Victor Bahl
Biography
With seminal research achievements that have enabled the modern wireless Internet to become a reality, Victor Bahl has shaped the broadband access technologies we take for granted today, making Internet access more affordable, reliable, and globally available. Among his many important contributions, Bahl developed opportunistic networking and the world’s first white space network. He was instrumental in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s decision to open 180 MHz of spectrum for unlicensed use. Subsequently, similar decisions were made by government regulators around the world. His community wireless mesh networks implementing multi-radio routers also brought affordable Internet access to rural communities. Other accomplishments include the first Wi-Fi hotspot; Wi-Fi based indoor localization system, which showed how RF signals can be used for functionality beyond communications; and Virtual Wi-Fi available in today’s computers and smartphones.
An IEEE, ACM, and AAAS Fellow, Bahl is a Distinguished Scientist with Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA.
