Calma
| File:Calma wordmark.svg | |
| Industry | Computers |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 13, 1965 in Sunnyvale, California, United States |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | 1988 |
Key people | See § People |
Calma Company, based in Sunnyvale, California, operated from 1965 until 1988, specializing in digitizers and minicomputer-driven graphics systems designed for the cartography, electronics, mechanical, and architectural design industries.
The company's premier electronic offerings included the GDS ("Graphic Design System") introduced in 1971, followed by the enhanced GDS II in 1978. By the late 1970s, Calma’s systems were widely adopted by almost every leading semiconductor manufacturer. The GDS II database format, commonly called GDS II Stream Format, established itself as the industry de facto standard for IC mask data exchange and continued to influence the field well into the 21st century. Within semiconductor design circles, "GDS II" came to denote primarily this file format rather than the original hardware system. The phrase "from RTL to GDSII" is frequently used by electronic design automation providers to describe comprehensive integrated circuit design processes.
In the realm of mechanical drafting, Calma launched the DDM ("Design Drafting and Manufacturing") system in 1977, which was later expanded into "Dimension III" for use in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sectors. By 1983, these mechanical and AEC products accounted for 60% of Calma’s total revenue. Dimension III remained operational through the late 1990s.
History
Incorporated in California on November 13, 1963, Calma originated from an earlier partnership. The company’s name derives from its founders Calvin and Irma Louise Hefte. Initially, Calma focused on distributing digitizers—devices that translate paper-based drawings into digital coordinate data.
Around 1969, Calma’s development accelerated with the arrival of MIT PhD Josef Sukonick, who brought valuable experience from Fairchild Semiconductor’s CAD team. Under his guidance, Calma created a minicomputer-based graphics system centered on their digitizer technology. Sukonick was primarily responsible for authoring the original GDS software, with the inaugural system delivered to Intel in late 1971.
As the integrated circuit sector expanded, demand for GDS systems increased; by August 1976, there were 121 GDS units installed across 70 companies globally, including prominent Fortune 500 corporations such as Motorola, ITT, and Fairchild Semiconductor.
In 1978, United Telecommunications Inc. (UTI) acquired Calma for $17 million in stock, integrating it into UTI’s United Computing Systems division. UTI adopted a hands-off approach to management, enabling Calma to sustain its growth momentum.
That same year marked the release of GDS II featuring a modernized 32-bit database capable of handling more complex IC designs. By late 1980, installations of GDS II had reached 171 units.
In December 1980, UTI agreed to sell Calma to General Electric (GE) for $110 million plus up to $60 million contingent on future earnings over five years; this transaction was finalized in April 1981. GE sought to capitalize on Calma’s strong position in the IC market while expanding into architectural and manufacturing arenas under a "factory of the future" concept. However, changes in leadership and evolving market conditions impeded these plans.
Starting in 1988, GE began divesting Calma: its electronic division was sold to Valid Logic Systems (which was later absorbed by Cadence Design Systems), while mechanical and AEC operations were transferred to Prime Computer in early 1989. Prime subsequently merged these segments with Computervision, which itself was acquired by Parametric Technology Corporation in 1998.
Business and financial
Presented below is an overview of Calma's financial performance and workforce expansion spanning from 1971 through 1987:
| Fiscal Year Ending | Revenue ($) | Net income ($) | Employee Count (date) |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 31, 1971 | 670K | (293K) | |
| August 31, 1972 | 1.6M | 179K | 30 (12/72) |
| August 31, 1973 | 3.5M | 412K | 74 (12/73) |
| August 31, 1974 | 6.1M | 562K | 92 (9/74) |
| August 31, 1975 | 6.9M | 398K | |
| August 31, 1976 | 9.5M | 747K | 135 (11/76) |
| August 31, 1977 | 14.3M | 1.2M | |
| December 31, 1979 | 43M | 597 (12/79) | |
| December 31, 1980 | 62M | 935 (12/80) | |
| December 31, 1981 | 105M | 1200 (11/81) | |
| December 31, 1983 | 210M | ||
| December 31, 1987 | 180M | (20M) | 900 (12/87) |
At the point of UTI’s acquisition in 1978, the largest individual shareholder was Ronald D. Cone, who served as board chairman and owned more than fifty percent of the company's outstanding shares.
Legal
In February of 1977, Calma faced a lawsuit filed by Computervision related to the recruitment of five employees who had been involved in the development of Calma’s DDM product. The suit alleged violations of competition and non-compete agreements. This expensive legal dispute was resolved through an out-of-court settlement in October of 1979. Notably, during UTI’s acquisition process in 1978, five percent of newly issued stock was retained in escrow until this litigation was concluded.
Buildings
Calma’s physical footprint grew significantly as the company expanded its operations. Initially occupying a relatively small facility of approximately 10,000 square feet in Sunnyvale during the early seventies, the firm leased additional space to increase its total area to around 35,000 square feet.
In February 1978, Calma relocated to a larger single-level building measuring about 67,000 square feet within the Oakmead Village industrial park in Sunnyvale. By the following year, research and development activities were transferred to a separate location on Gibraltar Drive situated in Moffett Park.
Further growth entailed constructing a manufacturing facility covering roughly 210,000 square feet in Milpitas in the year 1980 and establishing a headquarters building of approximately 109,000 square feet in Santa Clara by 1982.
To facilitate international operations, Calma purchased a facility near Dublin, Ireland in 1984 with an area of about 108,000 square feet; this property had originally been developed for Trilogy Systems.
General description (1978)
Calma’s interactive graphics systems for computer-aided design and drafting integrate hardware units, electronic interfaces, and software applications. These systems are assembled from modular components tailored to fulfill particular design or drafting requirements by automating tasks previously performed manually.
The core hardware comprises a central processing unit, operator workstations, and output devices such as plotters.
Their GDS I and GDS II software operated on Data General Nova and Eclipse minicomputers featuring a 16-bit architecture. Initially, electronic system layouts were hand-drawn on mylar or paper sheets placed on large backlit digitizers measuring approximately 48 by 60 inches; designers traced these using styluses across multiple layers—first positioning circuits from a library followed by manually tracing wiring connections. The finalized layouts were then saved digitally.
Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and Small Scale Integrated Circuits (SSICs) were manually drafted by electronic engineers or draftsmen before being output on pen or electrostatic plotters for visual verification; once confirmed accurate, film plotters produced masks necessary for fabrication.
The CPU configuration included a minicomputer with console access, page printer, magnetic tape drive, and disk storage. Additional peripherals such as card readers and paper tape punches were connected through Calma-designed controllers integrated with system software.
Operator stations incorporated digitizing equipment alongside interactive cathode ray tube (CRT) displays that supported windowing and magnification features, coordinate readouts, and keyboards. The primary distinction between station types was the digitizing input device: large backlit table digitizers were used for initial tracing while smaller graphic tablets served editing purposes.
Alphanumeric keyboards handled textual input including dimensions, scaling factors, and commands; optional function keyboards facilitated macro operations.
Calma systems predominantly produced output via graphic plotters capable of both online and offline pen plotting as well as photographic plotting.
These CAD solutions were utilized by electronics manufacturers designing integrated circuits and PCBs; government agencies and utilities applying cartographic data; along with manufacturers involved in mechanical parts design.
GDS II
The initial GDS platform relied on Data General mini-computers to digitize and compile integrated circuit designs, featuring a straightforward command interface alongside indicator lights. With the advent of GDSII, a Command Line Interface (CLI) displaying text replaced the earlier "green-screen" oscilloscope visualization, introducing color displays. This advancement facilitated "online design," enabling drafting personnel to create chip layouts directly on-screen instead of converting physical sketches into digital form.
A standard GDSII setup circa 1980 included a 300 MB hard drive, 1 to 2 MB of RAM, a 16-bit Data General minicomputer, and up to four monitors, with a price tag exceeding $500,000 in 1980 currency.
DDM
DDM, standing for "Design, Drafting, Manufacturing," was a prominent 3D wireframe CAD software during the mid-1980s and continued to be supported by Parametric Technology Corporation under the name "Dimension III" as late as 2006.
The General Motors Central Foundry Division (GM-CFD) employed DDM for the design of castings and tooling used in automotive parts such as engine blocks and steering knuckles. DDM ran on Calma’s specialized dual-monitor workstations linked to Data General Nova systems and subsequently Digital VAX-11/780 machines. GM-CFD implemented DDM across numerous plants located in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and New York.