Swami Hindle (aka Microwave Journal editor Pat Hindle) makes 10 industry predictions for 2020. For a look at how I did this past year, here are my predictions from 2019.

In 2019, we saw the first full year of 5G as more than 50 commercial networks were launched around the world. A few 5G phones were released but they were very limited due to coverage in  only selected cities (and only certain areas within those cities). Drone technology continued to evolve along with advances in phased arrays as mmWave applications have expanded with SATCOM and 5G fueling their demand.

As we look to 2020, 5G and IoT to continue to expand with AI and blockchain coming into play to make them more useful and secure. Quantum computing and photonic technologies should also continue to advance and find new applications to address. On the defense front, phased array and GaN technology will advance radar, communications and EW capabilities while autonomous and drone systems will develop into new offensive and surveillance weapons while becoming a major security threat too. Swami Hindle was correct in his prediction that 6G research would start in 2019 as several universities and companies announced activities in this area.

Here we have predictions from Swami Hindle and MathWorks plus, 10 hot consumer trends for 2030 from Ericsson ConsumerLab.

Ten 2020 Predictions from Swami Hindle

1. AR and VR will find more traction in Industrial applications than consumer applications using 5G technology as IIoT rapidly expands
    
2. AI and Blockchain will be tightly integrated into 5G and IoT applications securing devices and discovering data trends that result in increased efficiencies that would otherwise be overlooked
    
3. The first autonomous taxis/Ubers will hit the road
    
4. Swarming and micro drones will become the biggest threat to homeland security
    
5. Commercial satellite network companies will fail or merge with only 1 or 2 left standing by year end
    
6. Quantum computing will be used for the first time in a commercial application for stock trading and be banned from NYSE
    
7. New semiconductor materials like carbon nano tubes or graphene plus 3D stacking will keep Moore’s Law going. GaN and RF SOI will dominate the high frequency market as GaAs and SiGe take a backseat.
    
8. Aerospace and Defense vehicles will achieve force multipliers with autonomous companion vehicles (aircraft, tanks, etc.)
    
9. Most major test/measurement and simulation companies will provide cloud-based solutions for their main platforms
    
10. 6G research will demonstrate successful communications demos using terahertz frequencies (140 GHz seems the most likely)

See the next page for MathWorks 2020 predictions