Internet of Things Poses Conundrum for Industry

The 5th Future of Wireless International Conference to be held in Cambridge in July will explore these important strategic questions posed by the Internet of Things (IoT) and the technical challenges of making it work.

To deliver on the boundless promise of the Internet of Things, we need to learn how to manage a complex universe of multiple types of networks, devices and cloud services, while sorting out vital privacy and control issues, “ says Kevin Jou, CTO at MediaTek, one of the keynote speakers at the conference. “By overcoming the barriers of fragmented specifications and by providing new ultra-low power and cost solutions, we can turn this promise into an unprecedented mass market opportunity for entirely new types of connected devices and applications.

“But the IoT is not just a matter of putting a radio adapter in a ‘thing’ and making it work,” explains John Haine, RF Technology Innovation Coordinator, at u-blox AG, who will be chairing a panel on ‘Technology to connect 50 billion devices’. Focusing on networks, David Lister, Research Manager at Vodafone Group will talk about how LTE could be made to serve things as well as smartphones and tablets; while Robin Heydon, who heads up Global Standards at Cambridge Silicon Radio, will present the Weightless standard for M2M being developed in an industry Special Interest Group.

With the standardisation of end-to-end protocols vital to enable things to communicate and support global applications, Dr Joerg Swetina, Senior Standards Representative from NEC Laboratories Europe, will map out current worldwide standards initiatives and explain what they seek to achieve, as different camps compete to get their ideas adopted.

Also on the panel will be Dr Chris Marshall, Head of Visionary Programmes at u-blox AG, who will focus on the challenges of location. “Communicating with a thing is much more useful when you know where it is,” says Dr Marshall. “While satellite positioning is easy, fast and accurate outside with a view of the sky, it stops working once the device goes indoors. It is clear that it will be necessary to combine several methods to deliver the full benefits of ubiquitous positioning.”

Organised by Cambridge Wireless - the not-for-profit industry forum with a network of nearly 400 members involved in the development and application of wireless technologies – The 5th Future of Wireless International Conference takes place on 1st & 2nd of July at The Møller Centre in Cambridge. Cambridge Wireless is partnering with UK Trade and Investment and ICT Knowledge Transfer Network, while sponsors include Accenture, Qualcomm, MediaTek, PwC, Rohde & Schwarz, TTP, Microlease, Cambridge Consultants, S-Tech Insurance, Arkessa, IC Group, u-blox AG, Freescale, Jaltek Group, Broadcom, Anite, Microwave Marketing, Argon Design, Real Wireless and InterDigital.

Other speakers at the conference include: John Cunliffe, CTO Ericsson Western & Central Europe (who famously predicted 50 billion connected devices by 2020); Steve Townsend, Group CIO, Transport for London; Frank Mackel, UK Managing Director, Rohde & Schwarz; Moray Rumney, Lead Technologist, Agilent Technologies; Paul Green, Technology & Marketing Director, Arkessa; Nello Cristianini, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Bristol; Andy Bovingdon, VP Product Marketing, Bango; Robin Duke-Woolley, Beecham Research; Dr Ekta Sood, Clinical Director, Hildago; Rob Barnes, Senior Director, Oracle; Stephen Deadman, Head of Legal Privacy, Vodafone.