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Foschini Receives Edison Award for BLAST
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| Jerry Foschini, inventor of BLAST technology,
is part of Bell Labs in Holmdel,
N.J. | November 22, 2002 - Since
he invented the breakthrough wireless technology known as BLAST,
Bell Labs' Jerry Foschini has received accolades from around the
world. Recently, the world-renowned scientist returned to his roots
in Jersey City, N.J., to receive an award that hits close to home:
the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award, an honor bestowed upon New
Jersey men and women who have changed the world with their
inventions.
"The purpose of the Edison Awards is to
recognize and honor those New Jersey innovators who have followed in
Edison's footsteps and who are improving our lives with remarkable
inventions," said Bob Schaffhauser, vice chairman, Research and
Development (R&D) Council of New Jersey, the organization that
sponsors the award. "New Jersey has been the birthplace of an
astonishing number of landmark inventions and innovations."
"I was born in Jersey City, so it holds a special meaning
for me to receive this award here," Foschini, Member of Technical
Staff, Bell Labs Wireless Communication Research, said during the
ceremony at the Liberty Science Center. He credits his alma mater,
the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with sparking his interest
in the fields of science and mathematics, and considers himself
fortunate to have had the opportunity to do graduate work at the
Stevens Institute of Technology and to have taught at institutions
like Rutgers University and Princeton University while pursuing his
research at Bell Labs.
"In a lot of ways, my career has been
shaped around experiences that are unique to New Jersey," he said.
"The scientific community in our area is not only brilliant, but
dedicated to collaborating with each other and working toward common
goals. That's an amazing thing to be part of."
BLAST which
stands for Bell Labs Layered Space Time, was invented by Foschini in
his Holmdel, N.J. lab in 1998, and was recently named a "patent to
watch" by MIT's Technology Review magazine. An extension of Claude
Shannon's Information Theory, which also came to life at Bell Labs,
BLAST uses a set of antennas and sophisticated signal processing
software to send and receive wireless signals. By using multiple
antennas, it is possible to decipher and translate signals that are
scattered and overlapping, resulting in a much more efficient use of
the wireless spectrum.
"Wireless transmissions using
multiple antennas are a jumble that you can't make sense of," said
Foschini. "It's like turning on the radio and hearing a lot of
stations on top of each other. BLAST lets us untangle the signals
and use the same spectrum over and over."
The Edison Awards
have been bestowed upon inventors and their companies for more than
20 years by the R&D Council of New Jersey, a non-profit group of
representatives from industry, academia and government. Winners are
chosen for having the most revolutionary product innovation and/or
scientific breakthrough in one of six categories. BLAST was chosen
as the most important invention in the Electronic/Information
Technology category.
"BLAST is a significant milestone in
the evolution of wireless technology," said Ran Yan, vice president,
Wireless Research. "The limiting factor for wireless networks right
now is bandwidth -- and BLAST can improve capacity beyond what
anyone thought was possible. Jerry rightly recognized that bandwidth
could be increased by leveraging interference, and thanks to that
observation it will change the way we communicate through wireless
devices."
"I am deeply honored to receive this award from
the New Jersey R&D Council," Foschini said about his
recognition. "And I'm grateful for the opportunities and support
that allowed me to pursue my dreams."
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