NXP Semiconductors

File:Nxplogo.png
Type	Public (NASDAQ: NXPI)
Industry	Electronics
Founded	2006, formerly a division of Philips
Headquarters	Eindhoven, Netherlands
Key people	Rick Clemmer, President & CEO Christopher Belden, Executive VP & General Manager-Operations
Products	Semiconductors
Revenue	US$ 4.2 Billion (2011)[1]
Net income	US$ 390 Million (2011)
Employees	24,000[2]
Website	www.nxp.com

NXP Semiconductors is one of the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders, and was originally founded by Philips, who had converted their former vacuum tube manufacturing sites to semiconductor fabs. Formerly known as Philips Semiconductors, the company was sold by Philips to a consortium of private equity investors in 2006. The new name, NXP, stood for the consumer's "next experience", according to then-CEO Frans van Houten.^[3] On August 6, 2010, NXP completed its IPO, with shares trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol NXPI.

NXP Semiconductors provides High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions based on its RF, analog, power management, interface, security and digital processing expertise. More informally, NXP has characterized its strategy as focusing on "products with no big chip in the middle."^[4] These semiconductors are used in a wide range of "smart" automotive, identification, wireless infrastructure, lighting, industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has approximately 24,000 employees^[5] working in more than 25 countries and posted sales of USD 4.2 billion in 2011.^[6] NXP's shipment-based revenue in Greater China is twice as big compared to Europe, and 8,000 of the company's employees are based in China.^[7]

NXP is the co-inventor of NFC or Near Field Communication technology along with Sony, and supplies NFC chip sets which enable mobile phones to be used to pay for goods, and store and exchange data securely.^[8] NXP ranks No. 1 in chips for eGovernment applications such as electronic passports; No. 1 in transport and access management, with the chip set and contactless card for MIFARE used by many major public transit systems worldwide; and is No. 1 in RFID tags and labels.^[9]

In addition, NXP is the global market leader in many other areas, including automotive chips for in-vehicle networking, passive keyless entry and immobilization, and car radios,^[10] as well as silicon tuners for the TV and set-top-box market.^[11] As of February 2011, NXP had shipped over one billion ARM processor-based chips and is the only provider of microcontrollers with a roadmap based exclusively on 32-bit ARM architecture.^[12]

According to CEO Rick Clemmer, key growth areas for NXP include energy-efficient GreenChip technology for power and lighting, telematics, authentication technology, and solutions for the Smart Home or home automation market.^[13] NXP is also involved in sensors for various applications such as automotive,^[14] white goods and home appliances, industrial automation, and building automation.

History[link]

Philips Semiconductors[link]

• Signetics was acquired by Philips in 1975. At the time, it was claimed that "with the Signetics acquisition, Philips was now number two in the league table of semiconductor manufacturers in the world."^[15] In 1987, Philips-Signetics, a unit of Philips, was ranked Europe's largest semiconductor maker, with sales of $1.36 billion in 1986.^[16]

• Philips acquired VLSI Technology in June 1999. At the time, the acquisition made Philips the world's sixth largest semiconductor company.^[17]

• In December 2005, Philips announced its intention to legally separate its semiconductor division, Philips Semiconductors, into an independent legal entity.^[18]

• In September 2006, Philips completed the sale of an 80.1% stake in Philips Semiconductors to a consortium of private equity investors consisting of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, Apax Partners, and AlpInvest Partners.^[19]

Spin-off of NXP Semiconductors[link]

• The new company name NXP was announced on August 31, 2006,^[20] and was officially launched during the Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) consumer electronics show in Berlin. The newly independent NXP was ranked as one of the world's top 10 semiconductor companies.^[21] At the time, CEO Frans van Houten emphasized the importance of NXP in enabling "vibrant media" technologies in mobile phones, digital TVs, portable music players and other consumer electronics devices.^[22]

• NXP's first acquisition as an independent company was in 2007, when NXP announced that it would acquire Silicon Laboratories’ AeroFONE single-chip phone and power amplifier product lines to strengthen its Mobile and Personal business.^[23] Fourteen months later, NXP announced that it would transform its Mobile and Personal business unit into a joint venture with STMicroelectronics, which in 2009 became ST-Ericsson, a 50/50 joint venture of Ericsson Mobile Platforms and STMicroelectronics, after ST purchased NXP's 20% stake.^[24]

• Similarly, in April 2008, NXP announced it would acquire the set-top box business of Conexant to complement its existing Home business unit.^[25] In October 2009, NXP announced that it would sell its Home business unit to Trident Microsystems.^[26]

• In September 2008, NXP announced that it would restructure its manufacturing, R&D and back office operations, resulting in 4,500 job cuts worldwide, for annual savings of $550 million.^[27]

Focus on High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Products[link]

• Current President and CEO Rick Clemmer took over from Frans van Houten on January 1, 2009.^[28] Clemmer has emphasized the importance of "high performance mixed signal" products as a key focus area for NXP.^[29] As of 2011, "standard products" including components such as small signal, power and integrated discretes^[30] accounted for 30 percent of NXP's business.^[31]

• On July 26, 2010, NXP announced that it had acquired Jennic,^[32] which now operates as part of its Smart Home and Energy product line, offering wireless connectivity solutions such as JenNet-IP.

• On August 6, 2010, NXP announced its IPO at NASDAQ, with 34,000,000 shares, pricing each $14.^[33]

• In December 2010, NXP announced that it would sell its Sound Solutions business to Knowles Electronics, part of Dover Corporation, for $855 million in cash.^[34] The acquisition was completed as of July 5, 2011.^[35]

• In 2010, NXP posted revenues of $589 million worldwide across its Identification business unit, including secure transactions, secure identity, and tagging and authentication product lines.^[36]

• In 2012, NXP announced its intent to acquire electronic design consultancy Catena to work on automotive applications, to capitalize on growing demand for engine emissions reduction and car-to-infrastructure, car-to-car, and car-to-driver communication.^[37]

Main markets[link]

NXP offers High Performance Mixed Signal and Standard Product solutions for a wide range of applications, including:

• Automotive
• Identification
• Wireless Infrastructure
• Lighting
• Industrial
• Mobile
• Consumer
• Computing^[38]

Worldwide sites[link]

NXP Headquarters in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, July 2011

NXP ARM processor

• Europe
  • Eindhoven, Netherlands
  • Nijmegen, Netherlands
  • Dresden, Germany
  • Hamburg, Germany
  • Munich, Germany
  • Stuttgart, Germany
  • Caen, France
  • Belfast, UK
  • Manchester, UK (formerly known as Hazel Grove campus)
  • Sheffield, UK (acquired Jennic Limited in 2010)
  • Southampton, UK (sold 2011)
  • Vienna, Austria
  • Gratkorn, Austria
  • Leuven, Belgium
  • Zurich, Switzerland
  • Budapest, Hungary

• Asia
  • Bangalore, India
  • Hyderabad, India
  • Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines
  • Tokyo, Japan
  • Osaka, Japan
  • Seoul, Korea
  • Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • Hongkong, China
  • Dongguan, China
  • Shanghai, China
  • Shenzhen, China
  • Seremban, Malaysia
  • Batam, Indonesia
  • Singapore
  • Bangkok, Thailand
  • Haifa, Israel

• Americas
  • Austin, TX, USA
  • Beaverton, OR, USA
  • Boston, MA, USA
  • Cary, NC, USA
  • Detroit, MI, USA
  • Kokomo, IN, USA
  • San Diego, CA, USA
  • San Jose, CA, USA
  • Schaumburg, IL, USA
  • Smithfield, RI, USA
  • Tempe, AZ, USA
  • Vacouver, WA, USA
  • Sao Paulo, Brazil

See also[link]

• Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Market Share Ranking Year by Year
• MIFARE

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: NXP Semiconductors

• NXP Semiconductors – company website
• NXP's no-big-chip-in-the-middle strategy – EE Times article about NXP's high-performance mixed signal strategy
• FAQ around the MIFARE issue on NXP website

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Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.
NASA Astronaut
Nationality	American
Born	March 6, 1927 Shawnee, Oklahoma
Died	October 4, 2004(2004-10-04) (aged 77) Ventura, California
Other occupation	Test Pilot
Rank	Colonel, USAF
Time in space	222h
Selection	1959 NASA Group
Missions	Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7), Gemini 5
Mission insignia

Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. (March 6, 1927 – October 4, 2004), also known as Gordon Cooper, was an American aeronautical engineer, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Cooper was one of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, the first manned space effort by the United States. He was the first American to sleep in orbit, flew the longest spaceflight of the Mercury project, and was the last American to be launched alone into Earth orbit and conduct an entire solo orbital mission. Later he also participated in the Gemini project.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Cooper was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Gordon grew up there and later moved to Murray, Kentucky where he attended public schools. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the second highest rank of Life Scout. In 1945 Cooper turned down the possibility of a football scholarship to enlist in the Marine Corps but was too late to see combat in the Second World War.^[1] After completing three years of coursework at the University of Hawaii he received an Army commission. Cooper met his first wife Trudy while in Hawaii and they married in 1947.

Cooper's grandparents were Philip Cooper, and his wife, Cora Sterns, co-owners of the first general store in Maud, Oklahoma. Philip Cooper's sister-in-law, Maud Sterns, for whom the town was named, was Cora's sister.^[2]

Military career[link]

Cooper transferred his commission to the Air Force in 1949, was placed on active duty and received flight training at Perrin AFB, Texas and Williams AFB, Arizona.

Cooper's first flight assignment came in 1950 at Landstuhl Air Base, West Germany where he flew F-84 Thunderjets and F-86 Sabres for four years. While in Germany he also attended the European Extension of the University of Maryland. Returning to the United States, he studied for two years at the Air Force Institute of Technology in Ohio and in 1957 completed his bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering. Cooper was then assigned to the Experimental Flight Test School at Edwards Air Force Base in California and after graduation was posted to the Flight Test Engineering Division at Edwards where he served as a test pilot and project manager testing the F-102A and F-106B.^[3] Cooper logged more than 7,000 hours of flight time, with 4,000 hours in jet aircraft. He flew all types of commercial and general aviation airplanes and helicopters.

NASA career[link]

Mercury program[link]

Cooper in his Mercury spacesuit, the Navy Mark IV

While at Edwards, Cooper was intrigued to read an announcement saying a contract had been awarded to McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri to build a space capsule. Shortly after this he was called to Washington, D.C. for a NASA briefing on Project Mercury and the part astronauts would play in it. Cooper went through the selection process with the other 109 pilots and was not surprised when he was accepted as the youngest of the first seven American astronauts.^[1]

Each of the Mercury astronauts was assigned to a different portion of the project along with other special assignments. Cooper specialized in the Redstone rocket (and developed a personal survival knife, the Model 17 "Astro" from Randall Made Knives, for astronauts to carry). He also chaired the Emergency Egress Committee, responsible for working out emergency launch pad procedures for escape. Cooper served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for Alan Shepard's first sub-orbital spaceflight in Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7) and Scott Carpenter's flight on Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7). He was backup pilot for Wally Schirra in Mercury-Atlas 8 (Sigma 7).

Cooper was launched into space on May 15, 1963 aboard the Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) spacecraft, the last Mercury mission. He orbited the Earth 22 times and logged more time in space than all five previous Mercury astronauts combined—34 hours, 19 minutes and 49 seconds, traveling 546,167 miles (878,971 km) at 17,547 mph (28,239 km/h), pulling a maximum of 7.6 g (74.48 m/s²). Cooper achieved an altitude of 165.9 statute miles (267 km) at apogee. He was the first American astronaut to sleep not only in orbit but on the launch pad during a countdown.^[1]

"Spam in a can"[link]

Cooper in an SSTV broadcast from Faith 7

Like all Mercury flights, Faith 7 was designed for fully automatic control, a controversial engineering decision which in many ways reduced the role of an astronaut to that of a passenger and prompted Chuck Yeager to describe Mercury astronauts as spam in a can.^[4]

Toward the end of the Faith 7 flight there were mission-threatening technical problems. During the 19th orbit, the capsule had a power failure. Carbon dioxide levels began rising and the cabin temperature jumped to over a hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Cooper fell back on his understanding of star patterns, took manual control of the tiny capsule and successfully estimated the correct pitch for re-entry into the atmosphere. Some precision was needed in the calculation since if the capsule came in too deep, g-forces would be too large, and if its trajectory was too shallow, it would bounce off the atmosphere and be sent back into space. Cooper drew lines on the capsule window to help him check his orientation before firing the re-entry rockets. "So I used my wrist watch for time," he later recalled, "my eyeballs out the window for attitude. Then I fired my retrorockets at the right time and landed right by the carrier."^[5][6] Cooper's cool-headed performance and piloting skills led to a basic rethinking of design philosophy for later space missions.

Pete Conrad and Gordon Cooper on deck of recovery carrier USS Lake Champlain after Gemini 5 mission.

Gemini[link]

Two years later (August 21, 1965), Cooper flew as command pilot of Gemini 5 on an eight-day, 120-orbit mission with Pete Conrad. The two astronauts established a new space endurance record by traveling a distance of 3,312,993 miles (5,331,745 km) in 190 hours and 56 minutes, showing astronauts could survive in space for the length of time necessary to go from the Earth to the Moon and back. Cooper was the first astronaut to make a second orbital flight and later served as backup command pilot for Gemini 12.

Retirement from astronaut corps[link]

Cooper was selected as backup commander for Apollo 10 and hoped for an assignment as commander of Apollo 13. However, after a falling-out with NASA management, Alan Shepard was chosen instead (Shepard's crew was later moved onto Apollo 14 and the Apollo 13 command went to Jim Lovell). Having flown 222 hours in space, Cooper retired from NASA and the Air Force on July 31, 1970 as a colonel.

Later years[link]

After leaving NASA, Cooper served on several corporate boards and as technical consultant for more than a dozen companies in fields ranging from high performance boat design to energy, construction and aircraft design. During the 1970s, he worked for The Walt Disney Company as a vice-president of research and development for Epcot.

After divorcing his first wife Trudy, Cooper married Suzan Taylor in 1972. He had four daughters, Camala Keoki (Cooper) Tharpe and Janita Lee (Cooper) Stone (both from his first marriage) along with Elizabeth Jo and Colleen Taylor (from his second marriage).

Cooper received an honorary doctorate of science degree from Oklahoma State University in 1967. His autobiography, Leap of Faith (ISBN 0-06-019416-2), co-authored by Bruce Henderson, recounted his experiences with the Air Force and NASA along with his efforts to expose an alleged UFO conspiracy theory. Cooper was also a major contributor to the book In the Shadow of the Moon (published after his death) which offered Cooper's final published thoughts on his life and career.

Death[link]

Cooper developed Parkinson's disease late in life. At age 77, he died from heart failure at his home in Ventura, California, on October 4, 2004. His death occurred on the 47th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch and the same day SpaceShipOne made its second official qualifying flight, winning the Ansari X-Prize. On May 22, 2012, Cooper's ashes were among those of 308 people included on the SpaceX flight that was bound for the International Space Station. This flight, using the "Falcon" launch vehicle and the "Dragon" capsule, was unmanned.

UFO claims[link]

Cooper claimed to have seen his first UFO while flying over West Germany in 1951, although he denied reports he had seen a UFO during his Mercury flight.^[7]

In 1957, when Cooper was 30 and a captain, he was assigned to Fighter Section of the Experimental Flight Test Engineering Division at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He acted as a test pilot and project manager. On May 3 of that year, he had a crew setting up an Askania-cinetheodolite precision landing system on a dry lake bed. This cinetheodolite system would take pictures at one frame per second as an aircraft landed. The crew consisted of James Bittick and Jack Gettys who began work at the site just before 0800, using both still and motion picture cameras. According to his accounts, later that morning they returned to report to Cooper that they saw a "strange-looking saucer" like aircraft that did not make a sound either on landing or take off.

According to his accounts, Cooper realized that these men, who on a regular basis have seen experimental aircraft flying and landing around them as part of their job of filming those aircraft, were clearly worked up and unnerved. They explained how the saucer hovered over them, landed 50 yards away from them using three extended landing gears and then took off as they approached for a closer look. Being photographers with cameras in hand, they of course shot images with 35mm and 4-by-5 still cameras as well as motion film. There was a special Pentagon number to call to report incidents like this. He called and it immediately went up the chain of command until he was instructed by a general to have the film developed (but to make no prints of it) and send it right away in a locked courier pouch. As he had not been instructed to not look at the negatives before sending them, he did. He said the quality of the photography was excellent as would be expected from the experienced photographers who took them. What he saw was exactly what they had described to him. He did not see the movie film before everything was sent away. He expected that there would be a follow up investigation since an aircraft of unknown origin had landed in a highly classified military installation, but nothing was ever said of the incident again. He was never able to track down what happened to those photos. He assumed that they ended up going to the Air Force's official UFO investigation, Project Blue Book, which was based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

He held claim until his death that the government is indeed covering up information about UFOs. He gives the example of President Harry Truman who said on April 4, 1950, "I can assure you that flying saucers, given that they exist, are not constructed by any power on Earth." He also pointed out that there were hundreds of reports made by his fellow pilots, many coming from military jet pilots sent to respond to radar or visual sightings from the ground. He was quite convinced till the day he died that he had seen UFOs and was a strong advocate to make the government come clean with what it knew. ^[8]

In his memoirs Cooper wrote he had seen other unexplained aircraft several times during his career and also said hundreds of similar reports had been made, often by military jet pilots responding to radar or visual sightings from the ground. He further claimed these sightings had been "swept under the rug" by the US government.^[5] Throughout his later life Cooper expressed repeatedly in interviews he had seen extraterrestrial crafts and described his recollections for the documentary Out of the Blue.^[5]

Memorial spaceflights[link]

On April 29, 2007, Cooper's ashes (along with those of Star Trek actor James Doohan and 206 others) were launched from New Mexico on a sub-orbital memorial flight by a privately owned UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket. Although the capsule carrying the ashes fell back toward Earth as planned, it was lost in mountainous landscape. The search was thwarted by bad weather but after a few weeks the capsule was found and the ashes it carried were returned to the families.^[9][10] The ashes were then launched on the Explorers orbital mission (August 3, 2008) but were lost when the Falcon 1 rocket failed two minutes into the flight.^[11]

Awards and decorations[link]

Cooper received many awards including the Air Force Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf clusters, the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Collier Trophy, the Harmon Trophy, the DeMolay Legion of Honor, the John F. Kennedy Trophy, the Iven C. Kincheloe Award, the University of Hawaii Regents Medal and the Columbus Medal. He was a Master Mason (member of Carbondale Lodge 82 in Carbondale, Colorado) and was given the honorary 33rd Degree by the Scottish Rite Masonic body.

Cooper was a member of several groups and societies including the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the American Astronautical Society, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shriners, Rotary Club, Order of Daedalians, Confederate Air Force and Boy Scouts of America.

Gordon Cooper Technology Center in Shawnee, Oklahoma is named after Cooper.

Cultural influence[link]

Cooper's accomplishments (along with his widely noted and appealing personality) were depicted in the 1983 film The Right Stuff in which he was portrayed by actor Dennis Quaid. Cooper worked closely with the production company on this project and reportedly, every line uttered by Quaid is attributable to Cooper's recollection. Quaid met with Cooper before the casting call and rapidly learned his mannerisms. Quaid also had his hair cut and dyed to match how the former astronaut's hair looked during the 1950s and 1960s. Cooper was later depicted in the 1998 HBO series From the Earth to the Moon, in which his character was played by Robert C. Treveiler. Cooper appeared as himself in an episode of the television series CHiPs and during the early 1980s made regular call in appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. The Thunderbirds character Gordon Tracy was named after him.

In 2010, Cooper's name and likeness appeared in a mock newspaper advertisement for a fictional ice pop-type product called "Rocket Poppeteers."^[12] The ad was part of a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming J.J. Abrams film Super 8, and was originally accessible only by inputting certain information via one of the film's affiliated websites.^[13][14] The extent of Cooper's relevance to the project was unclear.

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gordon Cooper

United States Air Force portal

• Cooper Comments
• NASA biography for 40th Anniversary of Mercury 7
• Johnson Space Center biography
• Spacefacts biography
• Remembering 'Gordo' – NASA memories of Gordon Cooper
• Interview with Cooper about UFOs and aliens (with much added speculation)
• Space.com article, Pioneering Astronaut Sees UFO Cover-up
• Out of the Blue at the Internet Movie Database
• Gordon Cooper Technology Center
• Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Cooper, Leroy Gordon
• Gordon "Gordo" Cooper, Jr at Find a Grave
• The Supreme Council: About the Scottish Rite [2]