The SDR Forum announced a distinguished slate of keynote speakers for the upcoming SDR08 Technical Conference and Product Exposition, the premier event for the reconfigurable radio community, to be held from October 27th to 30th in Washington, D.C. With a theme of “SDR 2.0 - Entering the Mainstream”, each day of this conference will feature a different keynote speech presented by a recognized leader in the community on the challenges that exist in the commercial, public safety and defense sectors, and the role of software defined radio (SDR) and cognitive radio (CR) technologies in addressing those challenges.

Starting on Monday, September 27, Dr. Donald Steinbrecher will present on, “One Perspective on the 40-Year Evolution of Software-Defined Radio Signals Intercept Systems.” Dr. Donald Steinbrecher is currently the Chief Scientist in the Electromagnetic Systems Division of the Navy Undersea Warfare Centre in Newport Rhode Island. His research focuses on establishing a leadership role for the Navy in the field of software-defined electromagnetic signals acquisition systems.

On Tuesday, September 28, Mr. Ari Viranen, Executive Vice President, Wireless Solutions, Elektrobit Corporation (EB) will discuss “SDR Evolution in Commercial and Dual-Use Telecom Products.” Mr. Viranen heads the Wireless Solutions Business Unit for EB which has a global responsibility of EBs mobile infra, terminal and platform solutions, including the mobile solutions for the defense sector. Mr. Viranen has had executive positions in this industry for over two decades and will be able to discuss how standardized and open architectures and software can be the winning techniques in future telecom markets.

On Wednesday, October 29, Mr. Rajendra Singh, Senior Regulatory Specialist for the World Bank will be one of two featured keynote speakers this day. His presentation will discuss “Technology Drive: Spectrum from Land to Sea.” Mr. Singhs primary role with the World Bank is to deal with various policy and regulatory issues in MENA, SA and EAP regions, and he is currently leading an analytical work on policy and regulatory issues of convergence.

The afternoon keynote on October 29 will be presented by Mr. William A. Maheu, Senior Director for QualComm Government Technologies. Mr. Maheus keynote address will explore “Todays Unrealized Potential for Public Safety Communications: Voice and Data anytime, anywhere, over any device and any network.” Mr. Maheu was a member of the San Diego Police Department for 28 years and will speak to how enhanced legacy voice and data systems interoperability should be the standard for public safety.

The final keynote speaker of the SDR08 Conference will be presented on Thursday, October 30 by Dr. Ron Jost, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for C3, Space and Spectrum for the US Department of Defense. Dr. Jost will present on “The Future of SDR in Tactical Networking” and will address how the use of SDR technology in future tactical networks offers significant warfighter benefits in flexibility, adaptability, and general capabilities.

“These speakers will provide important insight to the SDR08 conference attendees on the future of the advanced wireless market”, said John Chapin, Chair of the SDR Forum. “We look forward to hearing from these speakers and learning about their thoughts and ideas on the evolution of next generation radio technologies as they advance into the mainstream market.

About the SDR08 Technical Conference and Product Exposition

SDR08 represents the latest in an annual conference that has become a highlight on the wireless industry event calendar. Hosted by the SDR Forum, this event brings together world class business and technical leaders from around the world across commercial and civil organizations including service providers, operators, manufacturers, developers, regulatory agencies, and academia. Sponsored by Motorola, GD, GE Fanuc, Harris, Xilinx, PrismTech and ZeligSoft, this years event will include over 130 paper presentations and demonstrations from more than 66 organizations in 17 different countries, with 10 tutorial sessions providing training on advanced topics relevant to the development and implementation of SDR based systems and networks provided by recognized industry experts. The conference also has two invited workshops focused on the market adoption of SDR technologies and the regulatory landscape under which these technologies will evolve, and a product exposition highlighting the latest products and technologies available from over 30 of the industries leading vendors. Additional information on the SDR08 program, workshops and panel sessions can be found at www.sdrforum.org/sdr08.