ESL Incorporated is a high technology U.S. firm engaged in software design, systems analysis and hardware development for the strategic reconnaissance marketplace. Founded in January, 1964 in Palo Alto, California, the company was initially entirely privately capitalized by its employees. One of the company founders and original chief executive was William J. Perry, who eventually became Secretary of Defense under President Clinton. ESL is a leader in developing strategic signal processing systems and a prominent supplier of tactical reconnaissance and direction-finding systems to the U. S. military. These systems provide integrated real-time intelligence. Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... Location of Palo Alto within Santa Clara County, California. ... Alternative meaning: William Perry (football) William James Perry (born October 11, 1927) was the U.S. Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton from February 3, 1994 to January 23, 1997. ... The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense, concerned with the armed services and The Secretary is a member of the Presidents Cabinet. ... Order: 42nd President Term of Office: January 20, 1993–January 20, 2001 Preceded by: George H. W. Bush Succeeded by: George W. Bush Date of birth: August 19, 1946 Place of birth: Hope, Arkansas Date of death: Place of death: First Lady: Hillary Rodham Clinton Political party: Democratic Vice...

ESL primarily supplies domestic intelligence agencies, NASA and the U.S. military, but has certain direct relations with NATO and also provides some services for a variety of state agencies. Principal historic areas of competence are: (a) reconnaissance sytems; (b) data communications systems (including advanced sonar and laser light scattering); (c) phased array radar surveillance systems; (d) advanced data processing systems; and (e) environmental systems. The company employs a large technical staff, most of them holding advanced academic degrees. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States Government, responsible for that nations public space program. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[1] (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... A giant phased-array radar in Alaska In telecommunication, a phased array is a group of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and...

Reconnaissance systems

For optical systems ESL developed one of the first digital image processing capabilities for aerial photography (both satellite and aircraft platforms). Various radio frequencies are also addressed in order to create a comprehensive capability in signal processing for a variety of listening devices. Tools developed emphasize the real time interaction of interpreters in order to facilitate rapid use of data intercepted. A primary mission of reconnaissance work was support of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency during the 1960s and 1970s. Some of the unique developments of ESL in this field are: new application of digital signal processing and an early method of recording high speed digital data on analog media.^[1]. Digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. ... Scud Missile The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) was established as an independent agency by the Arms Control and Disarmament Act (75 Stat. ...

Data receiving systems

This work centers on development of remotely-controlled real time systems utilized in a variety of strategic surveillance activities. Consequently ESL has always been a pioneer in the fields of antenna design throughout a wide part of the electromagnetic spectrum, including advances in phased array technology. Airborne derivatives of this technology have also been applied to tactical situations, involving tracking of multiple high velocity objects. After successes in specific applications for the government market, ESL began producing some of these receiving systems as commercially available catalog items in the late 1970s. A giant phased-array radar in Alaska In telecommunication, a phased array is a group of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and...

Systems analysis

Since the 1970s ESL has made state of the art advances in coherent signal processing in a high electronic noise environment. These innovations led to near real-time signal processing even as early as 1972^[2]. Optical systems analysis has been conducted for four decades, starting in the 1960s with satellite imagery and laser light scattering from atmospheric particles. Acoustical analysis was also conducted in early years related to understanding how porpoises communicate in the wild. In many cases these systems analyses led to hardward implementation programs, typically beginning with one-of-a-kind prototypes for field testing. Multi-year planning programs for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency including consulting work on implementation of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, (SALT) and the Mutual Balanced Force Reduction with the previous Soviet Union. MILSTAR:A communication satellite A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... A LASER (from the acronym of Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is an optical source that emits photons in a coherent beam. ... View of Jupiters active atmosphere, including the Great Red Spot. ... Genera Neophocaena Phocoena - Harbor porpoises Phocoenoides - Dalls Porpoises The porpoises are small cetaceans of the family Phocoenidae; they are related to whales and dolphins. ... Scud Missile The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) was established as an independent agency by the Arms Control and Disarmament Act (75 Stat. ... The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties between the Soviet Union and United States, the Cold War superpowers, on the issue of armament control. ...

Data communications systems

Data communication systems were originally developed to support a variety of the firm’s strategic reconnaissance systems activity. It was natural to seek to provide links from remote unattended listening stations to central station command and control functions. These data systems were often developed to withstand severe environmental and reliability tests; some systems include multiple airborne and ground-based receivers. One of the early data communications systems developed was a multi-channel ultra high frequency digital data link, whose innovation was its abiltiy to be conveyed over a single standard military voice channel. In 1972 the company developed one of the first commercial grade telephone to computer data modem devices. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. ... Mixed reconnaissance patrol of the Polish Home Army and the Soviet Red Army during Operation Tempest, 1944 Reconnaissance is the military term for the active gathering of information about an enemy, or other conditions, by physical observation. ... An environment is a complex of external factors that acts on a system and determines its course and form of existence. ... Look up airborne in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The word receiver has a number of different meanings: In communications and information processing, a receiver is the recipient (observer) of a message (information), which is sent from a source (object). ... This article is about the radio frequency. ... The word voice can be used to refer to: Sound: The human voice. ... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... A BlueGene supercomputer cabinet. ... A modem (from modulate and demodulate) is a device that modulates an analogue carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ...

Medical and environmental research

The company developed the first software for interpreting renal isograms in the diagnosis of Renovascular hypertension, working in conjunction with physicians practicing in the kidney disease diagnostics field. For NASA, image processing research has been used to interpret satellite photos, including some of the earliest work of this type. The environmental systems division has developed specialized mathematical models for air quality, environmental noise and water pollution topics, gaining note for developing early line source models used in certain environmental litigation^[3]. Renovascular hypertension (or renal hypertension) is a form of secondary hypertension. ... The kidneys are bean-shaped excretory organs in vertebrates. ... A mathematical model is an abstract model that uses mathematical language to describe the behaviour of a system. ... The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a standardized index of the air quality in a given location, given in parts per billion. ... Environmental Noise, is unwanted sound, which may cause either nuisance or damage to health. ... Water pollution Water pollution is a large set of adverse effects upon water bodies (lakes, rivers, oceans, groundwater) caused by human activities. ... North-South Expressway in Malaysia; a roadway can be considered as a line source of air and noise pollution and need not be a straight line. ...

Public offering and merger with TRW

The company underwent a successful public offering of its common stock underwitten by Hambrecht and Quist in the mid 1970s with shares thereafter trading on the NASDAQ exchange. In 1978 a merger was consummated with TRW Inc.^[4] to merge ESL with TRW, the latter being a large defense contractor in the USA. In 2001, TRW sold the real estate of the ESL campus in Sunnyvale. Half of the offices resumed operations in San Jose, and the other half set up offices at the former McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento. In December 2002, TRW, including ESL, was acquired by the Northrop Grumman Corporation. Northrop Grumman has one of the largest intelligence analysis capabilities in the U. S. and is a leader in developing computer architectures and multisource data integration tools. Core competencies of the combined ESL, TRW and Northrup units include effective systems integration, high-performance signal processing algorithms, high-speed architectures, remotely controlled modular payloads and antenna systems. NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City. ... McClellan Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located 10 miles (16 Kilometers) northeast of Sacramento, California. ...

Early formation and progression

The company was founded from a small incubator space on Fabian Way in Palo Alto, California, where it remained until about 85 employees in size. The first major expansion took place about 1969, when a staged facility complex in Sunnyvale, California on Java Drive was initiated. within Moffett Industrial Park, which yielded a decade later about 400,000 square feet of space for laboratories and research/development activity. The early line management team included Perry as chief executive; Robert Fossum, director of systems analysis; Donald Wolfe, director of hardware; Michael Hogan, director of environmental systems and Paul Scheibe, director of technology. By 1984 there were much larger facility expansions to house the 4000 employees. Location of Palo Alto within Santa Clara County, California. ... Location of Sunnyvale within Santa Clara County, California. ...

Trivia

• As a twentieth year anniversary party ESL hosted a party in early 1984 at Moscone Center for 4000 employees^[5]. According to the newspaper report: “The event was the second largest dinner ever held in the city [of San Francisco].”

• ESL’s reputation as a “think tank” was enhanced by the fact that a high percentage of its early technical staff held simultaneous teaching posts at nearby universities (Santa Clara University, Stanford University, San Jose State University, etc) primarily in the fields of electrical engineering and mathematics.

Colored flags flying high outside the Moscone Convention Center The Moscone Center is San Francisco, Californias largest convention center and exhibition hall. ... This article is about the institution. ... A view of Mission Santa Clara from the Kenna Lawn. ... The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County. ... San Jose State University San José State University, commonly shortened to San Jose State and SJSU, is the oldest university in what became the California State University system. ...

References

See also

• Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
• Strategic Defense Initiative
• Phased array

Scud Missile The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) was established as an independent agency by the Arms Control and Disarmament Act (75 Stat. ... The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), commonly called Star Wars after the popular science fiction movies of the time, was proposed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983[1] to use ground-based and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic... A giant phased-array radar in Alaska In telecommunication, a phased array is a group of antennas in which the relative phases of the respective signals feeding the antennas are varied in such a way that the effective radiation pattern of the array is reinforced in a desired direction and...

External links

• Relocation of some ESL employees to Sacramento area