FREE SPACE OPTICS MEETS FINANCE: CANON’S CANOBEAM DT-130
DIGITAL DATA TRANSCEIVERS EXPAND MEXICAN BANKING NETWORK

Leading Mexican Financial Institution Significantly Increases Secure Bandwidth Availability
with Canon’s Reliable and Cost-Effective Gigabit Ethernet Wireless Networking Solution

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., May 8, 2008 – Time was ticking on a serious deadline for one of Mexico’s largest banks to meet a dual challenge: Expand its communications capacity with a link between two main offices in Mexico City, and meet its rapidly escalating bandwidth requirements in the process. The answer was the Canobeam DT-130 wireless data transceiver from Canon U.S.A., Inc. This Free Space Optics (FSO) networking solution provides transmission speeds of up to 1.25 Gbps for supporting Gigabit Ethernet networks at a range of 100m to 1,000m (more than half a mile).

The financial institution was introduced to Canon’s Canobeam DT-130 wireless data transceivers by OSI Network Solutions, an authorized local Canobeam dealer. Thoroughly familiar with Mexico City’s already crowded Radio Frequency (RF) environment, OSI Network Solutions demonstrated that completing a line-of-sight Canobeam connection between the two bank buildings was far more cost-effective than digging up the city’s busy streets to install fiber optic cables. In addition, Canobeam almost doubled the bank’s expected bandwidth availability, and represented a significant cost savings over comparable RF systems capable of supporting the bank’s high-bandwidth demands.

“As an ever-wider range of businesses rely on wideband data networks, so too does their need increase for a secure, mission-critical, and cost-effective means of bridging network gaps where fiber or RF can’t be used, or where they require redundancy,” said Gordon Tubbs, director, Broadcast and Communications division, Canon U.S.A. “Canon’s series of Canobeam digital data transceivers are making the difference worldwide for companies that need flexible solutions for growing their high-bandwidth networks between buildings and across city streets, rail lines, rivers, and other obstacles.”

With network security a major concern for every bank, Canobeam digital data transceivers proved to be an ideal choice for this situation. Because they employ a line-of-sight beam of infrared light, Canobeam digital data transceivers are virtually immune from signal interception. For maximum network dependability, the Canobeam DT-130 also incorporates a 3R Function (reshaping, retiming, and regenerating), which allows its data signal to be relayed without loss of strength or quality. All Canobeam models feature Auto Tracking as a standard feature to maintain beam alignment and signal strength despite vibrations caused by wind, traffic, or other factors. Every Canobeam is protocol-independent (like fiber), can be set-up quickly, and since they do not use radio waves, do not require radio frequency allocations, permits or licenses.

In addition to the Canobeam DT-130, the Canobeam line also includes the Canobeam DT-110, which delivers a wide range of data speeds from 25 Mbps to 156 Mbps at a range from 20m to 500m.  The Canobeam DT-120 provides the same data speeds as the DT-110, but at a range of approximately 100m to 2km (1.24 miles).

For applications in which HD video needs to be digitally transmitted as an HD-SDI signal with embedded audio, Canon’s newest Canobeam, the model DT-150 HD, is used. The Canobeam DT-150 HD provides bi-directional, uncompressed 1.5 Gbps transmission of embedded digital video, audio and camera-control signals on a single HD-SDI or SD-SDI stream with no delay, at a range of up to one kilometer. It is designed for the television industry and is ideal for situations where transmitting video via microwave link or fiber-optic cables is impractical or impossible, such as at many sporting events, outdoor concerts and awards shows.

Canobeam models DT-110, DT-120, DT-130 and DT-150 feature Small Form Pluggable (SFP) fiber-interface connections as well as Canobeam's DT-MNG-100 Management Board, which enables users to monitor the status of Canobeam transceivers via simple network management protocol (SNMP) or Telnet (for monitoring and setting). In addition, diagnostic logs can be stored in a PC via FTP (for log data transmission).

OSI Network Solutions, certified to both sell and support Canobeam, handled every aspect of this project, including the initial site survey, installation, and operation of the equipment. Ultimately, the bank’s selection of both Canon’s Canobeam DT-130 transceivers and OSI Network Solutions for its critical networking requirement proved to be the right choice for expanding its network wirelessly above the crowded streets of Mexico City.

"The Canobeam FSO solution helped us close this important project with the bank,” concluded Luis Colina G. of OSI Network Solutions. “Canobeam’s bandwidth efficiency, reliability and security separated OSI Network Solutions from the rest of the competition.”

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranking third overall in the U.S. in 2007†, with global revenues of $39.3 billion, is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America and is on the 2007 BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/pressroom.

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†IFI Patent Intelligence Press Release, January 2008

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