Wim Sweldens

Wim Sweldens

Sweldens speaking at the World Economic Forum in 2012
Residence United States
Alma mater University of Leuven,
Belgium
Occupation Scientist,
Telecom innovator
Employer Kiswe Mobile
Known for data compression
Cell tower, arrow, pointing to tiny Rubiks cube
Advances in cell phone transmission technology mean that large mobile transmission towers (left) can be shrunk to a box the size of a Rubik's Cube, based on technology developed by a team led by Sweldens.

Wim Sweldens is a Belgian American scientist, innovator, and business leader notable for innovations in communications and signal processing technology. His image compression algorithms[1] became part of the JPEG 2000 standard. He developed algorithms for compressing three dimensional images[1] into billions of tiny triangular modules.[2][3] At telecommunications firm Alcatel-Lucent in New Jersey, he led an effort to enable mobile operators to monitor network traffic with real-time visibility. He led development of new cell tower technology called lightRadio[4] which reduces the size of transmission equipment dramatically into a tiny box about the size of a Rubik's Cube.[5][6][7] A large power-hungry cell tower could be replaced by many unobtrusive small palm-sized boxes which consist of a computer chip and antenna technology. Mobile operators can offer any combination of 2G, 3G and 4G technologies. The equipment uses only basic electrical power and can be placed indoors and linked to optical fiber cables;[8] it enables mobile networks to operate with much less electricity, halving CO2 emissions and reducing the carbon footprint,[9] and permitting cell phone service to reach more people over expanded geographic areas.[10] The technology may mean the end of cell towers within ten years, according to several reports.[9][11][12] In 2012, Sweldens was president of the wireless division of Alcatel-Lucent.[13] He is a member of the Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the IEEE.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Peter Schröder, Wim Sweldens (May 1995). "Geek Page - Wavelet Image Compression: Beating the bandwidth bottleneck.". Wired. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  2. ↑ "Triangles may hold the key to faster downloads". CNN Technology. August 9, 2000. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  3. ↑ LEE DYE (September 11, 2000). "A Leap for High-Speed Transmission: Data: Latest technology will lessen image process time. 3-D capacity could prove boon for industries.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  4. ↑ Note: the term light in lightRadio means both lightweight as well as able to process optical signals.
  5. ↑ Wang Xing (China Daily) (2011-04-21). "Alcatel-Lucent teams up with China Mobile". China Daily (official Chinese news source). Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  6. ↑ PETER SVENSSON (February 11, 2011). "Cell Phone Towers To Be Replaced By Tiny Antennas". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  7. ↑ Ben Rooney (February 7, 2011). "Alcatel-Lucent Shrinks Cell Tower". The Wall Street Journal: Technology. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (February 12, 2011). "Wireless advances could mean no more cell towers". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Nick Wood (7 February 2011). "Alcatel-Lucent signals 'end of base station'". Total Telecom. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  10. ↑ Charles Arthur (7 February 2011). "Tiny device could transform mobile communications, says its creator". The Guardian. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  11. ↑ Peter Svensson (Associated Press) (February 12, 2011). "Advances could mean no more cell towers". The News-Herald. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  12. ↑ Pete Foster (7 March 2011). "The importance of greener telecoms: Technological innovations that help to reduce network power can also support solutions that can help us live greener lives". CNN. Retrieved 2012-01-25.
  13. ↑ Nancy Gohring of IDG News (Sep 8, 2010). "Operators Get Creative Due to Spectrum Crunch". PC World. Retrieved 2012-01-25.

External links