Nonharmonic convergence

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Many years ago, the hippies in the area where I live celebrated the coming of the “harmonic convergence” that was supposed to usher in a time of peace and prosperity. The communications test arena now faces a convergence of its own, between radio communications and networking. While I have my doubts that this blending will be entirely peaceful, it may lead to prosperity for those engineers able to handle both aspects.

The recent announcement that the Bluetooth SIG is adopting the WiMedia ultra-wideband radio as its next generation physical layer is one indication of the coming convergence. As WiMedia radio becomes the wireless link for Bluetooth, Wireless USB, and WiMAX TCP/IP protocols, test engineers will have to understand both the UWB aspect as well as the three protocols in order to test the systems going into laptop computers and their peripherals.

In the copper arena, everything seems to be going to TCP/IP. Virtually every communications vehicle is coming to the Internet, while much of the Internet is going wireless for the last link.

The result is a blending of radio technologies and communications protocols with overlapping applications spaces. Test engineers who are able to handle both the physical and the protocol layers with equal facility will have the greatest opportunities to benefit.

Contact Richard A. Quinnell at richquinnell@att.net