Linkabit was a technology company founded in 1968 by Irwin M. Jacobs,

Andrew Viterbi Andrew James Viterbi (born Andrea Giacomo Viterbi, March 9, 1935) is an American electrical engineer and businessman who co-founded Qualcomm Inc. and invented the Viterbi algorithm. He is the Presidential Chair Professor of Electrical Engineeri ...

and

Leonard Kleinrock Leonard Kleinrock (born June 13, 1934) is an American computer scientist and a long-tenured professor at UCLA's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. In the early 1960s, Kleinrock pioneered the application of queueing theory ...

. Linkabit alumni have created a large number of technology companies, most notably,

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...

. Linkabit is now a division of

L3Harris Technologies L3Harris Technologies (L3Harris) is an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produces C6ISR systems and products, wireless equipment, tactical radios, avionics and electronic systems, ...

and had been part of

L-3 Communications L3 Technologies, formerly L-3 Communications Holdings, was an American company that supplied command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ( C3ISR) systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training d ...

, later named L3 Technologies, prior to its merger with

Harris Corporation Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision equipment and both terrestrial and spaceb ...

in July 2019.
L-3 Communications - Linkabit page.

Corporate history

Linkabit Corporation was formed in mid-1968 in Los Angeles by Irwin M. Jacobs,

and

. Kleinrock soon left.
Digitizing Communications - Linkabit page. Linkabit was sold for $25 million to

M/A-COM MACOM Technology Solutions is a developer and producer of radio, microwave, and millimeter wave semiconductor devices and components. The company is headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in 2005 was Lowell's largest private employer. MACOM ...

in 1979. The Linkabit operation continued under M/A-COM for the first part of the 1980s.

VideoCipher VideoCipher is a brand name of analog scrambling and de-scrambling equipment for cable and satellite television invented primarily to enforce Television receive-only (TVRO) satellite equipment to only receive TV programming on a subscription basis. ...

, an analog scrambling system for television, was developed by the Linkabit works at M/A-COM in 1983. The first

IETF The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements and a ...

meeting in January, 1986, was hosted by M/A-COM at its San Diego Linkabit facilities.
List of IETF Meetings. However, Jacobs and Viterbi, who had stayed with M/A-COM following the sale, left in 1985, and by 1990 M/A-COM had sold off Linkabit piecemeal. More than 75 direct or indirect Linkabit spinoff companies have been identified — a rate twice that of

Fairchild Semiconductor Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of int ...

, the legendary progenitor of Silicon Valley.
San Diego Union Tribune - Linkabit genealogy. The best known Linkabit spinoff is

, which was founded by Jacobs, Viterbi and five other Linkabit alumni in July 1985.
Digitizing Communications - Linkabit page. All three Linkabit founders have received National Medals for lifetime achievements.
San Diego Telecom - National Medals for Linkabit founders.

References

{{Reflist Technology companies established in 1968 Defunct technology companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles 1968 establishments in California Technology companies disestablished in 1979 1979 disestablishments in California