NCSA NEWS

Motorola Wins NCSA Grand Challenge Award

released May 22, 2001

 

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Work with NCSA's Private Sector Program leads to new industry standard for reducing number of dropped cellular calls

CHAMPAIGN, IL — The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois will present its 2001 Industrial Grand Challenge Award to Motorola, Inc. during NCSA's annual Private Sector Program meeting this week. The award luncheon will be held at the Holiday Inn in Urbana on Tuesday, May 22, at noon. The event is open to the news media.

This year's award recognizes Motorola Labs' Jeff Bonta for developing and perfecting a new method of improving cellular telephone service. Bonta's concept, known as rescue channels, anticipates potential interference in the radio connection between mobile phones and site equipment like cell towers. This interference often results in dropped calls. By reserving alternative radio channels on neighboring towers and empowering the mobile to switch to one of those channels on its own, rescue channels saves calls in jeopardy of being disconnected.

Rescue channels' development required thousands of hours simulating real-world cellular systems on NCSA's supercomputers. It will be part of the next-generation industry standard that will govern digital cellular systems in the United States and parts of South America and Asia. Rescue channels will be mandatory in all handsets, and, in an unprecedented move by the standard-setting body, it will also be mandatory in site equipment.

"Motorola is an exemplar of what a company can do as a part of the Private Sector Program," said Dan Reed, NCSA's director. "For more than 10 years in the program, using a whole succession of computer technologies at NCSA to develop generations of new products, Motorola has gained advantage in the marketplace. Rescue channels is only the most recent fruit of this long legacy of collaboration."

NCSA's Private Sector Program gives partners access to all of NCSA's resources, many not yet available in industry. It creates an environment in which companies are free to challenge themselves and solve problems they might not be able to solve otherwise. The Industrial Grand Challenge Award honors breakthrough research enabled by a partner's relationship with NCSA, research that will help ensure America's continued leadership in global business.

"Some time ago, Motorola learned that it couldn't do it all, that there are expertise areas that should be drawn upon instead of developed within the company," said Dennis Roberson, Motorola's Chief Technology Officer. "The simulation and modeling capabilities at NCSA, in both their human manifestation and their manifestation in computational power and infrastructure, provide Motorola with a great partnering opportunity. Jeff's rescue channels work highlights the benefits of that partnership."

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications is the leading-edge site for the National Computational Science Alliance. NCSA is a leader in the development and deployment of cutting-edge high-performance computing, networking, and information technologies. The National Science Foundation, the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, industrial partners, and other federal agencies fund NCSA.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2000 were $37.6 billion. Motorola Labs serves as the advanced research arm of the company, focusing on edge technologies for future products and product enhancements. Motorola also actively licenses technologies developed in the Labs to external customers.

 

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