KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

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Top two trade mags predict wireless trends for 2017

Posted: 15 Jan 2017 01:06 PM PST
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/kb6nu...m_medium=email


As they are wont to do, the top two trade magazines have published their
predictions for wireless technology in 2017. Heres are some of the most
important points:

electronic design: Major Wireless Developments Driving 2017 Agendas IoT
and 5G top the list of dominant communications trends this year.

electronic design identifies the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G cellular
technology as the two dominant technologies for the coming year. They note
that while consumers may not be buying into the concept of IoT, industrial
IoT should see some real action and growth because applications are more
easily recognized and benefits more clearly identified. They point to the
incoming administrations push for more domestic manufacturing as one reason
that industrial IoT should begin to take off.

One issue that ham radio operators might be able to take advantage of is
the lack of qualified people with IoT experience.Â*No one has multiple years
of IoT experience, yet, they note, and IoT [development] is slowed as
companies seek people with the right background.

Automotive applications for wireless technology are also expected to
increase in 2017 and beyond. Self-driving cars might be years away, but
there is a lot of development work going on in this area.
Vehicle-to-vehicle communications is only one of the wireless technologies
that are going to make autonomous vehicles practical.

microwaves&rf: 5 Technology Areas to Watch in 2017.

microwaves&rf takes a little different tack than electronic design. They
zero in on five technology trends, rather than particular applications. The
five technologies they say to watch a

Semiconductor technology. Look for more GaN semiconductor devices.
Filter requirements. 4G and 5G cellular devices need a lot of filters.
Antenna solutions.
Design tools. m&rfÂ*sees increased dependence on SDR technology for wireless
applications, but notes that companies,Â*often lack the field-programmable
gate array (FPGA) or system-on-a-chip (SoC) programming expertise to
implement their designs on that hardware. As a result, they will
increasingly turn to a model-based design workflow that uses generation of
portable HDL and C code from models.�
Changing test needs. All this new technology will, of course, need new test
equipment to ensure that it will operate reliably and that its manufactured
correctly.


When I got my engineering degree, microcomputers were all the rage. Even
though I had an amateur radio license, I chose to work with computers
instead of radio. Now, I wish Id stuck with radio and wireless. If youre at
the Â*point in your career where youre making these decisions, keep all this
in mind.

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