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98-423: This is the first terrain-following radar for use on crewed aircraft, designed by Bert Bechtel, a former Navy engineer, who had designed a radar scan template control technique that permitted safe aircraft descent in adverse weather. The concept was the basis of winning a $ 750,000 US Army contract to develop a radar system to automatically guide a drone aircraft. The US Army did not pursue the project to production, but

196-714: A Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives , was the Texas Instruments president. Geophysical Service, Inc. became a subsidiary of Texas Instruments. Early in 1988, most of GSI was sold to the Halliburton Company. Texas Instruments exists to create, make, and market useful products and services to satisfy the needs of its customers throughout the world. In 1930, J. Clarence Karcher and Eugene McDermott founded Geophysical Service, an early provider of seismic exploration services to

294-411: A building's vertical walls produces a partial corner cube that returns a signal that is about 10 million times stronger than the signal from sand or dry ground. To deal with the rapidly changing signals, an automatic gain control with 100 dB of range was developed. The beamwidth of the radar was small enough that objects to either side of the aircraft's flight path might be a potential hazard if

392-442: A leader in the graphing calculator industry. Its defense business was sold to Raytheon Company in 1997; this allowed TI to strengthen its focus on digital solutions. After the acquisition of National Semiconductor in 2011, the company had a combined portfolio of 45,000 analog products and customer design tools. In the stock market, Texas Instruments is often regarded as an indicator for the semiconductor and electronics industry as

490-559: A low-resolution map-like display of the ground below the aircraft, leading to the wartime development of the H2S radar . To provide the accuracy required for terrain following, TFR systems have to be based on the monopulse radar concept. The monopulse technique produces a beam of the same width as a traditional design, but adds additional information in the radio signal, often using polarization , which results in two separate signals being sent in slightly different directions while overlapping in

588-416: A map-like display that the navigator then uses to plot a route that avoids higher terrain features. The two techniques are often combined in a single radar system: the navigator uses the terrain avoidance mode to choose an ideal route through lower-altitude terrain features like valleys, and then switches to TFR mode which then flies over that route at a minimum altitude. The concept was initially developed at

686-529: A paper: "Some Recent Developments in Silicon and Germanium Materials and Devices". In 1954, Texas Instruments designed and manufactured the first transistor radio . The Regency TR-1 used germanium transistors, as silicon transistors were much more expensive at the time. This was an effort by Haggerty to increase market demand for transistors. Jack Kilby , an employee at TI, invented the integrated circuit in 1958. Kilby recorded his initial ideas concerning

784-461: A prototype of the world's first transistor radio , and, through a partnership with Industrial Development Engineering Associates of Indianapolis, Indiana, the 100% solid-state radio was sold to the public beginning in October of that year. In the 1960s, company president Pat Haggerty had a team that included Jack Kilby to work on a handheld calculator project. Kilby and two other colleagues created

882-410: A relative fashion; that is, the absolute altitudes of objects are not important. In some cases, it is desirable to provide an absolute number to indicate the amount of clearance or lack of it. The height of the top of any particular feature relative to the aircraft can then be calculated through h = H - R sin φ , where H is the altitude over the ground measured by the radio altimeter, φ is the angle and R

980-438: A reorganization of Geophysical Service Incorporated , a company founded in 1930 that manufactured equipment for use in the seismic industry, as well as defense electronics. TI produced the world's first commercial silicon transistor in 1954, and the same year designed and manufactured the first transistor radio . Jack Kilby invented the integrated circuit in 1958 while working at TI's Central Research Labs. TI also invented

1078-558: A slotted planar array antenna with a separate X-band receiver used to generate MRI video, with a search cone of 7.5 degrees wide, spanning from +8 degrees above to -17 degrees below to the boresight of the aircraft. For AN/APQ-122(V)B, the stabilization reference could either be manually or automatically switched to MD-1 gyro if the LN-15J inertial navigational system become unreliable or inoperable, thus terrain following operation can still continue, where in earlier system such as AN/APQ-115, if

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1176-402: A whole, since the company sells to more than 100,000 customers. Texas Instruments was founded by Cecil H. Green , J. Erik Jonsson , Eugene McDermott , and Patrick E. Haggerty in 1951. McDermott was one of the original founders of Geophysical Service Inc. (GSI) in 1930. McDermott, Green, and Jonsson were GSI employees who purchased the company in 1941. In November 1945, Patrick Haggerty

1274-723: Is a TFR used in A-7 Corsair II and C-130 Hercules aircraft. AN/APQ-116 was basically the integration of previously independent AN/APQ-115 TFR into the ILAAS digital navigation system. The radar also fed a digital weapons computer which made possible accurate delivery of bombs from a greater stand-off distance, greatly improving survivability compared with faster platforms such as the F-4 Phantom II. X band multi-mode radar by Texas Instruments for C-130 Hercules , Boeing RC-135 , Boeing T-43 and Boeing E-4 . AN/APQ-122 has

1372-565: Is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Dallas, Texas . It is one of the top 10 semiconductor companies worldwide based on sales volume. The company's focus is on developing analog chips and embedded processors , which account for more than 80% of its revenue. TI also produces digital light processing (DLP) technology and education technology products including calculators , microcontrollers , and multi-core processors . Texas Instruments emerged in 1951 after

1470-581: Is known as terrain masking . However, radar emissions can be detected by enemy anti-aircraft systems with relative ease once there is no covering terrain, allowing the aircraft to be targeted. The use of terrain-following radar is therefore a compromise between the increased survivability due to terrain masking and the ease with which the aircraft can be targeted if it is seen. Even an automated system has limitations, and all aircraft with terrain-following radars have limits on how low and fast they can fly. Factors such as system response-time, aircraft g-limits and

1568-750: Is made up of four divisions: analog products , embedded processors , digital light processing , and educational technology . As of January 2021, the industrial market accounts for 41 percent of TI's annual revenue, and the automotive market accounts for 21 percent. TI's remaining businesses consisting of DLP products (primarily used in projectors to create high-definition images), calculators and certain custom semiconductors known as application-specific integrated circuits. Texas Instruments sells DLP technology for TVs, video projectors, and digital cinema . On February 2, 2000, Philippe Binant, technical manager of Digital Cinema Project at Gaumont in France, realized

1666-440: Is primarily used by military strike aircraft, to enable flight at very low altitudes (sometimes below 100 feet/30 metres) and high speeds. Since radar detection by enemy radars and interception by anti-aircraft systems require a line of sight to the target, flying low to the ground and at high speed reduces the time that an aircraft is vulnerable to detection to a minimum by hiding the aircraft behind terrain as far as possible. This

1764-417: Is sending out pulses, a function generator is producing a varying voltage representing a preferred manoeuvring curve. This is similar in shape to a ski jump ramp, flat under the aircraft and then curving upward in front of it. The curve represents the path the aircraft would take if it was manoeuvring at a constant g-force , while the flat area under the aircraft extends forward a short distance to represent

1862-400: Is sent as a series of brief pulses and the reflections of these pulses off the ground produces very powerful returns. The time the pulse takes to travel to and from the terrain produces a range measurement to the terrain in front of the aircraft. The angle relative to the aircraft is returned by a sensor on the vertical gimbal that returns a calibrated voltage. At the same time that the radar

1960-449: Is sometimes referred to as ground hugging or terrain hugging flight. The term nap-of-the-earth flight may also apply but is more commonly used in relation to low-flying military helicopters , which typically do not use terrain-following radar. TFR systems work by scanning a radar beam vertically in front of the aircraft and comparing the range and angle of the radar reflections to a pre-computed ideal manoeuvring curve. By comparing

2058-512: The A-7A , General Dynamics F-111 , RF-4C , and C-130E . AN/APQ-115 has a single contoured, spoiled parabola antenna, with a search cone of 5 degrees wide, spanning from +7 degrees above to -18 degrees below to the boresight of the aircraft. AN/APQ-115 suffered from inaccurate references (poor stabilization and Doppler inputs), which directly lead to the development of more advanced system such as AN/APQ-122. The Texas Instruments I-band AN/APQ-116

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2156-737: The Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in the 1950s. It was first built in production form starting in 1959 by Ferranti for use with the TSR-2 aircraft, flying for the first time in an English Electric Canberra testbed in 1962. While the TSR-2 project was ultimately abandoned, the concept was widely deployed in 1960s and 70s strike aircraft and interdictors , including the General Dynamics F-111 , Panavia Tornado and Sukhoi Su-24 "Fencer". The wider introduction of stealth aircraft technologies through

2254-723: The Little Professor in 1976 and Dataman in 1977. TI produces a range of calculators, with the TI-30 being one of the most popular early calculators . TI has also developed a line of graphing calculators , the first being the TI-81 , and most popular being the TI-83 Plus (with the TI-84 Plus being an updated equivalent). Many TI calculators are still sold without graphing capabilities. The TI-30 has been replaced by

2352-662: The MH-53 Pave Low helicopter and PAVE LOW III requirement. Designed to perform terrain following mode/function in high clutter area such as in cities. Development of AN/APQ-99 for RF-4C, incorporating experience gained from AN/APQ-116 and other radars in the family. Multi-mode radar by Texas Instruments for HH-60D & MH-60K . Increased jamming resistance, improved weather penetration, better guidance in turn flight, and better power management function in semi-covert mission. The radar can operate in terrain-clearance, terrain-avoidance, air-to-air ranging and cross-scan modes,

2450-535: The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty . Texas Instruments also continued to manufacture equipment for use in the seismic industry, and GSI continued to provide seismic services. After selling (and repurchasing) GSI, TI finally sold the company to Halliburton in 1988, after which sale GSI ceased to exist as a separate entity. In early 1952, Texas Instruments purchased a patent license to produce germanium transistors from Western Electric ,

2548-847: The Paveway series of laser-guided bombs (LGBs). The first LGB was the BOLT-117 . In 1969, TI won the Harpoon (missile) Seeker contract. In 1986, TI won the Army FGM-148 Javelin fire-and-forget man portable antitank guided missile in a joint venture with Martin Marietta . In 1991, TI was awarded the contract for the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon . In 1988, TI paid the U.S. government $ 5.2 million "to settle allegations one of its divisions overcharged

2646-714: The Phantom II , the Army's Grumman OV-1 Mohawk , and the advanced AN/APQ-110 system for the General Dynamics F-111 . For a variety of reasons, the TSR-2 project was cancelled in 1965 in favor of purchasing the F-111, a platform of similar concept based around a similar radar. In contrast to Ferranti's design, the APQ-110 offered several additional controls, including a ride quality setting for "hard", "soft" and "medium" that changed

2744-643: The Speak & Spell , such as the Speak & Read and Speak & Math , were introduced soon thereafter. In 1979, TI entered the home computer market with the TI-99/4 , a competitor to computers such as the Apple II , TRS-80 , and the later Atari 400/800 and VIC-20 . By late 1982, TI was dominating the U.S. home computer market, shipping 5,000 computers a day from their factory in Lubbock. It discontinued

2842-661: The TI-30X IIS . Also, some financial calculators are for sale on the TI website. In 2007, TI released the TI-Nspire family of calculators and computer software that has similar capabilities to the calculators. Terrain-following radar Terrain-following radar (TFR) is a military aerospace technology that allows a very-low-flying aircraft to automatically maintain a relatively constant altitude above ground level and therefore make detection by enemy radar more difficult. It

2940-793: The TI-99/4A (1981), the sequel to the 99/4, in late 1983 amid an intense price war waged primarily against Commodore. At the 1983 Winter CES, TI showed models 99/2 and the Compact Computer 40 , the latter aimed at professional users. The TI Professional (1983) ultimately joined the ranks of the many unsuccessful MS-DOS and x86 -based—but non-compatible —competitors to the IBM PC (the founders of Compaq , an early leader in PC compatibles, all came from TI). The company for years successfully made and sold PC-compatible laptops before withdrawing from

3038-777: The Tornado IDS have two separate radars, with the smaller one used for terrain-following. However, more modern aircraft such as the Rafale with phased array radars have a single antenna that can be used to look forward and at the ground, by electronically steering the beams. Terrain-following radar is sometimes used by civilian aircraft that map the ground and wish to maintain a constant height over it. Military helicopters may also have terrain-following radar. Due to their lower speed and high maneuverability, helicopters are normally able to fly lower than fixed-wing aircraft. Systems are now available that mount to commercial UAV's, allowing

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3136-559: The television antennas at Cairn O' Mounth and the Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station , bridges over the River Forth , and overhead power lines . In spite of the early start of Cornell's work, for reasons that are not well recorded, further development in the US ended for a time with the concept in a semi-complete form. This changed dramatically after the 1960 U-2 incident , which led to

3234-557: The $ 1.8 billion in total TI defense revenues, and was sold to TriQuint Semiconductor , Inc. Raytheon retained its own existing MMIC capabilities and has the right to license TI's MMIC technology for use in future product applications from TriQuint. Shortly after Raytheon acquired TI DSEG, Raytheon then acquired Hughes Aircraft from General Motors . Raytheon then owned TI's mercury cadmium telluride detector business and infrared (IR) systems group. In California, it also had Hughes infrared detector and an IR systems business. When again

3332-433: The 1960s, popularized the use of integrated circuits in computer logic. The military-grade version of this was the 5400 series. Texas Instruments invented the hand-held calculator (a prototype called " Cal Tech ") in 1967 and the single-chip microcomputer in 1971, was assigned the first patent on a single-chip microprocessor (invented by Gary Boone) on September 4, 1973. This was disputed by Gilbert Hyatt, formerly of

3430-482: The 1990s has led to a reduction in low-altitude flight as a solution to the problem of avoiding anti-aircraft weapons and the technique is no longer common. Most aircraft of this class have since retired although the Su-24 and Tornado remain in use in some numbers. The system works by transmitting a pencil beam radar signal towards the ground area in front of the aircraft while the radar scans up and down. The signal

3528-504: The Cal-Tech, a three-pound battery-powered calculator that could do basic math and fit six-digit numbers on its display. This 4.25 x 6.15 x 1.75 inch calculator's processor would originate the vast majority of Texas Instruments’ revenue. In 1973, the handheld calculator SR-10 (named after slide rule ) and in 1974, the handheld scientific calculator SR-50 were issued by TI. Both had red LED-segments numeric displays. The optical design of

3626-514: The Defense Systems & Electronics Group (DSEG). During the early 1980s, TI instituted a quality program which included Juran training, as well as promoting statistical process control , Taguchi methods , and Design for Six Sigma . In the late 1980s, the company, along with Eastman Kodak and Allied Signal , began involvement with Motorola , institutionalizing Motorola's Six Sigma methodology. Motorola, which originally developed

3724-972: The Doppler fails, the terrain following operation would be discontinued. 60 kW improved AN/APQ-116 J band terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments for A-7D/E AC-130 and CH-53 Sea Stallion . This is primarily AN/APQ-116/122 incorporating improved maritime capability. Specifications: K u band terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments to replace AN/APQ-110 for F-111A/FB-111A . K u band multi-mode radar by Texas Instruments for B-57G specially designed for night interdiction missions in Vietnam. Improved AN/APQ-134 K u band terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments for F-111C/F . TFR (Terrain-Following Radar) for initial batch of MH-60K Improved AN/APQ-141 terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments for HH-53 . Improvement of AN/APQ-126 with 15 line replaceable units for

3822-564: The Explorer included the gate assignment system for United Airlines, described as "an artificial intelligence program that captures the combined experience and knowledge of a half-dozen United operations experts." In software for the PC, they introduced "Personal Consultant", a rule-based expert system development tool and runtime engine, followed by "Personal Consultant Plus" written in the Lisp-like language from MIT known as Scheme , and

3920-647: The F-22 Radar and Computer development contract. As the defense industry consolidated, TI sold its defense business to the Raytheon Company in 1997 for $ 2.95 billion. The Department of Justice required that Raytheon divest the TI Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) operations after closing the transaction. The TI MMIC business accounted for less than $ 40 million in 1996 revenues, or roughly 2% of

4018-417: The G force of the calculated curve's descent profile from 0.25 to 1 G, while always allowing a maximum 3 G pullup. It also included a second set of electronics to provide hot-backup in case the primary unit failed, and fail-safe modes that executed the 3 G pullup in the case of various system failures. Ultimately the F-111 ran into delays and cost overruns not unlike the TSR-2. After examining several concepts,

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4116-823: The Industrial Systems Division, which was sold in the early 1990s to Siemens. In 2006, Bain Capital LLC , a private equity firm, purchased the Sensors & Controls division for $ 3.0 billion in cash. The RFID portion of the division remained part of TI, transferring to the Application Specific Products business unit of the Semiconductor division, with the newly formed independent company based in Attleboro taking

4214-678: The Micro Computer Company, in August 1990, when he was awarded a patent superseding TI's. This was overturned on June 19, 1996, in favor of TI (note: Intel is usually given credit with Texas Instruments for the almost-simultaneous invention of the microprocessor). In 1978, Texas Instruments introduced the first single-chip linear predictive coding speech synthesizer . In 1976, TI began a feasibility study of memory-intensive applications for bubble memory then being developed. They soon focused on speech applications. This resulted in

4312-633: The RAF eventually decided to use the Buccaneer. Although this platform had been extensively tested with the Ferranti radar, this potential upgrade was not selected for service. Unhappiness with this state of affairs led the RAF to begin discussions with their French counterparts and the emergence of the BAC/Dassault AFVG , an aircraft very similar to the F-111. After successful initial negotiations,

4410-503: The SR-50 is somewhat similar to the HP-35 edited by Hewlett-Packard before in early 1972, but buttons for the operations "+", "–", ... are in the right of the number block and the decimal point lies between two neighboring digits. TI continued to be active in the consumer electronics market through the 1970s and 1980s. Early on, this also included two digital clock models – one for desk and

4508-741: The Six Sigma methodology, began this work in 1982. In 1992, the DSEG division of Texas Instruments' quality-improvement efforts were rewarded by winning the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for manufacturing. TI developed the AAA-4 infrared search and track device in the late 1950s and early 1960s for the F-4B Phantom for passive scanning of jet-engine emissions, but it possessed limited capabilities and

4606-769: The UK dropped its options on the F-111K. Shortly thereafter, Marcel Dassault began to actively undermine the project, which the French eventually abandoned in 1967. The next year, the UK government began negotiations with a wider selection of countries, leading eventually to the Panavia Tornado . Texas Instruments used their experience with the F-111 TFR to win the radar contract for the Tornado IDS. Terrain following radar

4704-551: The US Air Force became interested and believed that Bechtel's innovation would protect the low-flying planes. Terrain-following/ground-mapping radar by Texas Instruments for OV-1 Mohawk TFR (Terrain-Following Radar) tested on T-2 Buckeye for pilots to familiarize TFR operation on other combat aircraft. Developed by TI as a multi-modes radar, in addition to terrain avoidance and terrain-following modes, and AN/APQ-99 can also be used for ground mapping. Smaller in size then

4802-536: The US government forced Raytheon to divest itself of a duplicate capability, the company kept the TI IR systems business and the Hughes detector business. As a result of these acquisitions, these former arch rivals of TI systems and Hughes detectors work together. Immediately after acquisition, DSEG was known as Raytheon TI Systems (RTIS). It is now fully integrated into Raytheon and this designation no longer exists. TI

4900-533: The Westinghouse AN/APQ-72 and fitted in the nose of for A-7A , RF-4B/C . AN/APQ-99 is also supplied to Germany, Iran and Japan. Terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments. K u band terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments for General Dynamics F-111 A and RF-4C . It replaced the side-looking mapping radar by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company on RF-4C . Improved AN/APQ-110 terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments for

4998-436: The aircraft from diving into a valley only to require a hard pull-up, the negative G limit was generally low, on the order of one-half G. The systems also had problems over water, where the radar beam tended to scatter forward and returned little signal to the aircraft except in high sea states . In such conditions, the system would fail back to a constant clearance using a radio altimeter . Terrain avoidance normally works in

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5096-414: The aircraft was blown sideways or started a turn close to the object. To avoid this, the radar scanned in an O-shaped pattern, scanning vertically from 8 degrees over the flight path to 12 degrees below it, while moving a few degrees left and right of the flight path. Additionally, the system read turn rates from the instruments and moved the scanning pattern further left or right to measure the terrain where

5194-409: The aircraft would be in the future. Tests of the system were carried out using Ferranti Test Flight's existing DC-3 Dakota and, starting over the winter of 1961/62, an English Electric Canberra . The test aircraft carried cameras looking in various directions, including some looking at the aircraft instruments and radar displays. This allowed the system to be extensively examined on the ground after

5292-424: The aircraft's autopilot system and all control was manual. The curve was chosen to produce a one-half G maximum load. The path to fly was indicated by a dot in an AIRPASS heads-up display . The pilot followed the computed path by pitching until the aircraft's velocity vector indicator, a small ring, was centred around the dot. In tests, the pilots very quickly became confident in the system and were happy to fly it at

5390-543: The case of the Lightning, the monopulse signal was used to accurately measure the horizontal angle, in order to allow the AIRPASS computer to plot an efficient intercept course at long range. For TFR use, all that had to change was that the antenna would be rotated so it measured the vertical angle instead of horizontal. Unsurprisingly, Ferranti won the contract for the radar component sometime in 1957 or 58. Shortly after

5488-465: The center. When the signals are received, the receiver uses this extra information to separate the signals back out again. When these signals are oriented vertically, the signal from the lower beam hits the ground closer to the aircraft, producing a spread-out blip as in the case of earlier radars, while the upper beam produces a similar blip but located at a slightly further distance. The two blips overlap to produce an extended ellipse. The key feature of

5586-555: The company changed its name to Texas Instruments, spun off to build seismographs for oil explorations and with GSI becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the new company. An early success came for TI-GSI in 1965, when GSI was able (under a Top Secret government contract) to monitor the Soviet Union 's underground nuclear weapons testing under the ocean in Vela Uniform , a subset of Project Vela , to verify compliance of

5684-687: The development the TMC0280 one-chip linear predictive coding speech synthesizer, which was the first time a single silicon chip had electronically replicated the human voice. This was used in several TI commercial products beginning with Speak & Spell , which was introduced at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978. In 2001, TI left the speech synthesis business, selling it to Sensory Inc. of Santa Clara, California. In May 1954, Texas Instruments designed and built

5782-449: The distance between the terrain and the ideal curve, the system calculates a manoeuvre that will make the aircraft clear the terrain by a pre-selected distance, often on the order of 100 metres (330 ft). Using TFR allows an aircraft to automatically follow terrain at very low levels and high speeds. Terrain-following radars differ from the similar-sounding terrain avoidance radars; terrain avoidance systems scan horizontally to produce

5880-406: The distance the aircraft moves in a straight line before starting that manoeuvre due to control lag. The resulting compound curve is displaced by a pilot-selected desired clearance distance. The timing of the pulses is much faster than the vertical scanning, so for any one pulse the angle is fixed. When then pulse is sent, the function generator is triggered. When the return is seen, the system sums

5978-403: The first terrain-following radar and surveillance radar systems for both the military and FAA. TI demonstrated the first solid-state radar called Molecular Electronics for Radar Applications. In 1976, TI developed a microwave landing system prototype. In 1984, TI developed the first inverse synthetic aperture radar . The first single-chip gallium arsenide radar module was developed. In 1991,

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6076-532: The first digital cinema projection in Europe with the DLP Cinema technology developed by TI DLP technology enables a diverse range of display and advanced light control applications spanning industrial, enterprise, automotive, and consumer market segments. The ASICs business develops more complex integrated-circuit solutions for clients on a custom basis. TI has produced educational toys for children, including

6174-473: The fiscal year 2017, Texas Instruments reported earnings of $ 3.682 billion, with an annual revenue of $ 14.961 billion, an increase of 11.9% over the previous fiscal cycle. TI shares traded at over $ 82 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over $ 88.0 billion in October 2018. As of 2018, TI ranked 192nd on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. As of 2016, TI

6272-422: The flight. Each flight returned data for flights over about 100 miles, and over 250 such flights were carried out. Early tests showed random noise in the measurements which rendered the measurements useless. This was eventually traced to the automatic gain control using very high gain while at the top of the scanning pattern where the terrain was normally at long distances and required the most amplification. This had

6370-559: The government on contracts for guided missiles sold to the Navy ". Because of TI's research and development of military temperature-range silicon transistors and integrated circuits (ICs), TI won contracts for the first IC-based computer for the U.S. Air Force in 1961 (molecular electronic computer) and for ICs for the Minuteman Missile the following year. In 1968, TI developed the data systems for Mariner Program . In 1991 TI won

6468-405: The hand-held calculator in 1967, and introduced the first single-chip microcontroller in 1970, which combined all the elements of computing onto one piece of silicon. In 1987, TI invented the digital light processing device (also known as the DLP chip), which serves as the foundation for the company's DLP technology and DLP Cinema. TI released the popular TI-81 calculator in 1990, which made it

6566-444: The integrated circuit in July 1958, and successfully demonstrated the world's first working integrated circuit on September 12, 1958. Six months later, Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor (who went on to co-found Intel ) independently developed the integrated circuit with integrated interconnect, and is also considered an inventor of the integrated circuit. In 1969, Kilby was awarded the National Medal of Science, and in 1982 he

6664-460: The latter combining ground-mapping or terrain-avoidance with terrain-following. A terrain storage facility permits the radar to have a reduced duty cycle, thereby reducing the probability of detection by enemy ESM equipment. There's also the incorporation of built-in test (BITE) provides a high degree of fault isolation and detection. Improved AN/APG-146 terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments for F-111C/F , developed by Texas Instruments in

6762-441: The manufacturing arm of AT&T, for US$ 25,000, beginning production by the end of the year. Haggerty brought Gordon Teal to the company due to his expertise in growing semiconductor crystals while at Bell Telephone Laboratories . Teal's first assignment was to direct TI's research laboratory. At the end of 1952, Texas Instruments announced that it had expanded to 2,000 employees and $ 17 million in sales. Among his new hires

6860-407: The market and selling its product line to Acer in 1998. TI entered the defense electronics market in 1942 with submarine detection equipment, based on the seismic exploration technology previously developed for the oil industry. The division responsible for these products was known at different times as the Laboratory & Manufacturing Division, the Apparatus Division, the Equipment Group, and

6958-655: The mid- eighties with the objective of replacing the four different TFR models used across the USAF F-111 fleet with a single type. While the old TFR had an MTBF around 20 hours, MBTF for the AN/APQ-171 is better than 50 hrs. Improved AN/APQ-162 TFR (Terrain-Following Radar) for RF-4C . For the MH-60K and MH-47E helicopters Improved AN/APQ-174 by Raytheon for CV-22 K u band terrain-following radar by Texas Instruments part of AN/AAQ-13 Texas Instruments 32°54′40″N 96°45′08″W  /  32.9110°N 96.7523°W  / 32.9110; -96.7523 Texas Instruments Incorporated ( TI )

7056-473: The military microwave integrated circuit program was initiated—a joint effort with Raytheon. In 1961, TI won the guidance and control system contract for the defense suppression AGM-45 Shrike antiradiation missile . This led later to the prime on the high-speed antiradiation missile (AGM-88 HARM) development contract in 1974 and production in 1981. In 1964, TI began development of the first laser guidance system for precision-guided munitions , leading to

7154-454: The minimum clearance setting even in bad weather. As the pilots became familiar with the system, the engineers continually reduced the selected clearance downward until it demonstrated its ability to safely and smoothly operate at an average of only 30 metres (98 ft) clearance. This was tested against rough terrain, including mountain ridges, blind valleys and even cliff faces. It was also found to property guide over artificial objects like

7252-462: The monopulse technique is that the signals overlap in a very specific way; if you invert one of the signals and then sum them, the result is a voltage output that looks something like a sine wave . The exact midpoint of the beam is where the voltage crosses zero. This results in a measurement that is both precisely aligned with the midline of the signal and is easily identified using simple electronics. The range can then be accurately determined by timing

7350-582: The name Sensata Technologies. In 1997, TI sold its software division, along with its main products such as the CA Gen , to Sterling Software , which is now part of Computer Associates . However, TI still owns small pieces of software, such as the software for calculators such as the TI Interactive! . TI also creates a significant amount of target software for its digital signal processors, along with host-based tools for creating DSP applications. For

7448-485: The natural language menu system NLMenu. TI was a major original-equipment manufacturer of sensor , control, protection, and RFID products for the automotive, appliance, aircraft, and other industries. The Sensors & Controls division was headquartered in Attleboro, Massachusetts . By the mid-1980s, industrial computers known as PLC's (programmable logic controllers) were separated from Sensors & Controls as

7546-502: The order of four degrees. When the beam hits the ground, some of the signal scatters back toward the aircraft, allowing it to measure the distance to the ground in front of it. When looking downwards at an angle, the near and far side of the radar's circular beam was spread out into an ellipse on the ground. The return from this pattern produced a "blip" that was similarly spread out on the radar display and not accurate enough for terrain avoidance. It was, however, accurate enough to produce

7644-469: The original vacuum tube electronics to be increasingly transistorized , producing a much smaller system overall. As the system was further developed it was moved to a Blackburn Buccaneer for higher-speed testing. The tests were carried out from RAF Turnhouse at the Edinburgh Airport , close to Ferranti's radar development site in the city. During testing, the radar was not connected to

7742-556: The other a bedside alarm. From this sprang what became the Time Products Division, which made LED watches. Though these LED watches enjoyed early commercial success due to excellent quality, it was short-lived due to poor battery life. LEDs were replaced with LCD watches for a short time, but these could not compete because of styling issues, excessive makes and models, and price points. The watches were manufactured in Dallas and then Lubbock, Texas . Several spin-offs of

7840-403: The output from the generator at that instant with the output from the angle sensor on the radar. The resulting voltage represents the angle between the actual and preferred location. If the voltage is positive, that means the terrain lies above the curve, negative means it is below. This difference is known as the angle error . To guide the aircraft, a series of these measurements are taken over

7938-467: The period of one complete vertical scan out to some maximum distance on the order of 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). The maximum positive or minimum negative value of the angle error during the scan is recorded. That voltage is a representation of the change in pitch angle the aircraft needs to fly at to keep itself at the desired clearance altitude above the terrain while manoeuvring at the selected load factor. This can be fed into an autopilot or displayed on

8036-422: The petroleum industry. In 1939, the company reorganized as Coronado Corp, an oil company with Geophysical Service Inc (GSI), now as a subsidiary. On December 6, 1941, McDermott along with three other GSI employees, J. Erik Jonsson, Cecil H. Green, and H. B. Peacock purchased GSI. During World War II, GSI expanded its services to include electronics for the U.S. Army , Army Signal Corps , and U.S. Navy . In 1951,

8134-433: The pilot's heads-up display . This process produces a continually computed path that rises and falls over the terrain with a constant manoeuvring load. One problem with this simple algorithm is that the calculated path will keep the aircraft in positive pitch as it approaches the crest of a hill. This results in the aircraft flying over the peak while still climbing and taking some time before it begins to descend again into

8232-486: The precise moment when the zero-crossing occurs. Accuracies on the order of a meter for measurements of objects kilometers away are commonly achieved. The Cornell reports were picked up in the UK where they formed the basis of an emerging concept for a new strike aircraft , which would eventually emerge as the BAC TSR-2 . The TSR-2 project was officially started with the release of GOR.339 in 1955, and quickly settled on

8330-402: The project started, in 1959 the project lead, Gus Scott, left for Hughes Microcircuits in nearby Glenrothes , and the team was taken over by Greg Stewart and Dick Starling. The initial system was built from a surplus AI.23B AIRPASS, and could be mounted to a trailer and towed by a Land Rover for testing. A significant issue is that the amount of signal returned varies greatly with the terrain;

8428-401: The radar is normally used by the navigator and this allows the pilot to focus on other aspects of the flight besides the extremely intensive task of low flying itself. Most aircraft allow the pilot to also select the ride "hardness" with a cockpit switch, to choose between how closely the aircraft tries to keep itself close to the ground and the forces exerted on the pilot. Some aircraft such as

8526-565: The range measured by the radar, with h being the resulting height of the object over the current flight path. The clearance between the aircraft and terrain is then H - h . The TFR concept traces its history to studies carried out at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory for the USAF Aeronautical Systems Division . This led to the development of a system known as "Autoflite." Early radars installed in aircraft used conical scanning systems with beamwidths on

8624-646: The rapid switch from high-altitude flying over the USSR to the low-altitude "penetrator" approach. In the short term, a number of terrain avoidance radars were introduced for a variety of aircraft. The first true TFR in the US was the Texas Instruments AN/APQ-101, which launched the company as the market leader in TFR for many years. In the early 1960s, they developed TFR systems for the RF-4C version of

8722-465: The side-effect of making spurious reflections in the antenna's side lobes being amplified to the point of causing interference. This was addressed by moving from an O-shaped pattern to a U-shaped one, and only allowing the gain to increase when scanning upward to prevent it from re-adjusting to high gain when moving downward and thereby avoiding low-lying terrain appearing in the sidelobes with high gain. Advances in electronics during development allowed

8820-703: The use of TFR to provide the required low-level performance. The Royal Aircraft Establishment built a simulator of the system using discrete electronics that filled a room. During this same period, the Royal Air Force was introducing its newest interceptor aircraft , the English Electric Lightning . The Lightning was equipped with the world's first airborne monopulse radar, the AIRPASS system developed by Ferranti in Edinburgh . In

8918-459: The valley beyond. This effect was known as "ballooning". To address this, real-world units had an additional term that was applied that caused the aircraft to climb more rapidly against larger displacements. This resulted in the aircraft reaching the desired clearance altitude earlier than normal and thus levelling off before reaching the peak. Because the radar only sees objects in the line-of-sight, it cannot see hills behind other hills. To prevent

9016-401: The weather can all limit an aircraft. Since the radar cannot tell what is beyond any immediate terrain, the flight path may also suffer from "ballooning" over sharp terrain ridges, where the altitude becomes unnecessarily high. Furthermore, obstacles such as radio antennas and electricity pylons may be detected late by the radar and present collision hazards. On aircraft with more than one crew,

9114-418: Was Willis Adcock , who joined TI early in 1953. Adcock, who like Teal was a physical chemist , began leading a small research group focused on the task of fabricating grown-junction, silicon , single-crystal, small-signal transistors. Adcock later became the first TI Principal Fellow. In January 1954, Morris Tanenbaum at Bell Telephone Laboratories created the first workable silicon transistor. This work

9212-706: Was active in the area of artificial intelligence in the 1980s. In addition to ongoing developments in speech and signal processing and recognition, it developed and sold the Explorer computer family of Lisp machines . For the Explorer, a special 32-bit Lisp microprocessor was developed, which was used in the Explorer II and the TI MicroExplorer (a Lisp Machine on a NuBus board for the Apple Macintosh ). AI application software developed by TI for

9310-458: Was eliminated on F-4Ds and later models. In 1956, TI began research on infrared technology that led to several line scanner contracts and with the addition of a second scan mirror the invention of the first forward looking infrared (FLIR) in 1963 with production beginning in 1966. In 1972, TI invented the common module FLIR concept, greatly reducing cost and allowing reuse of common components. TI went on to produce side-looking radar systems,

9408-588: Was hired as general manager of the Laboratory and Manufacturing (L&M) division, which focused on electronic equipment. By 1951, the L&;M division, with its defense contracts, was growing faster than GSI's geophysical division. The company was reorganized and initially renamed General Instruments Inc. Because a firm named General Instrument already existed, the company was renamed Texas Instruments that same year. From 1956 to 1961, Fred Agnich of Dallas, later

9506-559: Was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame. Kilby also won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his part of the invention of the integrated circuit. Noyce's chip, made at Fairchild, was made of silicon, while Kilby's chip was made of germanium . In 2008, TI named its new development laboratory "Kilby Labs" after Jack Kilby. The 7400 series of transistor-transistor logic chips, developed by Texas Instruments in

9604-687: Was reported in the spring of 1954, at the IRE off-the-record conference on solid-state devices, and was later published in the Journal of Applied Physics . Working independently in April 1954, Gordon Teal at TI created the first commercial silicon transistor and tested it on April 14, 1954. On May 10, 1954, at the Institute of Radio Engineers National Conference on Airborne Electronics in Dayton, Ohio, Teal presented

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