ACTON, Mass. -- Azimuth Systems Inc., the leading provider of Wi-Fi® engineering test equipment, today announced the release of the Azimuth Wi-Fi Mesh Test software suite, the industry’s first commercial solution that automates the performance testing of wireless mesh networks in a controlled laboratory environment. Mesh testing serves an important element of the rapidly growing Wi-Fi enterprise and public infrastructure markets as more municipalities deploy wireless networks to deliver high-performance broadband access to first responders, residents and businesses within a wide area. By using Azimuth’s Wi-Fi Mesh Test software on the award winning W-Series test platform, Wi-Fi infrastructure manufacturers can ensure maximum product performance and quality, while streamlining their testing.

Rather than sending and receiving data from a central point, wireless mesh networks use a series of nodes to pass data and share bandwidth. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi testing applications that evaluate clients connected to a single access point, testing Wi-Fi mesh networks requires an entire matrix of nodes, which introduces layers of complexity and significant performance challenges to the testing process. The new mesh solution leverages Azimuth’s established leadership as the test equipment supplier for manufacturers of enterprise-grade Wi-Fi systems, with current Azimuth customers accounting for 98 percent of the enterprise access points on the market as verified by ABI Research.

“We predict that mesh network revenue will grow from nearly zero in 2005 to $1.2 billion in 2010. Thorough testing of Wi-Fi mesh technology will be required to enable these large scale deployments,” said Sam Lucero, senior analyst, wireless connectivity research at ABI Research. “The ability to test wireless mesh networks in a controlled, repeatable manner allows vendors to identify potential issues prior to being introduced into the field, where finding problems may be logistically challenging and costly.”

The new Azimuth software is a suite of scripts that measure six key areas of mesh network performance: node client-capacity; multi-hop throughput performance; fail-over and smooth roaming performance; call capacity and voice transmission quality; security performance; and multi-BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) isolation and security. The software runs on the Azimuth W-Series platform and leverages several aspects of the company’s unique testing approach, including patented SmartMotion™ technology to emulate motion in a controlled environment, Real2Real™ architecture to enable interoperability testing and RadioProof™ enclosures for testing repeatability. Azimuth currently offers more than 20 automated test scripts that validate performance for mission-critical applications such as voice emulation and call capacity and ensure compatibility with emerging standards such as 802.11T roaming.

“Mesh networking is an exciting Wi-Fi market opportunity that presents new levels of complexity and scalability that exceed the limits of traditional test methods,” said Jeff Abramowitz, vice president of marketing at Azimuth Systems. “By extending the expertise gained from years of testing enterprise networks, Azimuth is uniquely positioned to address the mesh market. The Azimuth Wi-Fi Mesh Test Software Suite allows automated configuration of the network to multiple different topologies and scenarios, simplifying the testing process and drastically reducing test time.”

Azimuth Systems Inc.