Aruba announced Aruba Labs, an open development lab designed to promote research on WiFi networks to push new applications and capabilities as well as foster the idea of the all-wireless workplace.
The lab, which has been operating in stealth mode with educational institutions for the past two years, includes three separate initiatives: a Developers Program, an Advanced Directed Research Program and The Green Island Project, which looks at the implications of creating an all-wireless workplace.
The Developers Program distributes open-source software development kits and application programming interfaces created by Aruba Labs designed to help partners to rapidly prototype new wireless applications. These Windows and Linux-based tools enable developers to experiment with Aruba access points. Some products have already been commercialized from the program, including a 3G cellular modem interface that creates an instant branch office by plugging a USB modem into a WiFi access point, noted Michael Tennefoss, vice president of marketing with Aruba.
Another piece of Aruba Labs is the Advance Directed Research Program, which takes on challenging, blue-sky problems that explore the boundaries of wireless networking. Partners collaborate directly with Aruba Labs' engineers on sponsored research, joint development work, and grant-funded programs.
Aruba Labs' multi-disciplinary Green Island Project will sponsor research on the economic, environmental, and social ramifications of the all-wireless workplace. The project will tackle issues ranging from a building's architectural design as a result of an all-wireless workplace to broader public-policy decisions such as how wireless workplaces might impact city planning, Tennefoss said.
Aruba Labs' Developer's Program is open to all qualifying interested parties, while the Advanced Directed Research Program is available by invitation only. The Green Island Project is open to all K-12 and higher education institutions that are Aruba customers, and to commercial institutions on a case-by-case basis.
For more:
- check out this release
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