Grand Challenges in Wireless Ness B. Shroff Center for Wireless Systems and Applications (CWSA) School of ECE, Purdue University URL:

Gazing into a Crystal Ball

Distinguished Panelists Ian Akyildiz (Georgia Tech) Ken Byers Distinguished Chair, School of ECE Fellow of the IEEE, ACM & many other awards Research: Sensor/Wireless Networks, Inter-Planetary Internet Steve Gillig (Motorola Labs) Director, Communications Tech., Research Labs Holds several patents and publications in wireless Leads research teams in software defined radio, cognitive radio, and future broadband wireless applications Junyi Li (Flarion) Founding Member & Senior director of Technology More than 60 patents in PHY, MAC, and NET layers Inventor of Flash-OFDM technology

Questions (Cellular vs. WLANs) What is the future of 3G/4G wireless networking versus WLANs? Will these technologies coexist or will one of them dominate? Do you see another technology on the horizon that has the potential to dominate?

Questions (Value of Research) What are the most important research challenges facing wireless? What is the role of experimental, theoretical, and application oriented research? Are there areas of wireless research that have the potential to yield the most benefit (e.g., sensor networks, multi-hop ad-hoc networks, etc.)? Are there areas that researchers should not bother focusing on?

Questions (Global Economics) Can current economic models (free equipment, very inexpensive service) allow wireless to continue to sustain the growth that it has seen thus far? Will other countries take over the lead in the research, development, and deployment of next generation of wireless services or will the U.S. continue to be a major world player?

Format Moderator ( minutes) Panelists present for 15 minutes each Order of Presentation: Ian Akyildiz Steve Gillig Junyi Li Open floor for questions

Panel Summary Sensors Cheap sensors Reusability Cross-Layer One Size does not fit all: custom made technology Mathematical foundation (analytical characterization) Map system characteristics to protocol design Actuators or actors that act on sensors Protocol developments for real-time requirements

Summary Wireless Mesh Networks Allow mesh style multihop on existing wireless technology Users become relay points (reuse) Increase redundancy

Summary Software Design Radio and Cognitive Radio Vision Reconfigurability Product friendly technology Co-existence Seamless Mobility: continuity of experience, not just bits Seamless sensing: sensing from people to people and things to things is going to be a big thing. All the time communications as well as real-time communications Cooperative systems MIMO systems Flexible power-efficient protocols

Summary Future User centric content Applications

Summary Challenge in WLANs User’s perspective Full Mobility Always-on connectivity Predictable QoS throughput serving area Capacity for a given level of quality Operator’s perspective Toll quality voice and instant on voice Significnat profitability in a high usage flat fee environment WiFi falls short for ubiquity, mobility, and competitiveness

Summary Applications Online gaming streaming, push-to-talk, etc. Most important future applications are unknown? Economics Pricing: how to induce higher network utilization and generate more revenue QoS: when does it matter. Links to pricing? Devices Increase battery life without sacficing performance.

Summary MIMO How to add multiple antennas for small mobile devices? Uplink interference management Scheduling Online gaming streaming, push-to-talk, etc. Most important future applications are unknown? Economics Pricing: how to induce higher network utilization and generate more revenue QoS: when does it matter. Links to pricing? Devices Increase battery life without sacficing performance.