Usharani Ayyalasomayajula hails from a family of doctors but chose engineering. With a keen interest in networking and wireless communications, Usha has 9 patents in cellular technology and is an active contributor to the 3GPP standardization. Today, she is a software architect in the Internet of Things (IoT) Group at Intel, working on building futuristic smart city solutions for the world.But how did her journey at Intel begin? “While I was working for Infineon Semiconductors, its Wireless Solutions Business was acquired by Intel, and then there was no looking back! Though I officially joined the company in 2011, I have been working with Intel for almost 18 years now. As a technologist, I must say it's a great place as we are among the first to get access to all the latest, cutting-edge technologies.”
From 2G to IoT
Usha has worked on generations of cellular network technologies including 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and—the latest and most promising—5G. Earlier in her career as a software engineer, she began developing software solutions on generations of Infineon and Intel modems for smartphone customers, which had a huge impact.
“For a tier-1 U.S. customer, I was the lead architect innovating 4G/LTE telephony solutions that provided excellent audio quality and powered KPIs that enabled the customer to deploy in several operator networks across the globe.”
Determined to work on technological advancements that will shape the future, Usha made the most of every opportunity that came her way. In the past two years, she has been innovating in the field of IoT. As a software architect, she develops software solutions that enable vision platforms by harnessing the power of state-of-the-art Intel technologies aimed at delivering exceptional performance from the edge to cloud.
She’s also helping unleash the power of data. “Intel edge computing brings intelligence exactly where it is needed—closer to the data. With data processing and compute shifting to the edge, greater value can be derived from the devices at the edge, thereby enabling faster access to actionable insights, saving money and time.”
Building Smart City Solutions
In line with Intel’s vision to build the smarter cities of tomorrow, Usha is developing solutions for various customers across retail, healthcare, and imaging, among others. Her current work is to enable low latency media analytics for smart city traffic management. This involves performing analytics on IP cameras across the 5G network. Relying on the computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI) provided by these solutions, a wide range of end-user applications such as detecting vehicle violations can be automated and realized in real-time.
"Intel edge servers bring powerful data processing, analytics, and AI capabilities closer to the point of data generation, reducing bandwidth and minimizing costs. I am the SW architect for the acceleration card within the server.”
One Intel
Usha attributes her continuous growth as a technologist to all the support and guidance she has received at Intel. This has motivated her to be a team player and solve challenges together—and also impart her learnings to the younger generation by driving technical development sessions for women at Intel.
“Many women believe that leadership roles in technology can be tough and opt for people management and program management. I often conduct sessions to explain how such a mindset can be easily changed with all the resources, guidance and opportunities that Intel provides.”
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