Oct 11, 2013

Mesh to the edge; the only real solution for the growing demand of Internet of Things (IoT). Cameras, wireless parking meters, smart utility meters – all need network connectivity that is resilient and secure.

Current solutions design these edge connections as links – that has some real shortcomings.

If we look at a typical municipal outdoor network we have 3 segments – the core fiber ring, the aggregation network which collects all edge device data and backhauls it up to the nearest fiber drop and finally the last mile connection to the edge devices.

Each of these segments of network is often heterogeneous – different vendor, different management, different policy management, different security. It’s a network management nightmare. Moreover customers tell us that many of these edge applications such as broadband access and video surveillance need features like redundancy, end-to-end security and end-to-end QoS. A mesh based system is the only way to design a multi-hop, reliable and secure end-to-end solution. However, due to price points, mesh based products have been traditionally preferred only in the aggregation space. Knowing mesh to the edge is the real solution, we created a cost-effective, reliable and secure “Edge Mesh” product.

HotPort 5020, the industry’s first edge mesh product, expands the reach of mesh beyond the aggregation segment to the edge of the network. Customers are now able to design the edge devices as an extension of their existing network. Adding a new camera to the network involves just adding a new edge mesh node connected to the camera and integrating it to an already existing wireless network. The edge mesh product provides 25 Mbps of UDP throughput around 15 -20 Mbps of TCP which is plenty for current edge needs. Based on our calculation the cost savings to the customer over a traditional mesh based system could be more than 30%. This reduces the barrier to entry and avails features such as end-to-end redundancy, security and policy management.

To ensure success, we did months of outdoor testing at our very own outdoor test network in collaboration with CSU Monterey Bay and also beta tests with several customers/partners.

We believe that Internet of Things is here and now. The market demands solutions that help integrate these devices into an IT network with consistent policy, network management and QoS management; bringing mesh to the edge is a step in that direction.