IMDEA Networks Institute annually holds a by-invitation-only thematic workshop in Madrid. The workshop accompanies a meeting of our Scientific Council comprised of prominent researchers. In addition to talks by Scientific Council members, the workshop includes invited talks by external experts in the research theme of the workshop. The goal of the 2014 event is to foster discussion and present disruptive visions on a critical aspect of future wireless networks. The workshop will be held on June 11th at University Carlos III of Madrid.

We are witnessing an exponential increase of wireless traffic demand due to the pervasive explosion of mobile Internet applications. It is forecasted that, by 2020, the network infrastructure will be capable of embracing trillions of devices  according to a plethora of application-specific requirements in a flexible and truly mobile way. The forthcoming 5G revolution promises substantial advancements such as 1000x higher wireless area capacity for 8+ billion people and 7 trillion objects, 90% energy savings per service provided and the creation of a secure and reliable Internet. 5G will allow for real agile network setup, and will support dynamic management and coordination of very dense and heterogeneous deployments. Potential roadmaps see mobile multimedia as the next killer app, quality of experience as a primary metric for the network planning and design, and machine-to-machine communication as the root of paradigm shift in wireless innovation.

The workshop program is aimed at presenting recent research results from participants, debate on and identify priorities and challenges in the research agenda, as well as exploring new paths towards making wireless networks a true commodity for the needs of society.