Marvell and Nexthop Introduce Integrated Wireless LAN Enabled Switching Solutions

May 2, 2005

Marvell, the technology leader in the development of extreme broadband communications and storage solutions, and NextHop Technologies, Inc., the definitive source for network software solutions, today announced that they will demonstrate an integrated wireless LAN switching solution at NetWorld+Interop 2005 in Las Vegas, May 3–5.

The solution will utilize Marvell’s Prestera chipset and will integrate WCS (Wireless LAN Controller Software) from NextHop. These new switches will support from 24 to 48 ports of gigabit Ethernet, with 10-gigabit Ethernet uplinks. They will also support up to 48 WLAN access points (APs) per switch – providing security, management, and mobility for any WLAN user attached to these systems.

The increasing deployment of wireless in the SMBs and enterprises create operational overheads for the IT staff in managing the APs and securing the network. In the past, several solutions have been created to resolve the issues of remote management of APs with wireless appliances. However, adding an appliance creates a centralized or overlay architecture that does not scale effectively with increasing numbers of wireless users.

“The proliferation of wireless LAN technology is one of the biggest growth sectors in enterprise and SMB networks, and has a direct impact on increasing productivity and thus the corporate bottom lines,” said Paul Valentine, General Manager, Enterprise Business Unit, Communications Business Group at Marvell. “Marvell, through its relationship with NextHop Technologies is driving the capabilities of wireless access point management into its switching solutions. These systems will provide the infrastructure to build and deploy highly-secure, wireless networks in the enterprise and SMB markets while reducing total cost of ownership.”

“We are proud to be working with Marvell,” said Dennis Tsu, Vice President, Marketing at NextHop Technologies. “NextHop is known for providing world-class routing software solutions. By now providing integrated WAP and RF management, wireless roaming and mobility functions as well as security capabilities like rogue AP detection – NextHop also is the leader in providing vendor neutral WLAN software solutions. NextHop and Marvell are committed to the creation of solutions that we believe the rest of the industry will quickly adopt as the model of integrating WLAN controllers into their LAN switching infrastructure.”