RF/wireless engineering - a core discipline for the mobile internet

Summary form only given: RF and wireless engineering has roots which date back to the early 20th century. Since those early years, wireless engineering has come a long way. Most of the basic principles of the sophisticated radio architecture, as we see it today, were developed using vacuum tubes around 1930. Starting with the basic foundation provided by Maxwell (1883), and with subsequent inventions in wave propagation and wireless telegraphy by Hertz, Marconi, and others, wireless technology was born around 1900 in a very primitive form. Demonstration of a superheterodyne receiver by Armstrong dates back to as early as 1924. A major milestone was set by the invention of the transistor by Bardeen, Brattain, and Schockley in 1948, which changed the world of vacuum tubes. Where is "wireless" today? We only need to look a few numbers to understand that the fastest growing and largest single technology segment today is "wireless": (1) It is expected that the mobile or wireless Internet traffic will reach approximately 2 exabytes per month (that\´s 2,000,000 Terabytes per month !), (2) Over 2 billion cell phones will be shipped per year and (3) ~1 billion ICs will be sold next year for wireless connectivity within the home. We use to say that if you knew how to use a Smith chart and could analyze a transimpedance amplifier, you would have a job. This is still true today. However, in the future we will need to understand how we can apply RF and wireless principles to help shape and change the world. As educators we will need to help our students learn and take advantage of one of the most important foundations for the mobile Internet: RF and wireless engineering.