New School University Gives LightPointe's Optical Wireless High Marks for Connecting State-of-the-Art New York City Multiple-Building Campus
Posted on: Tuesday, 19 April 2005, 06:00 CDT
SAN DIEGO, April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- LightPointe, a designer and manufacturer of optical wireless products based on free-space optics (FSO) technology, today announced that New School University has implemented 13 high-speed LightPointe optical wireless links to connect eight academic and administrative buildings in New York City's Manhattan borough. LightPointe's optical wireless solutions provide up to Gigabit Ethernet throughput without the obstacles and costs of installing fiber-optic cable.
New School University is a New York City university committed to critical scholarship, artistic integrity and ethical responsibility in the social sciences, humanities, the arts and design. The university currently has 8,000 matriculated students and 15,000 continuing education students enrolled. Six years ago, the university used 10-Mbps radio frequency (RF) solutions to provide wireless building-to-building connectivity. But those solutions were quickly overwhelmed, due to steady university growth and the adoption of leading-edge "smart classroom" technology, including high-speed Internet access and bandwidth-intensive video and design imaging applications. The university faced a growing IT dilemma: the need for Gigabit Ethernet LANs inside multiple buildings but unacceptable connectivity bottlenecks between buildings that need to share information and be unified as a single high-speed network.
According to Richard Burger, network project manager for New School University, the 10-Mbps outdoor radio frequency solutions were swamped by the rising tide of network traffic between buildings. Alternatives such as higher speed, 100-Mbps radio frequency solutions were ruled out as too expensive, and laying fiber-optic cable between buildings was out of the question because trenching Manhattan's famed Fifth Avenue was impossible. The only fiber-based alternative from a local service provider came with high costs and a long-term lease commitment of $10,500 a month to connect five of the university's buildings.
Fortunately, Burger was familiar with optical wireless technology and secured a 100-Mbps optical wireless link from LightPointe. Almost immediately the university reaped the benefits of fiber-optic cable, without the installation hurdles and exorbitant expense. LightPointe's optical wireless products eliminated the inter-building bottlenecks quickly and economically. "Instead of complaining about the network being slow, an executive asked why a large file that used to take 15 minutes to send, now took only about 45 seconds," said Burger. "It was a 'no brainer' to sell the concept and even easier to install a series of LightPointe optical wireless products to alleviate our LAN traffic jams."
Over time, the university installed an additional 100-Mbps LightPointe optical wireless link and five Gigabit Ethernet optical wireless connections to extend the reach of its campus LAN among multiple buildings in what is easily one of the densest urban environments in the world. Existing 10-Mbps radio frequency solutions were kept for redundant backup links until they too were replaced with secondary optical wireless paths for complete optical wireless network redundancy and a total of 13 LightPointe optical wireless links. "LightPointe's optical wireless products serve our long-term networking needs while ensuring the optimal balance of performance and value," said Burger. "We've achieved an outstanding nine-month return on investment and have ample network capacity to accommodate all our future high-bandwidth applications. Now, whenever we consider additional facilities or construction sites, one of the first questions we ask is whether we have line-of-sight to deploy LightPointe optical wireless."
To date, LightPointe has sold more than 2,700 optical wireless bridges in more than 60 countries to leading enterprises and mobile wireless carriers. The company's growing list of global blue-chip customers includes some of the world's best known brands, such as CNN, DHL International, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 24 Hour Fitness, Volkswagen and Toyota.
According to Bob Preston, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for LightPointe, growing bandwidth demands are fueling increased acceptance of optical wireless connectivity solutions. "We work with many organizations such as New School University that have moved to Gigabit LANs only to discover overall network performance is constrained by connectivity bottlenecks between buildings," he said. "LightPointe relieves the enterprise network bottlenecks with secure, interference-free, high-speed links that support bandwidth-intensive applications while offering all the capabilities of fiber-optic cable -- without the deployment challenges, delays and costs."
About New School University
New School University, with 8,000 matriculated students and 15,000 continuing education students, is a New York City university committed to critical scholarship, artistic integrity, and ethical responsibility in the social sciences, humanities, the arts and design. It is comprised of a liberal arts foundation of three schools: The New School, Eugene Lang College and the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, and five professional schools: Parsons School of Design, Mannes College of Music, Actors Studio Drama School, Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, and New School University Jazz & Contemporary Music Program. New School University's Online Program offers degree and certificate programs. For further information on New School University, call (212) 229-5600 or visit the Web site at http://www.newschool.edu/.
About LightPointe
LightPointe designs and manufactures high-speed optical wireless products based on free-space optics (FSO) technology for cost-effective bridging in enterprise and carrier networks. LightPointe products have been deployed in more than 60 countries, and the company is recognized worldwide for the highest standards of quality and service. To learn more, please visit http://www.lightpointe.com/.
LightPointe
CONTACT: Jeff Bean of LightPointe, +1-858-643-5319,jbean@lightpointe.com; or Sue Hetzel of HetzelMeade Communications,+1-760-434-9927, sue@hetzelmeade.com, for LightPointe
Web site: http://www.newschool.edu/
Web site: http://www.lightpointe.com/
Source: PRNewswire
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