Haivision

employees. The university’s 802.11n network was designed anticipating the deployment of

wireless IPTV, and today delivers 15 live TV channels over the wireless network. The network

includes more than 770 Aruba 802.11n access points; Aruba’s policy-enforcement firewall for

identity-based security, Quality of Service control, and traffic management; and HaiVision’s Video

Furnace system and InStream client player for secure multicast video distribution and instant

access to live channels, channels delivered from disk, and video on demand.

“During the proof-of-concept stage, approximately 300 802.11n access points in dormitories

delivered video and high-speed data on a single SSID,” said Bruce Osborne, Liberty University’s

Wireless Network Engineer. “We used Aruba’s Adaptive Radio Management to steer only 802.11n

5GHz-capable clients to that SSID. Our 5GHz Cisco wireless phones also used the 802.11n

network but they operated on a separate SSID. HaiVision’s Video Furnace system simultaneously

streamed video over Wi-Fi and to set-top boxes over the LAN. Our trials ran successfully for

several months prior to our decision to roll-out wireless IPTV to the entire campus.”

Aruba’s

performance, an essential requirement in a university’s dynamically changing and challenging RF

environment. By automating site surveys and using infrastructure-based controls to optimize the

performance of Wi-Fi clients in real-time, ARM helps ensure that latency-sensitive voice and video

applications have sufficient network resources, including airtime, to operate reliably.

“Prior to Aruba, Liberty University was using a wired IPTV system, but as with all wired networks it

was ill suited to an increasingly mobile user community,” said Mark Norris, Liberty’s Project

Manager. “When we launched the IPTV project we were expecting to support between three to five

video channels. But with the help of Aruba’s field engineers and HaiVision we are now

broadcasting 15 simultaneous video channels over our 802.11n network. From their laptops, and

Liberty University Launches Campus-Wide Wireless IPTV Using High Performance

802.11n Wi-Fi From Aruba Networks / Page 2

independent of their location on campus, students access Liberty’s campus channel as well as

ABC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, FOX, NBC, and a range of other broadcasters. The results we’ve

obtained have far exceeded our expectations, and could serve as a model for other universities

that want to implement wireless IPTV and rightsize network infrastructure.”

Network rightsizing

Wi-Fi everywhere possible and wired infrastructure only when necessary. The first step entails

assessing the actual or projected utilization of ports and switches. In the second step ports and

switches are consolidated to lower deployment and maintenance costs, and to reduce electricity

and HVAC usage. The final step involves deploying adaptive 802.11n Wi-Fi to enhance user

mobility. The result is a more cost-effective network, with a smaller carbon footprint, that is tailored

to current and future user needs.

“Wireless delivery of IPTV on campus is the wave of the future because it yields dual benefits,”

said Robert Fenstemacher, Aruba’s head of education marketing. “It brings content to students

wherever and whenever they need it, something not possible with wired infrastructure. And,

through network rightsizing, it minimizes the cost of delivering that content. Liberty University has

demonstrated that Aruba’s high-performance 802.11n solution and HaiVision’s Video Furnace IP

video distribution system support demanding multi-channel wireless video applications. In so

doing, they make IPTV over Wi-Fi a viable solution for universities worldwide.”

Aruba has released a new white paper that discusses its unique video-related technology. Titled “I

Can See Clearly Now: Bringing Wireless Broadband Into Focus,” the paper can be downloaded

from Aruba’s

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