In the 20th century, Bell Labs was an innovative company that developed the transistor, laser, communication satellites and other innovative technologies. Today, it continues to be involved in a range of cutting edge technologies. Head of Bell Labs Research Markus Hofmann told NJ Today Senior Correspondent Desirée Taylor that the company is working on wireless technology and the lightRadio cube, which could take the place of cell phone towers.
Hofmann said Bell Labs is focusing on how to connect smart phones, tablets, computers and televisions to make sure people get videos and images wherever they are. “We are clearly focusing on the optical networks, continue to drive up the bandwidth on those. But a particular focus is also the wireless networks,” he said. “How do we continue to improve the experience people have on their smart phones, on their tablets so that we don’t have to wait for seconds or minutes until the video comes down for example.”
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The public’s desire for speed shapes Bell Labs’ research, according to Hofmann. “It’s no longer just about excellence. We continue driving the excellence piece, but the second dimension coming in now is the speed component. So we need to turn around more quickly. We need to adapt more quickly,” he said. “And this is clearly also driving how we do research and how we organize ourselves and the topics we pick as well.”
One piece of technology Bell Labs is working on is the lightRadio cube. It is a small device that has all the functionality of a cell tower, according to Hofmann. He said research on the device has taken a decade. Researchers had to figure out how to design the antenna, the algorithms to run the devices and how to control the heat with such a small footprint.
“We had researchers working on that 10 years ago when this was not really yet in the mainstream but we could very quickly draw on that expertise that we could build up. And within a year actually came up with this nice little cube,” Hofmann said. “And that’s the foundation of the future of wireless as we see it because it’s a building block.”
Hofmann said the lightRadio cube is flexible and can be used in urban areas where cell towers might not be practical. He also said they can be used to increase capacity temporarily.
While Bell Labs has its headquarters in New Jersey and much research is done in the Garden State, Hofmann said work is done worldwide to maximize the talent pool.
“We need to tap into the talent all around the globe. We need to assemble the team with the best researchers and we find them all over the world,” Hofmann said. “The headquarters is here in New Jersey but I want to really stress it’s a global effort, global organization and that allows us to tap into the best talent all around the globe and assemble the best team.”