The Wireless Systems 2004 Conference and Exhibition is right around the corner. From March 8 through 10, it will be held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, Calif. This year, the show will testify to the robust nature of the wireless industry. It promises to give attendees a glimpse into the next year—a year that many analysts believe will be both positive and financially successful. Leading this charge is a series of 11 in-depth technical tracks that are populated with over 60 papers. From WLAN, broadband networks, 3G, and components, the track topics range to low-power design, power management, mobile and wireless, handset design, security, and software. Two workshops complement this technical offering. At the same time, they allow attendees to gain accreditation from Portland State University's Systems Engineering Department. The workshops are "Risk Analysis and Reduction for Hardware/Software Systems Development" and "Reconfigurable Systems: Introduction to Adaptive Computing."

Setting the overall tone of the Wireless Systems 2004 event is a keynote from Dr. Henry Samueli, Broadcom's Chairman, Chief Technology Officer, and Co-Founder (FIG. 1). His speech is scheduled to take place Monday, March 8 from 3:00 to 3:45. It will focus on the business and technological trends that are encouraging the emergence of total wireless connectivity. As Dr. Samueli will explain, "The wireless world is no longer confined to just cell phones and laptops. The level of integration, cost, and power reduction in semiconductor technology has now made it possible for even the most inexpensive devices to have a wireless connection."

Adding fuel to this discussion is a keynote panel that's scheduled for Wednesday, March 10, from 11:00 to 12:00. "Where Is the Wireless Industry Going?" will look at which areas hold the most promise for guiding this industry toward a prosperous future. Among others, the panel participants will include Robert Poor, CTO and Co-Founder, Ember Corp.; Norm Korey, Vice President and General Manager, Wireless E-Business, Americas, IBM Global Services; Juha Rapeli, former Chief Scientist, Nokia, and Professor of Mobile Telecommunications Technology, University of Oulu, Finland; and Scott Smyser, Senior Analyst, Frequency Control, RF and Wireless, iSuppli.

For another round of debate, check out the panel titled, "Using PoE to Empower the Proliferation of Wireless Devices." It's scheduled for Tuesday, March 9, from 11:00 to 12:00. This panel will attempt to shine light on the emerging IEEE 802.3af, Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) standard. It will bring together leading industry vendors to discuss the benefits and requirements of the PoE specification: David Dwelley, Design Manager, Power over Ethernet Products, Linear Technology Corp.; Steve Shalita, Senior Manager, WW Product Marketing, Cisco Systems; Madhu Rayabhari, Marketing Director, Power Management Products, Fairchild Analog Products; and Adolfo Garcia, Product Marketing Manager, Micrel, Inc. Among the other panel participants are Paul Greenland, Director of Product Marketing, Power Management Group, National Semiconductor; Thong Huynh, Senior Corporate Applications Engineer, Maxim Integrated Products; and David Schie, Vice President of Broadband and Telecom, Supertex.

Of course, Wireless Systems 2004 wouldn't be complete without the annual Wireless Systems Design Industry Awards. Each year, the editors of Wireless Systems Design join forces with readers and the Wireless Systems Advisory Board (www.wsdexpo.com/advisory.htm) to nominate and select the people, technology, and products deemed most worthy of praise. This year, awards are being presented to the following:

Industry Leader: Irwin Mark Jacobs, Founder, Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com)
Irwin Jacobs is the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Qualcomm, Inc. (FIG. 2). He has led the company through its international activities in digital wireless telephony, mobile satellite communications, and Internet software. Jacobs has been and continues to be a luminary in the evolution of the wireless industry.

Editor's Choice: Low-Bandwidth and Spread-Spectrum PLL Analog Hard Macros, True Circuits (www.truecircuits.com)
These PLLs allow wireless engineers to automatically and precisely dial in on both bandwidth and spectrum. They feature low jitter and special circuitry, dubbed the LockNow! Technology, which enables very fast locking without adding frequency overshoot.

Reader's Choice: SureFyre WLAN Chip Set, IceFyre (www.icefyre.com)
The SureFyre chip set for 802.11a WLAN comprises the ICE5125 low-power, fully featured CMOS 802.11 MAC IC; the ICE5351 CMOS baseband RFIC; and the ICE5352 high-efficiency GaAs Class-F PA/Chireix combiner. The solution offers up to 50% better power consumption than traditional systems running at 1.5 W and higher. It also promises a 2X output-power improvement.

Best Design Tool: Cascade, CriticalBlue (www.criticalblue.com)
Using existing application software, the Cascade toolset synthesizes a new hardware coprocessor. In turn, this coprocessor accelerates specific selectable software tasks. The resulting coprocessor software can be offloaded from the host processor, freeing up execution time and boosting system performance.