October 12, 2002, Vienna, VA— Network Designs, Inc. (NDI), a systems integrator in Northern Virginia, provided a Cisco Systems wireless communications solution at the Library Congress National Book Fair in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, attended by an estimated 40,000 people. The second annual National Book Festival, hosted by First Lady Laura Bush, was held under several pavilions on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol and on the Mall, attracting more than 70 authors and storytellers, special guests, and book lovers of all ages.
NDI provided wireless connectivity from the Library of Congress network to the main festival pavilion using point-to-point and multi-point configurations and implementing the latest encryption and security measures. Network Designs provided uninterrupted wireless network connection and monitored its activities throughout the festival. "Providing reliable signal to keep the network running at certain locations of the West Lawn proved to be a challenge," said Greg Conran, Chief Technical Officer of NDI. "The wireless signal had to be directed around the Capitol Building and still maintain speeds of 11 megabits per second to provide comfortable Internet access to a fair number of festival-goers during the entire seven hours of the event. Our solution worked flawlessly."
Network Designs, Inc. drew from past experience to deliver a successful wireless solution at the Library of Congress event. In December 2000, Network Designs set up a network for the Bush-Cheney Presidential Transition Team (PTT), installing all voice, data, and video cabling needed to provide PTT staff with network, phone, and cable TV access. As a complement to the traditional wired solution, Network Designs used Cisco products to provide high-speed, wireless networking for both in-building and building-to-building wireless local area network applications.