Secret communication system
- Filed
- 10 June 1941
- Granted
- 11 August 1942
- Assignee
- Individual
- Co-inventors
- George Antheil
Radio communications
Hedy Lamarr: inventions and patents
Known for Frequency hopping communication system patented with George AntheilNationality Born in Austria9 November 1914 to 19 January 2000
Hedy Lamarr was an actress born in Austria who, with the composer George Antheil, patented a frequency hopping communication system in 1942. The National Inventors Hall of Fame says the system was designed to reduce the risk of detection or jamming of radio-controlled torpedoes. The patent was issued under her name at the time, Hedy Kiesler Markey.1,2
Patents
Inventions
- Frequency hopping communication system, 1942. A signal that switches frequencies at split-second intervals in a seemingly random pattern. Sender and receiver must hop at the same time for the signal to be received clearly.1
Recognition
- 1997 Acknowledged by the Electronic Frontier Foundation as an important development in wireless communications (with George Antheil)1
- 2014 Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame1
Sources
- National Inventors Hall of Fame, Hedy Lamarr (accessed 2026-10-27)
- Google Patents, US2292387A Secret communication system (accessed 2026-10-27)