As a component of the Cisco Software-Defined Access Solution, the 8540 provides real-time communications between Cisco Aironet access points, Cisco Prime Infrastructure, and the Cisco Mobility Services Engine. It is also interoperable with other Cisco controllers. 
The 8540 comes with integrated services:
- Application Visibility and Control (AVC) provides granular classification and prioritization of thousands of business-critical apps with dynamic protocol updates
- Location-aware Bonjour and Chromcast can enable various services to be advertised across a Layer 3 network at a user and device level
- An embedded policy classification engine offers simplified BYOD with native device profiling and onboard services
- Software-defined segmentation with Cisco TrustSec reduces access control list maintenance, complexity, and overhead
The 8540 Series offers exceptional scalability:
- Optimize 802.11ac Wave 2 next-generation networks with 40 Gb throughput
- Support up to 6000 access points and 64,000 clients
- Consolidate multiple controllers into one with a single point of touch
- Support centralized, distributed, and mesh deployments
- Deploy Cisco FlexConnect in sites with up to 100 access points, in up to 2000 groups
The 8540 offers high-availability features for uninterrupted application availability and no incremental system downtime:
- Sub-second failover for access point and client failover for uninterrupted application availability
- Dual-redundant 1 Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity
- Dual-redundant power supplies installed (AC or DC)
- Hot-swappable power supply and solid state storage with no incremental system downtime
- Enhanced system uptime with fast system restarts
Additional Specifications:
- Access points Up to 6000
- Clients Up to 64,000
- VLANs Up to 4096
- Deployment modes Centralized, Cisco FlexConnect, and mesh
- Form factor 2-rack-unit (2RU)
- I/O interface 4 x 1-Gb or 10GB-ports
- Power supply Dual-redundant power supplies installed (AC or DC)