How I Learned to Learn

When I first started attending college (a very long time ago) I majored in music (yep, I was going to be the next rock star!), and minored in engineering. Now in this era, C++ programming language was not invented yet, and modern computers took up entire rooms. The only way to get a mobile telephone was to visit the local two-way radio dealer and get one mounted in the trunk of your car, with the radio head consuming most of your console on the floor! This is commonly referred to as 0G, and was before cellular architectures were introduced.

The main problem around 0G was the limits in radio resources. The towers were usually erected on high hills and mountains to provide maximum coverage, but only 300 simultaneous conversations could be supported. This meant long wait times before you could make a call (in Los Angeles, where I sold these things, you could wait up to an hour).

Fast forward to 2018, where your watch can be used to make calls and send text messages. In the course of just 40 years, we have seen technology move rapidly, with new technologies being introduced every year. We just barely introduced 4G technology, and we are already talking about 5G standards being completed late this year.

In contrast, SS7 standards were started sometime around 1964, and not implemented until 1984. That's 20 years of standard development, compared to less than 5 years today. And we continue to accelerate the development cycles.

The largest challenge for the industry is not necessarily the technology itself, since we are building on what we know from the past. For example, the Diameter protocol was modeled after HTTP, as was SIP. And now with 5G, we are adapting HTTP2, JSON, and RESTful for wireless signaling. The problem is a lack of expertise in telecom professionals who have experience in these technologies. While these are familiar to IT professionals, putting them in a telecom network is not the same as deploying in the data center for enterprise IT applications. We need talent in both areas. Add to this the lack of cybersecurity talent.

Starting during that period of mobile radio telephone as a telecom professional, the only way to learn about telecom was if you worked for the telephone company. Colleges and universities did not offer courses on telecom, sticking to the more traditional Cobol and Fortran. This does not mean that a college education didn't offer much for telecom back then; the benefits were different than today where you can get an advanced degree in telecommunications. We learned the foundations then, with an understanding that we would continue learning after graduation.

The most valuable skill I learned in college was the art of research and communications. The art of learning something new requires certain disciplines that apply throughout your life, and in telecom, one of the most important skills you can possess! Just think how many times I had to learn new technologies to stay employable throughout my 35+ years in this industry.

Thankfully, I started in data communications, and learned a tremendous amount about networking. While the networks of yesterday were mainframe (and later mini) the principles still apply today. The OSI Model has been invaluable to my understanding new protocols and comprehending the tasks they must perform at each of the network layers.

I moved from TCP/IP and LAN/WAN technologies such as Ethernet and FDDI, to Signaling System #7, SIGTRAN, SONET, ATM, and cellular. When 3G standards were released, I found myself diving into Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP), and the data core. Just when I was getting comfortable, out comes Diameter and LTE.

Now I am kicking up those research skills again as I begin researching 5G and HTTP2, JSON, RESTful, and how these will apply to wireless. And of course, how security will be impacted by these new implementations of existing technology.

For those in college today, don't think your main study will give you a life time skill. It will give you a start in an exciting and challenging career, but your most valuable asset will be the discipline of research and study. The homework has just begun, but I can't think of a more rewarding and satisfying industry to be in right now! Let the research begin!