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Ruckus Wireless Launches First-of-its-Kind Wi-Fi Multimedia System to Make the Wire Free Digital Home a Reality (28/11/2005)

Unique New Technology Delivers Picture-Perfect Wireless Multimedia Anywhere In The Home

Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (Ruckus), an innovator in next generation wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) technology, has today launched unique new products and technology that will forever change how multimedia content is distributed throughout the home.

The products include the industry's first multimedia wireless routing system and multimedia adapter. The company also announced today that PCCW, Hong Kong's primary telecommunications provider, will become the first company in the world to offer consumers a complete wireless multimedia solution using innovative new products and technology from Ruckus.

The new Ruckus wireless multimedia products feature first-of-its-kind technology that makes it possible to reliably deliver high-quality video, audio, games and rich data anywhere throughout the home while extending the reach of Wi-Fi transmissions. Until now, the transmission of multimedia content has typically required separate distribution networks in the home.

With the Ruckus system, consumers have the freedom to put phones, computers and audio/visual equipment anywhere within the home without network cabling - effectively eliminating installation inconvenience, wiring costs and unsightly display of cables and cords. Additionally, Wi-Fi users can now overcome environmental challenges such as interference from surrounding wireless devices and networks, or bandwidth contention from concurrent applications such as email downloads and Web surfing, to receive uninterrupted transmission of delay-sensitive media traffic in all parts of the home.

Based on a variety of patent-pending technologies, the new standards-based Ruckus multimedia system automatically and continuously steers wireless signals around sources of interference while intelligently managing all voice, video and data traffic to ensure the most reliable wireless transmissions possible.

"Wi-Fi has been designed for data, not video or voice," said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. "Ruckus Wireless has developed the first technology to truly solve the last 25-metre problem of reliably and cost-effectively transmitting multimedia content over the air. Now, both consumers and service providers can reap the benefits of emerging new broadband services, such as IPTV, that have been hampered by in-home cabling and service installation problems."

A growing number of service providers are bundling IP voice, video and data services - commonly referred to as "triple play" - over a single broadband connection in order to cost-effectively reduce customer churn, slash deployment costs and increase the average revenue per user through innovative services such as IPTV. However, distributing IP multimedia traffic within the home has been a problem, requiring costly and cumbersome cabling between the broadband modem and the receiving device such as an IP set-top-box or a media adapter.

While Wi-Fi is the preferred method for data distribution within the home, conventional Wi-Fi technology has, until now, been unable to provide the reliable and quality transmission essential to support all three traffic types concurrently. Off-the-shelf Wi-Fi products only stream video over a short distance before it becomes unwatchable. New wireless products using proprietary, high-capacity technology (pre-802.11n) may increase bandwidth, but don't address the essential issues of performance variability, cost and reliable multicast transmissions over Wi-Fi.

New groundbreaking technology, developed by Ruckus, uses a smart antenna scheme - BeamFlex - along with sophisticated traffic inspection, QoS (Quality of Service) and reliable multicast software - SmartCast - to send and receive wireless signals, ensuring the highest quality wireless transmissions for video, voice and data.

Allen Wong Ph.D, director of Product Development, Consumer Group, PCCW, said, "We have tested a number of different Wi-Fi products and found that the Ruckus Wireless multimedia system offers the most consistent performance under interference, which is a common condition in densely populated cities such as Hong Kong."

With Ruckus systems, triple-play providers can now extend their services beyond the customer's broadband modem to all corners of the home. Because Ruckus multimedia products are subscriber installable and require no complex wiring or configuration, triple-play service providers can also significantly reduce the cabling costs associated with traditional installations while accelerating and simplifying the deployment of converged multimedia services.

The manufacturer's suggested retail prices of the Ruckus MF2900 router and Ruckus MF2501 adapter are US$169.00 and US$129.00 respectively. Further product information is available in the appendix to this release.

www.ruckuswireless.com