Editor's Note: Opportunity ringing

Talk to people in communications long enough and you'll have two words haunting your dreams: wireless and Internet. Both represent significant trends in communications. Together, they spell opportunity for test engineers.

Cellular telephony has led us to expect that we can stay in touch whenever we want, wherever we are, and wireless connectivity is quickly becoming an expected feature for computers, peripherals, and other electronics.

The Internet changed the way devices exchange information, so virtually any device that needs information exchange is implementing the Internet Protocol (IP). Implementation has become so pervasive that IP—originally designed for data—now must handle virtually every form of communications, including voice and video.

Expect the two trends to converge, making wireless IP a favored communications link. To support the development and maintenance of wireless IP, test engineers will need to know both RF and datacom technologies. These two fields have traditionally been well enough separated that test engineers could focus on one or the other. That's changing.

Companies working in this convergence zone report a shortage of test engineers who can handle both parts of the system. So, now's the time to step forward and acquire the background you are missing. Datacom specialists, start reviewing your Smith charts. Radio specialists, begin to learn those bits and bytes. You'll position yourself for today's new opportunities, and for tomorrow's common practice.

Contact Rich Quinnell at richquinnell@att.net .