Richard H. Frenkiel
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Richard H. Frenkiel (born March 4, 1943 in
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
) is an American engineer, known for his significant role in the early development of cellular telephone networks.


Professional career

Frenkiel earned a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
at
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
and a master's degree at
Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
in 1965. Beginning in 1963, he worked for
Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
where he first designed recorded announcement machines. In late 1965, he was invited to get involved in the early planning of cellular telephone systems and was paired with Philip T. Porter, a cellular pioneer. They focused on cell geometry, vehicle locating and handoff, and overall system architecture, leading to an early system proposal. With Porter and Joel S. Engel, he was an author of the "High Capacity Mobile Telephone System Feasibility Studies and System Plan" which was filed with the FCC in 1971 and became an important cellular text. From 1971 to 1973, Frenkiel worked at AT&T Corporate Headquarters, where he became a primary interface with the FCC on Cellular issues. In 1973, he returned to Bell Labs, where he managed a group of mobile phone system engineers. Their focus was on vehicle-locating techniques, maximizing channel efficiency, and methods of splitting cells to include additional towers for high volume areas. His "underlaid cell" concept greatly reduced the cost and logistic complexity of cell splitting and became AT&T's most sought-after patent in cross-licensing agreements. For five years Frenkiel was head of the Mobile Systems Engineering Dept. at Bell Labs during the transition from experimental systems to commercial service. His department developed interface specifications for nationwide compatibility among cellular companies. He also served on the
Electronic Industries Alliance The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA; until 1997 Electronic Industries Association) was an American standards organization, standards and trade organization composed as an alliance of trade associations for electronics manufacturers in the ...
Committee which proposed rules for cellular systems that were adopted by the FCC. After the FCC allocated new frequencies in 1968 for mobile phones, Frenkiel's engineering team developed specifications for
cellular network A cellular network or mobile network is a telecommunications network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless network, wireless and the network is distributed over land areas called ''cells'', each served by at least one fixed-locatio ...
s and its parametrization (1971). This was the basis for AMPS. Frenkiel transferred to the AT&T Information Systems Labs in 1983, where he became head of cordless telephone development. He led the development of the 5000 series of cordless telephones, which achieved a much higher level of quality and performance than previous cordless telephones. He was also responsible for the early manufacture of those products in Singapore, pioneering the outsourcing of manufacturing within AT&T. In 1994, Frenkiel was a co-recipient, along with Joel S. Engel, of the National Medal of Technology for their contributions to the creation of cellular systems. He has also received the Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1987) and the Achievement Award of the Industrial Research Institute (1992). He has been elected to the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...
and is a
Fellow of the IEEE A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...
. In 1994 Frenkiel returned to Rutgers University where he became a Visiting Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Director for Strategic Planning at WINLAB at Rutgers. He also works as an industry consultant and writer, and was Mayor of Manalapan, New Jersey in 1999. He currently teaches a course in Wireless Business Strategy at Rutgers University


Publications

* -- ''Cellular radiotelephone system structured for flexible use of different cell sizes'', filed September 22, 1976, issued March 13, 1979


See also

* History of mobile phones


Awards

*
IEEE Fellow , the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and ot ...
(life fellow) *
IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal The IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal is an award honoring ''"exceptional contributions to communications and networking sciences and engineering"'' in the field of telecommunications. The medal is one of the highest honors awarded by the Instit ...
1987 With Joel S. Engel and William C. Jakes, Jr. *
National Medal of Technology The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly the National Medal of Technology) is an honor granted by the president of the United States to American inventors and innovators who have made significant contributions to the development ...
1994 received from President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
*
Charles Stark Draper Prize The U.S. National Academy of Engineering annually awards the Draper Prize, which is given for the advancement of engineering and the education of the public about engineering. It is one of three prizes that constitute the "Nobel Prizes of Enginee ...
2013 With Joel S. Engel, Martin Cooper,
Thomas Haug Thomas Haug (26 April 1927 – 9 December 2023) was a Norwegian-Swedish electrical engineer known for developing the Nordic Mobile Telephone, cellular telephone networks. Early life and education Thomas Haug was born in Norway on 26 April 1927. ...
and Yoshihisa Okumura *Inductee into the Wireless Hall of Fame (2016).


References


External links


IEEE Biography of Richard H. Frenkiel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frenkiel, Richard H. Scientists at Bell Labs American electrical engineers Tufts University School of Engineering alumni Rutgers University alumni National Medal of Technology recipients Draper Prize winners Fellows of the IEEE 1943 births Scientists from New York City Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering