Project description
A new system for open wi-fi networking tools
The demand for wireless internet connectivity will increase in the next two years. This means many companies should upgrade wi-fi networking capabilities. However, this would be very costly because the key players in computer networking tend to install lock-in barriers that make customers dependent on a vendor. As a result, the use of another vendor has highly expensive switching costs. The EU-funded TanazaOS project proposes a Linux-based operating system for wi-fi networking instruments that bypass the vendor lock-in. The system runs on any white-box and open hardware networking tool. This means companies can dissociate their hardware from software, opting for the best and least costly solution.
Objective
It is forecasted that by 2021, 53% of users will access internet through Wi-Fi. This exponential growth in demand for wireless internet connectivity has led to the need, for companies in most business environments, to upgrade their Wi-Fi networking infrastructure.
Today, such upgrade requires extremely large budgets, which are mainly allocated to purchase vertically integrated, proprietary solutions provided by incumbent hardware vendors. Companies such as Cisco, Aruba and Ruckus/ARRIS aim at establishing lock-in barriers with high switching costs in order to make their customers dependent on them. This approach progressively increases Wi-Fi deployment costs for organizations, slows down innovation and ultimately ruins the Wi-Fi user experience.
However, this is going to change, as proprietary closed stacks that lock-in customers are destined to die out like it happened in other industries, such as computer hardware in the 80s or mobile devices more recently: Windows OS could run on cheap or expensive laptops, desktops, servers. In a similar way, Android OS can run on both low range smartphones or on high-end devices. Sooner or later the open paradigm gets through, breaks the vendor lock-in and hardware becomes a pure commodity.
Tanaza thinks that the current market conditions allow the disaggregation of hardware and software to occur also in the Wi-Fi networking market and make the same disruption happen.
In this H2020 project proposal, Tanaza introduces its latest innovation, TanazaOS: a Linux-based operating system for Wi-Fi networking devices. This Operating System runs on any white-box and open-hardware networking device, giving enterprises and carriers an unprecedented possibility to decouple their hardware choice from their software choice, with considerable cost savings and efficiency advantages.
TanazaOS has forecasted revenues for over €10M in the first two years, and over €70M in the fourth year after the project ends.
Fields of science
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftwaresoftware applicationssystem softwareoperating systems
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternet
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcomputer hardware
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationsradio technologyWiFi
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationsmobile phones
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
20124 MILANO
Italy
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.