The Road Ahead for Wireless Technology: Dreams and Challenges

Wireless technology has enormous potential to change the way we live, work, and play. Future wireless networks will support Gigabit per second multimedia communication between people and devices with high reliability and uniform coverage indoors and out. Software will create a virtual wireless network cloud, enabling resource management, seamless connectivity, and roaming across heterogeneous access networks, including WiFi and cellular systems. Wireless technology will also enable smart and energy-efficient homes and buildings, automated highways and skyways, and in-body networks for analysis and treatment of medical conditions. The shortage of spectrum will be alleviated by advances in cognitive radios, and breakthrough energy-efficiency algorithms and hardware will be employed to make wireless systems "green". There are many technical challenges that must be overcome in order to make this vision a reality. This talk will describe what the wireless future might look like and some of the innovations and breakthroughs that are required to realize this vision.