Academic researchers have contributed significantly to the field of wireless communications in recent years. A large number of dissertations and thesis reports have been published incorporating results from laboratory experiments and simulations that have proven very useful in determining the actual performance of technologies amidst all the marketing claims made by OEMs and vendors. of services. Furthermore, we must not undermine the fact that the academic world has been instrumental in developing new technologies that have shaped the future of wireless communications. I want to mention specifically about the development of wireless sensor networks under various projects sponsored by the IEEE and ZigBee Alliance and other organizations that ultimately resulted in open global standards like ZigBee and IEEE 802.15.4 and company-sponsored proprietary standards like Texas Instruments SimpliciTI. and XBee DigiMesh. These technologies employ a series of algorithms/protocols such as ANT COLONY, SPIN, GOSSIP, FLOOD, etc. that have been developed by students of higher studies in wireless communications. In this blog, I introduce some new challenges that students need to undertake to support the evolving directions of new technologies that are engaged in a kind of technology warfare all over the world. Some of the challenges that require academic attention are:
(a) Positioning of WiMAX versus LTE in applications related to fixed and mobile wireless communications – Is IEEE 802.16e-2005 as successful as IEEE 802.16d-2004 in light of competition with LTE?
(b) TTR-R2 versus LTE: are they entering another technology war of the future?
(c) Who will win the race to become the valid 4G technology: LTE, WiMAX or both?
(d) Will the IP multimedia subsystem see the light of day in the world’s largest telecommunications markets, such as India and China?
(e) How will IEEE 802.11n compare to its predecessors and WiMAX for indoor wireless applications?
(f) What will happen to the large number of WiFi Alliance certified IEEE 802.11n products after IEEE 802.11e ratification for a true QoS implementation (with EDCF and HCF)?
(g) Are synergies occurring between multiple technologies: WiFi, WiMax, 3G and LTE?
(h) Will the dream of a global location server for locating SIP addresses of mobile phone users, regardless of their country and service provider, ever come true?
(i) How do wireless solutions based on SIP and IP v6 address space approach?
(j) Positioning of 4G contenders in user devices: laptops, PDAs, Pocket PCs, tablets, mobile phones, iPods, etc.
(k) Positioning of WiMAX and LTE as backhauls: can they replace fiber optic links?
(l) QoS for VoIP over satellite links: the only solution left to connect high-altitude cities with metropolitan cities through mobile telephony.
A number of professional investigations have recently been published to address these areas. Many of them claim to be unbiased. But I personally feel that academic researchers, who are known for conducting more impartial and valid studies, have not yet adequately contributed in these areas. I suggest that students taking advanced courses in wireless communications develop new topics in these areas and conduct research for their upcoming dissertation and thesis research projects. If all the current challenges are put on the table, I can visualize more than 100 topics in which students and academic researchers can carry out research tasks. Some of these topics have already been addressed by students, but a greater contribution from the academic world is required. Tools such as OPNET IT GURU and OMNET++ can be used to simulate various real-life network solutions to verify the behavior and performance of modern wireless technologies in a laboratory environment. I personally like OPNET IT GURU for its ability to simulate real world wireless products (such as the Cisco Aironet series). But OMNET++ provides more flexibility by virtue of its programming interface. Opnet Technologies Inc. offers the academic edition of OPNET IT GURU free of charge to students as part of their university program. The academic version has all the features of OPNET, except that it can simulate a maximum of 50 million events, which is more than enough to simulate any network model created for academic research.