, voice and data transmission. The reference design supports up to two radio cards, with each radio card having a triple-radio single-chip solution for MIMO 11n. These radio cards dramatically increase the overall throughput of the wireless LAN by supporting link rates as high as 300 Mbps - an improvement of nearly six times the throughput of standard 802.11g.

Each radio card is interoperable with standard 802.11b and 802.11g devices and fully supports industry-standard compliant security and Quality of Service (QoS). The chipset baseband processor includes a hardware encryption engine to support WEP, TKIP and AES. It automatically calculates the data integrity and RF signal strength of the wireless channel and continually tunes for optimal RF channel and transmit-power, while enforcing the prioritization of delay-sensitive voice and other critical applications. Moreover, the integrated QoS features provide consistent voice and video quality on both wired and wireless networks, enabling the deployment of business quality VoIP and video applications.

The radio cards include dual-diversity antennas on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. By leveraging multi-path reflections of a radio signal and overlaying multiple signals of multiple radios in a single 20MHz radio channel, the MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) multiplies the effective data rates and reliable coverage area without using additional frequency spectrum, and without causing interference with other Wi-Fi devices or networks. The signal reflections which were a concern in earlier deployments are used to increase the range and reduce the dead spots in the wireless coverage area using MIMO technology.

While one .11n card radio can be used in supporting latency sensitive voice and video applications in large enterprise Wi-Fi deployments, the second radio card can be used exclusively for Wi-Fi coverage and client interoperability in less latency sensitive data networks. The Makalu hardware supports wireless-N, wireless-a, wireless-b, or wireless-g clients, while Power over Ethernet (PoE) support makes it easy to install the Access Point anywhere, even without ready access to a power plug - the installer only needs to run one cable to the Access Point to deliver both data and power.

Finally, the MAPS software exploits the 405EX on-chip security engine to provide advanced 80211 security standards that protect both data and privacy by including WEP, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access™) and WPA2 (802.11i) for any generation of network, in Personal and Enterprise modes. WDS (Wireless Distributed System), using a wireless medium, offers a flexible and efficient distribution mechanism among several APs. The MAPS software also includes comprehensive web browser-based management configuration utility with secure management option.

Availability

The Makalu network appliance reference design kit will be available from AMCC in May 2008, priced at $750. The kit comprises a compact, Linux-based board, with an evaluation copy of MAPS software installed and configured with two radio cards, packaged in an Access Point enclosure. Customers can download the complete platform design, including U-Boot and Linux code, from AMCC’s downloads site, either using it to manufacture as-is or as the starting-point for own hardware design. The MAPS software product can be licensed from TeamF1, either as a standard product or custom components.