SAN DIEGO – As Internet connections expand from people to objects with the “Internet of Things,” and next-generation “5G” mobile network technology takes shape, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers this week drew together industry and academia at its annual Globecom event.
Event chairman Ed Tiedemann, SVP at San Diego-based Qualcomm, took a moment to speak with RCR Wireless News managing editor Sean Kinney about the importance of the event, the theme of which is “connecting all through communications.”
“I think you all know, for many years, we’ve thought about our laptops, our cellphones being connected wirelessly,” Tiedemann said. “But now we’re sort of in this movement to connect everything from light switches, of course we know about thermostats, refrigerators, all of our house devices, plus all the devices in the industrial environment. It’s evoking the connecting of all, of everything, via communications technology.”
As-yet unstandardized 5G mobile networks were a major thrust of Globecom with discussion during keynotes, panels and technical sessions.
Tiedemann said 5G is on the cusp of a major change from the standard setting perspective.
“Where we are in this conference is really about dissemination of technical information,” Tiedmann said. “We’re now moving from what I’ll call the purely research phase of 5G into the standardization phase of 5G.”
He also addressed those issues in more detail during this interview.
“I think some of the key takeaways,” Tiedemann said, “are we have a very vibrant communications industry; we have a tremendous turnout here in San Diego. It’s also the vibrancy and the interest in things such as 5G.”
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