Three major factors are driving enterprise wireless network convergence

According to IDC, global IoT market spending will reach $1.1 trillion in 2021, and the total number of IoT terminals installed is expected to reach more than 36 billion by the end of the same year. However, the heterogeneous nature of IoT makes enterprise IoT deployment complex and diverse. Although the price of sensor terminals has been declining in recent years, it is still very expensive to establish multiple networks to support communication between different terminals. In addition, enterprises also face the long-term high cost of managing and maintaining networks based on different wireless protocols and their security. Although these problems will eventually be solved, they have also unexpectedly become a catalyst for the trend of enterprise wireless network convergence. Let's explore this concept in detail.

1) Various wireless communication technologies

For companies that produce and sell IoT devices, such as smart door locks or wearable employee alarm buttons, Wi-Fi is not always the default choice. This can be attributed to a range of factors, such as power consumption constraints, compact size requirements, and relatively limited data transmission rate requirements (no need for high-speed transmission channels for large data). Therefore, enterprise IoT may deploy multiple wireless communication technologies. In addition to Wi-Fi, these include BLE, Zigbee, and LoRa. Different wireless technologies usually create independent wireless networks, resulting in redundant wiring, power, and management systems, leading to an increase in the total cost of ownership (TCO).

2) Unified management requirements

Unified management of wired (LAN) and wireless (WLAN) networks has become an important selling point over the past decade. Because administrators can no longer tolerate using separate management systems for each network. Installing a switch management system, a wireless AP access point management system, and more wireless IoT terminal management systems simply does not have any cost-effectiveness. The lack of interest in decentralized and independent management systems (whether switches, wireless AP access points or security systems) has long been a catalyst for network vendor consolidation. In short, IT departments are reluctant to use multiple management systems and want vendors to provide a unified management platform for network management.

3) Deployment Issue: Lack of Physical Space for Deployment

Since each wireless IoT protocol requires a separate network to be built, the physical space that enterprises use to deploy network equipment is rapidly running out. This is because each different network requires space to accommodate infrastructure such as IoT gateways, separate firewalls, and switches, power supplies, and cables. Therefore, the lack of deployment space also poses a major obstacle to decentralized network deployment.

Solution: Converged Wireless AP Access Point

Integrating multiple wireless protocols (such as BLE, Zigbee, and LoRa) in one AP access point allows IT administrators to save physical deployment space and simplify the secure login process of devices. In addition, converged AP access points make it easier for administrators to view, manage, and maintain the entire wireless infrastructure and its security through a single management platform. This helps with network automation, the generation of actionable analytics, and the creation of custom dashboards using open APIs.

From our perspective, converged APs are the opposite of the "commoditized" AP trend and can support new services and potential profit sources. As APs integrate more and more technologies, the once obscure APs are becoming a highly anticipated innovation point. For example, Ruckus's R730 has embedded Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and Zigbee wireless communication technologies, while supporting Ruckus IoT modules to expand support for other physical layer protocols, such as LoRa.

in conclusion

 Independent wireless IoT networks such as BLE, Zigbee, and LoRa are expensive to deploy, operate, secure, and manage. Integrating multiple wireless technology protocols in a single AP allows IT administrators to save deployment space and simplify the secure login process for devices. In addition, converged APs make it easier for administrators to view, manage, and maintain the entire wireless infrastructure and its security through a single management platform. At the same time, it must be emphasized that incorporating non-Wi-Fi standards into traditional "Wi-Fi-only" APs brings a series of technical challenges from coexistence interference to traffic coordination. We will discuss this topic in a future article.