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Technology

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Introduction

The main objective of the HP Memory project is to preserve and explain all the contributions made by HP to the sciences of measurement and computing during the second half of the 20th century, the "Golden Years" of High Tech.

In depth description of the technology used and frequently invented by the HP Labs will be the main purpose of the following chapters.

. . . A walk through 60 years of tangible engineering success!

. . . Pioneering - Inventing - Innovating

...And a little light bulb. Quality audio signals at a surprisingly low price Better insights on signal distortion and multiple signal applications of power and frequency. Building an entire product line to meet customer's expanding needs Exploiting the microwave technology that emerged from WWII systems It started with a 10 MHz scaler, and someone had the clever idea of adding a time base One of the most popular signal generators of all time, covering an extremely important band of frequencies An abrupt jump in scope technology yielding a 100-fold increase in bandwidth for ultra-fast digital waveforms A highly-creative start for 50 years of HP Leadership in Spectrum Analysis Designed for Instrument Control and data acquisition on the factory floor, it became the building block for HP's entry into Time-Share systems, and in later decades for HP's dominance in mid-sized computing It popularized the 'Smith Chart' and 'S' Parameters which became the industry standards, with a slogan 'Stamp out Slotted Lines.' To reach performance that couldn't be achieved with those currently available on the market HP was a technology pioneer in light-emitting diodes, for both lamps and alphanumeric displays The first portable cesium-beam frequency standard and atomic clock. They set the world's time standards, coordinating international time to within a millionth of a second Transcendental functions and Reverse-Polish Nomenclature (RPN). A marvel for scientists and engineers, multiplying their time and computing power It brought untold computing power to the fingertips of the common engineer, at a very affordable price A fast growing product line which covered finance and other 'consumer' markets By coordinating with the IEEE, an industry standard was created for the benefit of the engineering community ...Or the product was too early for its time An advanced low-power microprocessor that contains the equivalent of about 38,000 transistors Another step forward in signal analysis and Instrument Systems automation The dramatic new digital technologies need new analysis tools. It was time to create the Logic State Analyzer concept, and open the new 'Data Domain' of Measurements' The first low cost, 'self-contained' desktop calculator including a graphic display, printer and tape recorder The rapid growth of microprocessors changed the rules. More Software, less Hardware A breakthrough product line whose production numbers in 2006 surpassed 100 million units HP considered new measurement products for surveyors a good extension of its measurement mandates, as in Medical equipment and Chemical Analysis Using a novel 'grit wheel' paper drive technology, HP launches a new line of large, drafting-quality plotters It spells 'the end' for noisy dot-matrix printers. Priced for everyone's office desk and PC Enormous microwave analysis power, leveraged with creative software The first low cost inkjet printer to use fundamental color compression and half-toning algorithms Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they maintained a constant HP leadership in scientific, HP-UX workstations
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Overview

A short-form, non-exhaustive, listing of the key products and related technologies, produced or invented by Hewlett Packard, can be seen in the tables below. The tables have been constructed according to a six decade timeline. All products listed are included in the HP Memory collection, excepted those marked with (*)

 

The 1940s
Date Innovation Product
1939 Improving Audio Signal Generator quality, at a surprisingly low price HP 200A/200B
1943 Offering better insights into signal distortion and multiple signal applications Low Frequency Signal Quality Analysis - Distortion HP 300A
1944 Improving in-house Frequency Reference accuracy HP 100A/100B
1945 Introduced the first Electronic Frequency Meter HP 500A
1945 Improving accuracy of Very High Frequency voltage measurement HP 410A
1940s Dramatically extending the performance and range of power and frequency in electronic signal generation HP 200 series
1948 Introduced the first Test Oscillator covering the entire Audio to Video Frequency Range HP 650A
1948 Exploiting the microwave technology that emerged from WWII systems HP 616A
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The 1950s
Date Innovation Product
1950 Improving accuracy and simplifying analysis of RF and VHF networks - Direct reading of Magnitude and Phase HP 803A - HP 417A
1950 Extending the range of signal generation from Audio to UHF HP 608A
1952 Invented the first High Frequency Electronic Counter HP 524A
1955 Drastically extending the range of Frequency Counters to the microwave spectrum with harmonic mixing Transfer Oscillator HP 540A
1958 Improving accuracy and frequency range of DC to Microwave Power Measurement HP 434A
1959 Improving accuracy and resolution of low frequency signal analysis HP 302A
1959 Automating Digital Voltage Measurements HP 405AR
1959 Simplifying DC Current Measurements HP 428A
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The 1960s
Date Innovation Product
1960s HP-Labs Developing new components for improved electronic circuit performances Hot-Carrier
Step Recovery
Pin
1960 Invented the sampling technology enabling for ultra-large bandwidth oscilloscopes of the future HP 185A
1963 Improving Frequency Synthesizer technology HP 5100A
1964 Invented the first transportable Cesium-beam Atomic Clock HP 5060A
1964 Improving range and accuracy of Microwave Signal Analysis HP 8551A
1966 Automating tedious Component Measurement of R, L, and C HP 4260A
1966 Introduced Vector Impedance Measurement for RF to UHF HP 4815A - 8405A
1966 Introduced the first go-anywhere, do-anything computer HP 2116A
1966 HP-Labs develop the first commercially available light-emitting diode HP LEDs
1967 Innovation in Microwave Network Analysis HP 8410A
1968 Introduced the First programmable scientific desktop calculator HP 9100A
1969 Introduced a generation of Spectrum Analyzers which become the industry standard for the next 10 years HP 141T-855X
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The 1970s
Date Innovation Product
1970 Introduced the first computing counter HP 5360A
1971 Introduced the most sophisticated "Q" Meter ever built HP 4342A
1971 Introduced a laser interferometer capable of measuring to millionths of an inch HP 5501A
1972 Introducing the first Microwave Link Analyzer, which became the industry reference for evolving telecommunication microwave links HP 3702A
1972 Introduced the first "No Tuning" Broadband microwave counter (1Hz - 18 GHz) HP 5340A
1972 Introduced the first pocket scientific calculator HP-35
1973 Introduced a new standard in microwave power measurement HP 435A - 848X power probes
1973 Introduced a new standard in RF, VHF, UHF general purpose signal sources HP 8640A/B
1973 Introducing the first tools dedicated to logic circuitry servicing HP 105XX Logic Probes
1975 Introducing the first programmable pocket scientific calculator HP-65
1975 Standardization of the Hewlett Packard Interface Bus as an international standard HP-IB
1975 Introduced the first Logic State Analyzer HP 1601L
1977 Extending the frequency coverage of synthesized signal sources to the microwave spectrum HP 8672A
1978 Invented a new concept to help debug complex logic circuitry (signature analysis) HP 5004A
1978 Introduced the first automatic spectrum analyzer HP 8568A
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The 1980s
Date Innovation Product
1980 Introduced the world lowest phase noise signal source HP 8662A
1980 Introduced the first Microprocessor Development System HP 64000
1980 Introduced the first commercial Laser Printer for general office use HP 2680A *
1981 Produced the first microcircuit made of 600,000 transistors with NMOS-III technology NMOS-III
1981 Introduced the first Color Graphic Desktop Computer HP 9845C
1981 Introduced the first compact low-cost Personal Computer with integrated thermal printer, magnetic tape storage, and ROM resident Basic Language HP 85A
1981 Introduced a new line of large, drafting-quality Plotters HP 7580/85
1982 Introduced the first fully programmable Digital Oscilloscope HP 1980A/B
1984 Introduced the first commercial Desktop Laser Printer LaserJet
1984 Launched the first inkjet printer based on the thermal inkjet technology developed by HP Labs in the 1970s HP 2225
1985 Introduced a new generation of Microwave Automatic Network Analyzers HP 8510A
1986 Introduced the first generation of PA-RISC Workstations HP 9000/S800
1986 Introduced the first generation of 3D Graphic Workstations, with Starbase Graphics Library HP SRX
1988 Introduced the first combined Spectrum/Network Analyzer HP 4195A
1989 Produced custom VLSI to deliver enhanced performance to earlier graphics subsystem design Turbo SRX
1989 Introduced a new generation of Digital Data Storage (DDS) drives using an helical scan tape technology HP DDS
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The 1990s
Date Innovation Product
1990 Introduced a new generation of Digitizing Oscilloscopes with up to 500 MHz bandwidth HP 54XXX
1990 Introduced a set of integrated hardware and software products for network management HP OpenView
1990 Introduced the first A3, 180 dpi Color Inkjet Printer PaintJet XL
1991 Introduced the first Color Desktop Printer using fundamental color (sRGB) compression and half-toning algorithms HP DeskJet 500C
1991 Upgraged the 8510 Network Analyzer with last generation microprocessor for increased computing power HP 8510C
1992 Introduced a Visual Engineering Environment for test software development HP VEE
1992 Introduced the new concept of Frequency Domain Analysis HP 53310A
1992 Introduced a new product line of instruments based on the VXI Standard for test and measurement system architecture HP VXI bus
1994 Introduced a Collaborative Multimedia Environment for HP 9000, Series 700 and 800 Workstations HP MPower
1994 Introduced a third-generation HP Thermal Color Inkjet printhead with "Laser-Comparable" resolution HP 1200C
1994 Introduced the 64-Bit architecture (Itanium) that eventually becomes Intel's next-generation Itanium architecture launched in 2001 HP Itanium *
1995 Introduced a Dynamic Modeling Software for Three-Dimensional computer-aided design SolidDesigner
1996 Introduced a collection of software algorithms to use the Global Positioning System (GPS) as a source of timing and frequency reference HP SmartClock
1996 Produced the World highest luminosity Light Emiting Diode Power LED
1997 Innovations in digital photography technology (adaptive lighting, color balance, automatic red-eye removal, and "custom photo lab" inside HP cameras. HP Cameras
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