Plenary Session Abstract

The software radio capitalizes on digital signal processing technology to deliver software-defined channel modulation, spreading and de-spreading and other physical aspects of the radio air interface not previously practicable in software. Introduced in 1992 as a research topic, the software radio is making the transition from a way for military forces to reduce costs and increase interoperabilty to a cornerstone of the roll-out of third generation wireless services and systems around the world. Smart antennas and software radio base stations are entering service as academics, developers and service providers carefully track the 3G debate in the ITU. This talk examines the significant role of acoustics, speech and signal processing technology in the creation and evolution of the software radio, emphasizing the global commercial implications of dsp technology.

Joe Mitola is a consulting scientist from the MITRE Corporation, on loan to the US Department of Defense. His seminal 1992 paper introduced the concept of the software radio to the open literature in the IEEE National Telesystems Conference, spurring the transition from military research to commercial applications. He was the guest editor of the 1995 IEEE Communications Magazine issue dedicated to the software radio, first chairman of the global industry forum on software-defined radios, keynote speaker at the first European Workshop on software radios in 1997 and panelist at the first International Workshop on software radios in 1998. As lead editor of the Journal on Selected Areas in Communications on software radios, he led the editorial team that created this surrogate graduate text on the subject, consisting of 17 papers on fundamentals, systems, smart antennas, and applications. He is also the guest editor of the IEEE Communications Magazine's 1999 feature topic "Globalization of the Software Radio", with significant contributions from the US, Europe and Asia on which much of his address to this conference is based.

Last Update:  December 4, 1998         Ingo Höntsch