The Story of the Transatlantic Telegraph and the World’s First Internet

About the speaker

Ed Godshalk has been an Electrical Engineer for over 40 years and worked at several startups, Tektronix and Maxim Integrated. While at Cascade Microtech (1989-94), he invented the world’s first waveguide input wafer probe and later the Air Coplanar Probe
(ACP), which has been widely imitated. During his 22 years at Maxim, from which he retired in 2019, he created the Electromagnetics Group. He is presently working with FJ Scaler on Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) development for high-speed optical
communications. He has over a dozen issued patents. In 2020 he was elevated to the grade of Fellow by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) “For the development of microwave on-wafer probing and measurement techniques” which helped to enable microwave integrated circuits for commercial use. Dr. Godshalk finds great pleasure in mentoring students and helping them achieve success in engineering and life. Helping students understand the origin of technical ideas is important to him, since this helps them to have a deeper understanding of engineering. He also restores vintage sports cars and enjoys backcountry skiing and being in the mountains. In his younger days he organized an expedition that successfully climbed Denali, the tallest peak in North America (20,310’). He also climbed Kilimanjaro (19,341’) in Africa, and numerous other peaks in North America.

Abstract

This presentation traces the formative years of electrical engineering and the evolution of transmission line engineering that enabled a global communications network over 120 years ago. The story begins with the invention of the “Victorian internet”, the telegraph, generally regarded as the first practical use of electronics. This is followed by transatlantic telegraph cable, which some historians equate as the 19th century equivalent of landing a man on the moon. These were a catalyst for technologies such as improved battery design, insulated wire, coaxial cable, modulation schemes, and using the earth as a conductor. The transatlantic cable taught engineers the concept of the RC time constant, which had a detrimental effect on data rate. Many great minds of the 19th century worked to understand and solve this problem, resulting in the Telegrapher’s equations that enabled high-speed communication and long-distance telephone service. The author has replicated some of the original systems to illustrate the data rate problems. The culmination is the modern transoceanic fiber optic cable, which forms the backbone of the global communications network, having data rates of over 500 Tbps (terabits per second).