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| Industry | Cloud networking |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | , USA |
PowerCloud Systems was a cloud networking company located in Palo Alto, California. The company designed and manufactured cloud-powered Wi-Fi systems for businesses, carriers and consumers and was a corporate spin-off from the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a Xerox company. PowerCloud was purchased by Comcast in July 2014. [1]
PowerCloud Systems was incorporated in 2009 and was spun-out as an independent firm in 2010 [2] with investment from Walden Venture Capital and Javelin Ventures.
On September 20, 2010, at PARC's 40th anniversary celebration, PowerCloud showcased its first product, the CloudCommand online software platform for network equipment providers. [3] [4] This platform enabled network equipment vendors and communications service providers to introduce Wi-Fi networking products that could be managed from the cloud. The platform has subsequently evolved and PowerCloud now offers a portfolio of cloud-managed wireless access points and a Web-based management dashboard that are both white-labeled by communications service providers and are marketed directly to businesses through managed service providers that wish to manage their clients wireless networks.
On January 25, 2011, D-Link became the first major OEM vendor to launch product based on the CloudCommand platform. [5] Zyxel announced product at Interop in May 2011 and launched on November 11, 2011. [6]
In December 2011, PowerCloud Systems announced it had secured $6 million in Series B funding in a round that was led by Qualcomm Ventures and included participation from its existing investors – Walden Venture Capital, Javelin Venture Partners and PARC. [7] In April 2013, PowerCloud Systems officially entered into the consumer Wi-Fi market with the introduction of Skydog, a combination Wi-Fi router, cloud service and HTML5-based application. [8]
In 2013, the company began shipping a commercial solution under its own brand and announced Nickelodeon Resort as a customer in September. [9]
In December announced partnership with Common Sense Media. [10] The company showcased the product at CES 2014 to favorable reviews. [11]
In July 2014 PowerCloud Systems announced on the homepage of Skydog that they had been acquired, and retail sales of Skydog router had ceased. No acquirer was named in announcement. [12] In July 2014, Comcast confirmed to Tech Crunch that they had acquired PowerCloud Systems, as speculated. [13] [14] PowerCloud's technology serves as the basis for Comcast's xFi which is now available to 23.5 million homes. [15]
Jeff Abramowitz founded PowerCloud Systems and served as the company's president and CEO. [16] Abramowitz’ is included in the Computer History Museum for his role in the formation and growth of the W-Fi industry. [17]
Abramowitz has held executive positions in the Wi-Fi industry for more than 25 years. He was director of Wireless Product Management at 3Com where he spearheaded the company's wireless LAN efforts and its first wireless initiative, as well as serving as the company's representative on the board of the Wireless LAN Association. [18]
At Intersil, Abramowitz launched the company's Wi-Fi efforts into the home.
At NoWires Needed, a Dutch start-up, Abramowitz was responsible for worldwide Marketing and US operations. [19] He helped to introduce the industry's first ARM-based Medium Access Controller capable of supporting performance required for the 54 Mbit/s IEEE 802.11a standard. [20] NoWires Needed was acquired by Intersil in June 2000 for $156M. [21]
Abramowitz was responsible for Wi-Fi marketing and business development at Broadcom. While there, he helped to introduce the first CMOS Wi-Fi chipset, first single chip Wi-Fi, [22] and first 802.11g solution. [23]
Abramowitz was responsible for marketing and strategy at wireless company Azimuth Systems, where he helped to introduce the first Wi-Fi automated test equipment for MIMO radios and the first platform for Wi-Fi Alliance testing [24]
As an entrepreneur-in-residence at Xerox PARC he spun out PowerCloud Systems and served as the founder, CEO and chairman of the board. [25]
Abramowitz is a current board member and past president of Cloud4Wi, a leading Wi-Fi services platform for marketing, location services for retail, restaurant and transportation. Abramowitz was inducted into the Wi-Fi Now Hall of Fame in 2019. [26]
Andrea Peiro co-founded PowerCloud Systems and serves as the company's CTO and chief product officer. [27] Peiro had been a well-known product strategist, [28] and was a former intelligence officer in the Italian Navy.
CloudCommand Enterprise is a Wi-Fi system that consists of Wi-Fi access points that can be deployed, secured and managed via a cloud-based management interface. This approach, which does not require wireless controller hardware, is ideal for deployments with a high-density of mobile users, such as hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, schools, conference centers, assisted living facilities, and Multi-Dwelling Units (MDUs) such as apartment buildings. This method of instantiating a wireless network does not require onsite wireless LAN controller hardware; as the access points are managed via the cloud network. Ostensibly this reduces equipment costs and eases management. This technology also enables businesses or Value-Added Resellers to create multiple private wireless networks using the same public access infrastructure.
Skydog is a combination 802.11n Wi-Fi router, cloud service and HTML5-based application. Skydog gives consumer visibility into and control over the home Wi-Fi network. They can view and control any device connected to the network and prioritize resources by user, device or application. The solution was a consumer version of the company's enterprise product.
Skydog's capabilities represent a break from historical use of Wi-Fi routers, most of which were primarily used to provide wireless connectivity to a household's Internet connection and little else. Some existing high-end routers allow for remote access and the instantiation of parental controls. Skydog claimed their cloud solution integrated parental controls, a mobile experience, and more granular control over specific devices, users, and applications connecting to the home network. Consumers could then better control distribution of bandwidth and monitor activity on their network. PowerCloud Systems marketed the solution primarily to families with children using the Internet, saying that it allows parents to better understand and manage how their kids use the Web.
Skydog was originally funded via Kickstarter in Spring 2013. The project was fully funded and received $121,813 in funding from more than 1,000 backers by May 14, 2013. [29] On September 3, 2013, PowerCloud Systems announced that it had shipped Skydog on time to its 1000 Kickstarter backers. [30] PowerCloud Systems made Skydog available to the general public on October 30, 2013. [31]
Skydog was positively reviewed as an Internet solution for families by media including PC Magazine [32] and Yahoo. [33]
On March 19, 2014, PowerCloud announced WebRover, a free update to the Skydog cloud service, that provided a list of more than 1,000 sitesrated for age-appropriate content and educational quality by Common Sense Media. [34]
IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand and are the world's most widely used wireless computer networking standards. IEEE 802.11 is used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, smartphones, and other devices to communicate with each other and access the Internet without connecting wires. IEEE 802.11 is also a basis for vehicle-based communication networks with IEEE 802.11p.
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building. This gives users the ability to move around within the area and remain connected to the network. Through a gateway, a WLAN can also provide a connection to the wider Internet.
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks, used globally in home and small office networks to link devices and to provide Internet access with wireless routers and wireless access points in public places such as coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and airports to provide visitors.
In computer networking, a wireless access point, or more generally just access point (AP), is a networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi devices to connect to a wired network or wireless network. As a standalone device, the AP may have a wired connection to a switch or router, but, in a wireless router, it can also be an integral component of the router itself. An AP is differentiated from a hotspot, which is a physical location where Wi-Fi access is available.
Linksys Holdings, Inc., is an American brand of data networking hardware products mainly sold to home users and small businesses. It was founded in 1988 by the couple Victor and Janie Tsao, both Taiwanese immigrants to the United States. Linksys products include Wi-Fi routers, mesh Wi-Fi systems, Wifi extenders, access points, network switches, and Wi-Fi networking. It is headquartered in Irvine, California.
The Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit organization that owns the Wi-Fi trademark. Manufacturers may use the trademark to brand products certified for Wi-Fi interoperability. It is based in Austin, Texas.
A home network or home area network (HAN) is a type of computer network that facilitates communication among devices within the close vicinity of a home. Devices capable of participating in this network, for example, smart devices such as network printers and handheld mobile computers, often gain enhanced emergent capabilities through their ability to interact. These additional capabilities can be used to increase the quality of life inside the home in a variety of ways, such as automation of repetitive tasks, increased personal productivity, enhanced home security, and easier access to entertainment.
Qualcomm Atheros is a developer of semiconductor chips for network communications, particularly wireless chipsets. The company was founded under the name T-Span Systems in 1998 by experts in signal processing and VLSI design from Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, and private industry. The company was renamed Atheros Communications in 2000 and it completed an initial public offering in February 2004, trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol ATHR.
Extreme Networks, Inc., is an American networking company based in Morrisville, North Carolina. Extreme Networks designs, develops, and manufactures wired and wireless network infrastructure equipment and develops the software for network management, policy, analytics, security and access controls.
Cambium Networks Corporation is a wireless infrastructure provider that offers fixed wireless and Wi-Fi to broadband service providers and enterprises to provide Internet access. An American telecommunications infrastructure company, it provides wireless technology, including Enterprise WiFi, switching solutions, Internet of Things, and fixed wireless broadband and Wi-Fi for enterprises. Publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange, it spun out of Motorola in October 2011.
IEEE 802.11 – or more correctly IEEE 802.11-1997 or IEEE 802.11-1999 – refer to the original version of the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard released in 1997 and clarified in 1999. Most of the protocols described by this early version are rarely used today.
Eye-Fi was a company based in Mountain View, California, that produced SD memory cards with Wi-Fi capabilities. Using an Eye-Fi card inside a digital camera, one could wirelessly and automatically upload digital photos to a local computer or a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet computer. The company ceased business in 2016.
RUCKUS Networks is a brand of wired and wireless networking equipment and software owned by CommScope. Ruckus offers Switches, Wi-Fi access points, CBRS access points, Controllers, Management systems, Cloud management, AAA/BYOD software, AI and ML analytics software, location software and IoT controller software products to mobile carriers, broadband service providers, and corporate enterprises. As a company, Ruckus invented and has patented wireless voice, video, and data technology, such as adaptive antenna arrays that extend signal range, increase data rates, and avoid interference, providing distribution of delay-sensitive content over standard 802.11 Wi-Fi.
IEEE 802.11ac-2013 or 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the IEEE 802.11 set of protocols, providing high-throughput wireless local area networks (WLANs) on the 5 GHz band. The standard has been retroactively labelled as Wi-Fi 5 by Wi-Fi Alliance.
The Cloud is a provider of public access Wi-Fi hotspots in the United Kingdom and is a member of the Wireless Broadband Alliance. It has over 22,000 Wi-Fi hotspots network access points in the UK.
Redpine Signals is a fabless semiconductor company that started its operation in 2001. The company makes chipsets and system-level products for wireless networks. It serves the Internet of Things and wireless embedded systems market, enabling all volume levels of chipsets and modules.
Aerohive Networks, Inc. was an American multinational computer networking equipment company headquartered in Milpitas, California, with 17 additional offices worldwide. The company was founded in 2006 and provided wireless networking to medium-sized and larger businesses.
Thread is an IPv6-based, low-power mesh networking technology for Internet of things (IoT) products. The Thread protocol specification is available at no cost; however, this requires agreement and continued adherence to an End-User License Agreement (EULA), which states that "Membership in Thread Group is necessary to implement, practice, and ship Thread technology and Thread Group specifications."
IEEE 802.11be, dubbed Extremely High Throughput (EHT), is the latest of the IEEE 802.11 standard, which is designated Wi-Fi 7. It has built upon 802.11ax, focusing on WLAN indoor and outdoor operation with stationary and pedestrian speeds in the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz frequency bands.
Cradlepoint is a Boise, Idaho-based technology company that develops cloud-managed wireless edge networking equipment. The company was founded in 2006. Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson completed its acquisition of the company in November 2020.