PARIS, FRANCE: Alcatel-Lucent today announced that Gerard J. Foschini, distinguished scientist and innovator at Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Labs, has been awarded the 2008 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal during the IEEE Honors Ceremony in Quebec City, Canada.

The Alexander Graham Bell Medal is bestowed by the IEEE, a professional association for the advancement of technology, for contributions to the advancement of communications sciences and engineering.

Foschini was recognized for his seminal contributions at Bell Labs to the science and technology of multiple-antenna wireless communications - a critical technology in today's advanced mobile broadband networking, said a press release.

His multiple antenna concepts have allowed for increased data transmission rates by orders of magnitude without increased power at the transmitter, or the increased cost of expanding bandwidth, it added.

Commenting on Dr. Foschini's achievement, Jeong Kim, president of Bell Labs said: "Jerry personifies the Bell Labs ideal and is a testament to the ever-increasing value of preeminent industrial research… He has been a major contributor to the advancement of wireless capabilities enjoyed today throughout the world."

A Fellow of both IEEE and Bell Labs, Foschini has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the theory and practice of point-to-point wireless technology and his fundamental research in MIMO, the release said.

Foschini has published more than 100 papers and holds 15 patents. He is a past recipient of the IEEE Best Paper Award, IEEE Eric E. Sumner Award, Bell Labs Inventor's Award, the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award and the Bell Labs President's Gold Award.