Expanding Access Points as a Platform Capabilities

This presentation shows the features & benefits of Wi-Fi 7 APs including flex-radios, dynamic antennas, IoT, containers and more. Jerrod Howard, a hardware product manager at Aruba, introduced the concept of the Access Point (AP) as a platform, highlighting how HPE Aruba Networking is building its Wi-Fi 7 portfolio with increasingly flexible radios and complex internal technologies. He explained the drive towards more adaptable radios that can serve different regulatory regions without restriction, allowing deployment as dual band APs to maximize radio utilization. A key innovation is the development of dynamic antennas, which allow a single AP SKU to function as both an omnidirectional and directional access point, configurable via software. This flexibility is particularly beneficial for environments with varying coverage needs, such as warehouses with sloped ceilings or high-density conference rooms that transition from empty to packed.

Justin Sergi, Product Manager covering IoT, further expanded on the “AP as a platform” concept by discussing HPE Aruba Networking’s IoT and containerization strategy. The goal is to consolidate parallel IoT overlays, allowing the AP to serve as a unified IoT gateway with onboard dual IoT radios and extensible USB ports. This evolution is supported by an “App Store” within Aruba Central, enabling customers to deploy various IoT integrations (e.g., electronic shelf labels, asset tracking, access control) as container-based workloads. This decoupling of IoT integrations from the AP’s operating system through a cloud-native microservices architecture significantly accelerates development and deployment. The developer portal further empowers partners to self-publish new applications, managing their own versioning and ensuring security within a container sandbox with limited resource access.

The discussion also touched upon the Smart Antenna Module (SAM), a sensor embedded in outdoor Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 APs. SAM identifies the antenna, carries RPE data (gain, beamwidth), and reports heading and downtilt, providing critical telemetry about the AP’s physical orientation and performance. This data, combined with advancements in software, will become increasingly crucial for optimizing Wi-Fi 7 deployments. The overall strategy underscores HPE Aruba Networking’s commitment to simplifying network management and extending the capabilities of the access point, turning it into a versatile edge device capable of supporting diverse applications, IoT integrations, and advanced AI functionalities, all while offering flexibility in deployment and reducing operational complexity.