Next Generation Wi-Fi for Emerging Wireless Data & Multimedia Applications

Horen Chen,
President
Ralink Technology Corp.
www.ralinktech.com

Abstract.
Wireless Networking is growing rapidly, driven by increasing libraries of rich digital contents, ubiquitous pervasion of mobile PCs, entertainment CE devices, and availability of innovative yet affordable Wi-Fi technology. In our speech we plan to talk about the trends, features, market requirements and applications (including wireless mesh networks) of next-generation Wi-Fi ICs.

Dr. Horen Chen, President of Ralink Technology, received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, USA. Before joining Ralink, Dr. Chen was President & CEO of Symwave, Inc., USA, and President and CEO of Tropian Inc., USA. He has 25 years of telecommunications experience that includes co-founding Mobilink Telecom, USA (acquired by Broadcom in 2002) and senior executive positions at Stanford Telecommunications, USA. During his career, Dr. Chen has established a successful track record in the development, marketing and sales of advanced digital telecommunications products. He has been awarded numerous patents in the wireless field, has published a number of technical papers and has served on a variety of industry councils and standards committees.

Lights and Shades of Commercial Wireless Mesh Networks: Market Perspective and Future Directions

Umberto Malesci,
President
Fluidmesh Networks
www.fluidmesh.com

Abstract.
After a long success as a topic for academic research, Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) have seen commercial applications for the past 6-7 years in different vertical markets from municipal Wi-Fi to urban video-surveillance. This talk will illustrate the most common commercial applications for WMNs focusing on the reasons of their success but also unveiling their most common limitations compared to competing solutions. We will also discuss the real world solutions of classic topics of the WMN academic research such as channel assignment, link scheduling and mobility. Finally, we will describe how recent developments in multi-antenna radio technologies are impacting the market and which research issues are still open with special focus on the potential of this technology in terms of network capacity. Quite interestingly, we will show how different vendors are interpreting the direction of the market according the expected performance of the multi-antenna technology in sometimes an orthogonal fashion.

Umberto Malesci is president and co-founder of Fluidmesh Networks (www.fluidmesh.com), a Boston-based technology company that manufactures wireless products. He obtained a Master of Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He started his professional career working as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in Milan, Italy. He also worked as researcher at MIT CSAIL in Cambridge (USA) where he studied innovative routing and MAC protocols to deploy large-scale sensor networks for environmental monitoring. Umberto started Fluidmesh Networks in early 2005 and he currently maintains overall responsibility on the company strategic direction and he is leading business development in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.