Who co-invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum, a 1942 patent concept that later influenced secure wireless communication?

Hedy Lamarr and George Antheil co-invented frequency-hopping spread spectrum, a 1942 patent concept that later influenced secure wireless communication.

During World War II, actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil proposed a radio-guided torpedo system that would rapidly change among different frequencies. They reasoned that a signal hopping in synchronization between transmitter and receiver would be harder for an enemy to jam.

Their U.S. patent, titled Secret Communication System, was granted in 1942. The Navy did not immediately adopt the system for wartime torpedoes, and the patent later expired. The concept nevertheless became historically important as spread-spectrum techniques developed in later communications technology.

Lamarr did not invent Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or modern cellular networks. Those technologies use complex standards developed decades later, but some incorporate related spread-spectrum principles. Antheil's role is essential because the patent named both inventors.