OpenSky
Encyclopedia
OpenSky is a registered trademark of Harris Corporation and is the trade name for a wireless communication system, invented by M/A-COM Inc., that is now a division of Harris
Harris
Harris is the southern and more mountainous part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Although not an island itself, Harris is often referred to as the Isle of Harris, which is the former postal county and the current post town for Royal Mail postcodes starting...
RF Communications. OpenSky technology applies voice-over-IP transport to radio communications applications in a unique architecture.
In the mid 1990s Federal Express invited proposals for a data and voice network to the vehicular level. As the world's largest shipper, FedEx was a key opportunity, and major market players presented their existing product offerings over some time.
M/A-COM presented their concept, and won the business. They delivered a standards-based infrastructure that attempted to leverage open systems to the largest degree possible, while adapting specific input/output to meet the customer's exact requirements.
OpenSky received the direct attention of Tyco Electronics when they acquired it along with AMP Inc.. Tyco Electronics funded the company to acquire the EDACS
EDACS
EDACS stands for The Enhanced Digital Access Communication System, a radio communications protocol and product family invented in the General Electric Corporation in the mid 1980s.- History :...
radio system team and product line. The OpenSky system has since been sold into a number of important footprints, including the entire State of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and the State of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
On January 15, 2009, the State of New York terminated its contract with M/A-COM due to ongoing and unresolved deficiencies with the OpenSky system. On February 13, 2009, Tyco Electronics filed a complaint against the New York State Office for Technology (NY-OFT), in the New York State Court of Claims, disputing the claims made by the OFT. In the complaint, Tyco Electronics disputed many of the NY-OFT’s public criticisms of both the company and the system, maintaining that SWN (which included OpenSky) ‘worked as contracted.’ The complaint also claimed the state hindered the company’s ability to build the system in a timely manner, defamed the company by stating that its technology did not work, and that the state inappropriately drew $50 million from the standby letter of credit the company established for the project.
On May 29, 2009, Harris Corporation purchased Tyco Electronics Wireless Systems, including its OpenSky and other wireless communication technologies, from Tyco Electronics for $675 million USD.