Arcturus, Ralink Team on VPNsArcturus, Ralink Team on VPNs

CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Ralink Technology, innovators of high-performance, cost effective wireless LAN chipset solution, and Arcturus Networks today announced the inclusion of Ralink device support within the AIRmarshal(TM) wireless VPN firmware suite.

By combining industry leading WLAN technology with the Arcturus AIRmarshal wireless VPN firmware suite, Arcturus and Ralink can offer OEM and ODM product developers cost effective, highly secure wireless solutions that can scale from networked home devices to metro hotspot networks to college campuses. In-Stat/MDR predicts the rollout of wireless devices and access points to increase from 22.7 to over 40 million units shipped by 2007.

Ralink Technology chipsets are optimized for both performance and cost. The Ralink two-chip WiFi 802.11g solution, RT2500, boasts a 2.4 GHz radio transceiver and an integrated baseband/MAC chip that slashes Bill-of-Materials (BOM) costs for equipment vendors allowing them to gain a stronger foothold in the highly competitive WLAN market. The RT2500 chipset offers the best performance among similar chips in the market, e.g., the system input sensitivity for peak transmissions of 54 Mbps is about 72 dBm while transmission rates are also impressive, with throughput as high as 23 Mb/s in short distances and capable of 15Mb/s at 400 meters in the right open spaces.

Equally significant is the highly efficient operation of the new chipset in idle mode, which accounts for the majority of the operating time of wireless LAN products. In idle mode, the power consumption of the new Ralink 802.11b/g chipset is 50 to 75 percent less than other leading designs, thanks to advanced power management built into the chipset. As for normal operating modes, the chipset trims 50 percent power consumption from competing systems in receive mode, and another 30 percent in transmit mode prolonging battery life of mobile devices.

"By combining our WLAN chipsets with the Arcturus AIRmarshal firmware suite we believe we have achieved a level of low cost, high performance, and strong security that will allow our OEM and ODM customers to be very successful in the growing WiFi market," said Sheng Lee, Ralink's CTO. "Our partnership with Arcturus will also bring the end user the future in wireless performance and security."

"We believe Ralink has truly addressed the needs of WLAN device OEMs and ODMs, providing them a robust multi-mode wireless solution, at a price that enables them to remain highly competitive in the market," said Rich Larsen, Arcturus COO. "By working directly with Ralink, we are able to extend multi-mode secure wireless access to our OEM customer enabling the next generation of residential gateways, access point and hot spot devices."

Arcturus Networks Inc.

Ralink Technology Corp.