Robert W. Lucky

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Robert W. Lucky
Born(1936-01-09)January 9, 1936
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
DiedMarch 10, 2022(2022-03-10) (aged 86) [1]
Fair Haven, New Jersey, U.S.
AwardsMarconi Prize (1987)
IEEE Edison Medal (1995)
NAE (1978)
IEEE Fellow (1972)

Robert Wendell Lucky (January 9, 1936 – March 10, 2022) was an American

IEEE and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is also a member of TTI/Vanguard
's advisory board.

Early life

Robert Lucky was born in

signal constellations that are similar to those used in the quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) systems commonly used in high speed digital communications today. He received his PhD from Purdue in 1961.[2]

Career

Lucky joined Bell Labs in 1961, where his initial assignment was in the data theory department under William R Bennett. In 1964 he made his best known invention, the

Nobel Prizes
were won by researchers in the division.

Lucky left Bell Labs in 1992 and joined Bellcore, the research laboratory for the divested Bell telephone companies, where he was corporate vice president, responsible for management of research. A few years later Bellcore was sold to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) and renamed Telcordia Technologies (today iconectiv). Robert Lucky retired from Telcordia in 2002.

Adaptive equalizer

In the early 1960s the highest speed for

bits per second. Higher speeds were not possible because of intersymbol interference
. Each dialed connection would have a different distorting effect on the series of pulses sent to convey digital information, smearing successive pulses and entangling them, resulting in errors in detection.

Lucky invented a way to adaptively undo the smearing effects by automatic adjustment of a variable filter, using a tapped

steepest descent algorithm
to minimize distortion. It was initially trained by a series of known pulses, but during actual data transmission it relied upon decision-directed adjustment, which assumed that decisions about pulses were largely correct and could be used for reconstruction of the ongoing error.

The first adaptive equalizer, in 1964, used 13 adjustable gains, each set by 8

relays
. The rack of equipment was about 5 feet high. Its use immediately made possible data transmission at 9600 bits per second – four times the highest previously attainable speed.

Shortly thereafter, the relays were replaced with transistor switches, then in succeeding years the equalizer was implemented with a special purpose integrated circuit. Today adaptive equalization is built into almost every modem and is simply a subroutine in the instruction program for an embedded microprocessor.

Advisory positions

Throughout his career, Lucky was heavily involved in advisory and participatory roles in engineering societies, universities, and government. In the IEEE he was editor of the Proceedings of the IEEE, president of the Communications Society, and executive vice president of the parent IEEE. His government service included being chairman of the United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Technological Advisory Council, chairman of the statutory visiting committee of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and membership on the Defense Science Board. He was active with the National Academy of Engineering and on the advisory boards of several universities.

Honors and awards

Among his honors, Lucky was awarded four honorary doctorate degrees, the 1987

IEEE Information Theory Society.[3] He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to the theory and practical development of data communication systems.[citation needed][when?] He was an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts
.

Writings

See also: DIKW pyramid

Lucky was the author (with J Salz and EJ Weldon) of a textbook, Principles of Data Communications (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1965). He wrote a popularized account of information theory in Silicon Dreams (St Martins Press, New York, 1989). A compilation of his essays was published under the title Lucky Strikes Again (Wiley/IEEE Press, 1992).

After 1982 he wrote a bi-monthly column, Reflections, in

IEEE Spectrum Magazine
, which featured his essays on technology and engineering culture.

Later career

After retirement in 2002, Lucky was a member of the Defense Science Board, chairman of the board of ANSER, Inc., a member of the Laboratory Operations Board of the United States Department of Energy, chairman of Marconi Society, and a member of advisory board of TTI/Vanguard. The governor of New Jersey appointed him to the Authority for the Redevelopment of Fort Monmouth, and he was elected chairman of that Authority.

References

  1. ^ Davis, Amanda (2022-04-01). "Remembering IEEE Spectrum Columnist Bob Lucky". IEEE. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
  2. ^ "Robert W. Lucky". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  3. IEEE Information Theory Society
    . Retrieved July 14, 2011.

External links

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