The Air Force has unique communications requirements, different from those of the commercial sector, demanding sustained effort and the overlay of scientific advances with Air Force requirements.

Recommendation 3-2. The Air Force should maintain a strong research program in both the optical and microwave/RF regimes. MEMS technology is having a strong impact. Nanotechnology is already leading to advances in these areas as well as in computation.

Finding T6. The Air Force strategic nanotechnology R&D plan, as presented to the committee, is focused on hardware concepts without appropriate consideration of total systems solutions. It is well known that over the past 15 years the commercial sector has made increasing investments in architecture and software concepts to design advanced systems. The tendency has been toward codesign of the hardware and software aspects of a system. One implication of nanotechnology is that this approach will be even more essential as device capabilities continue to expand. New algorithms, architectures, and software design methods will need to be developed and employed in concert with new nanotechnology-based hardware. Investment in this strategy will enable autonomous, intelligent, self-configuring Air Force systems. The Air Force strategic plan contains many future scenarios where such systems would be the ideal, if not the only, solution.

Recommendation T6. The Air Force should take seriously the importance of co-system design as a critical consequence of continued miniaturization and should invest in the algorithm, architecture, and software R&D that will enable the codesign of hardware and software systems. This should be undertaken along with a projection of the advances that will be made in hardware.