Currently, the network is actively debating about who actually invented wi-fi. The view that Wi-Fi was invented by Hedi Lamarr, an American actress originally from Germany, is very common. However, there are those who claim that the actress was not related to the appearance of this network, and the patent for the invention belongs to engineer John O'Sullivan. And yet, who invented Wi-Fi?
How wi-fi works
Wi-fi is a way of transmitting digital data over radio channels in the range of up to 150 meters at high speed, comparable to the speed of data transmission over a cable network.
Today, Wi-Fi is in every home, cafe, hotel. Most modern devices can distribute and receive Wi-Fi, the radio network for transmitting digital data has become more than affordable. A huge number of users can connect to the network at the same time, while the quality of communication does not decrease.
Throughout the world, the number of Wi-Fi points is rapidly increasing. Who invented this network, which means so much to the modern world, can be understood simply by following the history of its creation from the very beginning.
This is one of the most popular and promising areas for the development of local and global networks.
Wi-Fi History
So who invented wi-fi? The original prototype of modern wi-fi was a wireless network created in the Netherlands under the leadership of Vick Hayes to optimize the operation of cash registers in supermarkets. The protocol speed was about 2 Mbps.
And the engineer John O'Sullivan is considered the author of the wireless data transfer protocol. In 1991, under his supervision, the first network was created in the radio communication laboratory, which can already be called an analogue of modern Wi-Fi.
In 1997, a unified standard for data transmission was adopted, and by 1999, the data transfer rate of the protocol was already about 11 Mbps.
Why is it rumored that a woman invented wi-fi. Who is really behind this?
Hedi Lamarr and her contribution to the development of wireless networks
It turns out that the Hollywood movie star really played an important role in the advent of modern wireless networks.
Hedy Lamarr invented the very principle of wireless data transmission, while Hayes and O'Sullivan used its discovery in their work on the protocols.
At the same time, the principle of wireless network Lammar created and proposed to use for remote control of torpedoes and improve the guidance system.
The invention of Hedi Lamarr formed the basis of “jumping frequencies” - the technology of noise-resistant addressable radio transmission of only the necessary signal.
How did this happen?
Hollywood story of the great invention
Hedi Lammar was a German actress of Jewish descent, who starred in the scandalous erotic scene of the then sensational film "Ecstasy." The film was banned for showing in many countries of the world, because the actress starred in one of the scenes completely naked.
The first husband of the actress was Fritz Meindl - an Austrian millionaire, the owner of factories for the manufacture of weapons. He was associated with fascism, and relations between the spouses did not work out, as there was a lot of jealousy and control from Meindl.
Lamarr ultimately decides to escape from her husband in the United States and successfully implements his plan, pouring sleeping pills in a drink to the maid assigned to her and dressing in her clothes, not forgetting to bring along a box with precious stones.
Lamarr was successfully received in Hollywood, starred in many films, earning a total of about $ 30 million. However, at that time fascism was rampant in Europe, and a girl with Jewish roots wanted with all her heart to help her country overcome it.
In 1940, Hedy Lamarr, using the knowledge about weapons she acquired during her marriage, created and patented the technology of noise-resistant radio transmission of the signal by constantly changing the frequency randomly.
At the time, this invention was not properly evaluated. They remembered him only in the 1990s, when they began to develop local networks.
Hedi Lamarr is currently known as the actress who invented wi-fi. And her invention directly influenced the development of not only the wi-fi network, but also the general principle of the operation of GSM networks.
And yet who invented wi-fi
We can conclude that all disputes about the true inventor of the network are meaningless, because everyone who was written above contributed to the Wi-Fi network inventions.
It turns out that the beginning of the invention of Wi-Fi was really laid by a Hollywood actress who did not even have a technical background.
This invention was not first appreciated, since it was far ahead of its time, and then began to be used after the war, in the 1960s, in American submarines.
After the invention of semiconductors, this idea began to be used to create cellular networks and other methods of transmitting data "over the air."
Vic Hayes, in the nineties, using Lamarr's blueprints, which by that time had not already been classified, adapted the system to distribute data for production purposes to synchronize the work of cash registers in supermarkets.
And only in the early 90s of the 20th century by an Australian engineer all the developments were systematized to create the first wi-fi network.
It turns out that the work of each participant in the chain of inventions, which eventually led to the creation of the network so popular now, was important and of great importance.