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VIVATO INVENTS WORLD'S FIRST WI-FI SWITCH
Next-Generation Wi-Fi Company Dramatically Increases Capacity
and Reach of Wireless LANs with Revolutionary Technology; Led by
"Wireless Who's-Who" Management Team and Board
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Nov. 4, 2002 - Vivato, a new
Wi-Fi infrastructure company, today announced it has created the
first Wi-Fi switch with patent-pending PacketSteering technology.
Vivato's invention changes the "physics" and economics of wireless
networking deployment by providing dramatically higher capacity
at significantly lower costs of ownership than conventional wireless
networking, enabling Wi-Fi everywhere.
Wi-Fi switching is a new architecture for wireless local area
networks that combines gigabit Ethernet switching, Wi-Fi and smart
antenna design. Wi-Fi switches send and receive multiple transmissions
simultaneously and extend the range of Wi-Fi from meters to kilometers.
Vivato's switches will include planar phased array antennas built
into a flat panel with integrated management and security. Three
levels of security will be provided: state of the art Wi-Fi encryption
and authentication, virtual private networks and a unique rogue
access point detector. Vivato's Wi-Fi infrastructure products will
support standard IEEE 802.11b, .11a and .11g client adapters.
Vivato is targeting large enterprises and campus environments,
such as universities and hospitals, that can benefit from extended
range, world-class security and scaled deployment of Wi-Fi. Inside
an enterprise, a single Wi-Fi switch can cover an entire floor or,
if deployed outside, one switch can cover an entire building or
campus. As compared to the tens of conventional access points it
would take to cover the same area, the Wi-Fi switches simplifies
both deployment and management, resulting in lower total cost of
ownership for large Wi-Fi installations.
Wi-Fi switching is also an attractive option for last-mile broadband
delivery in metropolitan or suburban areas. The extreme range of
Vivato's switches provides coverage to large areas and enables direct
communication with standard Wi-Fi clients, improving the economics
of broadband service delivery. Vivato expects to ship products to
customers in the first quarter of 2003.
"A switch architecture may serve to address several of the primary
issues facing large enterprises in 802.11 deployments, such as installation
and configuration," said Rajeev Chand, senior equity analyst, Wireless
Technologies, Rutberg & Co. "Recently formed companies in this 802.11
sub-sector are exhibiting technology differentiation, which we believe
merits investor and corporate attention."
Founded in December 2000 as Mabuhay Networks by Ken Biba and HP/Agilent
veterans Skip Crilly, Bob Conley and Jim Brennan, Vivato received
$2.5 million seed funding from Leapfrog Ventures and completed a
$20 million Series B funding round led by U.S. Venture Partners
and Walden International. The company also completed a $3 million
debt-funding round led by Silicon Valley Bank and GATX. Vivato is
headquartered in San Francisco, with a research and development
center in Spokane, Wash.
"We are creating revolutionary products that respond to a real
market need," said Vivato CEO and chairman Ken Biba. "While we expect
to surprise and disrupt the industry with our new technology, we
also expect to hear a collective 'Aha' from enterprises looking
for a powerful and safe Wi-Fi infrastructure."
Executive Team
At the core of Vivato is a skilled and experienced executive team
composed of veterans of successful companies-Xircom, AirTouch/Vodafone,
Hewlett Packard, Agilent, Texas Instruments, Intel, Aironet and
Alcatel-integrating the disciplines of local area networks, high
performance packet switching, wireless wide area network deployment,
radio frequency and antenna design, and integrated circuit design.
- Ken Biba, co-founder, CEO and chairman, a Mitre Corporation
computer security and networking expert, co-founded and led three
successful network systems companies, including Xircom, Agilis
and Sytek
- Phil Belanger, vice president, marketing, a former executive
at Wayport, Aironet and Xircom; one of the founders and former
chairman of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA
is now known as the Wi-Fi Alliance.); co-author of the DFWMAC
protocol, the foundation for the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol standard
- Skip Crilly, chief technology officer and co-founder, responsible
for the invention and architecture of Vivato's PacketSteering
technology; formerly an engineer at Agilent Technologies and Hewlett-Packard
- Michael Scullin, vice president business development, previously
served as business development executive with Xircom, an Intel
Company and Vodafone AirTouch Plc (formerly AirTouch/PacTel)
- Marcus da Silva, vice president, engineering, holds 10 U.S.
patents and managed the development and business efforts for several
HP and Agilent test system programs
- Mike Wilson, chief financial officer, CPA with audit and tax
experience at Price Waterhouse and most recently served as vice
president of finance and chief financial officer for Advanced
Input Devices
Board of Directors
Vivato's board of directors includes Geoff Baehr, general partner
U.S. Venture Partners; Mark Dubovoy, general partner Leapfrog Ventures;
Mike Pliner, industry consultant and former CEO of Sytek and Verity;
Lip Bu Tan, chairman of Walden International; Ken Biba, founder, chairman
and CEO, Vivato; and Skip Crilly, founder and CTO, Vivato.
About Vivato
Vivato is the inventor and first manufacturer of Wi-Fi switches
for enterprises and service providers designed to enable high bandwidth
Wi-Fi wireless networks everywhere: in the enterprise, across campuses
and throughout metropolitan areas. Vivato is headquartered in San
Francisco with a research and development center in Spokane, Wash.
For more information, please visit www.vivato.net or call 415.495.1111.
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