Ruckus Smart Mesh Networking

Procyon Networks is a Ruckus appliance reseller, below info has been adopted from the orginal Ruckus website: ruckuswireless.com

Ruckus Wireless SmartMesh is a unique, new approach to building high-performance wireless LANs (WLANs). It reduces cumbersome RF planning and costly cable backhaul by lowering the need to run Ethernet wiring to individual ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi access points.

SmartMesh dramatically simplifies, speeds and reduces the cost of WLAN deployment. With SmartMesh, enterprises now simply plug ZoneFlex access points into any convenient power source, and walk away. No extensive RF site surveys, cable runs, configuration, or optimization adjustments are required.

SmartMesh delivers three key ingredients that have previously hindered the use of indoor meshing:

high performance by combining 802.11n with Smart Wi-Fi technology
reliable connectivity between mesh nodes, using best path selection and interference avoidance techniques
ultra-simple deployment through the automation of AP and mesh provisioning

SmartMesh extends Ruckus-patented Smart Wi- Fi technology to create a new class of reliable and high-performance wireless LANs that are selforganizing, self-optimizing and self-healing. It is the first Wi-Fi meshing approach that combines high-gain smart antenna arrays, sophisticated RF routing and centralized management with a single WLAN system.

Smart Wi-Fi Makes all the Difference

Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi technology is used by the SmartMesh to form, direct and steer Wi-Fi signals over the best performing paths between mesh nodes, as well as to associated clients. This enables the SmartMesh to adapt in real time to environmental changes, ensuring highly reliable and available wireless trunk links.

Each ZoneFlex APs within the SmartMesh integrates an intelligent, high-gain antenna array that provides diversity and extended signal range. This ensures high performance by minimizing the number of mesh hops and reducing the number of mesh APs required.

Additionally, this same smart antenna array allows the SmartMesh to continuously choose from thousands of antenna patterns, to avoid or reject interference, and to maintain high performance connections between mesh nodes.

How Ruckus SmartMesh Works

With SmartMesh, each ZoneFlex AP functions as a wireless node within the mesh. SmartMesh uses antenna-ranking techniques to determine the best upstream path through the RF to the backhaul AP.

SmartMesh topology is automatically determined based on the potential throughput of each node. Potential throughput is the actual throughput of its uplink (i.e., how fast the uplink AP can get a packet to the wired network) as well as the potential throughput to the uplink AP. This is based on the actual throughput to the uplink AP, signal strength, and other considerations such as AP load and hop count.

Each AP in the mesh determines the best mesh node with which to associate. Each upstream ZoneFlex AP continually advertises its Smart Mesh characteristics including its own potential throughput and the path through which it is connected to the wired network. This allows other APs to make real-time topology decisions, reacting to any changes in the environment.

In the event of an AP failure or if an upstream path drops below a set performance threshold due to overloading or interference, a new path to the best performing AP is selected. This efficient “tree” topology minimizes convergence risks and latency while maximizing performance.

Simple to Deploy

To enable SmartMesh administrators simply click a check box within the ZoneFlex Setup Wizard. Once the WLAN is configured, the administrator attaches the SmartMesh access points to the ZoneDirector for autoprovisioning. After provisioning is complete, the administrator can place the ZoneFlex APs virtually anywhere.

Once plugged into any power source, Ruckus SmartMesh determines the optimal network topology and each ZoneFlex AP chooses the best mesh path back to a root AP.

Simple to Manage

All management of the SmartMesh is performed from the ZoneDirector. There, administrators can view a topology map of the mesh, see associated clients and make any desired changes.