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Robert D. Howson AT&T Bell Laboratories, Holmdel Robert Howson's fifth U.S. patent was his invention of a more efficient error detection scheme for the digital carrier transmission systems which carry the bulk of all telephone traffic today. That patent, No. Re. 33,900 (1992), is titled "Error Monitoring on Digital Transmission Systems." The invention allows the telephone company to perform real-time testing of its digital transmission lines without having to take them out of service and enables the telephone company to detect any degradation of the transmission path and take the faulty facilities out of service before the customer is impacted. Overall, the invention improves the reliability of the digital telecommunications network throughout North America, reduces costs associated with the maintenance of the network and improves customer satisfaction with the quality of telecommunications service provided. Howson earned a bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Yale University.