Xirrus
Encyclopedia
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
technology company based in Thousand Oaks, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, USA, that designs and sells wireless networking
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
equipment based on the IEEE standards 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. The company has been independently selling these products since 2005. Xirrus currently manufactures multiple radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array is the name Xirrus uses for a wireless device that allows up to 1,024 wireless users to connect to a wireless network. A single Wi-Fi Array replaces a wireless LAN controller and several wireless access points....
s that combine a WLAN switch and APs into a single device . Each Array unit bundles the controller with 4, 8, 12, 16 or 24 access points, and a special sectored directional antenna
Directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources....
, into a single package
In 2009 Xirrus deployed 802.11a/b/g+n Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array is the name Xirrus uses for a wireless device that allows up to 1,024 wireless users to connect to a wireless network. A single Wi-Fi Array replaces a wireless LAN controller and several wireless access points....
s at the Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
Palexpo
Palexpo
Palexpo is a convention center in Geneva, Switzerland. The buildings are owned by the State of Geneva while the company is a semi-private foundation. The center is located close to Geneva Cointrin International Airport. There are seven halls, and 102,000 square metres of exhibition space. The Salon...
conference center, which houses the International Geneva Motor Show. Xirrus has also provided the wireless network
Wireless network
Wireless network refers to any type of computer network that is not connected by cables of any kind. It is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment...
coverage for trade shows such as the Interop
Interop
Interop is an annual trade fair for information technology organised by UBM TechWeb. It takes place at four different locations at various times of the year: Mumbai , New York , Tokyo, and Las Vegas...
trade conferences in 2006 , 2007,, 2009, 2010, and 2011. For Interop 2007, Xirrus installed 12 wireless arrays which could support up to 4,000 concurrent users.
In 2010 Xirrus was ranked number 9 in Wall Street Journal's Next Big Thing list of the Top 50 Venture-Backed companies and jumped to the number 2 spot on the same list in 2011. Also in 2010, Xirrus ranked as the second Fastest-Growing Private Company among Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturers with Three-Year Sales Growth of 3,213% in the annual Inc. 500.
History
Xirrus was founded in 2004 by Dirk GatesDirk Gates
Dirk I. Gates is an American businessman, founder and Chief Executive Officer of two companies, Xircom and Xirrus...
, Patrick Parker, and Steve DeGennaro. Gates founded Xircom
Xircom
Xircom, Inc. was based in Thousand Oaks, California, with manufacturing facilities located in Penang & Malaysia and international offices throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. They were one of the first companies to develop network computing products for notebook computers. Products included...
in 1988 and sold the company to Intel for US $748 million in March 2001. In 2003, Gates established Xirrus together with Patrick Parker, then ex-Chief Executive Officer of Nomadix and Steve DeGennaro, then ex-Vice President of Finance of Calix
Calix
Calix is a supplier of telecommunications access equipment for service providers. The company was incorporated in 1999.Calix is a North American provider of broadband communications access systems and software for fiber- and copper-based network architectures that enable communications service...
. Xirrus board members include Steve Krausz, General Partner at U.S. Venture Partners
U.S. Venture Partners
U.S. Venture Partners , is a venture capital investment firm headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley focusing on investments in an array of segments including semiconductors, software as a service, communications, storage, wireless, Internet 2.0, Cleantech, Medical devices and...
; David Marquardt
David Marquardt
David F. Marquardt is a co-founder of venture capital firm August Capital. Marquardt has served on more than 25 boards of directors during his 20 year venture capital career including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Seagate , Adaptec, and Grand Junction Networks .Prior to August Capital, Marquardt...
, co-founder of venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
firm August Capital and founding board member of Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
; Eric Young, co-founder of Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners
Canaan Partners is a multi-billion dollar global venture capital firm focusing on investments in early stage companies in the technology and healthcare sectors....
; and Bill Schroeder, former CEO of Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia
Diamond Multimedia is a company that specializes in many forms of multimedia technology. They have produced graphics cards, motherboards, modems, sound cards and MP3 players, however the company began with the production of the TrackStar, a PC add-on card which emulated Apple II computers...
and president of Conner Peripherals
Conner Peripherals
Conner Peripherals was a company that manufactured hard drives for personal computers. Conner Peripherals was founded in 1985 by Seagate Technology co-founder Finis Conner but it in itself never produced a product. In 1986 Conner Peripherals merged with CoData, started by MiniScribe founders Terry...
.
The company began marketing the Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array is the name Xirrus uses for a wireless device that allows up to 1,024 wireless users to connect to a wireless network. A single Wi-Fi Array replaces a wireless LAN controller and several wireless access points....
products in early 2005. In 2007 Xirrus announced a research collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
to beta test a software update that, along with new radio modules, adds support for 802.11n . The cryptographic module in Xirrus's 802.11a/b/g-compliant "Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array
Wi-Fi Array is the name Xirrus uses for a wireless device that allows up to 1,024 wireless users to connect to a wireless network. A single Wi-Fi Array replaces a wireless LAN controller and several wireless access points....
s" received Federal Information Processing Standard
Federal Information Processing Standard
A Federal Information Processing Standard is a publicly announced standardization developed by the United States federal government for use in computer systems by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors, when properly invoked and tailored on a contract...
s (FIPS) 140-2 validation in 2008. Also in 2008 Xirrus presented a new access point module that meets 802.11n standards. This new module provides up to 300Mbit/s data rate per radio, and there are up to 24 radios for each array.