We describe two conjectures, one strictly stronger than the other, that give descriptions of the integral Bernstein center for GL_n(F) (that is, the center of the category of smooth W(k)[GL_n(F)]-modules, for F a p-adic field and k an algebraically closed field of characteristic l different from p) in terms of Galois theory. Moreover, we show that the weak version of the conjecture (for m at most n) implies the strong version of the conjecture. In a companion paper [HM] we show that the strong conjecture for n-1 implies the weak conjecture for n; thus the two papers together give an inductive proof of both conjectures. The upshot is a description of the integral Bernstein center for GL_n in purely Galois- theoretic terms; previous work of the author shows that such a description implies the conjectural "local Langlands correspondence in families" of Emerton and the author.