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| COMPANY CONTACT Jeff Raice Packet Design, Inc 650.739.1880 jeff@packetdesign.com |
AGENCY CONTACT Janis Ulevich Ulevich & Orrange, Inc. 650.329.1590 info@u-o.com |
ESTRIN-CARRICO NETWORKING STARTUP PACKET DESIGN
LAUNCHES FIRST SPIN-OUT COMPANY
Vernier Networks, Inc., to Market New Technology That Enables
Large-Scale Enterprise Wireless Ethernet Rollouts
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 26, 2001 -- Packet Design, the networking startup formed last year by four-time entrepreneurs Judy Estrin and Bill Carrico, has launched the first of a series of projected spin-out companies. Vernier Networks, Inc., will market a new technology that makes wireless LANs based on standards such as IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth practical in large-scale enterprise environments, with the security, control and accountability features that network managers are accustomed to in traditional wired networks plus cell phone-like roaming capability.
Vernier Networks is the initial venture to emerge from a unique business model under which Packet Design develops networking technologies designed to enhance the performance, scalability and manageability of the Internet infrastructure, then spins out companies under separate management to productize and market those technologies. As spin-outs are created, the core Packet Design team remains in place to continue developing new projects.
Seed funding for the spin-out comes from Packet Design, and Vernier Networks will raise outside funding prior to its initial product introduction in the third quarter of 2001. Newly appointed as Vernier's general manager is Tom Colson, who previously was vice president of engineering operations at NuvoMedia, Inc. (now owned by Gemstar), developer of the Rocket eBook hand-held electronic reading device.
REMOVING THE BARRIERS TO ENTERPRISE WIRELESS LAN DEPLOYMENT
Vernier's focus is a new Packet Design hardware/software technology that removes the limitations to enterprise-wide deployment of high-speed wireless networks based on the IEEE 802.11 standard, also known as "wireless Ethernet."
Judy Estrin, Packet Design CEO, said, "With a wireless standard now in place and prices dramatically declining for access points and adapters, wireless Ethernet is taking off. Through grass-roots efforts in corporate departments, universities, even apartment buildings, some three million IEEE 802.11 nodes are expected to be deployed by the end of 2001.
"But enterprises have been reluctant to plan major wireless rollouts because IEEE 802.11, created simply as a low-level (layer 2) Ethernet wire-replacement technique, lacks the higher-layer attributes -- authentication, roaming and service awareness -- needed to support enterprise mobility. The charter of Vernier Networks is to raise IEEE 802.11 from the wire-replacement level to a real working network at the IP layer (layer 3) and above."
Estrin said the wireless Ethernet project was chosen as Packet Design's first spin-out because "it was a relatively short-term development that we thought could quickly make a huge difference in the way enterprises deploy wireless." Other projects underway at Packet Design vary widely in scope and development time, focusing on such areas as security and routing.
FINE-GRAINED AUTHENTICATION, SEAMLESS ROAMING
Vernier Networks' products will address the security issues of greatest concern to enterprises considering wireless deployments. Going far beyond the all-or-nothing access control typical of wireless technologies, it provides differentiated authentication for known mobile users and offers fine-grained control over network resources. With full Layer 3 roaming between access points, both known and guest users retain secure, persistent service wherever they move within the enterprise.
Vernier technology (patent pending) is network-based, with all configuration and authentication handled through a web interface at the network level. Thus, unlike approaches such as MobileIP, it works with any device type having an IEEE 802.11 interface (e.g., PCs or PDAs) and requires no client software to be added to any mobile device. Nor is any virtual private network (VPN) software required, though it can easily be used in conjunction with the Vernier software. Because it is layer 2 "agnostic," the technology works in both wired and wireless environments.
TECHNOLOGY TRIAL UNDERWAY
A technology trial is currently underway at the University of Washington. Vernier Networks will productize the technology, selling it directly to enterprises and licensing it to vendors of IEEE 802.11 wireless access devices.
Vernier Networks expects to have approximately 20 employees by the end of 2001. Initially operating out of Packet Design's Mountain View facility, the company will move into a separate location later this year. The company's board of directors consists of Carrico (chairman), Estrin, Colson and Douglas Klein, Packet Design's vice president of operations. For more information, call Vernier Networks at 650-943-1890 or visit Vernier Networks' web site at http://www.verniernetworks.com.
About Packet Design
Packet Design, founded in June 2000, is the fourth networking company started by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs Judy Estrin and Bill Carrico. The pair founded Bridge Communications in 1981, Network Computing Devices in 1988 and Precept Software in 1995. When Precept was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1998, Estrin was named Cisco's chief technology officer, and Carrico senior vice president of Cisco's small and medium line of business. Estrin, who sits on the boards of directors of The Walt Disney Company, The Federal Express Corporation and Sun Microsystems, has been named three times to Fortune Magazine's list of the 50 most powerful women in American business. Packet Design has raised $24 million in private funding from Foundation Capital and individual investors, including former Netscape CEO James Barksdale and Sun Microsystems Chief Scientist Bill Joy. For more information, visit Packet Design's web site at http://www.packetdesign.com.
© 2005. Packet Design Inc.
