The Fat Pipe - All of the Packet Pushers Podcasts

This episode of Priority Queue, sponsored by Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, talks about location services. Location services are being deployed in shopping centers, stadiums, hospitals, and other public areas. They tap into wireless networks to enable people to get location-related information and services on their mobile devices.
Traditional WLAN infrastructure is necessary for location services, but another key element is the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol, which allows low-volume data transmissions over brief bursts instead of a continuous transmission.
BLE has given rise to beacons – tiny Bluetooth devices that broadcasts a small amount of data at regular intervals. These beacons are so small that they can run on coin-sized batteries for 2 years.
Placing beacons around a physical buildings allows smartphones to know where they are by hearing the BLE messages. By combining this with an app to fetch data based on the beacon and some programming, you can create location services.
People can use their phones to find the shop they want in a large shopping mall, or get alerts that the person they want to meet is drinking coffee in the next room. Companies have new ways to generate revenue with push notifications to users.
Julia Farina, Head of Product Marketing for Mobile Engagement at Aruba, sat down with Greg and Ethan at the Atmosphere 2016 conference to talk about location services and how the Aruba product line supports and enables these services.
They discuss how BLE integrates with Aruba’s wireless infrastructure, examine use cases for location services, and dive into the Meridian platform for building location features into mobile applications.