From 5G To 'Seeing Around The Corner': USC Engineer Shapes The Present And Future Of Wireless Communication

Andreas Molisch’s research advances modern wireless systems by improving how signals are modeled, transmitted and understood – from smartphones to autonomous vehicles.

From the technology behind 5G and AirTags to collision warning systems in autonomous vehicles that can “see” around the corner, USC professor and researcher Andreas Molisch has spent three decades shaping the architecture of modern wireless communication.

As the Solomon Golomb – Andrew and Erna Viterbi Chair at USC Viterbi’s Ming Hsieh Electrical and Computer Engineering and the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, Molisch’s research focuses on wireless communications, including wave propagation, system design and network architectures. He is credited with inventing hybrid beamforming, a critical technology that allows massive antenna arrays to operate efficiently in today’s 5G networks and smartphones. Leading USC Wireless Devices & Systems Group (WiDeS), Molisch’s research focuses on the physics of wave propagation, seeking to bridge the gap between theoretical modeling and practical application in technologies ranging from autonomous vehicle sensing to ultrawideband localization.

Molisch’s work is embedded in international standards used by companies worldwide, and his textbook, “Wireless Communications,” remains a foundational resource in the field.

A fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the IEEE, Molisch joined USC in 2009 after a 10-year career in the private sector, where he served as the chief wireless standards architect for Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs.

Most recently, Molisch was recognized with the USC Associates Award: Creativity in Research and Scholarship at the 2026 Academic Honors Convocation last month.

How do you foster creativity within your research group and among your students?
I have four core principles to foster creativity. First, there is no hierarchy in science. Every idea is judged on its merits and given time to be considered, regardless of who proposed it.

Second, practical problems often lead to the best theory. In identifying meaningful problems to tackle, I look to real-world systems and their constraints—such as finite resolution or delayed feedback—which can inspire new theoretical approaches.

Third, I avoid framing challenges as “impairments.” Effects that deviate from simple theoretical models are often viewed negatively, but they can present opportunities to improve performance beyond what the original theory predicts in surprising ways instead.

Finally, I emphasize the importance of mental reset. Some of my best research ideas have come up after stepping away and doing something completely different, like doing an hour of dance practice, which allows my mind to focus elsewhere while ideas continue to develop subconsciously.

What are the most significant contributions your research has made to the field, and what impact have they had?
My research focuses on wireless communications, with several interrelated contributions that have had broad impact on both theory and real-world systems.

Technology Behind 5G: Enabling Efficient, High-Speed Wireless Networks
I have developed techniques to improve the speed, reliability and efficiency of wireless transmission without significantly increasing hardware cost or energy use. One key contribution is hybrid beamforming, introduced in 2002, which enables the benefits of large antenna arrays with fewer radio-frequency components. With the rise of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), which is a 5G technology using large antenna arrays at base stations to simultaneously serve multiple users, improving network capacity, spectral efficiency and energy usage, this approach is now widely adopted in cellular networks, Wi-Fi systems and smartphones.

Shaping Industry-Standard Wireless Channel Models
I have advanced the measurement and modeling of wave propagation in wireless environments. As signals interact with complex surroundings, from apartments to dense urban areas, accurate models are essential for designing and comparing new technologies. I introduced concepts such as double-directional channel characterization and street-dependent path loss models, which are now widely used in industry standards and system design.

Pioneering Wireless Localization and Ranging Technologies Behind AirTags and FindMy
My work has helped bridge wireless communications with localization and sensing, which is the foundational work behind spatial awareness and device discovery technologies. I contributed to ultrawideband (UWB) systems, including the IEEE 802.15.4a standard, which underpins precise ranging technologies now used in smartphones and smart home devices– from Apple’s “Find My” app that allows consumers to easily locate iPhones or other Apple devices to directional tracking AirTag service designed to help users locate personal items like keys or wallets. My research has also demonstrated early advances in radar-based sensing, such as detecting and localizing a breathing person without direct line of sight.

Making Video Streaming More Efficient
I have explored the integration of communication, computation and caching in wireless networks. This includes developing methods for distributing video content with significantly higher spectral efficiency through on-device caching and device-to-device communication, as well as studying how to route data efficiently to avoid bottlenecks in both computation and communication.

Together, these contributions have shaped how wireless systems are modeled, built and optimized, and are reflected in technologies used across global communication networks and consumer devices.

What key questions are you hoping to solve in your lab’s current research projects?
Understanding and Measuring Wireless Propagation at New Frequencies
We continue to advance the fundamental understanding of wireless propagation as systems move into higher and higher frequency bands. To support this, we have developed a new channel sounder that enables large-scale, directionally resolved measurements at extremely high—terahertz (THz)—frequencies. These measurements are critical for designing next-generation wireless systems, where existing models are no longer sufficient.

Coexistence of Satellite and Terrestrial Networks
We are also studying how satellite communication systems, such as Starlink, can coexist with terrestrial networks. The goal is to expand usable spectrum while ensuring that new systems do not interfere with existing infrastructure, allowing more efficient use of limited wireless resources.

Integrated Sensing and Communication for Transportation Safety
A key research direction is integrated sensing and communication (ISAC), where we develop systems that allow vehicles to detect others on a collision course—even without a direct line of sight. This includes new radar waveform designs that improve sensitivity beyond current state-of-the-art methods, supporting applications such as traffic safety in conditions where cameras, radar or lidar alone are insufficient.

Reliable and Low-Latency Wireless Networking for Critical Applications
We also focus on ensuring highly reliable and time-critical delivery of data in congested wireless networks. This is especially important for applications such as connected vehicles, where messages like emergency braking commands must be received within strict latency bounds. Our work aims to guarantee reliability even under heavy network load.

Physics-Guided Machine Learning for Wireless Systems
Across these areas, we are increasingly using machine learning, but not as black-box tools. Instead, we combine data-driven methods with decades of physical insight into wireless systems to develop more efficient and reliable models that reduce failure modes such as hallucinations and improve performance in real-world settings.

Practical Impact Across Future Wireless Applications
The overall goal of our research is to deliver fundamental insights and technologies that make wireless systems more reliable, energy-efficient, and capable of enabling new services—from entertainment and health monitoring to transportation safety—even if those applications emerge years in the future.

Looking ahead, what directions do you see your research taking in the future?
My research will continue to focus on understanding wireless wave propagation in greater detail and designing systems that fully exploit the opportunities it enables. As sensors become increasingly embedded in smartphones and vehicles, wireless systems are only beginning to tap into the potential of this rich source of information.

A key direction is further bridging the gap between propagation modeling and system design. I believe that treating these as separate domains leads to suboptimal performance, and I will continue working to integrate detailed physical understanding of wireless channels directly into system-level design.

We are also expanding beyond wireless sensing itself to focus on how sensing information is communicated and how its timeliness can be optimized. In many applications, it is not only what is sensed that matters, but how quickly and reliably that information can be delivered and acted upon.

More broadly, I am interested in identifying entirely new dimensions in wireless communications that have not yet been fully explored. Historically, major breakthroughs have reshaped the field every couple of decades, and while we cannot predict what the next one will be, our goal is to help enable it through fundamental research at the intersection of theory, systems and emerging technologies.