From Forbes
Unlocking The Potential Of Pure Research At InterDigital
Karen Walker
Contributor
Insights on how companies & leaders thrive in hyper-growth.
Liren Chen, CEO of InterDigital, leads one of the world’s largest pure research facilities. In a pure research facility, research is conducted without a specific goal in mind: though the research facility may partner with different corporations and technology firms, the research conducted by its scientists does not have an immediate pathway to profitability. InterDigital, the company Chen heads, is reminiscent of Bell Laboratories, the research and development arm of AT&T which produced scores of technological innovations–including the first synchronous motion-picture system and the world’s first satellite communication system. Founded in 1972, InterDigital was part of building the world’s first wireless system and has had a hand in building every cellular technology since. Chen told me that every facet of technology a consumer interacts with on a daily basis–be it video chatting with a friend or sending a text message–InterDigital has helped to develop.
InterDigital’s workforce is made up, as Chen told me, of inventors and creatives recruited from the world’s top institutions. I wanted to know how Chen managed teams stacked so deep with innovators, and how the company has sustained some of its long-lasting high-powered partnerships while still achieving rapid growth and impressive quarterly and year-over-year returns. Chen offered insight into what engineers at InterDigital are currently engaged in, and what technologies we’re likely to see in the coming years.
Improving Spectrum Usage and the Impact of 5G
Chen told me that InterDigital engineers are focused on solving the most difficult problems in the wireless system, one of which is spectrum usage. Engineers have worked for decades on making the wireless network faster and more reliable, with lower latency; for video usage, engineers are working to make the experience more immersive and increasing the capabilities of augmented and virtual reality.
Chen said that the advent of 5G has been hugely commercially successful. Smartphones adopted 5G technology worldwide more quickly than 3G or 4G, despite the need for carriers to upgrade the network. Currently, InterDigital is working on ‘5G advanced’ technology, meaning they’re making 5G suited for use cases outside of smartphone (for example, autonomous driving). Chen said that we’ve just scratched the surface of the use cases for this technology: he looked to a future where smart agriculture, smart cities, and smart manufacturing are normal aspects of life. Chen also looked ahead to 6G, which he said will be all about integrating artificial intelligence into the core of the network.
InterDigital has seen impressive growth: they reported 140 million for the third quarter of 2023 and have seen a 116% increase in net income year over year. The company has high-profile partnerships with companies such as Apple and Amazon. Chen told me that the relationship with Apple goes back to the pre-iPhone days of 2007 and is currently contracted to continue through 2029. The partnership with Amazon is newer and focuses on IoT products. These long-lasting partnerships–difficult to maintain in the fast-moving world of tech–are key to InterDigital’s growth, Chen said.
I was curious as to how InterDigital managed teams to support their impressive growth. Chen told me that ninety percent of the company’s personnel are inventors, recruited from top universities and Ph.D. programs around the world. Chen said that inventorship is a “team sport” and that the company invests heavily in mentorship of employees. Chen noted that InterDigital’s reputation allows it to attract the brightest engineers in the world; these engineers are then placed on collaborative teams, mentored, and given freedom to create and innovate.
The Role of AI
Chen stated that InterDigital engineers have been researching and innovating with AI for quite a while, specifically to solve wireless and video-related challenges. The primary goal has been to enhance network connectivity and make it adaptable to individual user experiences. Engineers have worked on bettering the infrastructure for AI, and also on building a better infrastructure for AI use cases. This ‘better infrastructure’ means ensuring a reliable, high-speed network with enough bandwidth for processing and sending vast amounts of data.
Curiosity, Leadership, and Making an Impact
Curiosity, according to Chen, is one of his core strengths. Chen said that following his curiosity is what compelled him to leave his home in Beijing and come to the US for graduate school thirty years ago. After graduate school, Chen began his career at Qualcomm as a software engineer before becoming interested in the research side of the organization. At Qualcomm, Chen worked on the first and second generation of wireless. With the advent of 3G, Chen was part of the first project that put the internet into phones.
As an inventor at Qualcomm, Chen became interested in the legal aspect of how to protect intellectual property. He pursued a law degree in addition to his research career, after which Chen also received his MBA. Chen’s tenure at Qualcomm lasted from 1996 to 2021, at which time he left to lead InterDigital; Chen left Qualcomm as the Global Head of IP. Chen noted that throughout his time at Qualcomm, he was pursuing his interests and curiosity; looking back, he can see how the pieces in his story fit together and enabled him to lead. Chen said that there are two factors that have enabled him to move “up and to the right” on the two-by-two matrix: competency and impact.
Chen said that the first ingredient required for success is to be excellent at your job. He noted that individuals should choose a field they are passionate about and commit to becoming excellent so that they can distinguish themselves. Chen said it’s also crucial that individuals focus on what kind of impact they’re making. He noted that in a company as big as InterDigital, team members might overlook the amount of impact they can have on the organization and on their projects–which would be a mistake. Chen said that individuals should focus on the impact of the projects with which they’re engaged, and also on what kind of impact they can make within the company.
InterDigital’s impact is far-reaching; we encounter it every time we pick up our phones or otherwise engage in the digital arena. After more than fifty years of innovation, the company is poised for more significant near-term growth. Chen has been at the forefront of the digital revolution since the very beginning; the teams he leads will no doubt continue to make a wide and deep impact on the lives of consumers going into 2024 and beyond.
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