HPE Aruba has introduced new Wi-Fi 7 access points (APs) that are designed to enhance the capacity of wireless networks and eliminate the necessity for managing complex IoT overlay networks.
The newly released 700 series Wi-Fi 7 access points come with dual BLE 5.4 or 802.15.4/Zigbee radios and dual USB interfaces, and they are compatible with the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz spectrum. These access points also have sufficient memory and computational capacity to run containers, according to Larry Lunetta, Vice President of Portfolio and Communities at HPE Aruba Networking.
Lunetta explains in a blog post about the 700 series access points, “This general-purpose processing capability implies that organizations now have an additional edge resource, not just for capturing and routing data from IoT and OT sources, but also for processing this data locally to determine its final destination, or even to make a decision and take an action.”
HPE Aruba asserts that its new Wi-Fi 7 access points can deliver up to 30% greater capacity for wireless traffic compared to other competitive products. One of the features that enhances capacity is ultra tri-band (UTB) filtering. Developed to eradicate interference, UTB filtering discards interference that may originate from any nearby equipment on adjacent channels in the 5GHz and 6GHz bands. UTB filtering can filter and adjust frequencies between 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz radios. Moreover, it can enable the use of larger channels to boost performance and capacity with Wi-Fi 7 devices, according to Lunetta.
HPE Aruba has increased both SDRAM and flash memory capacity in their 700 Series APs. This upgrade allows certain application containers to operate directly on the APs. Such an arrangement enhances data transmission and facilitates prompt local data processing when immediate response is required due to certain real-time conditions like temperature change or motion dynamics.
“We’ve integrated three radios into the AP’s Wi-Fi radios without fixing them to specific frequencies,” said Lunetta. “Essentially, these are flexible radios that can be customised to match your specific environment’s requirements. These radios can adapt to support any combination of Wi-Fi 4, 5, or 6. Even if you prefer to have all 5 GHz or 6 GHz, or a blend of Wi-Fi 5, 6, and 7, it’s possible,” Lunetta stated.
Due to enhanced features like multi-radio, multi-frequency support, and increased capacity, the use of overlay networks, typically needed to support a wide variety of IoT resources, becomes obsolete, Lunetta added.
Overlay networks for IoT are complex to manage and costly. The 700 Series APs can operate as connectors enabling IoT devices to directly interact with third-party IoT platforms. “The 700 Series APs can enable organizations to implement new digital use cases that rely on IoT. They come with dual dedicated Bluetooth 6 and Zigbee radios and dual USB ports, offering integrated connectivity for a wide array of IoT devices running proprietary protocols,” Lunetta explained.
Additional new features in the 700 Series include:
