W. Rae Young
Encyclopedia
William Rae Young, Jr. was one of the Bell Labs
engineers that invented the cell phone
.
The history of cellular phone technology began in December 1947 with a Bell Labs internal report in which Rae Young suggested the hexagonal cell concept for a cellular mobile telephone system.
in what became his lifetime employment. Young did research and development for Bell Labs in the fields of radar, television, communication systems, and top-secret military systems. Young lived and worked in New York City for many years until he and his family moved to Summit, New Jersey from which he commuted by train to New York City.
During 1942-1945 Young worked on radar and communication systems for the US Armed Services. In 1945 Young began work on mobile radiotelephone systems in vehicles for coverage of urban areas and along highways. He developed systems for reducing interference between mobile systems that are closely spaced in frequency and location. Young served as chairman of a Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA) subcommittee TR8.9 on systems standards for mobile communications equipment.
In 1947, W. Rae Young proposed what are now called cell phones in a report to the RMA Systems Committee. Coworker Douglas H. Ring
at Bell Labs, liked Young's idea about locating many mobile phone towers in a hexagonal cellular arrangement throughout each city so that every mobile phone user would be able to communicate from at least one cell through the telephone system. Douglas Ring credited W. Rae Young with suggesting the hexagonal cell layout and expanded on Rae Young's concept in another internal Technical Memo dated 11 December 1947. In 1951 Young was appointed Supervisor of the cellular systems engineering team and later became department head of cellular mobile phone development at Bell Labs.
In the 1950s Young was transferred to another Bell Labs facility at Murray Hill, New Jersey where he worked on communications systems and formulated requirements for design of telephone switching systems and data-transmission systems. In 1962 he was transferred to another Bell Labs facility at Holmdel, New Jersey.
In 1964 W. Rae Young was made an IEEE Fellow "for contributions to mobile radio and data communications systems".
After working for Bell Labs for 47 years, he retired in June 1979.
family.
In February, 1937 Rae Young Jr. married Mary Lou Traywick (1915–1975) during their senior year at the University of Michigan. They had three children: Roy, Susan, and Barbara, each of whom earned a doctorate degree.
Rae Young Jr. played piano, clarinet, cello, and bass with the Summit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra for over 40 years.
Rae's wife Mary Lou died from cancer just before her 60th birthday.
In 1980 Rae met a widow Betty Wood, a retired crystallographer from Bell Labs. For the next 27 years Rae and Betty were constant companions until her death in March 2006. Rae was 92 when he died.
Young was granted more than 14 patents.
Bell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
engineers that invented the cell phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
.
The history of cellular phone technology began in December 1947 with a Bell Labs internal report in which Rae Young suggested the hexagonal cell concept for a cellular mobile telephone system.
Career
Young graduated from the University of Michigan in 1937 with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. After graduation, Young began working at Bell LabsBell Labs
Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its...
in what became his lifetime employment. Young did research and development for Bell Labs in the fields of radar, television, communication systems, and top-secret military systems. Young lived and worked in New York City for many years until he and his family moved to Summit, New Jersey from which he commuted by train to New York City.
During 1942-1945 Young worked on radar and communication systems for the US Armed Services. In 1945 Young began work on mobile radiotelephone systems in vehicles for coverage of urban areas and along highways. He developed systems for reducing interference between mobile systems that are closely spaced in frequency and location. Young served as chairman of a Radio Manufacturers Association (RMA) subcommittee TR8.9 on systems standards for mobile communications equipment.
In 1947, W. Rae Young proposed what are now called cell phones in a report to the RMA Systems Committee. Coworker Douglas H. Ring
Douglas H. Ring
Douglas H. Ring was one of the Bell Labs engineers that invented the cell phone. The history of cellular phone technology began on December 11, 1947 with an internal memo written by Douglas H...
at Bell Labs, liked Young's idea about locating many mobile phone towers in a hexagonal cellular arrangement throughout each city so that every mobile phone user would be able to communicate from at least one cell through the telephone system. Douglas Ring credited W. Rae Young with suggesting the hexagonal cell layout and expanded on Rae Young's concept in another internal Technical Memo dated 11 December 1947. In 1951 Young was appointed Supervisor of the cellular systems engineering team and later became department head of cellular mobile phone development at Bell Labs.
In the 1950s Young was transferred to another Bell Labs facility at Murray Hill, New Jersey where he worked on communications systems and formulated requirements for design of telephone switching systems and data-transmission systems. In 1962 he was transferred to another Bell Labs facility at Holmdel, New Jersey.
In 1964 W. Rae Young was made an IEEE Fellow "for contributions to mobile radio and data communications systems".
After working for Bell Labs for 47 years, he retired in June 1979.
Family
Rae Young Jr. was born in Lawton, Michigan, a small rural town. He was the eldest of 4 children: 3 boys and a girl. Rae's father William Rae Young Sr. was a medical doctor. Rae's mother Elizabeth Emerson was also college educated and was descended from the Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century...
family.
In February, 1937 Rae Young Jr. married Mary Lou Traywick (1915–1975) during their senior year at the University of Michigan. They had three children: Roy, Susan, and Barbara, each of whom earned a doctorate degree.
Rae Young Jr. played piano, clarinet, cello, and bass with the Summit Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra for over 40 years.
Rae's wife Mary Lou died from cancer just before her 60th birthday.
In 1980 Rae met a widow Betty Wood, a retired crystallographer from Bell Labs. For the next 27 years Rae and Betty were constant companions until her death in March 2006. Rae was 92 when he died.
Publications of Rae Young
- "Interference between VHF Radio Communications Circuits". IRE Proceedings, July 1948.
- "Ratio of Frequency Swing to Phase Swing in Phase and Frequency Modulation Systems Transmitting Speech", by D. K. Gannett and W. R. Young, IRE Proceedings, March 1949.
- "Echos in Transmission at 450 Mc. [MHz] from Land to Car Radio Units", W. R. Young and L. Y. Lacy, IRE Proceedings, March 1950.
- "Comparison of Mobile Radio Transmission at 150, 450, 900 & 3700 mc" [mHz], Bell System Technical Journal, vol 32, pages 1068-1085, November 1952.
- "AMPS: Introduction, Background, and Objectives", Bell System Technical Journal, vol. 58, 1, pages 1–14, January 1979.
Patents of W. Rae Young
-- Cellular High Capacity Mobile Radio Telephone System", filed April 28, 1980Young was granted more than 14 patents.
External links
- 1947 memo by D. H. Ring in which W. Rae Young is credited with the hexagonal cells concept (on page 3)
- AT&T article on mobile and cellular phone history
- The history of cellular telephones