Wireless technology (WiFi) will continue to dominate the industry over the next five years, as it becomes central to emerging technologies, including robots, drones, self-driving cars and new medical devices.
This information was revealed in the latest instalment of Gartner’s top 10 wireless technology trends for 2019 and beyond, which shows WiFi top of the list.
“Business and IT leaders need to be aware of these technologies and trends now,” emphasises Nick Jones, research VP at Gartner.
“Many areas of wireless innovation will involve immature technologies, such as 5G and millimetre wave, and may require skills that organisations currently don’t possess. Enterprise architecture and technology innovation leaders seeking to drive innovation and technology transformation should identify and pilot innovative and emerging wireless technologies to determine their potential and create an adoption roadmap.”
Gartner's top 10 wireless technology trends are:
1. WiFi
WiFi has been around a long time and will remain the primary high-performance networking technology for homes and offices through 2024. Beyond simple communications, WiFi will find new roles; for example, in radar systems or as a component in two-factor authentication systems.
2. 5G cellular
As the global 5G race hots up, telecommunications companies have started deploying 5G cellular systems. According to Gartner, the complete rollout will take five to eight years.
“5G is still immature, and initially, most network operators will focus on selling high-speed broadband. However, the 5G standard is evolving and future iterations will improve 5G in areas such as the Internet of things (IOT) and low-latency applications,” explains Jones.
3. Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) wireless
Gartner research indicates both conventional and self-driving cars will need to communicate with each other, as well as with road infrastructure. This will be enabled by V2X wireless systems. In addition to exchanging information and status data, V2X can provide a multitude of other services, such as safety capabilities, navigation support and infotainment.
“V2X will eventually become a legal requirement for all new vehicles. But even before this happens, we expect to see some vehicles incorporating the necessary protocols,” states Jones. “However, those V2X systems that use cellular will need a 5G network to achieve their full potential.”
4. Long-range wireless power
According to Jones, long-range wireless power could eventually eliminate power cables from desktop devices such as laptops, monitors and even kitchen appliances. “This will allow for completely new designs of work and living spaces.”
5. Low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks
LPWA networks provide low-bandwidth connectivity for IOT applications in a power-efficient way to support things that need a long battery life. They typically cover very large areas, such as cities or even entire countries.
6. Wireless sensing
The absorption and reflection of wireless signals can be used for sensing purposes. Wireless sensing technology can be used, for example, as an indoor radar system for robots and drones.
“Sensor data is the fuel of the IOT. Accordingly, new sensor technologies enable innovative types of applications and services,” explains Jones. “Systems including wireless sensing will be integrated in a multitude of use cases, ranging from medical diagnostics to object recognition and smart home interaction.”
7. Enhanced wireless location tracking
A key trend in the wireless domain is for wireless communication systems to sense the locations of devices connected to them. “Location is a key data point needed in various business areas, such as consumer marketing, supply chain and the IOT,” says the Gartner VP.
8. Millimetre wave wireless
Millimetre wave wireless technology operates at frequencies in the range of 30 to 300GHz, with wavelengths in the range of one to 10 millimetres. The technology can be used by wireless systems such as WiFi and 5G for short-range or high-bandwidth communications.
9. Backscatter networking
Backscatter networking technology can send data with very low power consumption. This feature makes it ideal for small networked devices. Gartner highlights it will be particularly important in applications where an area is already saturated with wireless signals and there is a need for relatively simple IOT devices, such as sensors in smart homes and offices.
10. Software-defined radio (SDR)
SDR shifts the majority of the signal processing in a radio system away from chips and into software. This enables the radio to support more frequencies and protocols. The technology has been available for many years, but has never taken off as it is more expensive than dedicated chips. However, Gartner expects SDR to grow in popularity as new protocols emerge.
“As older protocols are rarely retired, SDR will enable a device to support legacy protocols, with new protocols simply being enabled via software upgrade.”
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