Gartner Releases: Top Ten Wireless Technology Development Trends

Wi-Fi will continue to dominate the industry over the next five years as it becomes central to emerging technologies, including robotics, drones, self-driving cars and new medical devices.

In Gartner's latest top ten wireless technology trends for 2019 and beyond, Wi-Fi ranks first.

"Business and IT leaders need to understand these technologies and trends now," stressed Nick Jones, research vice president at Gartner.

“Many areas of wireless innovation will involve immature technologies, such as 5G and millimeter wave, and may require skills that organizations do not currently possess. Enterprise architecture and technology innovation leaders seeking to drive innovation and technology transformation should identify and experiment with innovative and emerging wireless technologies to determine their potential and develop a roadmap for adoption.”

Gartner's top 10 wireless technology trends are as follows:

1. Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi has been around for a long time, and it will remain the primary high-performance networking technology for homes and offices through 2024. Beyond simple communications, Wi-Fi is being used in new roles; for example, in radar systems or as a component in two-factor authentication systems.

2. 5G

As the global race to 5G heats up, telecom companies have begun deploying 5G cellular systems. According to Gartner, the full rollout will take five to eight years.

“5G is still immature and, initially, most network operators will focus on selling high-speed broadband. However, the 5G standard is evolving and future iterations will improve 5G in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and low-latency applications,” Jones explained.

3. Vehicle-to-everything connectivity (V2X)

Gartner research shows that both conventional and autonomous vehicles will need to communicate with each other, as well as the road infrastructure. This will be enabled by V2X wireless systems. In addition to exchanging information and status data, V2X can also provide numerous other services, such as safety features, navigation support and infotainment.

“V2X will eventually become a legal requirement for all new cars. But even before that, we expect to see some vehicles adopt the necessary protocols,” Jones said. “However, those V2X systems that use cellular networks will require a 5G network to realize their full potential.”

4. Long-range wireless power

Jones believes that long-range wireless power could eventually eliminate power cords for desktop devices like laptops, monitors and even kitchen appliances. “This will enable entirely new designs for work and living spaces.”

5. Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) Networks

LPWA networks provide low-bandwidth connectivity for IoT applications in an energy-efficient manner to support items that require long battery life. They typically cover very large areas, such as cities or even entire countries.

6. Wireless Sensing

The absorption and reflection of wireless signals can be used for sensing purposes. For example, wireless sensing technology can be used as indoor radar systems for robots and drones.

“Sensor data is the fuel for the Internet of Things. As a result, new sensor technologies enable innovative types of applications and services,” Jones explained. “Systems that include wireless sensing will be integrated into a variety of use cases, from medical diagnostics to object recognition and smart home interactions.”

7. Enhanced wireless location tracking

A key trend in wireless communications is that wireless communication systems are able to sense the location of the devices connected to them. Gartner Vice President said, "Location is a key data point required in various business areas, such as consumer marketing, supply chain and the Internet of Things."

8. Millimeter wave wireless

Millimeter wave wireless technology operates in the frequency range of 30 to 300 GHz and wavelengths of 1 to 10 mm. The technology can be used in wireless systems such as Wi-Fi and 5G for short-range or high-bandwidth communications.

9. Backscatter Network

Backscatter networking technology can send data with very low power consumption. This feature makes it ideal for small network devices. Gartner emphasizes that this is particularly important in applications where areas are already saturated with wireless signals and relatively simple IoT devices are required, such as sensors in smart homes and offices.

10. Software Defined Radio (SDR)

SDR moves much of the signal processing in a radio system from silicon to software. This enables the radio to support more frequencies and protocols. The technology has been around for years but never took off because it is more expensive than dedicated chips. However, as new protocols emerge, Gartner expects SDR to grow in popularity.

“SDR will enable devices to support legacy protocols while enabling new protocols simply through a software upgrade.”