Renewing U.S. Telecommunications Research (2006) / Chapter Skim
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4 Mechanisms and Best Practices for Renewing Telecommunications Research
4 Mechanisms and Best Practices for Renewing Telecommunications Research
Pages 45-56
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From page 45... ...
problems and close coupling to the Bell operating companies. People working in fundamental research were made aware of the most pressing technical problems requiring revolutionary solutions.
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From page 46... ...
However, in today's telecommunications environment, which includes a broad array of service providers and equipment vendors, such a clearly defined and broad vision is much more difficult to achieve. In the predivestiture Bell System, the development of a vision and associated roadmapping activities for the telephone system were carried out largely by AT&T (together with a small number of overseas telephone companies that were also vertically integrated monopoly providers)
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From page 47... ...
MECHANISMS AND BEST PRACTICES FOR RENEWING TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH 47 Significant vision-setting and associated design work have also been carried out in particular sectors of the telecommunications industry. The cable industry developed a new architecture -- hybrid fiber coaxial cable -- that allowed delivery of digital, two-way services over its networks.
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From page 48... ...
The consequence of this lack of vision is that the necessary complementary investments that should be made by the semiconductor houses, the equipment vendors, and the service providers -- all in support of a vision held in common-may not be made because of the risk of investing in areas that are not supported across the telecommunications industry. The most successful visions will originate not only from new technological capabilities, but also from commercial and societal need.
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From page 49... ...
An industry roadmap is, in essence, a strategic plan for an entire industry, undertaken as a precompetitive industry collaborative activity, that informs the need for specific research directions, identifies necessary complementary investments across the horizontal industry that spans semiconductors to applications and content, and identifies related policy issues. It recognizes that the industry is characterized not only by competition of like companies (like service providers in the same geographical region)
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in which the United States has not been playing as strong a role. A more vertical structure to the telecommunications industry, greater government involvement, or a history of collaboration have made roadmapping a more central part of telecommunications programs outside the United States, accompanying the broader involvement of governments in directing technical developments and infrastructure deployment.
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Each program involves a variety of players, including component manufacturers, system vendors, software firms, universities, and service providers. As a result, companies can better evaluate the impact of their technology, and several players in the industry can plan new beneficial roadmaps together.
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MECHANISMS FOR INDUSTRY, GOVERNMENT, AND UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION ON R&D FUNDING A variety of interesting models for mobilizing research and development support have developed to answer particular R&D needs. CableLabs, described in Chapter 2, provides an example of a telecommunications sector organizing itself to address the focused needs of a particular set of stakeholders.
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From page 53... ...
For example, in 1997 a professor at a communications-related center founded a company to design a new switch capable of applying his algorithms for maximizing quality of service. After 3 years of work, this company was acquired for nearly half a billion dollars.8 ESTABLISHING AN ADVANCED TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH ACTIVITY The committee believes that a hybrid approach is best suited to the challenges facing the telecommunications industry.
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Major advances in telecommunications capability -- such as direct long-distance dialing, hybrid fiber coaxial cable systems, or the Internet -- have all required the conception, development, and deployment of novel network architectures. Similar advances in the future depend on carrying out sustained research and development activities.
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Another way to encourage service provider participation is for government to provide matching funds or other incentives such as R&D tax credits. One avenue for increasing industry support for fundamental research would be participation in joint, cooperative research activities organized by ATRA and funded jointly by industry and government whereby industry could pool funds, spread risk, and share beneficial results through cooperative efforts between industry and academia.
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From page 56... ...
56 RENEWING U.S. TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH in such diverse organizations as SRC, SEMATECH,9 and EPRI and in standards development groups organized by the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Telecommunications Industry Association.
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