First 802.11ac WLAN Platform Running Application-Aware Software

QorIQ communications processors from Freescale have been selected to power solutions for eight of the top 10 manufacturers of enterprise wireless access point equipment.

A key WLAN growth driver is the bring your own device phenomenon, which requires enterprise and service provider networks to manage known users, as well as network guests who may not have the same privileges to access sensitive content. These access and quality of service challenges, together with the demanding performance requirements of gigabit-rate 802.11ac technology and increasing access issues stemming from the introduction of myriad personal wireless devices into the network, combine to present daunting challenges to WLAN equipment OEMs and network administrators.

Freescale’s WLAN reference platform comprehends and addresses these challenges by combining highly advanced 802.11ac radios with Freescale’s new VortiQa application identification software and the exceptional processing performance of QorIQ P1020 communications processors. VortiQa AIS detects more than 1,200 applications and is equipped with comprehensive signature distribution infrastructure.

The platform runs on symmetric multiprocessing Linux leveraging the multicore QorIQ P1020 communications processor, thereby lowering CPU utilization and providing optimal performance for differentiation within application-level software.

“Freescale’s 802.11ac WLAN reference platform delivers the processing headroom to support real-world applications while driving impressive 802.11ac performance,” said Tareq Bustami, vice president of product management for Freescale’s Digital Networking business. “By offloading processing-intensive application identification tasks at the wireless network's edge, the platform helps dramatically reduce centralized 40 Gbps link bottlenecks, thereby enabling optimized and balanced network loading.”