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Please select from the below to review a summary of Summit's capabilities in the following areas:
Hardware
Software
Certifications
Support
Documentation
White Papers
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Capabilities
Summit brings together a variety of capabilities that result in a comprehensive wireless LAN solution for vendors of application-specific devices. These capabilities include hardware and software features as well as certification and support services. Please review the below for specific information on all of Summit's capabilities.
Hardware Capabilities
The hardware in a Summit product is designed specifically for business-critical ASDs and the challenging radio environments in which they operate. Hardware innovations enable Summit modules and cards to provide far greater performance and range than radio modules and cards designed for office and consumer applications while minimizing power consumption and allowing for operation in extreme environments. Key Summit hardware capabilities include:
- Form factor: Summit wireless LAN modules and cards are available in compact flash (CF) and PCMCIA (PC Card) form factors as well as in an innovative miniature version of the compact flash. A Summit radio module is a perfect fit for any number of today’s small, light, and ergonomic ASDs.
- 802.11g: By supporting the IEEE 802.11g protocol, every Summit radio module and card provides for a maximum data rate of 54 megabits per second (Mbps) to maximize data transfer and overall wireless LAN performance. Operating in the 2.4 GHz portion of the radio frequency spectrum, 802.11g is fully backward compatible with the popular 802.11b standard.
- Antenna Connectors: With dual Hirose U.FL antenna connectors, Summit modules support a wide range of internal antennas of varying types and gain. The dual connectors support transmit and receive diversity to maximize performance in high multipath environments.
- Diversity Antennas: Summit radio cards feature an integrated omnidirectional diversity antenna for optimized connectivity even in environments with a high degree of multipath propagation.
- Range: The enhanced transmit and receive capabilities and maximized delay spread of Summit radio modules and cards maximize range, performance, and reliability, even in high multipath environments.
- Low power consumption: With power consumption that's up to 40% lower than office and consumer-grade wireless LAN radios, Summit modules and cards maximize ASD battery life to better provide for full-shift operation.
- Extended operating temperature: To allow for ASD operation in extreme environments such as factories, warehouses, freezers, and the outdoors, Summit modules and cards provide an extended operating temperature range of -30° to +75° C, which far exceeds the capabilities of office and consumer-grade radios.
Software Capabilities
Business-critical ASDs are specialized devices that require specialized software to deliver the security, trouble-free operations, and manageability that customers require. Summit software includes drivers, an integrated supplicant, and a full-featured management and monitoring utility called the Summit Client Utility (SCU). Key software capabilities include:
- Operating system support: Summit software ensures trouble-free operation on devices that run Windows CE 4.2 (including Pocket PC 2003), CE 5.0 (including Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6.0), XP Professional, and XP Embedded.
- Connectivity and roaming: Thanks to Summit software, a device with a Summit radio gets a secure wireless network connection quickly and maintains that connection reliably, even as the device moves among the areas covered by different access points. The voice-quality roaming supported by Summit software is sufficient for even the most latency-sensitive data application.
- Security: 802.11i/WPA2 compliance provides for the highest level of interoperable wireless LAN security available. An integrated 802.1X supplicant supports authentication via pre-shared keys as well as a broad range of EAP types including EAP-FAST, EAP-TLS, LEAP, PEAP-GTC and PEAP-MSCHAPv2. Data privacy is protected via encryption and decryption using AES (WPA2), TKIP (WPA), or WEP.
- Upgrades: Summit regularly provides software upgrades to enhance the features, capabilities and usability of Summit radio modules and cards. Summit provides these upgrades free of charge to qualified device OEMs.
- Certifications: Summit Software delivers support for all IEEE and Wi-Fi Alliance standards. The software also delivers support for all features of Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) Version 3. Summit products are both Wi-Fi and CCX version 3 certified. As the only radio modules for ASDs to carry the Cisco Compatible seal, Summit products enable Wi-Fi Alliance interoperability and Cisco compatibility on every device with which they are used. Summit has authored an informative White Paper that details key features found in the Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) and how they can be best deployed to provide an enhanced feature set specifically for mobile computers operating with Cisco's industry-leading wireless infrastructure.
- Administration: SCU enables a user to view and an administrator to configure all radio operation and security settings. SCU also enables a user or administrator to view status and troubleshoot issues. SCU is built on a published application programming interface that can be leveraged by other applications for remote management. One popular tool that exploits the SCU API is Wavelink Avalanche.
- Integration: Summit provides ASD vendors with a manufacturing utility that allows them to set regulatory parameters such as channel set and maximum transmit power to provide for world-wide compliance across multiple platforms.
With SCU, users and administrators have complete control over key radio parameters including transmit power and SSID as well as security parameters inclusive of encryption and authentication. SCU supports multiple network profiles to allow for device operation in multiple facilities. For a closer look at SCU, click here.
Certifications
Summit is committed to strict compliance with all applicable regulations as set forth by agencies such as ETSI, the FCC and TELEC. We're also equally committed to tested and certified compliance with key Wi-Fi Alliance and Cisco Compatible Extensions specifications.
At Summit, we believe that it's not enough to simply earn these certifications. We believe that helping our customers achieve these certifications for their Summit-equipped devices is part of our product, our solution and our responsibility. With the existing grants, test reports and approvals for our family of wireless LAN modules, Summit can minimize the cost, time and complexity of attaining all required certifications. Please review our Certifications section for product-specific certification status and how Summit can assist with your certification process.
Support Services
ASD vendors require not just a radio module or card but a radio solution, one that can be integrated in the ASD and deployed for business-critical applications. Summit understands that if the radio doesn't work, the ASD doesn't work. If the ASD doesn't work, the end customer doesn't work.
Summit provides engineer-to-engineer integration assistance to ASD manufacturers. Consultation and documentation to aid in custom device driver and application development is available. In addition, Summit's support extends to Summit radio module and card operation in the field. Summit's system engineering team provides Level 2 technical support to ASD vendors and is well versed in radio frequency characteristics, wired and wireless network architectures, and security protocols.
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