InterDigital Communications
Encyclopedia
InterDigital is a wireless telecommunications research and development company based in Philadelphia
, Pennsylvania
.
In the late 1970s, before digital cellular networks were introduced in the U.S., InterDigital started to develop TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access – technology for use in digital wireless telephone systems. Its engineers, experts in RF Engineering, were driven by the dream of developing new technology that would allow people to communicate more effectively. InterDigital’s founder envisioned this technology as being spread throughout the world in one huge network.
During these early days, the company recognized that the breakthrough technologies it had developed had great potential, but were well-ahead of mass-market adoption and commercialization. Being a very small company at that time, InterDigital was not in a position to create a market by itself and decided to secure its interests by patenting its inventions. InterDigital had its IPO in 1981, which provided the necessary funding to expand into product development.
In the mid 1980s, InterDigital developed UltraPhone, a wireless local loop system. First installed in the U.S., orders quickly followed from Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, and other countries where wireline telephone service did not exist – eventually selling 345 systems.
By the early 1990s, the telecommunications industry in the U.S., quite familiar now with digital cellular networks, was divided into two camps – TDMA and CDMA. InterDigital at this time was known as the “TDMA Company” and TDMA was the dominant of the two technologies with support from most of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and AT&T.
In 1992, through a strategic acquisition of SCS Mobilecom/Telecom, a small private company with Spread Spectrum CDMA technology, InterDigital became one of only a few companies in the industry with expertise in both TDMA and CDMA technologies. This milestone event boosted the company’s technical expertise and positioned it to move into product development. Not long after, InterDigital demonstrated its Broadband Code Division Multiple Access (B-CDMA) technology, transmitting voice and data at ISDN rates from a subscriber unit traveling in an automobile at its technology development center in Melville, NY.
Widely recognized as the forerunner of today’s WCDMA technology, this was an important early step toward delivering simultaneous high speed data transmission, wireline quality voice and multimedia applications - including video conferencing. While this initial B-CDMA technology was designed for the wireless local loop market, InterDigital continued the development of broadband technologies recognizing their potential for third generation solutions being contemplated across the world at that time.
InterDigital became a key contributor to the leading standards bodies with innovations in more efficient algorithms for faster data speeds, increased network capacity, improved battery life, etc. Having been one of the architects of 2G/2.5G technologies, the company also became a major player in 3G with its inventions in WCDMA (Wideband CDMA).
By the end of the decade, InterDigital had built a successful patent licensing program, having licensing agreements in place with many of the world’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones. Its 3G technology programs also received accolades from across the industry, resulting in collaborative development agreements with Nokia and Infineon.
Around the turn of the millennium, InterDigital became active in the evolution of 3G with HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) breakthroughs enabling true wireless broadband with data speeds over 10 Mbps for mobile computing, multimedia, gaming and commerce - forever changing the paradigm of mobile “telephony”. By 2006, the company’s patent licensing program had generated over one billion dollars and the company embarked on the development of its own high-performance dual mode modem ASIC with HSDPA and HSUPA, targeting data-centric devices.
Today, InterDigital continues to be extremely active in the standards process – both in the U.S. and internationally - contributing its ideas and intellectual property along with other companies in shaping the evolution of the wireless industry.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Corporate history
In the late 1960s, the company’s founder, Sherwin Seligsohn, envisioned a communications system that would allow him to trade stocks while sitting on the beach — quite ambitious in a time when analog cellular phones were not yet available. A few years later in 1972, International Mobile Machines Corporation - the predecessor company to InterDigital - was incorporated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.In the late 1970s, before digital cellular networks were introduced in the U.S., InterDigital started to develop TDMA – Time Division Multiple Access – technology for use in digital wireless telephone systems. Its engineers, experts in RF Engineering, were driven by the dream of developing new technology that would allow people to communicate more effectively. InterDigital’s founder envisioned this technology as being spread throughout the world in one huge network.
During these early days, the company recognized that the breakthrough technologies it had developed had great potential, but were well-ahead of mass-market adoption and commercialization. Being a very small company at that time, InterDigital was not in a position to create a market by itself and decided to secure its interests by patenting its inventions. InterDigital had its IPO in 1981, which provided the necessary funding to expand into product development.
In the mid 1980s, InterDigital developed UltraPhone, a wireless local loop system. First installed in the U.S., orders quickly followed from Mexico, Indonesia, Philippines, and other countries where wireline telephone service did not exist – eventually selling 345 systems.
By the early 1990s, the telecommunications industry in the U.S., quite familiar now with digital cellular networks, was divided into two camps – TDMA and CDMA. InterDigital at this time was known as the “TDMA Company” and TDMA was the dominant of the two technologies with support from most of the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) and AT&T.
In 1992, through a strategic acquisition of SCS Mobilecom/Telecom, a small private company with Spread Spectrum CDMA technology, InterDigital became one of only a few companies in the industry with expertise in both TDMA and CDMA technologies. This milestone event boosted the company’s technical expertise and positioned it to move into product development. Not long after, InterDigital demonstrated its Broadband Code Division Multiple Access (B-CDMA) technology, transmitting voice and data at ISDN rates from a subscriber unit traveling in an automobile at its technology development center in Melville, NY.
Widely recognized as the forerunner of today’s WCDMA technology, this was an important early step toward delivering simultaneous high speed data transmission, wireline quality voice and multimedia applications - including video conferencing. While this initial B-CDMA technology was designed for the wireless local loop market, InterDigital continued the development of broadband technologies recognizing their potential for third generation solutions being contemplated across the world at that time.
InterDigital became a key contributor to the leading standards bodies with innovations in more efficient algorithms for faster data speeds, increased network capacity, improved battery life, etc. Having been one of the architects of 2G/2.5G technologies, the company also became a major player in 3G with its inventions in WCDMA (Wideband CDMA).
By the end of the decade, InterDigital had built a successful patent licensing program, having licensing agreements in place with many of the world’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones. Its 3G technology programs also received accolades from across the industry, resulting in collaborative development agreements with Nokia and Infineon.
Around the turn of the millennium, InterDigital became active in the evolution of 3G with HSDPA (High Speed Download Packet Access) and HSUPA (High Speed Upload Packet Access) breakthroughs enabling true wireless broadband with data speeds over 10 Mbps for mobile computing, multimedia, gaming and commerce - forever changing the paradigm of mobile “telephony”. By 2006, the company’s patent licensing program had generated over one billion dollars and the company embarked on the development of its own high-performance dual mode modem ASIC with HSDPA and HSUPA, targeting data-centric devices.
Today, InterDigital continues to be extremely active in the standards process – both in the U.S. and internationally - contributing its ideas and intellectual property along with other companies in shaping the evolution of the wireless industry.