New for this year, the team will be able to take advantage of the AI-driven RUCKUS Cloud platform, as well as employing RUCKUS Wi-Fi equipment to connect its 75-foot long AC75 racing yacht.
The team will take advantage of RUCKUS Network’s industry leading data collection software, commencing with the Selection Series; a preliminary competition between teams from Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland and France. The winner of the Selection Series will then challenge the Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the final match of the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, in October 2024.
The Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team will rely on the RUCKUS Wi-Fi network to carry data from onboard sensors and devices to a local server and to their support boats. The yacht is equipped with hundreds of sensors, along with mobile devices, wearable technology and on-board instrumentation, all of which generate data that must be gathered regardless of weather conditions and signal obstruction from materials in the boat itself.
Data collected by CommScope’s RUCKUS Networks access points on the racing boat is continuously transmitted to the support motorboat, normally covering distances up to 300 meters in rough waters and gusting winds. During the race, gigabytes of data, including knot speed, GPS coordinates, tide, wind and weather conditions, among other nautical details, is used to help the sailors continuously refine their approach.
RUCKUS Networks will also connect the team’s on-shore base in Cagliari, Italy. All staff and guests to the Sardinia venues will be able to stay connected, in a secure way.
“CommScope and RUCKUS Networks are thrilled to be continuing our collaboration with the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team. The combination of the state-of-the-art yacht, the team’s masterful sailing and RUCKUS Network’s reliable Wi-Fi connectivity will make Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli the team to watch for at the America’s Cup once again,” stated Bart Giordano, SVP & President, Networking, Intelligent Cellular & Security (NICS), at CommScope. “We are all excited to see how the team performs in their training this year before the real action begins in Barcelona.”
“We work in an amazing context, but the combined elements of sea, speed and carbon boats create one of the most hostile and complex environments for wireless communications”, says Gilberto Nobili, Operations Manager of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli. "Thanks to CommScope technology we have a network that is not only highly performing, but also extremely reliable, flexible and able to adapt to the ever-changing technological and logistical needs of our team"
With the America’s Cup being held in Barcelona, the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli team will have to move its boats and base of operations from its headquarters in Italy to Spain. By utilising RUCKUS Cloud, the team will be able to fully focus on the races, with RUCKUS Networks taking care of a seamless transition from on-premises-based network management in Italy to RUCKUS Cloud management in Barcelona.
The prestige of winning the world’s oldest international sporting trophy makes the America’s Cup extremely competitive. Competing teams not only have to be on top of their game in terms of sporting abilities, they must also have excellent network structures in place. To ensure rigorous end-to-end network security, reliability and the required flexibility, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli has implemented RUCKUS Cloud, which assigns a digital certificate to each staff member, and once authorised, users don’t have to re-enter credentials. If any problem arises with a user on the network, it takes less than a minute to revoke that person’s credentials without affecting anyone else.
Journalists can find more information in the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli case study.
