Beyond Basic Research
It's well-understood that universities are idea factories fundamental to the development of network technologies. Government, foundations and industry fund some pretty esoteric basic research. At Syracuse University, this triad is financing work on wireless grids, exploring the intersection of wireless data technology and high-performance grid supercomputing. This technology could emerge into the next big thing, or it could end up as a reference in obscure scholarly journals. That's just the nature of research.
Beyond that, universities play an enormous role in the refinement of enterprise WLAN technologies. They offer a scale--both in physical size and number of users--that provides immense challenges to system designers. It's no wonder that a milestone of any emerging wireless vendor is to align itself with a high- profile university. And, apparently, there's room for more than one vendor at a university table: I've recently seen both Chantry and Airespace touting their Cornell relationship.
Some business types are quick to remind us of the differing needs of higher education and commercial enterprises: Just because a technology meets the needs of Wireless U. doesn't mean it solves my business problems. That's less true today than it once was. Find me a university that isn't a business in disguise, with almost all the same needs, and I'll show you one that's struggling to pay its bills.
Dave Molta is NETWORK COMPUTING's senior technology editor. Write to him at [email protected]
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