From Bluetooth to 5G – meet the researchers behind wireless communication
Long before the Bluetooth symbol started glowing blue ...
And it was not just any link. It would work at a distance of ten metres, barely draw any power, take up hardly any space and cost no more than five US dollars to manufacture.
“When people heard that, they laughed and said it would never work,” says Sven Mattisson, co-inventor of Bluetooth and a former adjunct professor.
The race to cut the cord
In the mid-1990s, people were able to take their phones with them outside the home for the first time. Being free from the tangled cable that had previously kept them tethered to the wall socket became a symbol of freedom. But one cable still kept mobile users on a leash – the headphone cable.
Intel, Nokia and Motorola – tech giants from all over the world – were competing to be the first to lead the next revolution: getting different devices to communicate with each other wirelessly. But no one had managed to make it work in practice – yet.
The solution would come from a small city in southern Sweden which, over several decades, had built up unique expertise in applied electronics and telecommunications. It was so unique that the telecoms company Ericsson chose to base its mobile phone development just a few metres from the University’s laboratories. So the step from theory to practice was a short one when, in 1995, radio researcher Sven Mattisson moved from Lund University to Ericsson to tackle one of the major technological challenges of his time.
What makes Lund unique is that the gap between the University and industry is extremely small. This means that ideas don’t just remain concepts, but become technology that actually works, Sven says.
Sven Mattisson saw the solution for wireless communication in chip technology. Wireless networks similar to Wi-Fi already existed, but the technology was too expensive, too bulky and consumed too much power to be built into a mobile phone. Instead, he developed something much simpler, together with his colleague and co-inventor Jaap Haartsen: a small chip that enabled the mobile phone and headphones to connect – using radio waves. The chip was capable of both transmitting and receiving signals and could quickly switch frequencies to avoid interference from other devices. The real challenge lay in filtering out the correct signals from other devices, in a frequency spectrum filled with signals ranging from Wi-Fi to microwave ovens.
“I was devastated when we received our first prototypes and the filters didn’t work as they should have. There were many sleepless nights,” says Sven Mattisson.
Every failed prototype set the project back by months – time that was crucial in the race to be the first to develop the wireless communication of the future.
One of history’s most important messages
But then, after nearly three years of prototype development and sleepless nights, the moment Sven Mattisson had been waiting for finally arrived. By 1997, they had a working prototype. For the first time in world history, they were able to send a message via radio waves – without a cable or a mobile network.
I was in an absolute panic – what on earth should I write?
“In the end, I just pressed the first six keys at the top of the keyboard...”, says Sven Mattisson with a laugh.
The content of the message may not have been earth-shattering, but the fact that it actually got through would change the way the whole world communicates – forever.
“I could never have imagined it would become as big as it is today. At the same time, we designed the technology so that it could be manufactured in any quantity.”
And now the hard work lay ahead of Sven. Developing the concept and working prototypes was only ten per cent of the job, he explains – the rest was getting the technology to market. And that turned out to be easier said than done.
How Bluetooth got its name
Toronto, late 1997. The world’s tech giants have gathered to present their solutions for one of the defining issues of our time: the future of wireless communication. Sven Mattisson and his industry colleague Jim Kardach are there to convince the proposals committee that Ericsson’s radio link is the solution everyone is looking for. Because if their technology is to work in practice, it must become standard in all new mobile phones. But they fail. The committee is not impressed and instead declares another company’s idea the winner.
Disappointed, Sven and Jim head to the nearest bar to discuss what went wrong. But after a few beers, the conversation drifts instead towards their favourite subject – Vikings. Sven Mattisson talks about a book on the Vikings he has read, 'The Long Ships' by Frans G. Bengtsson. It describes how King Harald Bluetooth attempted to unite the Vikings’ many factions at what were known as Viking assemblies. These were political meetings where decisions were made, and which ended with everyone celebrating together.
Few things are better than listening to good stories, when a man has eaten his fill and has ale left in his cup. For it helps the time to pass easily between one meal and the next, and makes for less quarrelling across the tables.
– 'The Long Ships', Frans G. Bengtsson
“Jim thought it was a spot-on illustration of how we could get companies to collaborate on our new technology. We meet, resolve conflicts – and then we party!” says Sven and laughs.
After their evening at the bar, Jim Kardach suggests they name their new technology “Bluetooth”, after the Viking king. And Sven and Jim continue tirelessly in their efforts to get the outside world to listen.
A year later, Ericsson has succeeded in bringing the tech companies Nokia, Intel, Toshiba and IBM around to the same idea – to make the technology a common, global standard. It is time for the launch. Several consultants are working flat out to come up with a name for the technology, recalls Sven Mattisson.
One of the suggestions was ‘Flirt’, with the slogan ‘getting close, but not touching’.
But one by one the names are dropped – already taken, or rejected. In the end, all that remains is the working title that had been coined over a couple of beers. So they go with it. And the rest, as they say, is history.
From Bluetooth to next-generation mobile networks
When Sven Mattisson developed Bluetooth, the challenge was how to enable many users to share the same frequency spectrum without the signals turning into a single wall of noise. That challenge did not disappear with Bluetooth – it simply grew.
In the early 2010s, the internet really did find its way into our pockets with the advent of 4G. The result? Mobile data usage skyrocketed. We were no longer content simply to send messages to one another; we wanted to share photos and videos with our friends (and strangers) online. The forecasts predicted ten, twenty and thirty-fold increases in mobile traffic – but one thing remained the same.
“The spectrum available for mobile phones to send and receive signals – called the frequency spectrum – did not increase,” says Fredrik Tufvesson, professor of radio systems at Lund University.
The mobile network was approaching breaking point, and Fredrik was one of many researchers searching for a solution. One of the most radical ideas came from the research firm Bell Labs in the US: what if mobile network base stations – the fixed transmitters that receive and send radio signals between our phones and the network – had infinitely many antennas working together instead of just a few? But the idea never got off the ground.
“No one thought it was actually possible to build. It seemed far too complicated and resource-intensive. But we didn’t agree.”
Two world records
Fredrik Tufvesson and his colleagues decided to test the idea in their laboratory – a grey room with fluorescent lighting, a whiteboard covered in scribbles and tangled cables strewn across the floor. And here, in this unassuming laboratory in northern Lund, a major technological breakthrough was soon to take place.
On one side of the room, they set up a base station with around a hundred antennas. On the other side, they recreated an overloaded mobile network.
“All users were standing within a metre of each other and were transmitting on exactly the same frequency at the exact same moment,” he explains.
In a standard 4G network with just a few antennas, this would cause the signals to merge into a single noise. But with a hundred antennas, something else happened. Instead of transmitting signals in all directions, the base station could direct them more precisely towards each mobile phone. It was like swapping a spotlight for lots of small torches. Suddenly, it became possible to detect subtle differences in how each signal was transmitted, and in this way distinguish between users.
We were the first in the world to demonstrate that 5G actually works in practice, says Fredrik Tufvesson.
And just two years later, in 2016, Lund set a new record. This time, it was for the number of users who could share the same frequency band and still be distinguished from one another – 22, for those of you who are wondering.
The experiments at Lund University laid the foundations for today’s mobile networks. With the new technology, known as Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output), it became possible to use radio waves more efficiently – with greater reliability and lower energy consumption.
“Since then, several tech companies have thanked us for having the courage to lead the way, enabling them to follow suit and bring the technology to the world,” says Fredrik.
It is thanks to 5G that mobile networks today function in dense city centres, in hospitals, on public transport and in industry – places where many people, machines and systems need to be connected simultaneously and where an outage can have serious consequences.
Towards ever higher frequencies
We use enormous amounts of data – so much so that the radio frequencies that have long supported mobile networks are once again becoming saturated. To cope with the volume of traffic, networks are being forced to move to ever higher frequencies. And that brings new challenges: the higher the frequency, the harder it becomes to direct the signals where they need to go.
Massive MIMO technology, which could be likened to many small torches, is no longer sufficient. Today’s dense mobile networks require laser-like precision: every signal must reach exactly the right recipient, even though users are in close proximity and communicating simultaneously.
For a long time, it was considered unrealistic to build such precision – known as digital beamforming – directly into a mobile phone. But in 2024, BeammWave, a company spun out of Lund University’s research into radio systems and antenna technology, demonstrated that it was possible. Using a small chip in a mobile phone, BeammWave successfully demonstrated distributed digital beamforming for 5G.
And the fact that the breakthrough took place in Lund is no coincidence, according to Stefan Svedberg, CEO of BeammWave and an alumnus of Lund University – who, fittingly enough, was previously involved in driving the effort to make Bluetooth a common standard for technology developers.
There is a strong tradition in Lund of energy-efficient radio communication, with roots stretching all the way back to Bluetooth. This has created a unique ecosystem: the industrial expertise of major tech companies, a University that trains leading engineers, and world-class infrastructure. That is unusual – even by international standards.
Thirty years at the forefront of wireless communication
“We've found a small screw in a very large assembly – and that screw is what we're extremely good at,” says Stefan Svedberg.
How Bluetooth was invented in Lund
Who created Bluetooth?
Bluetooth was developed at Ericsson in Lund. Sven Mattisson and Jaap Haartsen played central roles in turning the idea of a short-range wireless communication system into a working technology. Nils Rydbeck initiated the project and Tord Wingren helped shape the early development and build the team.
What was Lund University’s role in the development of Bluetooth?
Lund University’s research was essential to the development of Bluetooth in Lund. Lund University had close ties with the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson in Lund, where the Bluetooth technology was developed, and contributed expertise in applied electronics, radio systems and telecommunications. Co-inventor Sven Mattisson held positions at both Lund University and Ericsson simultaneously – a dual role that reflects how deeply the two were intertwined.
How were some of the key people behind Bluetooth connected to Lund University?
Several of the key figures behind Bluetooth had strong connections to Lund University. Sven Mattisson earned his PhD in microelectronics at Lund University and became an adjunct professor while working on the development of Bluetooth. Nils Rydbeck completed his doctorate in telecommunications at Lund University and Tord Wingren holds a degree in electrical engineering from the university.
What was Ericsson’s role in Bluetooth’s development?
Ericsson led the development of Bluetooth technology. The core research, engineering and implementation work took place within Ericsson in Lund.
Why did the connection between Lund University and Ericsson matter?
Bluetooth grew out of a local ecosystem where academic research, engineering expertise and industrial development were closely connected. The strong relationship between Lund University and Ericsson enabled ideas, people and technical knowledge to move effectively between research and practical application.
How did Bluetooth become a global standard?
In 1998, Ericsson joined forces with Intel, IBM, Nokia and Toshiba to form the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, SIG. This partnership helped transform the Bluetooth technology developed in Lund into a global standard for short-range wireless communication.
Published: 11 May 2026
Last updated: 3 June 2026
Written, researched and produced by: Amanda Lindström
Photography, infographics and video: Catrin Jakobsson
Sources: Sven Mattisson, Fredrik Tufvesson, Stefan Svedberg, 'The Long Ships' by Frans G. Bengtsson (1994, translated by Michael Meyer), Lux Insights, Inc.
Archival images: Harry Hotline Society archive, Sven Mattisson private collection, Kennet Ruona, Louis Moe, Henry A. Payne
Editor: Ellen Albertsdóttir, ellen [dot] albertsdottir [at] kommunikation [dot] lu [dot] se (ellen[dot]albertsdottir[at]kommunikation[dot]lu[dot]se)