1997
Wi-fi technology
The clever country
Wi-fi came out of the CSIRO’s pioneering work in radioastronomy. The technology was first embodied in an industry standard in 1999 (called IEEE 802.11a). By 2012 CSIRO had licence agreements with 90 per cent of the industry, with total revenue earned in excess of $450 million. As well as computers, wi-fi is now used to connect electronic devices wirelessly, including printers, game consoles, TVs and phones.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is one of the most esteemed creations of 20th-century Australia. A government body dedicated to scientific and industrial research was established as early as 1916. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, under the leadership of George Julius, David Rivett and Arnold Richardson, ramped up research for primary industry.
Prime Minister Ben Chifley restructured the organisation in 1949 and renamed it the CSIRO, under the chairmanship of Ian Clunies Ross. The organisation and its predecessors were involved in developing varieties of wheat, cotton and wool that would respond to the Australian environment. It was this not-for-profit research that provided the backbone of Australian primary industry.
After World War II Clunies Ross encouraged expansion into the areas of radioastronomy, electronics and computing. English scientist Trevor Pearcey’s team ran the first test program on CSIR Mark 1 in November 1949. This was the fourth modern computer in the world and it came on line for full operation in 1951.
CSIR Mark 1 was an essential tool in the implementation of the Snowy River project and many other civil and social engineering initiatives. The huge mainframe computer was eventually renamed CSIRAC (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Automatic Computer), but unfortunately there were no Australian entrepreneurs ready to develop the project and it languished behind the work of American, British and European corporations.
In the immediate postwar period, the CSIRO also developed myxomatosis and calicivirus for the control of rabbit populations. Research into insect control to keep flies off cattle and reduce disease led to the development of insect repellents such as Aerogard, which was used by the Queen when she visited Australia in 1963 and became an essential condiment to the outdoor lifestyle.
The CSIRO invented Relenza, the world’s first effective flu treatment, as well as soft contact lenses, fabric softeners, gene shears, a vaccine for the Hendra virus, polymer banknotes, rubber based on the proteins from fleas, microwave landing systems for aircraft, and many other domestic, agricultural and industrial processes. In conjunction with the University of Texas in Dallas, the CSIRO has led the way in developing carbon sheeting.
But perhaps the most memorable breakthrough was wireless LAN IEEE 802.11, which was developed by a team led by John O’Sullivan and including Terry Percival, Diet Ostry, Graham Daniels and John Deane. The device enabled wireless communication between computers – what is now referred to as wi-fi and is implanted in some five billion devices, including all wireless-enabled laptops, smartphones and tablets.
Wireless networks had been first developed in the 1970s, but they were not very efficient. O’Sullivan’s background in radioastronomy inspired him to look at ‘multipathing’, and this proved to be the answer. The LAN IEEE 802.11 was patented in 1996 and had been adopted as the industry standard by the turn of the century. US Patent 5487069 is essential in the manufacture of any wireless device and earned the CSIRO upwards of $430 million in royalties before its expiry in 2013.
The CSIRO holds 3582 patents and 275 trademarks and has been credited with 728 inventions. Every so often in Australia’s history we aspire to becoming ‘the clever country’, at which time the CSIRO prospers. It’s a credit to the nation – even when the signal drops out.