Plenary Speaker 2: The next era of wireless communications — Enabling revolutions in health care, transportation, energy, and the environment

2013 marked the 40th anniversary of the first cellular telephone call. The growth of personal portable wireless communications since then has created a global communications network unprecedented in human history. This anniversary gives us the opportunity to consider what the next forty years of wireless communication might look like. Further inevitable Improvements in semiconductor technology, with resulting improvements in processing power, transistor speed and complexity will result in exciting new applications of wireless devices. Wireless technology has historically been focused on personal or data communications, but some of the most exciting new approaches will center on medical, energy, transportation and environmental applications. These include such areas as wireless medical and neural interfaces, networked personal transportation and infrastructure, and the “internet of things.” This talk will summarize the emerging wireless technologies that will enable these new applications, and present some of the challenges to their widespread adoption.