Transcript Syed Aon Mujtaba

Telecom Panel
Is there any value of doing telecom research in PK?
Dr. Syed Aon Mujtaba
Senior Director
Wireless Concept Engineering
Infineon Technologies, NA
[email protected]
Should Telecom Research be done in PK?
• Yes!
• Why do Research?
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Research is the process by which humans improve their status quo
If knowledge is power, new knowledge can be priceless!
Research is the engine that fuels innovations in product
development
However, due to budgetary limitations, PK should choose its
Research areas to maximize return-on-investment
• Why in Telecom?
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Telecom has become one of the pillars of modern society,
changing the way we live, work, and play
The challenges of keeping 6+ billion people on this planet
connected will only increase with time!
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Research in a Free Market Economy
Competition
Product Innovations
Engineering Research
Operating
Expenses
Revenue from Product Sales
Federal/State
Taxes
Net Profit
25% hit
1% hit
85%
New Product Design & Development
10% hit
VC
investment
Product Innovations
& Patents
2% hit
Engineering
Research
14%
1%
Scientific
Research
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Engineering Research Landscape in the US
Customers
&
Beneficiaries
Military
Contractors
Commercial
Enterprises
Startups
Research
Institutes
Government Labs
Industrial Labs
University Labs
Funding
Sources
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Federal
Govt
State
Govt
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Industry
Venture
Capitalists
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Telecom Research Scorecard
Contribution
Bell Core
• SONET standard
Xerox Palo Alto Research Ctr
• Ethernet protocol (Metcalfe)
Qualcomm
• CDMA
• Viterbi decoding (precedes Qualcomm)
ENST, Bretange (France)
• Turbo Codes
UCLA
• Data/Computer Networking (Kleinrock)
University of Hawaii
• ALOHA-NET (precursor to the ethernet)
Govt
ARPA
• ARPAnet (precursor to the internet)
Industrial Labs
Bell Labs
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University
Labs
Entity
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Sampling Theorem (Nyquist)
Transistor (Shockley, Bardeen, Brattain)
Shannon’s Capacity Theorem
Cellular Concept (1947)
Telecom Satellite
Adaptive Equalization (Lucky)
OFDM concept (1970s)
MIMO (Multiple Antennas) concept (Winters & Foschini)
AMPS & IS-136 standards
WiFi (IEEE802.11a/b) standard
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Lessons Learnt
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At an institution level, contributions from Bell Labs to the telecom field are
unmatched
Bell Labs iconic status and success can be attributed to the following factors:
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Innovations from Bell Labs eventually made it to the market place, if not by
AT&T, then by others!
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Silicon Valley owes it creation to Shockley, who moved there to commercialize the
invention of the transistor
BellCore – spun off from Bell Labs to serve RBOCs (regional Bell operating
companies) – was far less successful
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funding source was a monopoly  very stable with lots of cash
customers were the internal business units in AT&T  Bell Labs was exposed to
real world problems
independence  Bell Labs was not funded by the business units. Instead it was
funded at the corporate level. This allowed Bell Labs researchers to think creatively
and boldly.
world class talent  thanks to the reputation it had developed, Bell Labs was able
to recruit the best and the brightest from all over the world, not just the US
when a research institution has multiple masters, it can never focus
Xerox PARC exhibited bold thinking, but lacked a viable sink for its research
output
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Xerox did not manufacture ethernet products
its windows/mouse concept was leveraged by Apple
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PK “Research Potential” Scorecard
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Success in engineering research requires 4 main ingredients, as
exhibited by Bell Labs:
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long term view with stability of funding
proximity to real world problems with clear customer requirements
intellectual independence
world class talent
Universities build their reputation on #3 and #4, strive to achieve
#1, and struggle with #2.
Requirement
status
World class talent
No shortage of Pakistani talent – but it exists mostly outside of PK.
Establishing a critical mass of telecom researchers in PK will require
bold initiatives.
Intellectual
independence
In principle, this should already exist at PK universities. In practice,
it is unclear how much it is exercised within universities due to their
limited research output
Proximity to real world
problems
Due to lack of local industry, this is severely lacking in PK.
Long term funding
Severely lacking, since research is not part of the wealth creation
cycle in PK’s economy.
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My vision for Telecom Research in PK
• Telecom Research in PK does not have to wait for local industry to
get established
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To the contrary, an increase in telecom expertise in PK may provide the
critical mass needed to support telecom product development in PK
• PK researchers should forge alliances with industrial labs in the West
to work on relevant problems
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sabbatical in industry will be far more useful than at a university
• Customers of PK research should be the West
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For this to happen, PK will have to elevate its reputation and profile in
the telecom research field
To achieve this, a Telecom Research Institute should be
established, that is affiliated/administered by a PK university, whose
sole aim would be to generate research results of international caliber
Funding for this research institute should be sought from PK Govt, as
well as MNCs with a financial stake in PK
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