Research history highlights

Optical device to advance computer performance
IBM researchers built a device capable of delaying the flow of light on a silicon chip, a requirement that will eventually allow computers to use optical communications to achieve better performance.

IBM and top universities continue software intellectual property reform
Under IBM's new open collaborative research program, results developed between IBM Research and top university faculty and their students for specific projects are made available as open source software code and all additional intellectual property developed based on those results are openly published or made available royalty-free.

DARPA selects IBM for supercomputing grand challenge
DARPA selected IBM for a Supercomputing Grand Challenge, awarding a four-year, $244 million award to develop a machine that provides 100 times the sustained performance of today’s general purpose supercomputers and is drastically simpler to program, administer, and use.

Collaboration with U.S. Department of Energy in advancing supercomputing technology
IBM collaborated with the National Nuclear Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science to share a five year, $58 million research and development effort to further enhance the capabilities of the fastest computer in existence. The key goal of the R&D effort is to produce a software environment that enables scientific exploration atop an architecture that can scale to hundreds of thousands of low-power CPU cores.

$100 million investment in collaborative innovation ideas
IBM invested $100 million in a two year initiative pursuing 10 business ideas generated at InnovationJam. The InnovationJam event consisted of two 72-hour sessions, in which participants posted more than 46,000 ideas as they explored IBM’s most advanced research technologies and considered their application to real-world problems and emerging business opportunities. Ideas ranged from 3D Internet to smart healthcare payment systems.

Clipped Tag RFID technology
IBM licensed Clipped Tag RFID technology to Marnlen RFiD. The Clipped Tag, developed at IBM's Watson Research Center, allows consumers to tear off the majority of an RFID tag's antenna, reducing the tag's read range to just a few inches, ensuring consumer privacy while maintaining the benefits of the technology, such as product authentication or recalls.

Technology improves English speaking skills
IBM’s India Research Laboratory developed a Web-based, interactive language technology to help people who speak English as a second language improve their speaking skills. The technology evaluates grammar, pronunciation, comprehension and other spoken-language skills, and provides detailed scores for each category.

Speech translation technology breaks through language barrier for U.S. forces in Iraq
IBM developed a bidirectional English to Arabic translation software, designed to improve communication between military personnel and Iraqi forces and citizens. The United States Joint Forces Command is embracing automated speech-to-speech translation techniques to help offset the current short supply of military linguists.

Worldwide patent policy promoting innovation
IBM formalized a new corporate policy, built on the company’s long-standing practices of high quality patents and transparency of ownership, designed to foster integrity, a healthier environment for innovation, and mutual respect for intellectual property rights. It requires patent applicants to be responsible for the quality of the patents, and that patent applications be available to the public.

Collaboration with Genome Institute of Singapore may lead to better understanding of cell process regulation
Through collaboration with the Genome Institute of Singapore, IBM helped to discover that microRNAs, small molecules that are an important regulatory component in the machinery of living cells, likely exert their influence much more widely than previously thought. The work is expected to provide insight on microRNA-based regulation in diseases such as cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes and others, and to suggest possible avenues for novel diagnostics and the development of therapeutics.

World record in magnetic tape data density
IBM researchers demonstrated a world record in data density on linear magnetic tape, a dramatic indication that one of the computer industry's oldest and still most affordable data storage technologies has the potential to provide increased capacity for years to come.

New method for rapid molecule sorting and delivery
IBM researchers demonstrated a new nanoscale method that both rapidly separates very small numbers of molecules and also delivers them precisely onto surfaces with unprecedented control. When fully developed, the technique has the potential to improve such diverse applications as medical lab tests and future nanoelectronic circuit manufacturing.

New way to explore and control atom-scale magnetism
IBM researchers developed a new method to explore magnetism, called spin-excitation spectroscopy, which uses IBM's special low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope designed for use with a broad range of magnetic fields up to 140,000 times stronger than the earth's. The new method promises to be an important tool in the quest not only to understand the operation of future computer circuit and data-storage elements as they shrink toward atomic dimensions, but also to lay the foundation for new materials and computing devices that leverage atom-scale magnetic phenomena.

Sharing intellectual capital with business partners
IBM announced that it would share “Intellectual Capital” from its Research division with its business partners as part of its commitment to enable innovation. Business partners may now collaborate with IBM’s leading researchers to deliver more innovative solutions to clients.

Extending current chip-making techniques
IBM researchers found a way to extend a key chip-manufacturing process to generate smaller chip circuits. As chip features approach the fundamental scale limits of individual atoms and molecules, Moore's Law is being threatened. IBM's new result indicates that a "high-index immersion" variant of DUV lithography may provide a path for extending Moore's Law further, thus buying the industry time.

IBM and Scripps Research Institute collaborate on pandemic research
The Checkmate initiative was created to capitalize on Scripps Research’s world class research in the areas of biochemical modeling and drug discovery, and IBM’s expertise in computational biology bio-patterning and supercomputing. The joint research team has use of IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer, the world's fastest supercomputer technology, as well as access to Scripps Research's new state-of-the-art biomedical research facility, Scripps Florida, in Palm Beach County.

Chipset to boost wireless communications
IBM scientists created a small, low-cost chipset that could allow wireless electronic devices to transmit and receive ten times faster than today's advanced WiFi networks. Using the IBM-pioneered chip-making technology called silicon germanium, the chipset is able to send and receive information in a portion of the radio spectrum that is both unlicensed and can carry a much higher volume of data, a key advantage as data-intensive digital media formats, such as HDTV, become more pervasive.