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59-492: Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market. Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Houston-Hotchkiss-Brandt with the Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie Sans Fil ( General Wireless Telegraphy Company , commonly abbreviated as CSF ), these two companies being

118-432: A mass-production basis, which limited them to a number of specialised applications. The MOSFET was invented at Bell Labs between 1955 and 1960. It was the first truly compact transistor that could be miniaturised and mass-produced for a wide range of uses. Its advantages include high scalability , affordability, low power consumption, and high density . It revolutionized the electronics industry , becoming

177-403: A radio antenna , practicable. Vacuum tubes (thermionic valves) were the first active electronic components which controlled current flow by influencing the flow of individual electrons , and enabled the construction of equipment that used current amplification and rectification to give us radio , television , radar , long-distance telephony and much more. The early growth of electronics

236-515: A consequence, Thomson-Brandt was renamed Thomson SA (Société Anonyme) and merged with Thomson-CSF. Throughout the 1980s, the company's financial position improved dramatically as undertook a major reorganisation, focusing its efforts on the production of electronics for professional and defence customers. In 1983, it divested Thomson-CSF Téléphone , its civil telecommunications division, to telecommunications specialist Alcatel . Four years later, its semiconductor interests were merged with those of

295-409: A different political party or faction is in power. A re-nationalization process may also be called "reverse privatization". Nationalization has been used to refer to either direct state-ownership and management of an enterprise or to a government acquiring a large controlling share of a publicly listed corporation . According to research by Paasha Mahdavi, leaders who consider nationalization face

354-482: A dilemma: "nationalize and reap immediate gains while risking future prosperity, or maintain private operations, thereby passing on revenue windfalls but securing long-term fiscal streams." He argues that leaders "nationalize extractive resources to extend the duration of their power" by using "this increased capital to secure political support." Nationalization can have positive and negative effects. In 2019 research based on studies from Greenwich University found that

413-426: A government to take property in certain situations. Due to political risks that are involved when countries engage in international business, it is important to understand the expropriation risks and laws within each of the countries in which business is conducted in order to understand the risks as an investor in that country. Studies have found that nationalization follows a cyclical trend. Nationalization rose in

472-418: A leading role in the field of microwave and high power transmission as well as television receivers until the middle of the 1980s. Since then, solid-state devices have all but completely taken over. Vacuum tubes are still used in some specialist applications such as high power RF amplifiers , cathode-ray tubes , specialist audio equipment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices . In April 1955,

531-566: A mix of the two types. Analog circuits are becoming less common, as many of their functions are being digitized. Analog circuits use a continuous range of voltage or current for signal processing, as opposed to the discrete levels used in digital circuits. Analog circuits were common throughout an electronic device in the early years in devices such as radio receivers and transmitters. Analog electronic computers were valuable for solving problems with continuous variables until digital processing advanced. As semiconductor technology developed, many of

590-413: A new entity, Alcatel Space ; this was jointly owned by Alcatel and Thomson-CSF. By June 1998, implementation of the finalised agreement had commenced. The majority of Thomson-CSF's capital was transferred into private ownership. The French State reduced its holding in the company from 58% to 40%. At the time, Thomson-CSF's principal private shareholders were Alcatel and Dassault Industries. The division of

649-540: A physical space, although in more recent years the trend has been towards electronics lab simulation software , such as CircuitLogix , Multisim , and PSpice . Today's electronics engineers have the ability to design circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as power supplies , semiconductors (i.e. semiconductor devices, such as transistors), and integrated circuits. Electronic design automation software programs include schematic capture programs and printed circuit board design programs. Popular names in

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708-637: A policy of privatisation of several state-owned companies, including Thomson-CSF. During April 1998, several of the affected companies, including Aérospatiale, Alcatel, Dassault Industries , Thomson-CSF and Thomson SA reached a cooperation agreement endorsed by the French government. Several of these terms brought about a major restructuring of Thomson-CSF. Firstly, the professional and defence electronics businesses of Alcatel and Dassault Électronique were merged with Thomson-CSF. Secondly, satellite businesses of Alcatel, Aerospatiale and Thomson-CSF are merged to form

767-531: A result of its takeover of Racal, the UK became Thomson-CSF's second-largest domestic industrial base after France. Racal was initially rebranded Thomson-CSF Racal plc . Shortly after the Racal acquisition, Thomson-CSF conducted a strategic review of its portfolio of businesses. It adopted a new organisational structure comprising three business areas: defence, aerospace and information technology . Management decided that

826-545: A strategy to build socialism, more commonly nationalization was also undertaken and used to protect and develop industries perceived as being vital to a nation's competitiveness (such as aerospace and shipbuilding), or to protect jobs in certain industries. Nationalization has had varying levels of support throughout history. After the Second World War , nationalization was supported by social democratic and democratic socialist parties throughout Western Europe, such as

885-548: Is defined as unwanted disturbances superposed on a useful signal that tend to obscure its information content. Noise is not the same as signal distortion caused by a circuit. Noise is associated with all electronic circuits. Noise may be electromagnetically or thermally generated, which can be decreased by lowering the operating temperature of the circuit. Other types of noise, such as shot noise cannot be removed as they are due to limitations in physical properties. Many different methods of connecting components have been used over

944-614: Is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state . Nationalization contrasts with privatization and with demutualization . When previously nationalized assets are privatized and subsequently returned to public ownership at a later stage, they are said to have undergone renationalization . Industries often subject to nationalization include telecommunications , electric power , fossil fuels , railways , airlines , iron ore , media , postal services , banks , and water (sometimes called

1003-401: Is the seizure of private property by a public agency for a purpose deemed to be in the public interest. It may also be used as a penalty for criminal proceedings. Expropriation differs from eminent domain in that the property owner is not compensated for the seized property. Unlike eminent domain, expropriation may also refer to the taking of private property by a private entity authorized by

1062-595: Is the voltage comparator which receives a continuous range of voltage but only outputs one of two levels as in a digital circuit. Similarly, an overdriven transistor amplifier can take on the characteristics of a controlled switch , having essentially two levels of output. Analog circuits are still widely used for signal amplification, such as in the entertainment industry, and conditioning signals from analog sensors, such as in industrial measurement and control. Digital circuits are electric circuits based on discrete voltage levels. Digital circuits use Boolean algebra and are

1121-448: Is therefore the process of defining and developing complex electronic devices to satisfy specified requirements of the user. Due to the complex nature of electronics theory, laboratory experimentation is an important part of the development of electronic devices. These experiments are used to test or verify the engineer's design and detect errors. Historically, electronics labs have consisted of electronics devices and equipment located in

1180-624: The IBM 608 was the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to be the first all-transistorized calculator to be manufactured for the commercial market. The 608 contained more than 3,000 germanium transistors. Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design. From that time on transistors were almost exclusively used for computer logic circuits and peripheral devices. However, early junction transistors were relatively bulky devices that were difficult to manufacture on

1239-485: The Italian defence group Finmeccanica . That same year, Thomson-CSF's medical imaging technology was exchanged with GE for GE's RCA and consumer electronics businesses. During the late 1980s, Thomson-CSF, anticipating future defence spending cutbacks and a downturn in its lucrative export contracts, initiated a restructuring of its businesses with the aim of maintaining its margins. A policy of proactive external growth

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1298-593: The Middle East . During the late 1980s, Thomson-CSF, anticipating defence spending cutbacks, conducted a radical business restructuring, merging its semiconductor interests with those of the Italian defence group Finmeccanica and exchanging its medical imaging technology for General Electric 's consumer electronics businesses. In the latter decades of operation, it built itself into a multinational corporation . During 1989, it acquired Philips ' defence electronics business, Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V . In 1999,

1357-451: The commanding heights of the economy ), and in many jurisdictions such entities have no history of private ownership. Nationalization may occur with or without financial compensation to the former owners . Nationalization is distinguished from property redistribution in that the government retains control of nationalized property . Some nationalizations take place when a government seizes property acquired illegally. For example, in 1945

1416-459: The electron in 1897 by Sir Joseph John Thomson , along with the subsequent invention of the vacuum tube which could amplify and rectify small electrical signals , inaugurated the field of electronics and the electron age. Practical applications started with the invention of the diode by Ambrose Fleming and the triode by Lee De Forest in the early 1900s, which made the detection of small electrical voltages, such as radio signals from

1475-649: The 1960s and 1970s, followed by an increase in privatization in the 80s and 90s, followed again by an increase in nationalization in the 2000s and 2010s. The term appears as "expropriation of expropriators ( ruling classes )" in Marxist theory , and also as the slogan "Loot the looters!" ("грабь награбленное"), which was very popular during the Russian October Revolution . The term is also used to describe nationalization campaigns by communist states , such as dekulakization and collectivization in

1534-448: The 1960s, U.S. manufacturers were unable to compete with Japanese companies such as Sony and Hitachi who could produce high-quality goods at lower prices. By the 1980s, however, U.S. manufacturers became the world leaders in semiconductor development and assembly. However, during the 1990s and subsequently, the industry shifted overwhelmingly to East Asia (a process begun with the initial movement of microchip mass-production there in

1593-538: The 1970s), as plentiful, cheap labor, and increasing technological sophistication, became widely available there. Over three decades, the United States' global share of semiconductor manufacturing capacity fell, from 37% in 1990, to 12% in 2022. America's pre-eminent semiconductor manufacturer, Intel Corporation , fell far behind its subcontractor Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in manufacturing technology. By that time, Taiwan had become

1652-493: The 1990s, Thomson-CSF gained a controlling interest in Sextant Avionique , which was formed by the merger of the company's avionics business with that of French aircraft manufacturer Aérospatiale . The company also divested its interests in the French bank Crédit Lyonnais and semiconductor manufacturer SGSThomson . During the late 1990s, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin 's Plural Left government initiated

1711-717: The American defence company Raytheon . This arrangement was claimed to be first transatlantic joint venture in the defence sector. During December 2000, Thomson-CSF was officially rebranded as Thales (from the Greek philosopher Thales , pronounced [talɛs] reflecting its pronunciation in French ). Electronics Electronic devices have hugely influenced the development of many aspects of modern society, such as telecommunications , entertainment, education, health care, industry, and security. The main driving force behind

1770-481: The British Labour Party . In the United States, potentially nationalizing healthcare is often a topic of political disagreement and makes frequent appearances in debates between political candidates. A 2020 poll shows that a majority (63%) of Americans support a nationalized healthcare system. A re-nationalization occurs when state-owned assets are privatized and later nationalized again, often when

1829-712: The EDA software world are NI Multisim, Cadence ( ORCAD ), EAGLE PCB and Schematic, Mentor (PADS PCB and LOGIC Schematic), Altium (Protel), LabCentre Electronics (Proteus), gEDA , KiCad and many others. Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated to prevent immediate failure and improve long term reliability. Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive conduction/convection. Means to achieve greater dissipation include heat sinks and fans for air cooling, and other forms of computer cooling such as water cooling . These techniques use convection , conduction , and radiation of heat energy . Electronic noise

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1888-404: The French government seized the car-maker Renault because its owners had collaborated with the 1940–1944 Nazi occupiers of France . In September 2021, Berliners voted to expropriate over 240,000 housing units , many of which were being held unoccupied as investment property. Economists distinguish between nationalization and socialization , which refers to the process of restructuring

1947-638: The Thomson-Houston Electric Company merged with its rival, the Edison General Electric Company , to form General Electric (GE). That same year, the company formed an overseas subsidiary, named Thomson Houston International , based in France. During 1893, Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston (CFTH) was established as a partner to GE. CFTH's operations centered around the application of GE's patents in

2006-514: The USSR . However, nationalization is not a specifically socialist strategy, and Marxism's founders were skeptical of its value. As Engels put it: Therein precisely lies the rub; for, so long as the propertied classes remain at the helm, nationalisation never abolishes exploitation but merely changes its form — in the French, American or Swiss republics no less than in monarchist Central, and despotic Eastern, Europe. Nikolai Bukharin also criticised

2065-535: The advancement of electronics is the semiconductor industry , which in response to global demand continually produces ever-more sophisticated electronic devices and circuits. The semiconductor industry is one of the largest and most profitable sectors in the global economy, with annual revenues exceeding $ 481 billion in 2018. The electronics industry also encompasses other sectors that rely on electronic devices and systems, such as e-commerce, which generated over $ 29 trillion in online sales in 2017. The identification of

2124-409: The basis of all digital computers and microprocessor devices. They range from simple logic gates to large integrated circuits, employing millions of such gates. Digital circuits use a binary system with two voltage levels labelled "0" and "1" to indicated logical status. Often logic "0" will be a lower voltage and referred to as "Low" while logic "1" is referred to as "High". However, some systems use

2183-459: The circuit, thus slowing the computer. The invention of the integrated circuit by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce solved this problem by making all the components and the chip out of the same block (monolith) of semiconductor material. The circuits could be made smaller, and the manufacturing process could be automated. This led to the idea of integrating all components on a single-crystal silicon wafer, which led to small-scale integration (SSI) in

2242-541: The company began exploring the possibility of merging with British defence specialist Marconi Electronic Systems . Its ambitions were foiled by the success of a rival bid by the defence and aerospace firm British Aerospace , which rebranded itself as BAE Systems shortly thereafter. Keen to expand its defence and technology business, Thomson-CSF announced the acquisition of the British defence electronics company Racal Electronics , which it purchased for £1.3 billion. As

2301-419: The company ought to leverage its dual-purpose technology, marketing itself at particular civil markets that held strong parallels with its established defence and aerospace competencies, such as mobile telecommunications. Meanwhile, non-strategic assets were divested. Thomson-CSF also explored business opportunities further afield. In December 2000, it was announced that the company was forming a joint venture with

2360-474: The company was privatised , but not before divesting its consumer electronics businesses. Shortly after, it took over the British defence electronics company Racal Electronics . In December 2000, Thomson-CSF was rebranded Thales Group . Thomson-CSF traces its origins to the formation of the American business Thomson-Houston Electric Company by Elihu Thomson and Edwin Houston in 1879. On 15 April 1892,

2419-540: The company's consumer electronics and defence businesses prior to privatisation brought about the creation of Thomson Multimedia , which was a distinct entity from Thomson-CSF. The independently-operating Thomson Multimedia has since been restructured and trades as Technicolor SA . Following its privatisation, Thomson-CSF continued to orient itself toward the defence electronics sector, establishing itself in overseas nations, including South Africa , Australia , South Korea and Singapore . Shortly after its privatisation,

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2478-874: The early 1960s, and then medium-scale integration (MSI) in the late 1960s, followed by VLSI . In 2008, billion-transistor processors became commercially available. An electronic component is any component in an electronic system either active or passive. Components are connected together, usually by being soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular function. Components may be packaged singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits . Passive electronic components are capacitors , inductors , resistors , whilst active components are such as semiconductor devices; transistors and thyristors , which control current flow at electron level. Electronic circuit functions can be divided into two function groups: analog and digital. A particular device may consist of circuitry that has either or

2537-426: The early 1980s Thomson-CSF was in a weak financial position with a high level of debt. While it possessed a diversified portfolio of businesses, its market share within the majority of these many sectors was viewed as being too small to be realistically profitable despite increasing business from overseas buyers. During 1982, both Thomson-Brandt and Thomson-CSF were nationalised by France's Mitterrand government . As

2596-408: The economic framework, organizational structure, and institutions of an economy on a socialist basis. By contrast, nationalization does not necessarily imply social ownership and the restructuring of the economic system . Historically, states have carried out nationalizations for various different purposes under a wide variety of different political systems and economic systems . Nationalization

2655-452: The electronic logic gates to generate binary states. Highly integrated devices: Electronic systems design deals with the multi-disciplinary design issues of complex electronic devices and systems, such as mobile phones and computers . The subject covers a broad spectrum, from the design and development of an electronic system ( new product development ) to assuring its proper function, service life and disposal . Electronic systems design

2714-562: The following ways: The electronics industry consists of various sectors. The central driving force behind the entire electronics industry is the semiconductor industry sector, which has annual sales of over $ 481 billion as of 2018. The largest industry sector is e-commerce , which generated over $ 29 trillion in 2017. The most widely manufactured electronic device is the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), with an estimated 13   sextillion MOSFETs having been manufactured between 1960 and 2018. In

2773-489: The functions of analog circuits were taken over by digital circuits, and modern circuits that are entirely analog are less common; their functions being replaced by hybrid approach which, for instance, uses analog circuits at the front end of a device receiving an analog signal, and then use digital processing using microprocessor techniques thereafter. Sometimes it may be difficult to classify some circuits that have elements of both linear and non-linear operation. An example

2832-520: The growing electricity generation and transmission industry. The modern Thomson companies evolved from this company. During 1966, CFTH merged with armaments and vehicle manufacturer Hotchkiss-Brandt to form Thomson-Houston-Hotchkiss-Brandt , which was subsequently renamed Thomson-Brandt . Two years later, the electronics business of Thomson-Brandt merged with Compagnie Générale de Télégraphie Sans Fil ( General Wireless Telegraphy Company , commonly abbreviated as CSF ) to form Thomson-CSF . Prior to

2891-581: The merger, CSF had operated as a pioneer in the fields of broadcasting , electroacoustics , shortwave radio , radar systems and television . Thomson Brandt maintained a significant shareholding in the merged company (approximately 40%). During the 1970s, Thomson-CSF received its first major contract in the Middle Eastern market. In this period the company diversified into several new sectors, leading to it manufacturing backend telephony equipment, semiconductors and medical imaging apparatus. By

2950-399: The most widely used electronic device in the world. The MOSFET is the basic element in most modern electronic equipment. As the complexity of circuits grew, problems arose. One problem was the size of the circuit. A complex circuit like a computer was dependent on speed. If the components were large, the wires interconnecting them must be long. The electric signals took time to go through

3009-770: The motivations of the nationalizing party. Nationalization was employed towards the Panama Canal by the Panamanian Government, which came under the Panama Canal Authority in 1999, to internationally positive effect. Likewise, the Suez Canal was nationalized multiple times throughout history. In Germany, the Federal Press [ Bundesdruckerei ] was nationalized in 2008 with positive revenue and net income since. Expropriation

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3068-498: The nationalization of key services such as water, bus, railways and broadband in the United Kingdom could save £13bn every year. Nationalization may produce other effects, such as reducing competition in the marketplace, which in turn reduces incentives to innovation and maintains high prices. In the short run, nationalization can provide a larger revenue stream for government but may cause that industry to falter depending on

3127-540: The reverse definition ("0" is "High") or are current based. Quite often the logic designer may reverse these definitions from one circuit to the next as they see fit to facilitate their design. The definition of the levels as "0" or "1" is arbitrary. Ternary (with three states) logic has been studied, and some prototype computers made, but have not gained any significant practical acceptance. Universally, Computers and Digital signal processors are constructed with digital circuits using Transistors such as MOSFETs in

3186-424: The source of the name Thomson-CSF . It operated as an electronics specialist on products such as broadcasting equipment, electroacoustics , shortwave radio sets, radar systems and television . During the 1970s, it began manufacturing backend telephony equipment, semiconductors and medical imaging apparatus. It also entered into large deals outside of the domestic market, acquiring considerable business in

3245-679: The world's leading source of advanced semiconductors —followed by South Korea , the United States , Japan , Singapore , and China . Important semiconductor industry facilities (which often are subsidiaries of a leading producer based elsewhere) also exist in Europe (notably the Netherlands ), Southeast Asia, South America, and Israel . Nationalised Nationalization ( nationalisation in British English )

3304-762: The years. For instance, early electronics often used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits. Cordwood construction and wire wrap were other methods used. Most modern day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of materials such as FR4 , or the cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper ( SRBP , also known as Paxoline/Paxolin (trade marks) and FR2) – characterised by its brown colour. Health and environmental concerns associated with electronics assembly have gained increased attention in recent years, especially for products destined to go to European markets. Electrical components are generally mounted in

3363-456: Was adopted, focusing on the European market. Between 1976 and 1987, the company's non-French subsidiaries' share of consolidated revenues rose from 5% to 25%. During 1988, a new division, Thomson Consumer Electronics was formed. In 1995, this division was rebranded as Thomson Multimedia . During 1989, it acquired Philips ' defence electronics business, Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. During

3422-436: Was one of the major mechanisms advocated by reformist socialists and social democrats for gradually transitioning to socialism. In this context, the goals of nationalization were to dispossess large capitalists, redirect the profits of industry to the public purse, and establish some form of workers' self-management as a precursor to the establishment of a socialist economic system. Although sometimes undertaken as part of

3481-473: Was rapid, and by the 1920s, commercial radio broadcasting and telecommunications were becoming widespread and electronic amplifiers were being used in such diverse applications as long-distance telephony and the music recording industry. The next big technological step took several decades to appear, when the first working point-contact transistor was invented by John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain at Bell Labs in 1947. However, vacuum tubes played

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