Since its inception, the IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS) has remained focused on one goal. It is dedicated to providing today’s engineers with the information on key device- and system-level technologies they need to advance current radio and wireless systems, and to create next-generation networks. That goal is very similar to the goals that Agilent Technologies continues to strive to achieve. We are a company of engineers passionately committed to helping the global community of engineers address the challenges they face by applying measurement technology in the most successful way possible. Due to the tremendous ingenuity of our engineering colleagues, those challenges continue to thrive alongside the dynamically changing landscape of the world in which we live. It is a landscape that is dominated by new and emerging wireless standards and technology, an increasingly global marketplace where Asia has emerged as a key player and outsourcing has become the norm, and an aerospace and defense industry that is now motivated by post 911 concerns.


In much the same way that RWS tracks emerging industry trends in order to offer more timely and relevant technical content to its attendees, Agilent closely monitors global trends in the technologies, industries and geographies it serves. These trends create a steady stream of measurement challenges that can ultimately dictate a company’s success or failure.

Some of the key trends that Agilent has identified, and that promise to shape our world in 2007, include:

  • Wireless
    A variety of emerging standards (e.g. EV-DO, 802.11n WLAN, HSDPA/HSUPA, WiMAX ZigBee, and the WiMedia-based Ultra-wideband) are creating new opportunities for an increasing number of consumer devices to incorporate wireless capabilities. To take advantage of these opportunities while remaining cost competitive, many manufacturers are looking to address conformance, regulatory and interoperability testing requirements across the entire product lifecycle. They are also adopting LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI), the LAN-based successor to GPIB. LXI allows manufacturers to lower the cost of test by leveraging their test-system assets and expertise across the product lifecycle.

  • Defense Electronics
    In the defense industry, the nature of the modern battlefield demands new and innovative systems. Imagine, for example, the impact of a fully network-centric ground force coordinating its operations in real-time with wireless technologies. In this example and others, increased signal monitoring, interception and surveillance will be crucial to averting or thwarting hostile activities.

  • Nanotechnology
    Nanotechnology has the potential for use across a broad spectrum of applications and industries. Today, it is already being put to use in medical, consumer electronics and information technology applications. Dealing with the complex questions that working at the nanoscale creates will require that research teams have access to a diverse set of measurement solutions that span electronic test equipment, atomic force microscopes, analytical instrumentation, bioanalyzers and beyond.

Dealing with the engineering challenges created by these emerging trends can be difficult at best. While there is no easy answer, Agilent is continually developing new and innovative measurement solutions and technologies to help customers address these challenges, many of which are primary concerns for the RWS attendee. Agilent’s participation at the 2007 Radio and Wireless Symposium provides a key forum in which to demonstrate just how effective our measurement solutions and technology can be in addressing the challenges facing today’s engineer. By doing so, we are doing our part to support our engineering peers.