Scientific Atlanta Inc is a Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

-based manufacturer of cable television

Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

, telecommunications, and broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 equipment.
Scientific Atlanta was founded in 1951 by a group of engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

, and was purchased by Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...

 in 2005.

Products

Scientific Atlanta is a supplier of transmission networks for broadband access to the home, set-tops, cable modems and digital interactive subscriber systems for video, high-speed Internet, voice over IP (VoIP) networks, and worldwide customer service and support.

Products for the cable TV industry, from fiber optic network equipment for head-end media acquisition, to digital

Digital

A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...

 cable boxes

Set-top box

A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...

 (as well as universal remote

Universal Remote

A universal remote is a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of consumer electronics devices. Low-end universal remotes can only control a set number of devices determined by their manufacturer, while mid- and high-end universal remotes allow the...

s to go with them), and cable modems, dominate Scientific Atlanta's sales. Scientific Atlanta also supplies distribution technology to networks such as Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour global network broadcasting business and financial news. It is distributed globally, reaching over 200 million homes worldwide. It is owned and operated by Bloomberg L.P...

, CNN

CNN

Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

, ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

 and many others.

In addition to providing products for traditional coaxial and fiber service operators, Scientific Atlanta also expanded its IPTV

IPTV

Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...

 solutions offerings after the merger with Cisco.

History

In late 1952, Glen P. Robinson

Glen P. Robinson

Glen Parmelee Robinson Jr. , called the "father of high-tech industry in Georgia", is a founder of Scientific Atlanta, now a subsidiary of Cisco Systems...

 and several other Georgia Tech Research Institute

Georgia Tech Research Institute

The Georgia Tech Research Institute is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...

 researchers, including station director Gerald Rosselot

Gerald Rosselot

Gerald A. Rosselot was a physicist and engineering executive at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Georgia Tech Research Institute and Bendix Corporation . He was an IEEE Fellow.-Early life:As a child, Rosselot traveled to France and England and was somewhat proficient in French...

 and future station director James E. Boyd

James E. Boyd (scientist)

James Emory "Jim" Boyd was an American physicist, mathematician, and academic administrator. He was director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute from 1957 to 1961, president of West Georgia College from 1961 to 1971, and acting president of the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1971 to...

 pooled funds of approximately $100 each, and started Scientific Atlanta to produce technology developed at the research station.

Sidney Topol served as its president from 1971-83, CEO from 1975-87, and chairman of the board from 1978-90. During his tenure, the company grew in sales from $16 million to more than $600 million. In addition, the company developed the concept of cable/satellite connection, which, in working with HBO and transportable earth stations developed by TelePrompTer Corporation

TelePrompTer Corporation

TelePrompTer Corporation was a cable corporation started by Irving B. Kahn, Fred Barton, Jr and Hubert Schlafly. During the course of the corporation, in the 50's TelePrompTer invented the idea of actors in soap operas reading their lines by prompters, not scripts as they had been...

 and manufactured by Scientific-Atlanta, established satellite-delivered television for the cable industry.

On November 18, 2005, Scientific Atlanta announced that it would be purchased by Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...

 in a US$6.9 billion cash deal. On February 25, 2006, Cisco Systems announced that it had completed acquisition of Scientific Atlanta in a cash deal that paid $43 per share. The total cash value of the deal was roughly US$7 billion, or US$5.1 billion net of Scientific Atlanta's cash balance, and also about US$5.1 billion over their 2005 shareholders' equity. In its fiscal year 2005, Scientific Atlanta earned $1.36 per common share (diluted).

The company was honored at the 2008 Technology & Engineering Emmy Award

Technology & Engineering Emmy Award

A Technology and Engineering Emmy Award is given by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in technical or engineering development...

s for development of interactive Video-on-Demand infrastructure and signaling, leading to large scale VOD

Video on demand

Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...

implementations.