Developmenthistory
TheBellTelephoneLaboratoryorBellLaboratorywasoriginallyaresearchanddevelopmentorganizationintheBellsystemthatengagedintelecom-relatedtechnologiesincludingtelephoneexchanges,telephonecables,andsemiconductors.
In1925,whenAT&Tpresident,WalterGifford(WalterGifford).AcquiredtheresearchdepartmentofWesternElectronicsCorporationandestablishedanindependententitycalled"BellTelephoneLaboratories."AT&TandWesternElectronicseachown50%ofthecompany.
TheworkofBellLabscanberoughlydividedintothreecategories:basicresearch,systemengineeringandapplicationdevelopment.Inbasicresearch,heismainlyengagedinthebasictheoreticalresearchoftelecommunicationstechnology,includingmathematics,physics,materialscience,behavioralscienceandcomputerprogrammingtheory.Systemengineeringmainlystudiesthehighlycomplexsystemsthatconstitutetelecommunicationnetworks.ThedevelopmentdepartmentisthelargestdepartmentofBellLabsandisresponsiblefordesigningtheequipmentandsoftwarethatmakeuptheBellSystemtelecommunicationsnetwork.
After1984,inaccordancewiththeUSgovernment'sagreementtospinoffAT&T,BellcorewassplitfromBellLabs.BellcoreprovidesunifiedresearchanddevelopmentservicesforaseriesofsmallBellcompaniesafterthespin-off.
In1996,BellLabsandAT&T'sequipmentmanufacturingdepartmentseparatedfromAT&TandbecameLucentTechnologies.AT&Tretainedasmallnumberofresearcherstobecomeitsresearchinstitution-AT&TLabs.
Importantresearchresults
In1933,KarlJanskydiscoveredthatthecenteroftheMilkyWaywascontinuouslyemittingradiowavesbystudyingelectrostaticnoiseinlong-distancecommunications.Thisradiowavewascalled3Kbackgroundradiation.Throughthisresearch,radioastronomywasestablished.
In1947,BellLabsinventedthetransistor.Participatinginthisresearch,JohnBardeen,WilliamShockley,andWalterHouserBrattainwontheNobelPrizeinPhysicsin1956.
Shannon(ClaudeShannon)publishedapaper"TheMathematicalPrinciplesofCommunication"in1948,whichlaidthefoundationformoderncommunicationtheory.HisresultsarebasedinpartonNyquistandHartley'spreviousworkatBellLabs.
BellLaboratoriesinventedthephotovoltaiccell.
BellLabsisalsothebirthplaceofUNIXoperatingsystemandClanguage.TheClanguagewasdevelopedbyBrianKernighan,DennisRitchie,andKenThompsonintheearly1970s.Inthe1980s,itwasdevelopedintoC++languagebyBiganiStrusschup.
Morethananyotherinstitution,BellLabshashelpedweavethetechnologicalfabricofmodernsociety.Itsscientistsandengineershavemadeseminalscientificdiscoveries,havelaunchedtechnologicalrevolutionsthathavereshapedthewaypeoplelive,workandplay,andhavebuiltthemostadvancedandreliablecommunicationsnetworksintheworld.
Today,astheinnovationenginebehindLucentTechnologies,BellLabsdesignsproductsandservicesthatareattheforefrontofcommunicationstechnology,andconductsfundamentalresearchinfieldsimportanttocommunications.Guidedbybothexperienceandvision,BellLabsistakingtheleadinshapingtomorrow'sbroadbandnetworkspoweredwithserviceintelligenceateverynetworklayer.
TheBellLabsDifference
ThenewBellLabsisspreadacrossmorethan10countries-thelargestR&Dorganizationfocusedontheneedsoflargeserviceproviders,theleadingsourceofnewcommunicationstechnologiesandthemostcreativeforceincommunicationsnetworkingtoday.
ThetechnologyneedsofleadingserviceprovidersnowdriveourR&Defforts.Forexample,wehaveincreasedourinvestmentinR&Dthatwillenablesimpler,more"service-friendly"networkswithmoreintelligenceineverylayer.BellLabsR&Dalsoincludesopticalnetworktechnologies,packetdatasolutions,circuit-to-packetnetworkmigrations,spread-spectrumwirelesstechnologies,andnetworkoperationandmanagementsoftware.
ThebreadthanddepthofexperiencethatthepeopleofBellLabsbringtothetableareunrivaledintheindustry.perhapsthatiswhy-moreoftenthannot-BellLabsprovidesthevisionandsetsthepacefortheentirecommunicationsindustry.Ourscientistsandengineersareconstantlypushingtheenvelopeofwhat'spossibleincommunications.
BellLabsissoproductiveitreceivesabouttwopatentsperworkingday.YetwhatBellLabsbringstoLucentanditscustomersismorethanaknackforcreatingnewtechnologies.Customers'needsfortechnologyintegration,fornetworkplanning,optimization,andmanagementhaveneverbeengreater.AndBellLabs,whichpioneeredsystemsengineeringandmanyareasofoperationsresearch,answersthiscallwithitsdeepunderstandingofhowlarge,complexnetworksfittogether.
ShapingtheFuture
PastBellLabsbreakthroughs-liketransistors,lasersanddigitalencryption-arethebasisoftoday'scommunicationsindustry.TheinnovationscomingoutofBellLabstodayarelayingthefoundationfortomorrow'snetworks.Examplesinclude:
Softswitches,the"Brains"ofanewnetworkarchitecturethatenablesserviceproviderstoquicklyintroducenewservicesandmanagetheconvergenceofvoiceanddatatrafficontheirnetworks.
Smartantennasandotherwirelesstechnologiesthatcanreduceequipmentsize,cost,andpowerrequirements.
RamanandL-bandamplifiers,whichexpandthecapacityofopticalnetworks.
Softwareandtechnologythatcanshortenservice-creationintervals,improvecustomerrelationships,reducecosts,andoptimizenetworks.
Research
Whilethevastmajority-morethan90percent-ofthescientistsandengineersatBellLabsareapplyingtheirconsiderabletalentstotheneedsofserviceproviders,itisprudenttomaintainabroadertechnicalcapabilitythanwhatiscurrentlyrequiredbyourcustomers.Forthisreason,BellLabsmaintainsasmall,butprolific,long-termresearchprogram.Thatresearchexploressuchareasasthefutureofwirelessandopticalnetworking,theInternet,multimediacommunications,physicsandmathematics.Lucent'sinvestmentinlong-termresearchprovidesthe"seedcorn"toensurethatwemaintainaleadingpositionintechnologiescriticaltoourfuture.
Inthelastfewmonths,thisresearchprogramhasproduced:
Theworld'sfirstsemiconductorlaserthatemitslightcontinuouslyandreliablyoverabroadspectrumofinfraredwavelengths.
Thediscoverythatcrystalsintheskeletonsofmarinecreaturescalledbrittlestarsactasopticalreceptors.Bystudyingthem,wemightlearnhowtodesignbetteropticalelementsfortelecommunicationsnetworks.
Improvedsuperconductingmaterials.TheBellLabsDifference
ThenewBellLabsisspreadacrossmorethan10countries-thelargestR&Dorganizationfocusedontheneedsoflargeserviceproviders,theleadingsourceofnewcommunicationstechnologiesandthemostcreativeforceincommunicationsnetworkingtoday.
ThetechnologyneedsofleadingserviceprovidersnowdriveourR&Defforts.Forexample,wehaveincreasedourinvestmentinR&Dthatwillenablesimpler,more"service-friendly"networkswithmoreintelligenceineverylayer.BellLabsR&Dalsoincludesopticalnetworktechnologies,packetdatasolutions,circuit-to-packetnetworkmigrations,spread-spectrumwirelesstechnologies,andnetworkoperationandmanagementsoftware.
ThebreadthanddepthofexperiencethatthepeopleofBellLabsbringtothetableareunrivaledintheindustry.Perhapsthatiswhy-moreoftenthannot-BellLabsprovidesthevisionandsetsthepacefortheentirecommunicationsindustry.Ourscientistsandengineersareconstantlypushingtheenvelopeofwhat'spossibleincommunications.
BellLabsissoproductiveitreceivesabouttwopatentsperworkingday.YetwhatBellLabsbringstoLucentanditscustomersismorethanaknackforcreatingnewtechnologies.Customers'needsfortechnologyintegration,fornetworkplanning,optimization,andmanagementhaveneverbeengreater.AndBellLabs,whichpioneeredsystemsengineeringandmanyareasofoperationsresearch,answersthiscallwithitsdeepunderstandingofhowlarge,complexnetworksfittogether.
ShapingtheFuture
PastBellLabsbreakthroughs-liketransistors,lasersanddigitalencryption-arethebasisoftoday'scommunicationsindustry.TheinnovationscomingoutofBellLabstodayarelayingthefoundationfortomorrow'snetworks.Examplesinclude:
Softswitches,the"brains"ofanewnetworkarchitecturethatenablesserviceproviderstoquicklyintroducenewservicesandmanagetheconvergenceofvoiceanddatatrafficontheirnetworks.
Smartantennasandotherwirelesstechnologiesthatcanreduceequipmentsize,cost,andpowerrequirements.
RamanandL-bandamplifiers,whichexpandthecapacityofopticalnetworks.
Softwareandtechnologythatcanshortenservice-creationintervals,improvecustomerrelationships,reducecosts,andoptimizenetworks.
Research
Whilethevastmajority-morethan90percent-ofthescientistsandengineersatBellLabsareapplyingtheirconsiderabletalentstotheneedsofserviceproviders,itisprudenttomaintainabroadertechnicalcapabilitythanwhatiscurrentlyrequiredbyourcustomers.Forthisreason,BellLabsmaintainsasmall,butprolific,long-termresearchprogram.Thatresearchexploressuchareasasthefutureofwirelessandopticalnetworking,theInternet,multimediacommunications,physicsandmathematics.Lucent'sinvestmentinlong-termresearchprovidesthe"seedcorn"toensurethatwemaintainaleadingpositionintechnologiescriticaltoourfuture.
Inthelastfewmonths,thisresearchprogramhasproduced:
Theworld'sfirstsemiconductorlaserthatemitslightcontinuouslyandreliablyoverabroadspectrumofinfraredwavelengths.
Thediscoverythatcrystalsintheskeletonsofmarinecreaturescalledbrittlestarsactasopticalreceptors.Bystudyingthem,wemightlearnhowtodesignbetteropticalelementsfortelecommunicationsnetworks.
Improvedsuperconductingmaterials.TheBellLabsDifference
ThenewBellLabsisspreadacrossmorethan10countries-thelargestR&Dorganizationfocusedontheneedsoflargeserviceproviders,theleadingsourceofnewcommunicationstechnologiesandthemostcreativeforceincommunicationsnetworkingtoday.
ThetechnologyneedsofleadingserviceprovidersnowdriveourR&Defforts.Forexample,wehaveincreasedourinvestmentinR&Dthatwillenablesimpler,more"service-friendly"networkswithmoreintelligenceineverylayer.BellLabsR&Dalsoincludesopticalnetworktechnologies,packetdatasolutions,circuit-to-packetnetworkmigrations,spread-spectrumwirelesstechnologies,andnetworkoperationandmanagementsoftware.
ThebreadthanddepthofexperiencethatthepeopleofBellLabsbringtothetableareunrivaledintheindustry.Perhapsthatiswhy-moreoftenthannot-BellLabsprovidesthevisionandsetsthepacefortheentirecommunicationsindustry.Ourscientistsandengineersareconstantlypushingtheenvelopeofwhat'spossibleincommunications.
BellLabsissoproductiveitreceivesabouttwopatentsperworkingday.YetwhatBellLabsbringstoLucentanditscustomersismorethanaknackforcreatingnewtechnologies.Customers'needsfortechnologyintegration,fornetworkplanning,optimization,andmanagementhaveneverbeengreater.AndBellLabs,whichpioneeredsystemsengineeringandmanyareasofoperationsresearch,answersthiscallwithitsdeepunderstandingofhowlarge,complexnetworksfittogether.
ShapingtheFuture
PastBellLabsbreakthroughs-liketransistors,lasersanddigitalencryption-arethebasisoftoday'scommunicationsindustry.TheinnovationscomingoutofBellLabstodayarelayingthefoundationfortomorrow'snetworks.Examplesinclude:
Softswitches,the"brains"ofanewnetworkarchitecturethatenablesserviceproviderstoquicklyintroducenewservicesandmanagetheconvergenceofvoiceanddatatrafficontheirnetworks.
Smartantennasandotherwirelesstechnologiesthatcanreduceequipmentsize,cost,andpowerrequirements.
RamanandL-bandamplifiers,whichexpandthecapacityofopticalnetworks.
Softwareandtechnologythatcanshortenservice-creationintervals,improvecustomerrelationships,reducecosts,andoptimizenetworks.
Research
Whilethevastmajority-morethan90percent-ofthescientistsandengineersatBellLabsareapplyingtheirconsiderabletalentstotheneedsofserviceproviders,itisprudenttomaintainabroadertechnicalcapabilitythanwhatiscurrentlyrequiredbyourcustomers.Forthisreason,BellLabsmaintainsasmall,butprolific,long-termresearchprogram.Thatresearchexploressuchareasasthefutureofwirelessandopticalnetworking,theInternet,multimediacommunications,physicsandmathematics.Lucent'sinvestmentinlong-termresearchprovidesthe"seedcorn"toensurethatwemaintainaleadingpositionintechnologiescriticaltoourfuture.
Inthelastfewmonths,thisresearchprogramhasproduced:
Theworld'sfirstsemiconductorlaserthatemitslightcontinuouslyandreliablyoverabroadspectrumofinfraredwavelengths.
Thediscoverythatcrystalsintheskeletonsofmarinecreaturescalledbrittlestarsactasopticalreceptors.Bystudyingthem,wemightlearnhowtodesignbetteropticalelementsfortelecommunicationsnetworks.
Improvedsuperconductingmaterials