Airespace has teamed with Funk Software and chip maker Atheros Communications to develop an extension to its enterprise wireless platform that allows companies to combine the enhanced security of the recently ratified 802.11i standard with improved performance.
The extension, called Proactive Key Caching, eliminates the need for a wireless device to re-authenticate with a RADIUS server each time it moves to a new access point, said Jeff Aaron, senior manager of product marketing at Airespace.
"Your latency is much lower ... You get better scalability," he said.
An IEEE working group is working on the issue of reducing authentication time for clients as they roam across access points, Aaron said, adding, "The work we've done will probably be melded into some standard."
PKC is scheduled for availability in September.
