L.M. Patnaik, former Vice-Chancellor, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, and honorary professor, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, said on Friday that wireless computing would rule the roost in future.
He was speaking after inaugurating a two-day seminar on “Recent trends in communication” organised by the Department of Physics, Milagres College, in collaboration with the Association of Physics Teachers of Mangalore University, here.
Prof. Patnaik said that a lot of exciting developments were taking place in the field of computers, driving changes in the fields of communication. Nearly 80 per cent of personal computers were being used for browsing the internet. “Then why not have a single internet access device instead of a personal computer,” he said. There was now a talk of mobile or nomadic computing. People were now more dependent on wireless equipment. Even educational campuses now had wireless fidelity. But the wireless medium was highly insecure. Hackers could make life difficult by hacking computers. There were instances of hackers breaking into railway and even airplane reservations, he said.
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Energy consumption of wireless equipment was another point, which required study. While wireless technology had advanced, the battery technology, that was batteries used for wireless equipment, had not progressed much.
Wireless medium was also bandwidth hungry. Wireless equipment such as mobiles should have easy user interface. The users should not have to go through the manuals to understand how to use the equipment. An easy user interface in any equipment would help even an illiterate person to use it. There was now a talk of brain-computer interface. Exciting developments were taking place in the field of communication, Prof. Patnaik said.
Archana Dabade, head of the Department of Physics at the college, welcomed the gathering. K.V. Rao, Director of Pilikula Regional Science Centre, Y. Devadas Shenoy, Deputy Project Director, Communication System Group, ISRO, Bangalore, Gerald Pinto, president of the Association of Physics Teachers of Mangalore University, Nery Cornelio, principal of the college, and Stany B. Lobo, college correspondent, were present.
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