Allied Telesis Announces the World's First Hybrid Single-Channel and Multi-Channel Wi-Fi System

SAN JOSE, CA –  April 3, 2018 - Allied Telesis, a leading provider of hardware and software products that allow customers to build secure, feature-rich and scalable data exchange solutions, today announced the future availability of the world's first hybrid Wi-Fi system that can simultaneously support single-channel and multi-channel architectures. The hybrid system, consisting of a new wireless AP and advanced controller software, will give customers more design flexibility to exploit the particular benefits of each wireless architecture, maximizing the user experience and reducing infrastructure complexity and cost.

“A relentless growth in the number of mobile users demanding high bandwidth Wi-Fi connections to business and entertainment applications is stressing traditional wireless networks, forcing IT managers to continuously re-evaluate their network performance and capabilities," said Seiichiro Sato, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing for Allied Telesis. “Rather than require IT managers to decide between one protocol or the other, our new hybrid wireless system lets them deploy both simultaneously for optimum use of access point and network capacity, maximizing the return on wireless investments. ”

While the majority of traditional Wi-Fi networks today utilize a multi-channel architecture (MCA) where APs operate on a range of fixed channels in order not to conflict with adjacent APs, the single-channel architecture (SCA), often referred to as channel blanket, has all APs operating on the same channel, with intelligent controllers managing device access mechanisms. Channel blanket technology has been recognized for its ability to handle large numbers of mobile users that see the network as one big AP with seamless roaming. Other benefits include compatibility with a full range of wireless clients and interference-free high-density AP installations.

The new hybrid wireless system will include a new SCA software controller, called AWC Channel Blanket (AWC-CB), which utilizes Allied Telesis’ patented wireless control technology. A new dual protocol wireless AP, the TQ5403, will support channel blanket and MCA modes simultaneously using the same controller. With AWC CB and TQ5403, Allied Telesis provides the ultimate wireless LAN environment for both seamless connection and fast/fat data handling applications without extra CAPEX, while reducing OPEX with SDN/OpenFlow-enabled capabilities.