R&D Pioneer

Pohang Univ. Prof. Uhm Selected 'Scientist of the Month'

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) selected Prof. Uhm Ki-Hong of Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) as 'The Scientist of the Month' for December 2005 in recognition of his outstanding academic research and achievements in the research and development of standard technology for single-carrier and multi-carrier communication systems.

There were strenuous efforts put into research of communication methods and systems by academic circles and industrial communities before Korea became internationally recognized as a 'strong Internet nation' and a 'new test bed for communication technologies.'

Among those R&D pioneers was Prof. Uhm, who contributed significantly to the development of domestic wired and wireless communication technologies by carrying out technological guidance and joint research through industry-academia cooperation with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Samwoo Telecom and Gigalink, after he joined the Electronic & Electrical Engineering Dept. at POSTECH.

With the increased functions and complexity of ultra-high-speed communication systems, including ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) and VDSL (very high-data rate digital subscriber line), they are basically classified into either single-carrier or multi-carrier communication methods. These two methods have both advantages and disadvantages. Prof. Uhm's team, on its own, developed source technologies, CAP (carrierless amplitude phase) and DMT (discrete multitone) - standard technologies for single-carrier and multiple-carrier communication methods required for the development of ADSL and VDSL - and registered patents in the United States as well as Korea. The team also submitted numerous papers for publication in the authoritative journal of the U.S. Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

Prof. Uhm's creative research skills were also demonstrated in his work with AT&T Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies in the U.S. for about 10 years. The excellence of technologies born from his R&D efforts have been adopted as global standard technologies.

While conducting research and development for an ultra-high-speed information and communication system, Prof. Uhm submitted some 20 core technologies related to single- and multi-carrier communication methods to the ATM-LAN and ADSL/VDSL standardization committees in the U.S. and Europe, three of which were selected as U.S. and global standard technologies.

Lucent Technologies manufactured a communication chip set suggested by Prof. Uhm and promoted its use as a global standard. Prof. Uhm also developed a new single-carrier communication standard technology, the CAP method, that utilizes wide bandwidth efficiently and applied it to LAN and ultra-high-speed information-communication systems.

Due to his meritorious achievements, Prof. Uhm received the 'Leonard G. Abraham Prize Paper Award,' IEEE's highest journal paper award in the communication field, a first for a Korean scientist. Recently, IEEE also selected Prof. Uhm as a member of its editing committee for its two main journals, recognizing his remarkable academic research and achievements in his work related to 'communication methods and communication systems.'

Prof. Uhm graduated from the Electronic Engineering Dept. of Seoul National University (SNU) in 1980 and acquired master's and doctorate degrees at SNU in electrical and electric engineering. Prof. Uhm, who once worked at KIST as a senior research fellow, was also selected for 'Who's Who in the World' in 1999 and received LG's R&D Prize in 2000.