News | May 4, 2005

New Cisco Wireless Location Appliance Enables Real-Time Device Tracking

LAS VEGAS -- Interop 2005 -- Cisco Systems today announced the Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance, the industry's first easy-to-deploy solution for simultaneously tracking thousands of IEEE 802.11 enabled wireless clients from directly within a customer's existing wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure. The Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance brings the power of a cost-effective, high resolution location solution that optimizes the performance of the WLAN for support of voice, data, and now location, while rapidly locating security threats. By providing the ability to integrate tightly with a spectrum of technology and application partners, this appliance facilitates the development of new business applications that improve asset utilization and streamline business processes.

"Lee Memorial Hospital is dedicated to providing state-of-the-art healthcare in South Florida while meeting tremendous demand to increase operational efficiencies at the same time," Michael Smith, CIO of Lee Memorial Hospital, said. "With the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance, doctors, nurses, and support staff can spend less time searching for equipment and more time providing patient care. High-end medical equipment scheduled for routine maintenance can now also be located in minutes not days."

The Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance uses the radio frequency (RF) fingerprinting capabilities of the Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS) to accurately locate authorized or unauthorized 802.11-enabled devices to within a few meters. This includes wireless laptops, PDAs, voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) handsets, rogue access points and clients, and devices equipped with active 802.11 radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. The location of each device is graphically displayed on floor plans within Cisco WCS, enabling network administrators to rapidly and easily determine each device's physical location.

Building a single WLAN infrastructure capable of supporting multiple services also enables Cisco global strategy alliance partner IBM to target a broad range of industry segments with new wireless applications, such as location based services.

"Location services enable enterprises to deploy new business applications that harness the unique attributes of wireless mobility," said Don Lopes, director, Global Wireless Business Development, IBM Global Services. "When location services are integrated within a WLAN system, they become an important component of network operations, security, and management."

Together, Cisco and IBM are partnering to advance the use of active RFID tagging on a WLAN network to help customers such as Westchester Medical Center track and manage high-value portable equipment and 802.11 devices.

"At Westchester Medical Center customer care is paramount," said Tom Toscano, director of telecommunications, Westchester Medical. "The location appliance from Cisco and IBM will provide pinpoint accuracy for everything from wheelchairs to EKG equipment, so our staff can provide the best -- and most immediate -- care possible."

The Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance enables a variety of business applications that take specific advantage of the benefits of wireless mobility. These include:

  • Asset Tracking - Prevent loss or theft of valuable mobile assets, such as high-end medical equipment. Rapidly locate key people and resources anywhere in a wireless enterprise.
  • Inventory Management and Workflow Automation - Optimize inventory utilization and streamline workflow and dispatch processes.
  • Security - Locate the source of WLAN security threats, such as rogue access points and devices for rapid problem resolution.
  • Voice over WLAN - Accurate location capabilities help enterprises comply with device tracking requirements for solutions like enhanced 911 (e911) services.

To facilitate the adoption of location-based services in the enterprise, the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance comes equipped with an open Application Programming Interface (API). This API is used for tight integration with external software applications, including 802.11-based wireless asset tracking applications from PanGo Networks. PanGo is a provider of location-aware applications that has integrated PanGo Locator, its Wi-Fi-based RFID solution with the Cisco Wireless Location Appliance. The seamless integration of the PanGo Locator application brings real-time asset visibility into the WLAN environment. This improves the utilization of critical resources such as wheelchairs and infusion pumps in a healthcare environment or forklifts and pallets in a manufacturing environment, lowering capital and leasing costs -- all while reducing search time and improving caregiver response times.

The Cisco 2700 Series Wireless Location Appliance is scheduled to ship in June 2005.

Source: Cisco Systems