Before Qualcomm: Linkabit and the Origins of San Diego’s Telecom Industry

8/2/2019 Before Qualcomm: Linkabit and the Origins of San Diegos Telecom Industry

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Before Qualcomm:Linkabit and the Origins of San Diegos Telecom Industry

Joel West

M s die kw h u e hih-ech eepie he p ecei Qucmm, fue 500 cmp.1 Qucmmue b Iwi M. Jcb,Andrew J. Viterbi and ve othersis recognized locally for the wealth that itcee ue, empee, ie. I ej epui hepi u m c phihpic chibe e.

ouie he c eecmmuici iu, hwee, ew pepe eize hQualcomm was the second company founded by Jacobs and Viterbi, not the rst.

the eie up, likbi, me m l aee s die i 1970 ,over the next twenty-ve years, helped to generate more than two hundred separateeecmmuici cmpie. a eie ue ciciecehe h ceu huh u ecmic ei he mi e wh s die h signicant telecommunications industry.

thi ice ce he ph Jcb viebi m hei new Echih hei Mchue Iiue tech (MIt) eieeieee he ui likbi. I hw h likbii e ppici cui-ee cmmuici echie, i eeu e, he eeuipe he cmp ke eieei ew he c h e he ew cmpie, icui Qucmm.2

From New England to San Diego

Bh Iwi M. Jcb aew J. viebi pe hei mie e iee Mchue.3 Jcb ph w impe. fm hi bih i 1933 hiui m he c hih ch i 1950, Jcb ie i new Be, shing town near Cape Cod. He left to attend the School of Hotel Administration Ce Uiei, bu e wiche he sch Eecic Eieei.He me mie J Kei Ce, whee he emie ui hi 1956ui. He he me he B e e MIt ueue.4

viebi k me cicuiu ue. I 1935, ae gicm viebi w bi Bem, I, he chi pmie c hi wie. I 1939 heed Jewish persecution to New York City. The family moved to Boston in 1941.aicizi hi me aew Jme viebi, he ue m B lihih ch i 1952.5 He he ce he Che rie MIt whee he ee u sB/sM eee i 1957, pi cee ui MIt cpeie wk-upm.6

Joel West i cie pe ii eepeeuhip i he Cee Buie sJ se Uiei. a ue Pi lm Hih sch, he h sB m MIt Phd mUC Iie. the mei i hi ice i pe m pe bk he hi he s dieeecmmuici iu.


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The Journal of San Diego History

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ahuh he ec ci ph, bh me wee ue uem 1956 1957 i MIt p-ke eecic eieei epme. duihe 1950 1960, MIt eeche e he w eech i imi

he, which wu e ebe he ii mi he cmmuiciiu. Cue sh, he he imi he, w pe i heepme m 1956 1978, huh he w emi-eie e 1966. 7

Of the two young men, Viterbi was the rst to come to California, interviewing eie epce-ee jb i he l aee e. He che piii he cmmuici up he Je Ppui lb (JPl) i Pe,he Cii Iiue tech (Cech) b h w pe b heUs am ui i w ee he ew cee ni aeuic spce amiii (nasa) i ocbe 1958. I Jue 1957, viebi me wihhi pe u l aee. He me E fici e h e, he wee

mie i 1958. s, hi JPl w uppi hi exee mi hincluded his parents, his wife, and their rst two children.

a JPl, viebi wke cmmuici wih ume eie, icuiExplorer I, the rst American satellite, he pbe he m,veu, M. Wki u-ime JPl, he ee i Phd pmi eieei he Uiei suhe Cii (UsC) eeu ee hi ce i1962. the wi e, he jie hecu he Uiei Cii,l aee (UCla) ueueeieei pe. He ciue cu wih JPl , e, he nasapei. Whie UCla, he methe scientic breakthrough on digitalcmmuici ecihe viebiihmwhich e buh himp w i eecic eieei,cmmuici, imihe.8

Jcb, e cmpei hi sc.d.iei i 1959, emie heMIt eecic eieei epme i, he cie,pe. He be wki wihP. Jh Wzec exbk ii cmmuici, Principlesof Communication Engineering, which

eeu becme he exbk MIt ei cmmuicieieei c; cic wwie, i i i ibe amz.cm .9 I1963, he me viebi ceece eize h he h cmm iee.

Jcb, bii ee m MIt, pe e e JPl m 1964 1965, ii m Cii i ue wih hi wie J hei hee .

In this picture featured on the back cover, JPL scientistsreview data from Explorer I after the January 1958launch of the rst American satellite. Andrew Viterbi,center, is looking at a printout of telemetry data.Courtesy of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.


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Before Qualcomm

I he 1965, e eui MIt, Jcb wiie jb ieiew b e hi Ce pe,He Bke, wh h ice me he Uiei

Cii, s die (UCsd) u i depme appie Eecphic.10 Jacobs ew out to San Diego forhe jb ieiew he eue B. a he 1999 ieiewe:

[J I] ke i e, much we ike Cii, he ie mi ew uiei, ppui e mehi m cch, we h umi bck he e c, ie, cee.

s we ce up ue he jb w.fw , we wee miebe wih he ecii.the ec ue u be e i, I e MIt k he ubw up H sque. I u hee wee heehue cw wii he bue ai,and people were pushing their way through. I nally managed toe he uh bu, I w i i he e he bu, I hwe chi, eeb chi w we, bu hw Arlington, the clothing began to dry and this terrible odor lled the

bu. I hme I i, yu kw, we e w Cii. s we ce up i, We, wee e cme.a he pii w i pe, u we cme.11

Jcb hi mi me l J whee he jie he UCsd cu iime he 1966 que.

Founding of Linkabit

I 1967 1968, Jcb, viebi, e viebi UCla ceue,ew MIt umu le Keick, ee ceece nasacmmuici he he nasa ame reech Cee i Mui view,Cii.12 fi bck m he ceece, Jcb ec i h he hme cui eque h he cu ccep; he hee me ee cee cmp cie hei eme iu cui e. the ewrm, Linkabit, was incorporated in October 1968. At rst, the corporations ofceswee ce Keick Bew hme. le, he me Wew,wihi wki ice he UCla eieei buii whee viebi Keick bh wke.13

I 1969, Keick he he h i u he me e likbi,eii mii equi ke. th e, Keick ie i hi UCla bthe computer that was the rst endpoint of what would become the ARPANET,eue he Iee.14

The rst engineer hired by Linkabit was Jerrold Heller, an MIT graduatestudent who had followed his advisor Jacobs to San Diego to nish his doctorate

Irwin M. Jacobs, a relativelynew member of UCSDs AppliedElectrophysics Department, in1966-67. Courtesy of Irwin M.

Jacobs.


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(MIt Phd 67). Hee he wke ii cmmuici pbem JPlbee jii likbi i sepembe 1969.15 Over the next fteen months, thecmp hie hee he eecic eiee: aew r. Che (MIt 57), Keigihue (UCla 69), Jme du (UCsd 70).

In 1970, Linkabit moved from Los Angeles to Sorrento Valley. Their ofces at10453 Roselle Street became the rst of more than twenty Linkabit buildings alongRoselle Street and Sorrento Valley Road. To run the ofce, Linkabit hired Adeliadee tupie, wh h ju ue m Mi Hih sch.16 the exiiempee me uh m l aee s die, excep viebi, whme uh hee e e. I 1971-72, Jcb k ee bece mUsCd bee ize likbi.

Linkabits Launch Customer: NASA

likbi me he mji i me m eii impemeiii eecmmuici. I i e , likbi i bui hi. I

began life with study contracts, research projects funded by clients to solve specicechic pbem. a he cmp bui i epui cpbiiie, i eiespecic products and built components such as circuit boards, semiconductors,chips, and, nally, complete devices.

t, hih-ech k bu ew ech up cmpeei uch cume. f likbi, h uch cume w nasa,uppi cmmuici i eep pce mii. likbi i wk nasa eech bie, bh he ame reech Cee i Mui view,Cii, he JPl cc b u b Cech. nasa w hecompanys rst or only early customer which also included NEL (later NELC he nosC) i Pi lm he viii-be deee ace

The founders of Linkabit in front of their new San Diego headquarters in Sorrento Valley, ca. 1973. Pictured:Andrew Viterbi, unidentied, Irwin M. Jacobs, and Jerry Heller. Courtesy of Irwin M. Jacobs.


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Research Projects Agency (DARPA) but NASA was the customer that rstwe hem pp sh he.17

theeic, he ci he eepe e he w ece e

sh 1948 imi he mie we ii cmmuici i e 10 ecibe i eh (10 ime e) he meeibii.18 Whe likbi w me, hwee, h pei emie eueize.

Over the next two decades, Jacobs and Viterbi would take the eld of codinghe m ju ppe exbk pcic ppici. thei

bcku me hi pibe. Jcb, huh m he ei imihei, w MIt ui he pek he eecic eieei epmeinuence on information theory, working alongside those who had developed themajor breakthroughs in the eld. Jacobs applied these ideas to problems in

pcic cmmuici, icui hem i hi exbk cmmuicihe ppe pce cmmuici be hi e JPl.

viebi, whie e-uh, ue imi he we euh echit at UCLA. More signicantly, he had developed the decoding algorithm, known he viebi ihm, which me h w ece w ciee hew be e-ceci cheme i ii cmmuici. I 1991, heee he p cemic pize i imi he, he sh aw ie bhe IEEE Imi the scie.19

Even more signicantly, Viterbi and Jacobs had experience in spacecommunications, one of the few markets in the 1960s where the benets of codinghe, icui viebi ihm, wee wh he c. viebi wke wih

JPLs communications group from 1957 onward, rst as a full-time employee andhe cu. Jcb kw hi up ui hi 1964-65 iiippime.

t, we ke e h ii cmmuici e pibe i cume eecic eice, whehe Cd pe, dvd pe hih-denition television. Since the mid-1990s, the United States has enjoyed digital cellpheui Qucmm echh c pp imi he ie ime ice cmmuici ui pe-ize micchip h u pcke-ize be c ue $20.

Bu i 1967whe viebi w iei hi ihm eeche weeppi he sh-eie he eep pce cmmuicicmpuewee much we, bie, me expeie. nasa eeche e sim5 miicmpue whie viebi ue UCla e sim 7 miicmpue i hie cc eech nasa ame reech Cee.20 Ech cmpue wfrom Santa Monica-based Scientic Data Systems (later bought by Xerox), requiringee eie-ize cbie. Ech $300,000 $700,000 ($2 mii $4.6 mii i 2009 ).

dii ci, epeci eci, equie eice ue expeie cce cmpui pwe, mki i impcic i ue. sice iw bei ue cmmeci, i equie mee p he up-eepme c he ew ech. depie hee pbem, he echw ie uie eceii phph he eeme m nasaplanned unmanned deep space probes to the outer planets, rst Mars, then Jupiter,su, Uu, nepue. Becue i i iipe i iee


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pwe w, mi pcec m he M M wu euce he ii pwe b mii-, whie ii su wu euce pwe bhe e-.

B 1968, nasa h me ece wh impeme i icmmuici em w ui u eie. Bimie pwe wu equie me pwe h w ibe he pcepbe; icei he mi e wu equie e bie h he Us pce be. Mewhie, nasa exii u-be eieihe wee 210 ee i imee. I w impcic mke hem e they were difcult to maintain and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Digitaleci eci c e h eie eie impe hecommunications efciency of a handful of space probes and ground stations. 21

nasa ame, eepi he Piee ume pbe, w ih hei he ieiii pce ce. nasa h hie de fe he CexCpi (new, Mchue) P. Jim Me ne dme wk hei cmmuici pbem. the w me, bh wih ce mMIT, came up with the solution used in Pioneer 10 (the rst space probe to Jupiter) Piee 11 ( Jupie su), uche i 1972 1973.

nasa ame ee viebi whie he w UCla, pihe iei eech hee hi Phd ue. oe ue, Jephoewe, ppe ui h cmbie viebi eci ihmwih ci ppch m fe iei puce bee eu hh bee bie he Piee pbe. ae ui, oewe jielikbi empee #26.22 nasa he hie likbi w-up u,

Klein Gilhousen, pictured ca. 1974, led Linkabits efforts to develop one of the rst digital signal processors on achip, the Linkabit Microprocessor (LMP). Courtesy of Irwin M. Jacobs.


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Before Qualcomm

cmpee b oewe, viebi,Jcb, Hee i e 1973. theppe ui w ue b he

JPl-eie ve pce pbe he ue pe. luche i 1977,ve 1 iie Jupie suwhie ve 2 iie Uu nepue.

the nasa pjec e likbihe ceibii bii ip i kwee iicmmuici, bu pph kwee e e pbem.

likbi cuh uck bekwhe Cex ce meme cii ecie cu ueecmmuici bekhuh,pieei he he e--he- 9600

bu mem. the cmp bepce cmmuici eeeuch buie likbi eee.23

Military Applications

dii cmmuici ue i eeppce h mii ppici.I mii cmmuici, heieeece mih be m-mei jmme he h u bcku ii bu he i eibii

benets were the same. Digital coding also aided in goals unique to military (orintelligence) communications: avoiding interception, falsication or triangulation.a mj ieece w h mii cmmuici wee hihe ume hpce pbe, equii he puci hue ee hu ui,uike he w-ze ui ue b nasa pjec. dui he 1970, miipjec wee be expi he e chepe emicuc cmpe, peice b Me lw, be 1965 ice b fichi semicuc( e Ie) cue g Me.24

a he nasa pjec wu w ui he 1970 e 1980, likbieepe eie mu emu (mem) iieci eci mii i e UHf i we (0.3-3.0 gHz),wi mii cmme ue eie e i ic he ui ce whee i he w. Wki ubcc mjeee eecic cmpie, likbi u puce hihe ume cmmuici cmpe he eie eice he Us ai fce e he Us am i he 1970.

likbi be b pii hwe we he ai fce hue ecue eibe cmmuici ei eic (i.e. uce)

MITs newspaper, the tech, ran an advertisementfor Linkabit on October 31, 1980. The ad emphasizedLinkabits ability to help start a great career going,its rapid growth rate, and its ideal location in SanDiego with its research universities and 70 miles ofbeaches. Authors collection.


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wep. a p i e euce hec ize he mii cmmuicieice, gihue e he cmp

ucceu e eep e herst digital signal processors on a chip, thelikbi Micpce (lMP). I 1973, two years after Intel released the worlds rstmicpce, he Ie 4004, gihue

be wii he micce ecibi heoperations of the LMP. With Shefeld ShefeWb fki ai, he cmpee beb ppe he ew chip iM 1974. the micpce pee 3

mii cce pe ec, bu 1/1000 ekp cmpue. le he, likbi ue he lMP impeme heviebi ihm eci ii im ue pce.25

likbi du Mem, me pibeb he eepme he lMP, wecmmuici b mii ui wih wiee Us ai fce eie cmmuiciem, hece i me. the mem, eepe b Kei gihue, fkiAntonio, and led by Jacobs, had both data and limited voice capabilities. The rstsignicant manufacturing program for Linkabit, it was shipped beginning in late1977 e 1978.26

oe likbi m phiice e puc w he Cmm PMem/Pce (CPM/P) e eceie sHf/EHf (3 gHz-300 gHz)eie cmmuici Us ai fce ibe cmm p. the CPM/Pw bh he ai fce EC-135 (pe m Bei 707) he E-4(Bei 747) w iee pie cmmuici Us eic bmbe miie i he ee uce w.

the du Mem w ucceee b he ti-Mem, cmmuici memh e ii me upp Us am cmmuici.27 vii hee mem he hee mj eice (am, n, ai fce) ciue ipuci i he 1990. Mh dei, e likbi ew eme execuie,e he ti-Mem eepme pjec, e he e m eicimp likbi eue he 1970. a Phd ue H Uieii he appie Mhemic epme, he me s die i 1970 whehe hub ccepe pii i pe i he UCsd Chemidepme. she me Iwi Jcb he l J demcic Cub wkewih him UCsd whie cmpei he 1971 c hei cmpue phic.I 1976, he jie likbi ee i we eepme e. 28

Civilian Business

I he e 1970 e 1980, likbi ciue exp. B 1978, iu eeue eche $10 mii. I hii ew eiee, i uh ieie

Andrew J. Viterbi developed the decodingalgorithm, known as the Viterbi algorithm,that made possible effective satellitecommunications. Andrew J. and ErmaViterbi Family Archives, University ofSouthern California.


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Before Qualcomm

bu iexpeiece cee ue m p ch ike MIt, Iii,s, he Uiei Cii ch. likbi e ecuiie cue MIt. le, UCsd eieei pm eepe i

ize ue, he cmp pue e m i c ch. likbiee eiee ieei wk cuue h emphize echicpwe he he . viebi Jcb, mewhie, h he epec ceue ei uieiie huhu he cu.

t w i buie be eme cc, likbi ppie ieie cmmuici expeie cmmeci pbem. I he e 1970,likbi w m ee eme cc i eech he ue eie ue ic arPanEt cmmuici. likbi eieeu hw he arPanEt cu wk wih he e e m bucii eie bii 22,000 mie be eh.29

f cmmeci ue, likbi wke ep ew echvesm apeue temi (vsat) h we eie cmmuiciwih u ihe 4 8 ee i imee. I be buii equipme seie Buie sem (sBs), iiii i e e e piecmmeci ppici eie cmmuici. sBs be i 1975

ji eue bewee IBM, ae lie Cu, CoMsat, he Us-becmmuici eie cmp. sBs ii cue hih-pee cmmuici Us buiee , e, hie -ice eephec. I 1984, i w MCI.

ae wii cc wih i eice cc schumbee,Linkabit worked to sell VSAT systems to other rms that needed businesscmmuici. Mike lubi, me, ee he fue 500 cmpieh eee cec hue ci c he cu. likbiex mj cc w wih W-M, wi he cmp akheque eceie e ie me h 700 e u hecu. likbi e e imi e eice 7-11 ceiece e Hi I he.

likbi e ume cmmeci pjec, hwee, cme wihVideoCipher, an encryption system for satellite TV broadcasts. Home Box Ofce(HBo) w e m p eeii eice ue b cume whwche hei cbe tv che ee i e bck eie ihe. aeeeki pp m iu eecic cmpie, HBo che w hecc likbi whe eiee h ubmie he ii ui he pbem ecpi tv che. the vieCiphe em icuehee me wih MIt ce: Je Hee, W Pik, Pu Me.ae HBo eece he ech ie mie eceie cbe tv em, likbi wke bui m-mke ece be to consumers. It started its rst high-volume commercial factory, built in Puertoric ue x iceie. I 1986, he vieCiphe em w echic Emmw m he acem teeii a & sciece.

fi, likbi eie bui e me tdMa (ime iiimuipe cce) ii mbie phe Pei-be IeiMobile Machines Corporation (IMM). In 1992, IMM acquired a rival rm andeme ie Iedii. t, i cmpee wih Qucmm iceeech e iee cicui ceu eephe mke.


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Acquisition and Dismemberment

likbi expi i cmmeci buiee picu i ee

bui cume-ce mucui p he HBo eceequieme cpi h i h. I nembe 1979, likbi ee be buh b henysE-ie M/a-CoM. the cquiii w cmpee i auu 1980 $25mii. a Jcb ece w ece e:

We wee ppcheb M/a-CoM, cebck i B, buhe pibii

jii hem. the wee

cquii u e, b ck-mee. We h

bee hiki buwhehe pubici ime. the h cmpe. Iue ike e ie, i he eeh we wu be eeic ieecmp. the weee he newyk sck Exche, h wu ke ce he iue piiiquii he ckh iu pepewe. I ue epiie. fuhe, heCEo Chim he cmp [w]l gu, pewh h ue e 21 22, wih hePhd m MIt s wecu e ewe ehe. s weecie mee.30

M/a-CoM likbi eie iic iei bu he cmp peiwee cmbie wih ee M/a-CoM iii, i picu, he me diiCmmuici Cp. gemw, M, cquie b M/a-CoMi 1978. f ee e e he cquiii, M/a-CoM likbi expemic. a i ew Jcb viebi ume me eiepibiiie wihi M/a-CoMhe cuue he cmp che. a

An advertisement for the Tri-Modem, produced by M/A-COMLinkabit, stated, In the next 20 years, SAC [Strategic AirCommand] will use three different UHF SATCOM systems, butwill need only one modem. M/A-COM Linkabit, Inc. Andrew

J. and Erma Viterbi Family Archives, University of SouthernCalifornia.


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Before Qualcomm

eiee see H ece: likbi w e u pce wk, bu i echi e he M/a-CoM cquiii.31

Jcb viebi epe e M/a-CoM likbi i api 1985. the bh

cie he 1982 ecii M/a-CoM b eme he Chim CEolwece gu whm he ue, hi wke wih him eie he e.

M/A-COM, facing nancial troubles, sold off the various pieces of Linkabite Jcb viebi e. I 1986, gee Iume puche vieCiphe he eeii-ee echie bee ei ie M i 2000.M/a-CoM eecmmuici iii, which icue bh likbi dCC,

becme Huhe newk sem e i 1987 puche b Huhe Eecic,he iii gee M h e cee he diectv eie eeiiem. I 1990, he ti Cpi, s die-be eee eeciccmp ue i 1981, puche he emie likbi, he eme

cci iii.32

Qualcomm and Other Linkabit Spinoffs33

M/a-CoM likbi empee epe he che i cpe cuue,he imembeme likbi, he eii he w ue

b ei he cmp. Bewee 1984 1990, he ue e eweecmmuici cmpie i s die.34 the bi i c M/a-CoMlikbi i ke execuie p eiee, bu much i bii eep eie ew echie.

I Ju 1985, up ee likbi umi me Jcb l J hme: hew likbi ue (viebi Jcb), hee he eie eiee (aewCohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Franklin Antonio), and two senior nancial managers

Andrew and Erma Viterbi, left, at MITs 25th year class reunion, June 1982. Andrew J. and Erma Viterbi FamilyArchives, University of Southern California.


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(aei Cm He Whie). the ecie bui cmp heiee QUali CoMMuici ce hei ew cmp, Qucmm.

At rst, Qualcomm continued along the Linkabit trajectory with governmentcc pie ii cmmuici eice. ae i wih mepjec, i eepe hih-pee cmmuici he hee mj meeice mi mii e e. I cmpee pjec eeee cc, icui f aepce i newp Bech, Cii, Huhe Eecic be i gemw, M.

Qualcomms rst major source of ongoing revenues came from OmniTRACS, eie-be mbie cmmuici em h we cmpie cehei uck whee cc hem ime. o he eh omitraCs,Qualcomm completed its initial public offering in December 1991, the rst of thelikbi pi . Qucmm ee ue, hwee, cme wih ii ce phe ech i ce Ce diii Muipe acce (CdMa).35 theech w pe b hee he ee he Bb Be pi at&tBell Atlantic, NYNEX and US Westas well as AirTouch Communications, GTE, spi PCs.36

I 1999, Qucmm ck h i be e ee wih 2,600 pe ce icee,ei ck mj Us mke. thi w be he eh CdMae i he Uie se, Ke, Jp.37 the pi ie ue i

Martha Dennis, center, with a group working in the Linkabit lab on their rst large commercial project, theData Aggregator, ca. 1980. Back row: Geoff Tollin, Tom Seay, Rob Gross, Butch Weaver, John Ratzel. Front row:Dennis, unidentied. Courtesy of Martha Dennis.


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Before Qualcomm

empee ie i miiie; hee uch Quiiie wee eue he ce Money mzie.38

Qualcomm, although the best known and most nancially successful of the

cmpie ue b me likbi empee, w e m up huh ecee he likbi cuue he e 1970 e 1980. IecieCcep w ue w e eie, i 1983; scieq Cmsem we i1984.

o he hee ew cmpie me b likbi umi i 1986, he mnancially successful was ViaSat of Carlsbad, started by the manager of Linkabitseie mem buie, Mk dkbe, wh ecuie cue likbieiee see H Mk Mie. like Qucmm, vis miie iiepeece huh iii pubic ei i decembe 1996. t, vis iemp mii he cuue cee b Jcb viebi. a cue see

Hart recalled: It was denitely intentional. We liked working there, all of us....Wereally liked the culture. We wanted that culture and were very inuenced by it.39

In 1987, ve former Linkabit executives founded Pacic Communicationssciece, Ic. (PCsI): Mh dei, Mike lubi, di l, Phiip Wi, We Weie. the cue bh peech cmpei Ceudii Pcke d (CdPd) cee mi wiee ii e ce phe ewk. PCsI ee ucce cme m mki i equeciee cicui he Pe Hphe sem, w-c ii mbiephe ewk h be eice i Jp i 1995. PCsI w puche i 1993 bCiu lic, which e he buk he cmp rckwe Iei i1997. Bh dei l we m ew s die eecm cmpie.

Jacobs speaks at the tenth anniversary celebration of the founding of Qualcomm in 1985. Six of the founders arepictured, left to right: Klein Gilhousen, Franklin Antonio, Dee Coffman, Irwin M. Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi, andHarvey White. The seventh founder, Andrew Cohen, is not shown. Courtesy of Irwin M. Jacobs.


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the 1980 up eee likbi kwee eie-ebeii cmmuici bui viebi Jcb eie wk mii nasa pjec. M eceie ke e eeue m eiecmmuici, whehe eie-be uck cki (Qucmm), emesatellite communications (ViaSat), improving the efciency of live remote TV

bc mie i eie (tie Cmmuici), ecieie i iie i iee hme tv iewe (Cmsem).

I c, he likbi umi kep cmi bck eie, whehe he we . vis CEo Mk dkbe ii ee he wiiup mem buie ime whe mem pee w he impi m2400 9600 bi pe ec (e ue 56,000 bp ece e). Hwee, he vis ue e ece, eue cpii wu u he ie:[the eue cpii] i: We, h e ieei, bu u kwhi bu h cmmeci wieie mem buie. Bu i u w wh u kw, wee u u. (luhi) a u buie p wpe much i wh we wee i likbi.40

Cee, he ue PCsI, wh e he wi e, ie eiecmmuici e eii m he M/a-CoM likbi memeh epce Jcb viebi: thee w emeu e h i we hweup i eie cmmuici h pib he wu ue u iicondentiality agreements. So I think we decided to be squeaky clean andpei i he eie buie.41 depie hi ecii, PCsI ewke i w eie-ee pic, icui pjec InMarsat, heb eie--hip eephe em.

n he likbi pi ie wiee cmmuici. Pim

The VideoCipher was one of Linkabits largest volume commercial projects. Jacobs, right, is pictured with a boxcontaining VideoCipher #10,000. Courtesy of Irwin M. Jacobs.


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Before Qualcomm

acce bui eephe muipex Cmpusee he e pe iup imi eice. the cmp w ue i 1987 b em ixlikbi umi, w whm wee wki he likbi iii cquie

by General Instrument. Jim Dunn, their rst president, had been Linkabitse-ei empee e he Qucmm pi he gee Iumecquiii. Je Mkee, he ue, jie likbi i 1979 we

become CEO of two other San Diego telecommunications rms.Pim acce m be be kw i CEo, Wiim seu, wh

emie he hem ui he cmp 1995 cquiii b 3Cm s C.seu becme mi iec s die e eue cpi u,Eepie Pe veue Cpi, which h me h $1 bii echieme whe seu eie i 2006.42 He i he eecm ee(other than current or former Qualcomm ofcers) to make a recent list of the

twenty-ve richest San Diegans.43

Conclusions

the s die eecmmuici iu eepe m ie upcmplikbii mj cu eepeeui cii ui he 1980.I he eih e pei, 1983 1990:

M/a-CoM likbi, me likbi, w i hee mj pi $359 mii;

Ex-likbi empee me e up cmpie i s die he hee me eewhee; ,

Empee hee hiee cmpie he hee me likbiiii ue he ix up cmpie, icui tieCmmuici (1989) Bc (1990).

am he eecmmuiciup, he ee weh cei cmem Qucmm.44 I eie execuiee cie wih muimii i he s die smph, l

J Phue, o gbe, he Mueum Cemp a, he Jewih CmmuiCee, scipp reech Iiue, he sdie nu Hi Mueum, hes die f Bk, we UCsd s die se Uiei.

Linkabit, however, fueled signicantecmic wh i he s dieei b eei e cue telecommunications rms. Martha Dennis,eime peie he s dieteecmmuici Cuci, cmpiea list of more than seventy-ve direct

Jacobs speaks in 1995 about Qualcomms successduring the previous ten years. Courtesy of Irwin

M. Jacobs.


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16

pi (ue b likbi umi) iiec pi (ue b umi he pi cmpie) m 1983 he pee, m hem i s die. thiiucue h buh me h w hue eecmmuici up

he s die ei ice 1980, icui ee nasdaQ ie cmpie:Qucmm, lep Wiee, vis, ne Wiee, Mxwe techie, dHi sem, Epic.45

tw c wee ke he cei he c eecmmuici iu.The rst was Jacobs role in moving Linkabit to San Diego. If, instead of Jacobs,viebi ( Keick) h becme he miiie he he cmp, helikbi wu he emie i l aee. o cue, i Jcb h e he w pe-emie cmmuici eech pm i Mchuehe h ki he ik mi ew upe uiei isouthern Californiathen he would not have been in San Diego in the rst place.

the ec ke c w he ipe likbi echic e mthe rst generation of unofcial spinoffs from 1984 to 1989. Such a rapid exodusof Linkabits best engineers during its rst two decades had no precedent atme be, hih-ech cmpie ike HP, Ie, geeech.46 Whehe heiepue wee he eu M/a-CoM bche cquiii likbi of condence after Jacobs and Viterbi left, these talented men and women formedze iec iiec likbi pi i s die. thee pi, iu, me he uceu bu w hue wiee cmmuici upme i s die m 1980 2003.47

tehe, hee w c buh bu he cue ccei eecmmuici e i s die, we he ce cpei

In 1997, the Qualcomm Corporation paid $18 million to rename Jack Murphy Stadium in Mission Valley, home ofthe San Diego Chargers and former home of the San Diego Padres. The sports arena is now known as QualcommStadium. In this picture, Jacobs speaks on behalf of his company, post-1997. Courtesy of Irwin M. Jacobs.


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Before Qualcomm

bewee iu c uieiie, picu UCsd. Whe cmbiewih he pe wh c bimeic iuie, he eu h bee hemi s die m eep n w e he i

ei hih-ech ei.

fue fim su

1984 Cmsem acquie b sp aepce i 1992

1984 scieq acquie b oicm i 1996

1985 Qucmm nasdaQ pubic cmp ice 1991

1986 vis nasdaQ pubic cmp ice 1996

1986 Muispec Eieei acquie b tch newk i 1997

1987 Pacic Communications Sciences, Inc. (PCSI) acquie b Ciu lic i 1993

1987 I tech acquie b Ceese techie i 2006

1988 Pim acce acquie b 3CoM i 19951989 Mipwe remi pie he

1990 te sciece liquie i 1998

Table 1: First generation startup rms formed in San Diego by Linkabit employees and alumni, 1984-1990.Sources: See note 34.

NOTES

1. Qucmm h bee he Fortune 500 i ice 1999, ki #297 i 2008. I w we banother San Diego company, SAIC (#289), rst listed in 2006, whose primary business is providingechic pei eice he Us eme. the he s die cmp he i ui hi eie pei w semp Ee (#232), pe sdg&E.

2. Cie sim, fm Wep Ce-Phe: Kwee newk i he Cei sdie Wiee ve (Phd iei, s Uiei, 2004). the uh i eu pemii ue bh hi wk sim be, s die Wiee ve (Ju 2005),that identies 346 wireless-related companies or branch ofces formed in San Diego through 2004.sim We he cquie iiiu ji ceci he s die eecmiu, icui chi me h ix ieiew cuce wih c ue empee ice 2003. see : Je We Cie sim, Bci IpeeuiIi . Eepeeui spi dui Pei techic feme, Sloan IndustryStudies Working Papers WP-2007-32 (2007).

3. In the nancial press, San Diegos Irwin Mark Jacobs uses his middle name to distinguish himselfm Iwi l. Jcb Miepi, we-kw cpe ie he 1970 1980 whw he Forbes i u hue iche ameic m 1986 1988. I 1999, Forbes iecue he w whe i Iwi l. ph ice Iwi M. ew e hefbe400. oe he ew ice mei bh me i Bb J. fee, new Ecm:a o-se de Mke tke up he Cue Hih tech wih Mucui ehe Iee, New York Times, August 21, 2000. Campaign nance reports routinely mingle thedemc cibui I. M. Jcb wih he repubic cibui I. l. Jcb.

4. die s. Mw, Iwi Mk Jcb o Hi, ieiew cip, Computerworld HonorsProgram International Archives, Mch 24, 1999; di M, o hi cuce wih IwiM. Jcb, Iiue Eecic Eecic Eiee (IEEE) Hi Cee, ocbe 29,1999; Iwi M. Jcb, ieiewe b uh, auu 29, 2006, M 3, 2007. see , de

Mck, The Qualcomm Equation: How a Fledgling Telecom Company Forged a New Path to Big Prots andMarket Dominance (new yk: aMaCoM ameic Meme acii, 2005).

5. viebi expie, I i ee ciizehip ppe ui I pp. I eee pp I i 48. s, we pu w aew Jck i cme u aew Jck. I i, We, Iepec he Peie bu I w be aew Jck, we ecie mke i Jme.aew viebi, ieiewe b uh, decembe 5, 2006.


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18

6. ricc Chibee, L algoritmo di Viterbi (Mi: lei, 2000); M, o hi cucewih aew viebi; viebi, ieiewe b uh, Jue 15, 2004, decembe 5, 2006.

7. We, Cmmeciizi ope sciece: deep spce Cmmuici he le Mke sh the, 1960-1973,Journal of Management Studies 45, . 8 (decembe 2008): 1506-32.Imi sh e MIt w cmpie m heMIT Tech ue ewppe, MItcue c, MIt c ue hee, he sh hi he MIt achie.

8. aew J. viebi, E Bu Cui Ce ampic opimumdeci aihm, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 13, . 2 (api 1967): 260-69. f icui he hi impc he viebi ihm, ee g. di fe, J., theviebi aihm: a Pe Hi, peee viebi Ceece, Uiei suheCii, Mch 8, 2005, eie api 29, 2005, hp://xi./b/c/05040202 (cceeMch 7, 2009); aew J. viebi, a Pe Hi he viebi aihm, IEEE SignalProcessing Magazine (Ju 2006), 121-23, 142.

9. Jh M. Wzec Iwi Mk Jcb, Principles of Communication Engineering (new yk:Wie, 1965).

10. f imi he UCsd depme appie Eecphic, w he depme Eecic Eieei Cmpue sciece, ee nc sc ae, An Improbable Venture: AHistory of the University of California, San Diego (l J: UCsd Pe, 1993).

11. Mw, Iwi Mk Jcb o Hi.

12. As NASA records do not establish the date of the conference, conicting reports of the initialmeei he bee pubihe. I ieiew wih he hee ue, e pce he ceeceand plane ight in 1967, one in 1968, and one did not recall the date 40 years later. However, a copyof the companys rst income statement conrms the date of Linkabits initial operations.

13. le Keick, ieiewe b uh, ocbe 22, 2008. see he Jcb viebiieiew hiie.

14. Keick e e i meie i B M. leie, e. ., the P fuue Hi heIee, Communications of the ACM 40, . 2 (febu 1997): 102-108.

15. 2005 speke Bi: Je a. Hee, UsC viebi sch Eieei, hp://iebi.uc.eu/ew/ee/iebi_ecue/2005_bi.hm (ccee Mch 7, 2009).

16. Kw dee Cm e he mie, he ee Bs i buie sdsU i 1976. Cmw e he ee Qucmm ue, ei i Cfo m Ju 1985 febu 1989, b iec m Ju 1992 Mch 2007.

17. sh pubihe hi emi ppe i he Bell System Technical Journal: C. E. sh, aMhemic the Cmmuici 27, Bell System Technical Journal (Ju ocbe, 1948):379-423, 623-56. the ppe w e pubihe wih iuci b We Wee i sh Wee, The Mathematical Theory of Communication, (Ub, Il: Uiei Iii Pe, 1949).

18. Ibi.

19. Beii wih Cue sh i 1972, he IEEE Imi the scie h ie hew hi iiiu, wih he i eie ecipie mie b MIt Be lbumi.

20. Jeph oewe, opim deci Cei Ce (Phd, Uiei Cii,l aee, 1970); the sim fmi, Scientic Data Systems (1967), Cmpue Hi Mueumchie; uh ceci.

21. du J. Muw, Uplink-Downlink: A History of the NASA Deep Space Network, 1957-1997, nasasP-2001-4227 (Whi, d.C.: ni aeuic spce amiii, 2001); Muw,Big Dish: Building Americas Deep Space Connection to the Planets (gieie: Uiei Pe fi, 2005).

22. Jeph oewe, ieiewe b uh, ocbe 9, 2006.

23. viebi, ieiewe b uh, decembe 6, 2006.

24. g E. Me, Cmmi Me Cmpe o Iee Cicui, Proceedings of the IEEE38 . 8 (api 19, 1965): 114-17.


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Before Qualcomm

25. the lMP i echic ei e ecibe i Kei s. gihue, a Mui-sckMicpce seie Mem, eiee he ni teecmmuici Ceece,s die, Ca, decembe 2-4, 1974. the eepme he ppe i ecibe i e ie

b gihue, p cpbk peee b likbi empee Jcb i M 1985. acce

he cpbk w ciu pie b d. Jcb ui auu 2006 ieiew.26. Chceiic likbi mem ui he e 1980icui he Md-1035a du

Mem, Md-1094/g ti-Mem he Md-1093 Cmm P Mem/Pcecbe found in the Andrew J. and Erna Viterbi Family Archives of the USC Libraries, specicallyM/a-CoM lInKaBIt, Ic., Puc Imi (ec Id i-m2371) M/a-CoM PucImi (ec Id i-m2372), nic l. abe, Iwi M. Jcb, Kei s. gihue,Bui-i te f Micpce Be UHf seie Mem, Proceedings of the National Aerospaceand Electronics Conference,Dayton, Ohio (M 1977): 1196-99. the e he du Mem c beu i Mw, Iwi Mk Jcb o Hi.

27. the ti-Mem w meie i ieiew wih ee likbi umi, i he likbiewee, A Bit of News, we he peiu meie 1999 hiie wih Jcb

viebi pubihe b he IEEE Hi Cee.28. Mh dei, ieiewe b uh, Jue 22, 2006; ae siem, Ie Hub: spih

Mh dei, UCSD Connect Newsletter, ocbe 20, 2004.

29. E arPanEt expeime e ummize i vi g. Ce, Pcke seie techreeece suce, rfC829, Iee Eieei tk fce, nembe 1982.

30. Mw, Iwi Mk Jcb o Hi, 20.

31. see H, Cto cue vis, ieiewe b uh, Ju 3, 2008.

32. Jee l. ree rich f. Hubb, The Legend of the Titan Corporation (f luee:Wie su sice, 2002). I 2004, ti w cquie b l-3 Cmmuici, 1997 pi lckhee Cpi.

33. Some writers conne the term spinoff to new rms created with the sanction of the parentcompany, but entrepreneurship researchers tend to use the term to refer to any rm created

b me empee. He Chebuh w iici bewee u pi-(ecie b he pe) -u. the e em ecibe he pi i hi ice.Chesbrough, The Governance and Performance of Xeroxs Technology Spin-Off CompaniesResearch Policy 32, . 3 (Mch 2003): 403-21

34. nme e he likbi pi m 1983-1990 cme m hee uce: he uheech m e ju ice, Iee webie, ieiew wih ue ix heeee cmpie; sim, fm Wep Ce-Phe: Kwee newk i he Cei s die Wiee ve; sim, s die Wiee ve, upubihe be (Ju2005); and nally the Linkabit Tree spreadsheet compiled by Martha Dennis, a version of whichw pubihe ie he San Diego Union-Tribune webie i Ju 2008 hp://www.

iie.cm/ew/buie/ime/080122ikbi.p (ccee Mch 7, 2009).35. CdMa Ce diii Muipe acce, bu i i m eee b i cm.

36. veiz Wiee ciue ue Qucmm CdMa echie, cmbi he peiucellular license of ve of the eight major local phone companies that remained after the AT&T

breakup: four Baby Bells (Pacic Telesis, US West, Bell Atlantic, NYNEX) and GTE. AirTouchCmmuici w cee i 1994 pi he hih-wh ceu pifranchises of Pacic Telesis, acquired the US West cellular operation in 1998, and was in turncquie i 1999 b l-be ve PlC. Be aic cquie nex i 1997 mee wih gtE i 2000 m veiz Cmmuici. tehe, veiz Cmmuici ve cmbie hei Us pei uch he veiz Wiee ji eue i 2000,which ciue .

37. Qucmm 2,621 pece ppecii w ie bei he e he m mcpck, i.e. he h, se e wih mke ue e $100 mii bu me h $5

bii. thi pu i we he he e-wi e-cp ck h ew 616 pece. ye-E reiew Mke & fice, The Wall Street Journal,Ju 2000, r4.

38. Miche Kim, tu, Bei rich I a abu Che, San Diego Union Tribune, Ju 17,2000, C1; suze We aiee Ce, Hii he Jckp,Money (Mch 2000), 92.


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39. H, ieiewe b uh, Ju 3, 2008.

40. Ibi.

41. Mike Lubin, cofounder of Pacic Communications Sciences, Inc., interviewed by author, July 16,

2008.42. Mike feem, seu lei M shi veue Cpi fim fcu, San Diego Union

Tribune, nembe 23, 2006.

43. seu w ke #25 he 2007 i s die iche pepe, wih e wh eime $100 mii. Jeic l, s die Wehie, 2007, San Diego Business Journal, decembe10, 2007. seu i mke he 2008 i.

44. I 2007 2008, hee me e cue Qucmm execuie ke m he we-ve wealthiest San Diegans: retired CEO Irwin Jacobs, retired CTO Andrew Viterbi, current CEOPu Jcb, me peie rich supizi. l, s die Wehie, 2007; KeiBck, s die Wehie, 2008, San Diego Business Journal, decembe 29, 2008.

45. a i ee pubic e s die-be eecmmuici cmpie i ie b JeWe, Exi seie b s die fim, s die teecm Iu web, Ju 29, 2008,http://sdtelecom.blogspot.com/2008/01/exit-strategies-by-san-diego-rms.html (ccee Mch 7,2009).

46. such bi i i cmm hih-ech cmpie h ce meme umi buiedifculties, whether Shockley Semiconductor in the 1950s, National Semiconductor in the 1960s, appe Cmpue i he 1990. I ii, m e ech cmpie pmii ueiee eue cpi-ue Iee up i he e 1990.

47. sim be ep 244 up izi cee i s die wih e mewiee-ee buie, wih bu 30 pi 1980. sim, s die Wiee ve.

Documents

Before Qualcomm: Linkabit and the Origins of San Diego’s Telecom Industry