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Born in Chicago 12/26/28, Martin Cooper, the inventor of the
cell phone also developed the world’s first radio controlled traffic signal,
first push button rural telephone system and a city wide paging system. Currently
Mr. Cooper spends his time speaking to audiences throughout the world on
invention, innovation and the wireless industry.
A former IEEE
Vehicular Society President (1963), past IEEE Centennial Medal Award Winner and
current IEEE Life member, Martin has been a society member since 1954 and remains
active to this day. I had the fortune of sharing some time with Mr. Cooper
discussing his past, the present and what the future holds for both wireless
technology and his efforts.
For more on Cooper’s background vist: http://www.dynallc.com/#/Martin_Cooper_Background/
Excerpts of an interview with Martin follow below:
Did you always want
to invent?
I have invented things as long as I can remember. But thinking of an idea is not "inventing".
What was your
motivation for inventing the cell phone?
We knew that people
didn’t want to talk to cars, or to houses, or to offices; they want to talk to
other people.
Did you ever think
that cell phones would be as advanced as they are today?
There are well over a billion cellular telephones in the
world today. We always believed that cell phones would become very small but
there is no way we could have predicted that a cell phone would include a
powerful computer, a camera, an MP3 player, games, and other capabilities.
What do you think
about the future of cell phone technology?
Cell phones are going to move in two major directions. For personal voice communications you can
expect a cell phone to get so small that you will be able to put a cell phone
in your ear; The other direction in which cellular telephony is moving will
give us much more bandwidth so that we can hook up our computers to the
internet but without being leashed to a wall or a desk while we are doing it.
How has communication
changed in the past thirty years?
The concept of distance has disappeared. There is no longer any difference between a
“long distance” telephone call and one to the house next store.
What are you
developing at the moment in relation to wireless and cell phone technology?
Computers, PDA’s, games, cameras, music players, and medical
devices will all be wirelessly connected. The smart antennas that ArrayComm
developed make radio signals more robust and calls a lot less expensive. We also developed a broadband wireless system
called iBurst that brings ubiquitous service to people throughout a territory.
Can you tell me a
little more about how ArrayComm came to be & where the name came from?
The name ArrayComm is short for Array Communications. Whereas
most radios use a single antenna to send and receive signals from the radio,
ArrayComm’s smart antennas use a group of antennas, as few as four or as many
as 12, in an “array.”
Mr. Cooper recently started using social media and can be
followed on Twitter @MartyMobile.
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