October 4, 2003, Vienna, VA— Today, Network Designs, Inc. (NDI), a systems integrator in Northern Virginia, provided a successful wireless communications solution at the Library Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. The third annual National Book Festival, hosted by First Lady Laura Bush, was held on the National Mall with approximately 60,000 festival-goers and 80 award-winning authors, illustrators, poets, and storytellers in attendance.
This year, NDI integrated Cisco Systems and Verint technologies to deliver encrypted broadband network and video streaming while overcoming numerous environmental challenges such as a saturated bandwidth and no direct line-of-sight between campus communication points. NDI used 802.11a and 802.11b technology to provide encrypted wireless connectivity for the Library of Congress and AARP Pavilions and full-motion video streaming for the Mysteries & Thrillers and Teen & Children Pavilions, where distinguished authors discussed their craft to hundreds of their readers. The online streaming video was available in real-time on the Internet at www.loc.gov.
"Just as we did last year, NDI provided wireless connectivity from the Library of Congress network to the main festival pavilion using customized antenna solutions to overcome the marginal line-of-sight," said Greg Conran, Chief Technology Officer for NDI. The wireless signals were successfully directed around the Capitol Building, maintaining 11 megabits of bandwidth to provide Internet access to festival-goers and Web users during the day-long event.