Brocade taps Motorola for Wi-Fi

Brocade Tuesday said it is refreshing its Wi-Fi product line via a five-year strategic partnership with Motorola.

Brocade, had a three-year arrangement with Meru Networks for enterprise campus wireless LAN gear but that will expire at the end of the year. Brocade inherited this engagement with its purchase of Foundry Networks.

Motorola replaces Meru as Brocade's strategic WLAN supplier, and Brocade will support the Meru-based products for five years, says Ken Cheng, vice president and general manager of Brocade's IP Products Division. But the deal is much more than an OEM supply arrangement, both companies stress: it also includes product integration plans to address wired/wireless integration for unified communications, fixed mobile convergence and cloud computing requirements, they said.

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But first, the products. Brocade's Mobility 802.11 WLAN product line features a range of wireless switches and dual- and tri-radio 802.11n access points. It includes Motorola's 802.11a/b/g/n access points and wireless switches/controllers.

Under the Brocade banner they are:

• Mobility 300 Dependent Access Point• Mobility 5181 Outdoor Access Point• Mobility 7131 Adaptive Access Point• Mobility RFS6000 Controller• Mobility RFS7000 Controller• Mobility AirDefense Enterprise Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (WIPS)

The APs integrate a WIPS sensor for 24x7 security, real-time location system for asset tracking, dynamic adjustment to changing RF environments, and a wireless firewall. The Brocade Mobility products can be managed from the same Brocade's INM network management system that controls the company's wired products.

Under the strategic relationship, the companies will collaborate on WLAN, voice-over- WLAN, mobile unified communications/fixed mobile convergence, cloud computing and wireless broadband technologies. The companies said they will conduct joint R&D on these opportunities but beyond that, provided little detail.