Abstract

The exponential growth in mobile data usage is driving carriers to seek ways to aggressively expand mobile network capacity and Wi-Fi is going to be a key factor in the equation. Our two speakers will discuss some of the technologies required for the integration of Wi-Fi into service provider networks and for expanding opportunities for carriers to offload mobile data to Wi-Fi.

Speakers

Bill McFarland, VP of Technology, Qualcomm Atheros

Victor Shtrom, Co-Founder and Chief Wireless Architect, Ruckus Wireless

Session Organizer & Chair

Narasimha Chari, CTO ABB Wireless Communication Systems

Presentation Abstracts

Bill McFarland's  talk will highlight some of the techniques required to enable hybrid wireless networks that seamlessly combine Wi-Fi and cellular technologies. Such networks will be required to meet the growth in mobile data capacity demand created by the smart-phone revolution. The techniques Bill will cover include 802.11u, Wi-Fi Hotspot 2.0, Self Organizing Networks, and hybrid Wi-Fi/LTE small cells

Victor Shtrom's talk will focus on 802.11ac and the potential it holds for carriers of expanding offloading opportunities and increasing throughput and aggregate capacity in WiFi networks.

Speaker Biographies

William J. McFarland is currently Vice President of Technology at Qualcomm Atheros, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm. Prior to the acquisition of Atheros by Qualcomm, Bill was the CTO of Atheros Communications. Prior to joining Atheros, Bill spent 14 years at the Hewlett Packard Research Lab designing analog ICs. Bill has published over 30 papers, and holds over 50 patents. Bill received a BSEE from Stanford University in 1983, and a MSEE in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1985.

Victor Shtrom co-founded Ruckus Wireless with Bill Kish. As Chief Wireless Architect there, he heads the development and RF architecture of Ruckus Wireless products. Before starting Ruckus, Victor worked on some of the very first MIMO-implementations at IOSPAN. Prior to that he headed up the Ellipso satellite cellular phone network air interface specifications team at Boeing. Victor has a Ph.D. in Communications Theory from the University of Cincinnati, in Ohio.