The Swedish wireless solution.

The Nordic market is very technologically savvy with a definite emphasis on wireless technology," notes Stockholm's Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Professor Gerald Q. "Chip" Maguire, Jr. "Mobile usage, the whole wireless concept, is extremely common, with Nokia in Finland and Ericcson in Sweden, to name just two top manufacturers and innovators. One reason is it's not economicallyviable to [install land lines] because of the low-density population and many people have cottages in the countryside or vacation on boats. That argues strongly against a vast fixed infrastructure. But socially, too, wireless products are widely accepted. Seven-year-olds often have cell phones in Sweden."

That market penetration is not really surprising. Sweden and its neighboring Northern European countries have also been leaders in broadband--in fact, Stockholm may have the most broadband access points per capita in the world--and, according to Maguire, the country has successfully integrated broadband and wireless technologies. "I work almost completely over the Internet via wireless technology," he says. "In fact, I gave up my office phone two years ago and am completely dependent upon my computers for email and other contacts. I email my wife, a physics professor at New York University, every night. It's not at all difficult to live without a phone number." Maguire recently made a small concession to the cellular society by agreeing to carry a cell phone during his frequent international travels. "But I almost never use it because with computer-based communication I can work asynchronously as opposed to synchronously."

Living and working in Sweden since 1994, Maguire has been witness to and a part of the rapid development of technology at KTH, Stockholm's famed and highly regarded technical university. "The use [of wireless] by students has grown organically without a specific major decision to adopt wireless," notes the American expatriate.

The organic growth has been impressive. Since 2000, mobile computing has become a basic element of the KTH student's infrastructure and the various aspects of mobile computing systems (low power, radios, wireless links, QoS, security and so on) are increasingly ubiquitous, says Maguire. In fact, the Stockholm-area campuses are all wireless, with virtually all students equipped with some form of mobile computing units--including GSM cell phones (often equipped with Bluetooth, GPRS, and cameras)--and HP's handheld iPAQ units, thanks in part to a long-term partnership with HP.

"Previously, HP and HP Labs have helped by providing notebooks and badges [known as the HP/KTH SmartBadge] ," says Maguire. "And we received internal funding to buy 40 HP notebook computers for use with courses in software engineering and a project oriented course." A SmartBadge is an ID badge-sized computing and communication system, with lots of different sensors. The goal is that a student or faculty member wearing a personalized SmartBadge could walk up to any campus computer, display, projector, and so on, and the nearby device would be personalized for this user. "It's pretty foolish to use so-called Smart Cards or other techniques that require the user to actively do something to indicate that they are coming or going," says Maguire. "Isn't it better for the computer to know when they've left the area or given up control of a device?"

Maguire, however, makes a distinction between technology' for its own sake and targeted computing: "It's critical to focus on personalized, adaptive, secure technology," he says, "but ubiquity is the wrong aim. It's not anywhere and anytime computing, but rather what I expect and where I expect it." Some examples:

* "Enabling students to use the notebook computers in the classroom during lectures and to access the online streaming course contents. Expanding the research wireless infrastructure into a campus wireless infrastructure was a natural step."

* "The recent acquisition of iPAQs, thanks to HE extends the services to applications which the students can actually use while walking."

* "When a new major in information technology was started four years ago, one of the initiatives resulted in thesis projects at commercial companies and some of these have even lead to commercial products--such as Ericsson's high security WLAN software."

"We have had extensive coverage of the parts of the buildings used by civilingenjor' ]five-year MS program students] in computer engineering, communications, software engineering, and so on, at the KTH campus," he adds. "This year, we have added another 30 access points to the existing 80 access points and now have coverage over most of the campus and the areas between buildings. There are also access points in the nearby shopping center. In addition, we have a complete GSM system to be used to provide GPRS coverage of the large regions around the university and can be used in experiments and service requiring vertical handoff to provide lower bandwidth and higher delay but also providing connectivity where there is no WLAN coverage, including the area from the academic buildings to the student housing area. The student housing area features 100TX connectivity in the students' rooms.

"We have a good balance [at KTH] of appreciation of wireless and technologically based communication," says Maguire. "Face-to-face meetings remain a great way get to know one another, to build trust between parties, and technology can help extend those goals and add to them--while allowing learning, work, and play at a distance, in both space and time."

Facts of Student Life

Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) has over 11,000 undergraduate students, 1,500 active postgraduate students and a staff of 3,100.

KTH was founded in 1827 and is the largest of Sweden's universities of technology. Since 1917 KTH has been housed in central Stockholm.

Studies at KTH can lead to numerous degrees, including Architect, Master or Bachelor of Science, or Doctor/ licentiate in either science or philosophy.

In the Stockholm suburb of Kista, the main Swedish resource centre of information technology, KTH co-operates, with Stockholm University, other research centers.