Future wireless networks and R∧D agendas

Summary form only given. This talk provides a vision of future public wireless networking that integrates a number of wireless access systems (cellular mobile, wireless LAN, wireless MAN) to provide a rich set of access opportunities. It meets a variety of personal and business needs, support a range of operator business models, and be more resilient to damage through redundancy in facilities and services. This fourth (or is it fifth?) generation unified architecture, heavily Internet-oriented, exploit advances in multiple-air-interface devices; security, payment, and service integration systems; efficient space-time-frequency utilization; energy storage and conservation; low-power processing; and Internet and air interface QoS (quality of service) mechanisms; and display technologies. The road to this unified wireless environment is built upon R&D already underway, much of it described in presentations at this conference. A summary of a number of the R&D topics that are important to realization of a unified, high-performance, and economically viable broadband wireless environment is given. This list includes space-time-frequency-air interface coding; cross-air-interface mobility; power-conserving circuit and processing design; software and hardware technologies for multiple air interface devices and access points; facilities and services overlay architectures for resilience; networks services composition; AAA (authentication, authorization, accounting) systems effective with nonsecure access points; and public policy (government actions) that best stimulates the development of the wireless industry and communications infrastructure. The bright young people (and perhaps some of us older people) attending this conference continue to make rapid progress in addressing these and other topics.