BEZÁR
Exhibiting activated products in electronic retail stores are effective in demonstrating to potential customers that the products work exactly as they are marketed. It not only lets users evaluate the exterior design but also lets them experience using the software interface and test the performance quality as if they are using the products at home. Some of the most common display units are media devices such as home theater, consoles, TV screens, audio streamers, etc.
New generations of media devices use various types of network bridge to let devices communicate with each other to perform synchronized functions, the most common units are smart TVs and wireless audio streamers positioned in different locations of the room communicating with each other and streaming a synchronized media file.
Our client SONOS is a developer and manufacturer of wireless speakers and home sound systems. The project requires deploying a network in their retail stores for remotely configuring wireless speakers and sound systems. In addition, the devices will be collecting user data on behavior analysis for optimizing their product's user experience. The challenge is the convenience of deployment and cable management. An ethernet connection performs the best but it also adds to the cluster of existing cables that negatively affects SONOS' clean and simplistic product presentation. The requirements of the network setup are:
The network setup will be deployed in SONOS' retail store. The store displays many groups of sound system setups, with each sound system containing multiple devices, all of them connected to the same WiFi network. In addition, all independent and group of devices can be remotely controlled by a smartphone via WiFi. SONOS is looking for a device that is compatible with bridge networking for distributing data efficiently through divided segments.
SONOS' retail stores have many active sound systems and audio devices on display, and most of their sound systems use the WiFi protocol to communicate, the large number of connected devices in addition to neighboring electronic stores or crowded network usage in proximity introduces a potential risk of network congestion resulting in interrupted services. A powerful and reliable connection is necessary to eliminate such risk.
A remote access option can simplify network maintenance of many devices by eliminating the need to physically access the device for firmware upgrades or configuration.