Henry Samueli - The Person Who Turned The Modem In Your Phone Into A Reality

The innovative contributions of Broadcom cofounder Henry Samueli catalyzed the broadband expansion.

Henry Samueli constructed a five-tube radio during middle school using a kit. Subsequently, he located the identical kit—a Graymark 506B—on eBay and reconstructed it/ PETER ADAMS

In 1991, a limited number of people possessed Internet connection. Individuals who participated in online forums or spoke with friends via email generally accessed the Internet using a telephone line, with their communications transmitted at a maximum speed of 14.4 kilobits per second. Concurrently, cable television was experiencing a surge in popularity. By 1991, sixty percent of American households had subscribed to a cable service, and the expansion of cable services globally was also accelerating.

Hypothetically, utilizing the expanding cable network instead of telephone lines for Internet access would significantly enhance communication speeds. Converting cable television from analog to digital would enable cable providers to provide a significantly greater number of channels. The methodology for achieving this—employing analog-to-digital converters and digital signal processing to convert the analog waveforms transmitted via coaxial cable into digital format—was firmly established. However, the cable modems necessary for establishing a digital broadband network were not available in the general market.

Introducing Henry Samueli. In 1985, he launched a multidisciplinary research program at the University of California, Los Angeles, to develop chips for digital broadband technology. In the ensuing years, he and his team developed an extensive array of proof-of-concept circuits that showcased the fundamental components of high-performance digital modems. In 1991, Samueli and his UCLA graduate student Henry Nicholas established Broadcom Corp. to market the technology.

The advancements in digital signal processing architectures developed at UCLA and Broadcom continue to influence the digital modems that facilitate both wired and wireless connections in our gadgets. In recognition of these advancements and contributions to the expansion of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, Samueli has been awarded the 2025 IEEE Medal of Honor.