Abstract:
With nearly 7 Billion subscribers and the proliferation of smart phones and social media, the impact of mobile wireless technology is both universal and profound. This talk is a personal perspective of the evolution of mobile technology (1, 2, 3 and 4G) and the underlying competitive and commercial factors that shaped it's evolution. A non-linear story with its share of good and not-so-good turns. The talk will also outline what is ahead in 5G, the next generation mobile technology.

Biography of the speaker: Professor (Emeritus) Arogyaswami Paulraj

Prof. Paulraj is at the Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, USA. He is known for his invention and advancement of MIMO (Multiple Input, Multiple Output) radio, the most significant breakthrough in wireless technology in recent decades.

Prof. Paulraj joined the Indian Navy through the National Defense Academy in 1961 and was commissioned in the Navy in 1965. He served in R&D leadership positions till 1991 when he prematurely retired and joined Stanford University, USA.

Prof. Paulraj 's idea (I992) for exploiting multiple antenna at both ends of a wireless link (MIMO) lies at the heart of the current high speed WiFi and 4G mobile phones, and has revolutionized high speed wireless services for billions of people. Prof. Paulraj contributions went beyond MIMO's invention - his l research program at Stanford and two pioneering start-up companies: Iospan Wireless for 4G core technology, and Beceem Communications for 4G chip sets, have helped create an eco-system now shipping billions of WiFi and LTE  wireless devices annually.

Prof. Paulraj's contributions in India came whilst serving in the Indian Navy. In 1972, he developed an advanced trans-receiver for sonar 170B that was widely deployed in the Indian fleet. During 1977- 83, Prof. Paulraj led the landmark development of APSOH - a large surface ship sonar ranked near the top globally. APSOH became the fleet sonar for the Indian Navy.  Later, Prof. Paulraj founded three national level research centers in India: the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, DRDO, the Central Research Laboratories, Bharat Electronics, and the Center for Development of Advanced Computing (as co-founder). These are now are a part of India's R&D infrastructure.

Prof. Paulraj is an ISI Thomson most highly cited researcher with two textbooks on MIMO. He has published over 350 archival papers and a co-inventor in over 65 US patents. He has graduated over 50 doctoral and post-doctoral students at Stanford.

Prof. Paulraj has over 30 recognitions which include the 2014 Marconi Prize and the 2011 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell medal. He is a member of eight National Academies in Engineering / Sciences including those of United States of America, Peoples Republic of China, India, Sweden and The World Academy. He is a fellow of IEEE and AAAS. He has received a number of recognitions in India including the Padma Bhushan, VASVIK Medal and several military honors.

Prof. Paulraj is a Visiting Professor at the Beijing Institute of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, China, the Imperial College, London and a Distinguished Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India.