In Building Wireless Past, Present and Future

More than two-thirds of mobile traffic occurs inside buildings and this proportion is growing as high-rate data applications such as mobile TV are taken up. Yet most of the resources of a mobile operator are occupied with building and managing the outdoor network, with in-building systems typically deployed only in large public buildings and large corporate headquarters. In meeting the coverage and capacity demands of indoor traffic, operators need new technology solutions which perform well, yet are easy to deploy and manage in large numbers at reasonable cost. This lecture will survey the growing needs for dedicated in-building systems, describe existing approaches such as distributed antenna systems and explain the new technology developments including femtocells and distributed base stations which are expected to give operators an opportunity for expanding services into smaller office environments and in the home.

Simon is an independent specialist in the technology of wireless communications, with a technical and commercial background derived from senior appointments in both industry (including Philips and Motorola) and academia (University of Surrey). He is an author of over 140 articles, books and book chapters. He has acted as a consultant to companies including BAA, BBC, O2, Ofcom, BT, ntl, Mitsubishi and British Land and was CTO of Red-M and CEO of Cellular Design Services Ltd. Simon speaks and chairs a wide range of international conferences and training courses and has invented several novel wireless technologies. Particular expertise includes in-building wireless systems, radiowave propagation prediction, smart antenna design and mobile system analysis. He currently serves on technical advisory boards of several companies and the industrial advisory board at University College London. He is a Visiting Professor to the University of Surrey and is founding chairman of The Femto Forum. He was recently appointed as a member of the Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board.