Wireless LAN switch vendor Colubris Networks inc has paid an undisclosed sum for Kiwi Networks Inc, an early-stage start-up developing advanced cellular WiFi technology around radio frequency management.
John O’Hara, VP of engineering at Waltham, Massachusetts-based Colubris, said the company acquired Kiwi for two reasons. “Firstly, there is its ability to do very rapid frequency hopping and share packets across channels for long-range, high-bandwidth WiFi in the backhaul.”
Kiwi, which hails from Cambpell, California, was in fact targeting a somewhat different market to Colubris, in that it would go after larger, often dispersed communities and serve them with WiFi in the backhaul, whereas Colubris typically does building-to-building connectivity. The frequency hopping capability, and the ability to make power selection decisions on the fly, will be equally valid in in-building and campus sites going forward, however, as increasingly congested RF spaces will bring the risk of signal overlap.
The second thing Kiwi brings to Colubris, said O’Hara, is capacity. Since it is able to make sure, in a very short space of time, that a channel is clean and clear for transmission, it can run multiple services over different WLANs running within a single building.
RF management is, of course, something all WLAN vendors do to some degree, but ultra-fast frequency hopping is something of an evolving market still. Even so, Kiwi has its customers, namely companies such as AutoCell Labs Inc and Xirrus Inc both of them relatively small outfits and, as such, potential acquisition targets if Colubris’ competitors decide they too should have such technology in their portfolio.
So who might be in the market for frequency hopping and advanced RF management? Cisco Systems Inc’s Airespace acquisition brought it a company with a reputation for considerable expertise in the RF area, so they may not need to buy any more. Aruba Wireless Networks Inc and Trapeze Networks Inc might be more likely candidates, mused some industry observers.
