Anders Håkan Lans (born 2 November 1947 in Enskede) is a Swedish inventor, employed by the

Swedish National Defence Research Institute Swedish National Defence Research Institute (, FOA) was a Swedish government agency in defense research existing from 1945 to 31 December 2000. It was amalgamated with the National Aeronautical Research Institute (FFA) into the Swedish Defence ...

(FOA), and then

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

. whose primary contribution is the Self-Organized Time Division Multiple Access (STDMA) datalink technology used in

Automatic Identification System The automatic identification system (AIS) is an automatic tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and is used by vessel traffic services (VTS). When satellites are used to receive AIS signatures, the term ''Satellite-AIS'' (S-AIS) is ...

(AIS) for vehicle navigation. Lans has won many notable Swedish honors for his inventions. Lans is also known for various ultimately unsuccessful legal disputes over his computer-related

patents A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

STDMA

Håkan Lans is the designer of a tracking system which makes use of a Self-Organized Time Division Multiple Access (STDMA) datalink. The STDMA datalink is currently in use in

(AIS). AIS is a short range coastal tracking system which is mandatory aboard international voyaging ships with

gross tonnage Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...

(GT) of 300 or more tons, and all passenger ships regardless of size. STDMA is also in use as one of the three physical layer models proposed for

Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 ele ...

(ADS-B), a cooperative surveillance technique for air traffic control. Lans's protocol is used for ADS-B in Sweden. For his STDMA invention, Lans was nominated for the 2007

European Inventor Award The European Inventor Award (formerly European Inventor of the Year Award, renamed in 2010), are presented annually by the European Patent Office, sometimes supported by the respective Presidency of the Council of the European Union and by the Eur ...

, though he did not win. Lans also won the The STDMA patent was awarded to Lans in 1996, but a

US patent Under United States law, a patent is a right granted to the inventor of a (1) process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, (2) that is new, useful, and non-obvious. A patent is the right to exclude others, for a limit ...

ex-parte

reexamination In United States patent law, a reexamination is a process whereby anyone—third party or inventor—can have a U.S. patent reexamined by a patent examiner to verify that the subject matter it claims is patentable. To have a patent reexamined, ...

certificate was issued in 2010 canceling all claims.

Computer graphics

In the late 1960s, Lans invented a

graphics tablet A graphics tablet (also known as a digitizer, digital graphic tablet, pen tablet, drawing tablet, external drawing pad or digital art board) is a computer input device that enables a user to hand draw or paint images, animations and graphics, w ...

with a handheld puck. He sold the technology to Houston Instruments, which marketed the device as the ''HIpad'' in 1971. Some thereby claim Lans to be the inventor of the

computer mouse A computer mouse (plural mice; also mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of the Cursor (user interface)#Po ...

, despite others making similar inventions independently several years earlier. In 1996 Lans received the highest award of the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology for his tablet puck. Lans holds a patent on a

memory controller A memory controller, also known as memory chip controller (MCC) or a memory controller unit (MCU), is a digital circuit that manages the flow of data going to and from a computer's main memory. When a memory controller is integrated into anothe ...

for a

framebuffer A framebuffer (frame buffer, or sometimes framestore) is a portion of random-access memory (RAM) containing a bitmap that drives a video display. It is a memory buffer containing data representing all the pixels in a complete video frame. Mode ...

: "Data processing system and apparatus for color graphics display". Framebuffers with memory controllers had been in common use for years at the time of his 1979 patent filing. In 1997 Lans as an individual sued eleven companies for allegedly infringing his patent. The eleven cases were soon combined. The merits of the case were never heard, however, because the defendants, led by

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

, counterclaimed that the patent had been assigned to Uniboard AB, a patent holding company wholly owned by Lans. Lans lost the case and was ordered to pay defendants' legal fees, a ruling that was upheld on appeal. The subsequent attempted suit by Uniboard AB failed because the patent had expired ten months before the suit. These legal failures led to a dispute between Lans and his attorneys, who Lans sued for misconduct. The attorneys' defense was that they had not been told about the transfer to Uniboard AB. This suit was settled in April 2012. In 1984 Lans patented a color

calligraphic Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

photo plotter, though it was never mass produced. Despite color displays, color frame buffers, and color calligraphic displays already being common prior to 1984, Lans insists that his filings constitute the invention of color computer graphics.

Recognition

Lans received the award Inventor of the Year in Sweden in 1990, the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences' gold medal in 1993, The International Seatrade Award in 1993, the

Polhem Prize The Polhem Prize (''Polhemspriset'') is a Swedish award for a high-level technological innovation or an ingenious solution to a technical problem. The innovation must be available and shown competitive on the open market. The prize is awarded by Sw ...

in 1995, KTH's grand prize in 1996, the Flight Aerospace Industry Award in 1997, the Swedish Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics Thulin Medal in gold in 1999, was appointed the International Swede of the Year in 2000, was appointed an honorary doctor of technology at Uppsala University in 2001, in 2002 received H. M. The King's Medal, 8th size with high blue ribbon and the André Prize from the Swedish Patent and Registration Office in 2003.

References

External links

GP&C Systems International AB
handled licensing of cancelled STDMA patent
The story as told from Lans side
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lans, Hakan 1947 births Living people 20th-century Swedish inventors People from Stockholm