Speech Processing Pioneer Bishnu Saroop Atal Dies at 93

Bishnu Saroop Atal, a renowned acoustics and signal processing researcher, passed away at the age of 93 on August 19. Atal joined Bell Labs in 1961 and made significant contributions to speech coding techniques, which laid the foundation for efficient voice transmission over cellular networks. He received the IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Medal in 2013 for his "fundamental and pioneering contributions to speech coding."

Atal's early work focused on speaker identification technology, leading to the development of linear predictive coding (LPC), a widely used method for compressing speech at low bit rates. He further enhanced speech coding techniques, including multipulse LPC and code-excited linear prediction (CELP), which improved the quality of compressed speech while reducing bit rates.

Atal's research efforts expanded cellular capacity, enabling wireless networks to handle more simultaneous calls. He later led the acoustics and speech research departments at Bell and was named a Fellow in 1994. Atal later joined the University of Washington as an affiliate professor, where he continued his research in speech processing, speech recognition, and high-dimensional computing.