IP: The Economist on four emerging wireless technologies

[David Farber <dfarber () earthlink net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: tim finin <finin () cs umbc edu>
Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2002 11:38:31 
To: dave () farber net
Subject: The Economist on four emerging wireless technologies

Watch this airspace
Jun 20th 2002, The Economist

Wireless telecoms: Four disruptive technologies are emerging that
promise to render not only the next wave of so-called 3G wireless
networks irrelevant, but possibly even their 4G successors.

It is more than a century since Guglielmo Marconi pioneered wireless
data transmission. Yet, if the current pace of innovation in the field
is anything to go by, wireless technology is still in its infancy. The
surge in popularity of mobile phones—their number will overtake
that of fixed phones during 2002—has prompted both established
firms and start-ups to investigate ways to make phones more efficient
and versatile. At the same time, the Internet is going wireless,
driving a separate wave of innovation as the Internet's legendary
ability to disrupt traditional ways of doing things enters a new
arena.

It is too early to see where all this might be leading, or even how
these two waves of wireless enthusiasm will fit together. But the
parlous state of the wireless-telecoms industry, and the difficulties
surrounding the deployment of "third generation" (3G) networks in
particular, could be taken as evidence that existing ways of doing
things are reaching their limits, and that some radical new ideas are
needed.

Here, then, are four emerging technologies that show much promise:
smart antennas, mesh networks, ad hoc architectures, and
ultra-wideband transmission. Smart antennas are already in use and
mesh networks are starting to appear, while ad hoc architectures and
ultra-wideband are still largely restricted to the laboratory. But
each challenges existing ways of doing things; each, on its own, or in
combination with others, could shake up the wireless world.

...

http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1176136



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