Voices: Intel's Ron Resnick: wearing two hats

When it comes to multitasking, few people could beat Ron Resnick. He divides his time between working at his "day job" as Intel's director of marketing for its broadband-wireless division and serving as president and chairman of the WiMax Forum, an industry concern dedicated to the open interoperability of products for broadband-wireless access. In his role at the WiMax Forum, he oversees strategic and tactical operations involving the emerging wireless-broadband technology.

What is the current state of WiMax technology? Are things on track?

Things are definitely on track on the chip-set side. First-generation WiMax chips are out there now; companies started to ship them in volume six months ago. The technology is starting to mature, too. Big companies, such as Fujitsu and Intel, have jumped into the mix, as have smaller players from the fixed domain of wireless access, such as Alvarion, Aperto, Wi-LAN, and Redline. We are in the position where the first-generation of mature 802.16-2004 silicon is out there in the market. And products based on that silicon, particularly on the client side, are going out in volume, with the 802.16e silicon for mobile-broadband development about to begin.

What are the biggest challenges in mass deployment and implementation of WiMax-based technologies for semiconductor and CPE (customer-premises-equipment) vendors?

The one thing that did not get accomplished in the 3G world: to have one technology that delivers on a global platform. With 3G, there have been at least five iterations, such as EV-DO, WCDMA, HDSPA, HSUPA [evolution-data only, wideband-code-division multiple access, high-definition single point of access, high-speed uplink-packet access], and so on. The things we are trying to do with WiMax, at least when we get to 802.16e, is to jump-start it, prove that it works, and prove that there is a need for fixed broadband in many areas where you can't spend the money to do wire line, such as in parts of India and China, where the wireless infrastructure represents less than 10% of telecom. Why are they going to run wires for broadband when they don't even have phones or wire lines? The way to do it is wireless, and broadband and fixed wireless is a big market segment. With 802.16e, the plan is to deliver personal broadband experiences, and I think that scenario is going to happen.

What do engineers need to know when they go about their design work to implement a system or work on a WiMax-centric platform?

Because WiMax requires the use of a fair amount of design tools, we need a better way to develop design tools to accelerate the development of new chip sets for broadband silicon and perhaps telecom silicon. It is important to look at the processes in use, such as CMOS and SiGe [silicon-germanium], and which ones are going to give the best performance for long-term development. Because design tools are so complex in nature to begin with, maybe there is a way to automate the design process and make it incorporate building blocks.

There has been a lot of talk about a perceived engineering shortage in the United States. What needs to be done to bump up the numbers and get things moving in the right direction?

This problem has become a common one in the United States, and one reason is poor education. Middle and high schools are not doing enough to develop interest in engineering. Part of the reason is that we are not doing enough to generate interest because the curriculums are lagging. There is virtually no computer and technology training at this level, and science is minimal. There is now a push to improve this situation, but it remains a serious problem. We need to establish funding and develop a national education program that works, because we are getting killed. And if this shortage continues, the United States will be second to other countries, because they are working harder on education and developing engineering talent.