This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2011) |
Company type | Subsidiary of Tektronix |
---|---|
Industry | Electronic Test Equipment |
Founded | Cleveland, Ohio (1946) |
Headquarters | Solon, Ohio USA |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Parent | Fortive Corporation |
Website | www.tek.com/keithley |
Keithley Instruments is a measurement and instrument company headquartered in Solon, Ohio, that develops, manufactures, markets, and sells data acquisition products, as well as complete systems for high-volume production and assembly testing.
In September, 2010, the company agreed to sell itself to the Danaher Corporation, a Washington, D.C.–based conglomerate, for $21.60 per share. It was soon merged with Tektronix, Inc, which had been acquired by Danaher in 2007, [1] and now exists wholly as a brand of Tektronix.
Joseph F. Keithley founded Keithley Instrument in 1946. His first product, the "Phantom Repeater," amplified low-level electric signals so that they could be measured by more standard equipment. The device was used by physicists, chemists, and engineers in the development of hearing aids and amplifiers. The product enjoyed some success in sales, but it was the next product, an electrometer, that clinched the future for Keithley's fledgling company. [2]
The company designs, develops, manufactures and markets electronic instruments and systems geared to the specialized needs of electronics manufacturers for production testing, process monitoring, product development, and research.
The company has approximately 500 products used to source, measure, connect, control or communicate direct current (DC), radio frequency (RF), or optical signals. Product offerings include integrated systems solutions[ buzzword ], instruments, and personal computer (PC) plug-in boards that can be used as system components or as stand-alone solutions.[ buzzword ]
The company's markets are engineers, technicians, and scientists in manufacturing, product development, and research functions.
Keithley operates throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. It develops new solutions[ buzzword ] for the broader electronics industry, as well as electronic manufacturing production test, semiconductor, telecommunications/wireless and research/education.
Keithley Instruments' major product lines included testing and measurement products such as electrometers, voltmeters, signal generators, data acquisition, and production and benchtop parametric testers and analyzers.
A signal generator is one of a class of electronic devices that generates electrical signals with set properties of amplitude, frequency, and wave shape. These generated signals are used as a stimulus for electronic measurements, typically used in designing, testing, troubleshooting, and repairing electronic or electroacoustic devices, though it often has artistic uses as well.
An RF probe is a device which allows electronic test equipment to measure radio frequency (RF) signal in an electronic circuit.
National Instruments Corporation, doing business as NI, is an American multinational company with international operation. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it is a producer of automated test equipment and virtual instrumentation software. Common applications include data acquisition, instrument control and machine vision. Since October 2023, NI operates as Emerson Electric's test and measurement business unit after getting acquired.
Tektronix, historically widely known as Tek, is an American company best known for manufacturing test and measurement devices such as oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, and video and mobile test protocol equipment. Originally an independent company, it is now a subsidiary of Fortive, a spinoff from Danaher Corporation.
Flex Ltd. is an American multinational manufacturing company. It is the third largest global electronics manufacturing services (EMS), original design manufacturer (ODM) company by revenue, behind only Pegatron for what concerns original equipment manufacturers. Flex's U.S. corporate headquarters are located in Austin, Texas. The company has manufacturing operations in over 30 countries, totaling about 172,000 employees.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation is a Japanese multinational electrical engineering and software company, with businesses based on its measurement, control, and information technologies.
Danaher Corporation is an American global conglomerate founded in 1984 by brothers Steven and Mitchell Rales. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the company designs, manufactures, and markets medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. Danaher was among the first companies in North America to adopt Kaizen principles, a Japanese lean manufacturing philosophy of continuous improvement and efficiency. The company held $78.5 billion in assets as of 2024.
KLA Corporation is an American capital equipment company based in Milpitas, California. It supplies process control and yield management systems for the semiconductor industry and other related nanoelectronics industries. The company's products and services are intended for all phases of wafer, reticle, integrated circuit (IC) and packaging production, from research and development to final volume manufacturing.
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., a subsidiary of Analog Devices, designs, manufactures, and sells analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for the automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, and computing markets. Maxim's product portfolio includes power and battery management ICs, sensors, analog ICs, interface ICs, communications solutions, digital ICs, embedded security, and microcontrollers. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has design centers, manufacturing facilities, and sales offices worldwide.
A curve tracer is a specialised piece of electronic test equipment used to analyze the characteristics of discrete electronic components, such as diodes, transistors, thyristors, and vacuum tubes. The device contains voltage and current sources that can be used to stimulate the device under test (DUT).
First International Computer, Inc. is a Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer and system integrator for automotive electronics and smart building controls. FIC provides design consultancy and supply chain management services for automotive electronic suppliers worldwide.
A source measure unit (SMU) is a type of electronic test equipment which can source voltage and current and measure them as it does so.
Creation Technologies is a privately held global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Creation provides electronics solutions to a group of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across North America and Asia, and has 14 manufacturing operations in Canada, the US, China and Mexico.
Roos Instruments is a company based in Santa Clara, CA that designs and manufactures Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry. Founded in 1989 from a DARPA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, the company specializes in mixed-signal, microwave and millimeter wave test of precision consumer and industrial-grade integrated circuits.
Hach Company manufactures and distributes analytical instruments and reagents used to test the quality of water and other liquid solutions. Manufactured and distributed worldwide, Hach systems are designed to simplify analysis by offering on-line instrumentation, portable laboratory equipment, prepared reagents, easy-to-follow methods, and technical support.
Aeroflex Inc. was an American company which produced test equipment, RF and microwave integrated circuits, components and systems used for wireless communications. Its headquarters were located in Plainview, New York. In May 2014, Aeroflex was acquired by the UK aerospace company Cobham for $1.46 billion.
Radiometer is a Danish multinational company which develops, manufactures and markets solutions for blood sampling, blood gas analysis, transcutaneous monitoring, immunoassay testing and the related IT management systems. The company was founded in 1935 in Copenhagen, Denmark by Børge Aagaard Nielsen and Carl Schrøder. It has over 3,200 employees and direct representation in more than 32 countries. Corporate headquarters remain in Copenhagen.
Cascade Microtech is a semiconductor test equipment manufacturer based in Beaverton in the Portland metropolitan area of the United States. Founded in 1983, the Oregon-based company employs nearly 400 people. Formerly publicly traded company as CSCD on the NASDAQ, the company is now fully merged with FormFactor, Inc.
SyntheSys Research was a Silicon Valley test equipment company that existed from 1989 to 2010, located in Menlo Park, California. The company was founded by Tom and Jim Waschura, with technical help from other ex-Ampex employees Rob Verity and Kirk Handley, and early marketing help from Bob Haya who was Tom and Jim's roommate. The first product was a 160 Mbit/s bit error rate tester (BERT) called the BitAlyzer 160 that debuted in 1989. The company patented key technologies used in modern signal integrity test; notably Error Location Analysis and statistically deep eye-diagramming integrated with BERT measurement called BERTScope. The company was the first to combine Jitter sources in its test signal generators to permit popular Stressed-Eye testing. The company developed many products over its 21-year span, including specialty products for disk-drive, television, high-definition television, optical, telecommunications, and computer applications. In 2010, SyntheSys Research was purchased by Tektronix in an M&A transaction and the BERTScope and BitAlyzer instruments became product lines in Tektronix's high-speed Oscilloscope divisions.
Fortive Corporation is an American industrial technology conglomerate company headquartered in Everett, Washington. The company specializes in providing essential technologies for connected workflow solutions; designing, developing, manufacturing and distributing professional and engineered products, software and services. Their products and services are split into three strategic segments; Intelligent Operating Solutions, Precision Technologies, and Advanced Healthcare Solutions. As of December 2022, Fortive has over 18,000 employees in 60 countries worldwide.