Andy Viterbi: Wireless Pioneer, Co-Founder of Qualcomm - A Historic Perspective (#118)

Communications pioneer Andrew J.Viterbi — who in 1962 earned one of
the first doctorates in electrical engineering granted at the
University of Southern California — has forever changed how people
everywhere connect and communicate. Dr.Viterbi’s lifelong interest
in communications began as a child, when his family fled Italy for
America in 1939 to escape the persecution of Jews. Born into an
analog world, this visionary thinker opened the doors to the
digital age with the Viterbi Algorithm, a groundbreaking
mathematical formula for eliminating signal interference. Today,
the Viterbi Algorithm is used in all four international standards
for digital cellular telephones, as well as in data terminals,
digital satellite broadcast receivers and deep space telemetry. In
the spring of 1967, Dr.Viterbi met Irwin Jacobs at a
telecommunications conference in California. Both men, and another
of Dr. Viterbi’s colleagues, Leonard Kleinrock, shared an interest
in forming a consulting group. With an investment of $1,500 — $500
from each man — the trio founded Linkabit. By the 1970s, Linkabit
began providing technology for defense communications satellites
using very large antennas. Dr. Viterbi and his Linkabit associates
came up with a breakthrough computer to accomplish the task and
dubbed it a “microprocessor,” even though it was made up of many
chips. His renown grew as fast as the company. In 1975, Italy’s
National Research Council awarded Dr. Viterbi one of its highest
academic accolades, the Christopher Columbus Award. In 1980,
Linkabit merged with M/A-COM of Boston. It soon produced the VSAT
(Very Small Aperture Terminal), the foundation for private
satellite communications networks. In 1985, the VSAT division was
sold to Hughes. The team of Viterbi and Jacobs had a new dream:
together, they founded Qualcomm Corp. to develop and manufacture
satellite communications and digital wireless telephones. 00:00:00
Intro 00:01:12 How did you come to write your latest book? 00:03:02
Centro Primo Levi NYC and The Italian Jewish Experience 00:05:27
Knowing Primo Levi 17:53:06 Early days of wireless digital
communications 00:23:33 Why didn't you patent the Viterbi
Algorithm? 00:25:20 How do you separate tech hype from reality? 4G
Vs 5G? 00:30:47 The commercial value of basic research and how to
keep funding it. 00:38:16 Would a tax on scientific innovation
impeed progress? 00:42:00 What do you think about SETI? How would
you communicate with an alien civilization? 00:48:32 What would you
put in your ethical will? 00:51:27 What would you put in your
billion-year time capsule? 00:53:56 What advice would you give your
younger self? Support the podcast:
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