Xirrus, Inc is a Wi-Fi technology company based in Thousand Oaks, California, USA, that designs and sells wireless networking equipment based on the IEEE standards 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. The company has been independently selling these products since 2005. Xirrus currently manufactures multiple radio Wi-Fi Arrays that combine a WLAN switch and APs into a single device [1]. Each Array unit bundles the controller with 4, 8, 12, 16 or 24 access points, and a special sectored directional antenna, into a single package [2]
In 2009 Xirrus deployed 802.11a/b/g+n Wi-Fi Arrays at the Geneva Palexpo conference center,[3] which houses the International Geneva Motor Show. Xirrus has also provided the wireless network coverage for trade shows such as the Interop trade conferences[4] in 2006 [5], 2007,[6], 2009, 2010, and 2011. For Interop 2007, Xirrus installed 12 wireless arrays which could support up to 4,000 concurrent users.[6]
In 2010 Xirrus was ranked number 9 in Wall Street Journal's Next Big Thing list of the Top 50 Venture-Backed companies[7] and jumped to the number 2 spot on the same list in 2011.[8] Also in 2010, Xirrus ranked as the second Fastest-Growing Private Company among Telecommunications Equipment Manufacturers with Three-Year Sales Growth of 3,213% in the annual Inc. 500.[9]
Xirrus was founded in 2004 by Dirk Gates, Patrick Parker, and Steve DeGennaro. Gates founded Xircom in 1988 and sold the company to Intel for US $748 million in March 2001[10]. In 2003, Gates established Xirrus together with Patrick Parker, then ex-Chief Executive Officer[11] of Nomadix and Steve DeGennaro, then ex-Vice President of Finance[12] of Calix. Xirrus board members include Steve Krausz, General Partner at U.S. Venture Partners; David Marquardt, co-founder of venture capital firm August Capital and founding board member of Microsoft[13]; Eric Young, co-founder of Canaan Partners; and Bill Schroeder, former CEO of Diamond Multimedia and president of Conner Peripherals.[14]
The company began marketing the Wi-Fi Array products in early 2005.[15] In 2007 Xirrus announced a research collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University to beta test a software update that, along with new radio modules, adds support for 802.11n [16]. The cryptographic module in Xirrus's 802.11a/b/g-compliant "Wi-Fi Arrays" received Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 validation in 2008. [17] Also in 2008 Xirrus presented a new access point module that meets 802.11n standards. This new module provides up to 300Mbit/s data rate per radio, and there are up to 24 radios for each array.[18]