New Report: 5 Wireless Research Priorities For U.S. Competitiveness In Global Technology Race – ERVA

Engineering Research Visioning Alliance’s latest report highlights five key research priorities for the United States to lead next-generation wireless innovation 

APRIL 3, 2025 -- As wireless demand surges, a new report released today by the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA), an initiative funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), outlines strategic engineering research priorities critical to advancing next-generation wireless technologies and maintaining U.S. global competitiveness.

In an increasingly connected world, the demand for faster, smarter, more reliable, more secure, and higher-capacity networks is intensifying. A 2024 survey revealed that in 2023, Americans used 100 trillion megabytes of data—26 trillion more megabytes than in 2022— the largest single-year increase in wireless data consumption to date. Investing in advanced wireless technologies is essential to meet this growing demand and support transformative initiatives such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and advanced health care applications. But according to ERVA’s report, Strategic Engineering for Next-Generation Wireless Competitiveness, the United States faces significant challenges in maintaining wireless competitiveness in this global technology race. Unlike the United States, countries like China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, and Finland have invested heavily in wireless research beyond 5G. They are rapidly setting standards and research priorities for 6G and beyond.

“The United States is at a pivotal moment as the complexity of wireless technology accelerates,” said Daniel Mittleman, professor of engineering at Brown University. “The priorities identified in this report are critical areas where the engineering research community can lead in driving the next generation of wireless breakthroughs. By prioritizing strategic research discovery, we can unlock solutions that meet future demands and elevate U.S. competitiveness.”

Mittleman chaired the ERVA Thematic Task Force that set the stage for a visioning event with 51 researchers, industry leaders, policymakers, and other stakeholders to address the research needs for next-generation wireless competitiveness. The group identified 10 essential engineering research priorities for the next decade—five nascent areas where the United States can lead the world and five global challenges where the nation’s scientists can also contribute to impact. The bold approaches poised for U.S. leadership are:

• Near-Field Channel Modeling: While many researchers have recognized the importance of accounting for near-field physics in wireless links operating above 100 GHz, few outside the United States have considered the unique opportunities that such considerations present.
• New Waveform and Coding Paradigms: As the number and type of wireless devices connected to networks increase, there is a need to increase efficiency in spectrum use and energy consumption through design of new modulation formats, coding strategies to leverage all information in a channel, and waveforms solely for communication.
• Control Plane for Resilient and High-Performance Next-Generation Networks: A great deal of effort has been directed toward hardware and physical layer systems, but much less consideration has been paid to these systems that route data through the network. New systems will rely on this critical element.
• Security in Future Networks: The specific challenges of wireless security, especially in networks employing broadband highly directional signals, are under-researched. While the United States initiated some of the earliest studies, interest is growing rapidly in China and elsewhere.
• Non-Terrestrial Networks: Given the history of space exploration and the success of private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, this area is strategically important to maintain U.S. leadership while addressing future network coverage concerns.

“Countries that lead in wireless research will benefit from strengthened security and accelerated technology creation and innovation, which ultimately contribute to greater economic prosperity,” Mittleman said. “Many nations are already making significant progress and heavily funding some research areas. The ERVA report considers the global landscape and provides a roadmap for how the United States can remain at the forefront of what will be a transformative next generation of wireless technology.”

Strategic Engineering for Next-Generation Wireless Competitiveness is the tenth report released by ERVA, an initiative funded by NSF to help identify future engineering research directions. The executive summary and full report can be downloaded here. See other reports generated by visioning events: Engineering Opportunities to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance, AI Engineering | A Strategic Research Framework to Benefit Society, Engineering Materials for a Sustainable Future, Engineering the Future of Distributed Manufacturing, Engineered Systems for Water Security, Sustainable Transportation Networks Engineering,  R&D Solutions for Unhackable Infrastructure, Leveraging Biology to Power Engineering Impact, and The Role of Engineering to Address Climate Change.

ERVA is funded by the National Science Foundation.

About The Engineering Research Vision Alliance (ERVA):

The Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA) is a neutral convener that helps define future engineering research directions. Funded by the NSF Directorate for Engineering, ERVA is an engaged partnership that enables an array of voices to impact national research priorities. The five-year initiative convenes, catalyzes and enables the engineering community to identify nascent opportunities and priorities for engineering-led innovative, high-impact, cross-domain research that addresses national, global and societal needs. Learn more at ERVAcommunity.org.