What Highland Technology does

Highland Technology is a privately held precision electronic instrumentation company founded in 1984 and based in a single 21,000-square-foot San Francisco facility that houses engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and corporate functions. The company designs and manufactures standard and custom electronics for measurement, control, timing, and simulation applications, with core capabilities in picosecond-resolution digital delay generation, high-precision analog measurement and signal generation, VME-based high-channel-count data acquisition and control, fiber-optic and photonics signal conversion, and laser driver and control. Its product catalog spans nine active categories — VME modules, digital delay generators, pulse generators, waveform generators, laser drivers/controllers, photonics, measurement and simulation, modular power systems, and custom/OEM solutions — with proprietary features such as Queued Updates, Train, and Frames modes in digital delay generators, and picosecond-class jitter performance with up to 64-channel densities.

The company sells into aerospace and defense, scientific research, photonics and lasers, industrial/energy, and semiconductor end markets, with a stated installed base of 1,000+ customers across 40+ countries. Named customers include major aerospace primes (Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, L3Harris, BAE Systems, Thales, Saab, Pratt & Whitney, Rolls Royce, General Atomics, EADS), national laboratories (Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, Sandia, NIST, NASA-JPL, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), photonics OEMs (Hamamatsu, Thorlabs, Andor, Trumpf), and industrial majors (Honeywell, GE, IBM, Agilent, Panasonic, United Airlines). Highland's go-to-market is enterprise B2B with direct sales engineering engagement, quote-based pricing (Net 30 terms after credit approval), 12-month standard warranty with paid extensions, and regional distribution through long-tenured partners in Japan (Daiei Musen Denki, since 1957) and India (Electronic Enterprises India, since 1952). All products are manufactured and tested in-house, and the firm maintains long-term product availability with explicit component end-of-life stocking for legacy programs.

Name

Highland Technology

Legal name

Highland Technology, Inc.

Website

https://highlandtechnology.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Highland Technology is a privately held San Francisco-based designer and manufacturer of precision electronic instrumentation — including picosecond digital delay generators, VME modules, fiber-optic converters, and laser drivers — serving aerospace, defense, national laboratory, and photonics customers in more than 40 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Precision Electronic Instrumentation

NAICS

Instrument Manufacturing for Measuring and Testing Electricity and Electrical Signals (334515), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825)

akta.pro primary industry

Military Power Supplies, RF/Microwave Components & Ruggedized Electronics (IMABAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Power Quality, Metering & Monitoring (HDACAJAG)

Keywords

• Precision electronic instrumentation
• VME bus modules
• Digital delay generators
• Laser diode drivers
• Photonics signal conversion

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Hardware Products: Standard and custom precision electronic instrumentation products including VME modules, digital delay generators, pulse generators, waveform generators, laser drivers/controllers, photonics modules, measurement/simulation instruments, and modular power systems. Products manufactured in-house in San Francisco.
2. Custom/OEM Solutions: Custom electronics design and manufacturing services for challenging customer applications since 1984. Expertise in picosecond timing, precision analog and mixed signal processing, and aerospace instrumentation.
3. Calibration and Repair Services: RMA services for repair, calibration, and upgrade of products. Calibration services available with recommended intervals stated in product specifications.
4. Firmware Upgrades: Free firmware upgrades provided, including field upgradable software, plug-in flash chips, or factory return under warranty.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Highland Technology designs and manufactures precision electronic instrumentation hardware — including VME data acquisition and control modules, digital delay and pulse generators, waveform generators, laser diode drivers, photonics/fiberoptic converters, measurement and simulation modules, and a modular power system — along with custom/OEM electronics for aerospace, defense, scientific, and industrial customers. All products are engineered and produced in-house in San Francisco, targeting picosecond timing, high channel count, and long lifecycle program support.

Product overview

Highland Technology is a precision electronic instrumentation company offering a platform-plus-modules product architecture consisting of multiple product categories. The core product lines include: Digital Delay Generators (P400, P500, T560, T564, T660) for picosecond-class timing with features like Queued Updates, Train, and Frames modes; Modular Power System (P940 chassis with modules P941, P943, P945, P946, P948, P975, P978) for aerospace testing with power, load, switching, and measurement capabilities; VME Modules (comprehensive line including V120/V124 controllers, V180-V490 data acquisition modules, V340-V490 waveform generators, V720/V730 photonics converters, V850/V851 digital delay generators, and V880 facility timing generators); Photonics products (J720/J724/J730/J736/J744/J750 converters, K420 duplex converter, P730 fanout buffer, T130-T860 drivers and controllers); Laser Drivers & Controllers (D100, D200, J240, T160, T165); Measurement & Simulation instruments (P330, P348, P470, P545, P620, P900, T500, T680); Waveform Generators (P350, T340, T344, T346); and Pulse Generators (J270, P800, T124, T750). The company also provides Custom/OEM solutions for specialized applications. Products serve aerospace, defense, scientific, semiconductor, and industrial/energy sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Delay and Pulse Generators (P400, P500, T560, T564, T660) Fast, multi-channel, programmable-resolution sequences of digital output pulses with picosecond-class jitter; delays up to 1000 seconds in 1 ps increments, available in 1–6 channels with square, Gaussian, and arbitrary waveshapes. Include proprietary Queued Updates, Train, and Frames features; the P500 supports up to 14 MHz repetition rate. Used by aerospace, defense, scientific, and laser control programs.
• VME/VXI Modules and Crate Controllers Comprehensive line of VME and VXI modules including crate controllers (V120, V124), AC power analysis (V180), relay (V210), current loop/process I/O (V220), analog input (V230), digital I/O (V250, V280), waveform generators (V340–V346), tachometers (V360, V365), arbitrary waveform generators (V370, V375), strain gauge (V380, V385), sensor input modules (V410–V470), digitizers (V490), synchro/LVDT modules (V545, V550), time-interval/timestamp modules (V660, V680), fiber-optic converters (V720, V730), digital delay/pulse generators (V850, V851, V860), and facility timing distribution (V880). Deployable in long-lifecycle aerospace and defense simulation systems.
• Modular Power System (P940 chassis and P941/P943/P945/P946/P948/P975/P978 modules) Integrated 3U chassis holding up to eight plug-in source/load power modules for aerospace testing. Modules include dual isolated DC supply (P941), 8-channel DC supply (P943), 8-channel load simulator (P945), 8-channel relay/circuit breaker (P946), 24-channel cable fault insertion (P948), 2-channel programmable DC capacitor (P975), and 8-channel resistive/inductive load (P978).
• Photonics and Fiber-Optic Converters (J720, J724, J730, J736, J744, J750, K420, P730, T130, T240, T735, T740, T760, T840, T850, T860) Precision fiber-optic and free-space interfaces providing high-speed, low-jitter signal conversion and transport of analog and digital signals, including electrical-to-fiber-optic converters, fiber-optic-to-electrical converters, duplex converters, optical fanout buffers, picosecond EOM drivers (T130), Pockels cell drivers (T850), high-voltage drivers (T760, T840), and logic buffers/drivers (T860) for EMI-immunity applications.
• Laser Drivers and Controllers (D100, D200, J240, T160, T165) Off-the-shelf and OEM laser driver solutions including the compact 250A laser driver (D100) for bar laser stacks and VCSEL arrays, DC-coupled 4A diode laser driver (D200), and picosecond-to-nanosecond laser diode pulsers (T160, T165) that combine a picosecond-class pulse width generator with a precision laser diode driver. Support E/O modulation, seed laser pulse picking, MOPA timing, and OEM integration (e.g., Photodigm DBR 1064 nm).
• Waveform Generators (P350, T340, T344, T346) Function and arbitrary waveform generators from simple 4-channel function generators (T340) to flagship arbitrary waveform generators with interchannel modulation, system mastering, and unlimited synchronization. Models include an 8-channel waveform playback/ARB module (P350), a 4-channel 32 MHz ARB generator (T344), and a 4-channel 32 MHz ARB generator with complex modulation (T346) producing sweeps, chirps, I/Q constellations, and calibrated jitter.
• Pulse Generators (J270, P800, T124, T750) High-voltage pulse generators translating slow signals into clean, fast pulses with amplitudes up to 100V. Include GaN-based compact adjustable delay/width generator (J270), 8-channel 150V trigger generator (P800), 1-to-4 logic buffer (T124), and 4-channel compact high-voltage driver (T750) accepting LVDS/TTL/LVTTL/LVPECL trigger inputs.
• Measurement and Simulation Instruments (P330, P348, P470, P545, P620, P900, T500, T680) Tools for measurement, simulation, and control of tachometers, thermocouples, RTDs, precision voltages, current loops, strain gauges, capacitive level sensors, eddy-current transducers, synchros/LVDTs/RVDTs, and more. Includes precision laser modulator system (T500) for large-scale fusion and high-energy laser installations and an Ethernet time-interval counter (T680).
• Custom/OEM Electronics Solutions Bespoke electronics design, manufacturing, and integration services covering picosecond timing, precision analog and mixed-signal processing, digital delay and pulse generation, high-speed photonics and fiber-optic timing distribution, and aerospace instrumentation and simulation. Engineering team adapts standard products and underlying technology into new designs of custom and embedded electronics for specific customer requirements.
• Calibration, Repair, and Firmware Upgrade Services RMA services for repair, calibration, and upgrade of Highland products, with calibration intervals stated in product specifications. Free firmware upgrades are provided, including field-upgradable software, plug-in flash chips, or factory return under warranty. Warranty extensions available at 10% of purchase price per year beyond the standard 12-month warranty.

Quantifiable outcome

• Picosecond resolution: 1 picosecond increment resolution with delays up to 1000 seconds
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers36 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ElectroOptical Innovations ConsultingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHighland partnered with ElectroOptical Innovations Consulting to develop extreme-performance photonic instruments.
• Daiei Musen Denki Co., Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorJapanese importer founded in 1957, located in Tokyo's Akihabara district. Provides installation, training, and long-term customer support. Official distributor of Highland Technology products in Japan.
• Electronic Enterprises (India) Pvt. Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndian company in operation since 1952 with reputation for sound business practices and efficient after-sales service. Offers electronic components, test instruments, nuclear detectors, scientific instruments, and semiconductor machinery.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Quantum Composers: Designs and manufactures digital delay and pulse generators with picosecond to microsecond resolution, serving scientific research and OEM instrumentation markets. Direct overlap with Highland's P400/P500/T560/T564/T660 and V850/V851 digital delay and pulse generator product lines.
• Berkeley Nucleonics: Supplies precision timing, delay, and pulse generators as well as signal sources for aerospace/defense test, scientific, and industrial markets. Directly comparable on digital delay generators and RF/microwave-style timing instrumentation.
• Avtech Electrosystems: Specializes in ultrafast pulse generators, delay generators, and high-voltage pulsers with picosecond resolution for laser, radar, and aerospace applications. Directly comparable on picosecond pulse and delay generator SKUs.
• Tabor Electronics: Builds arbitrary waveform generators and pulse/pattern generators used in aerospace, defense, and communications test. Overlaps with Highland's Waveform Generator (P350/T340/T344/T346) and Pulse Generator (P800/T750) families.
• Stanford Research Systems (SRS): Manufactures precision scientific instrumentation including delay generators, pulse generators, and timing modules for physics and laboratory applications. Closely aligned with Highland's scientific/research customer segment and picosecond timing capability.
• CAEN S.p.A. Italian designer of modular precision electronics (digitizers, time-to-digital converters, photonics modules) for scientific, aerospace, and homeland-security applications. Comparable custom/OEM high-channel-count instrumentation and picosecond timing capability.
• Vivid Engineering: Designs VME/VXS modules including camera link, fiberoptic, and timing products for defense, aerospace, and industrial imaging. Direct overlap with Highland's VME platform (V120/V124/V720/V730/V850/V851/V880).
• Directed Energy: Manufactures high-voltage pulsers, photoflash capacitor chargers, and laser diode drivers for industrial, military, and scientific customers. Overlaps with Highland's 100V pulse generators and high-voltage laser driver SKUs (D100, J270).

Broad incumbents

• National Instruments (Emerson): Supplies modular data acquisition, PXI/VPX instrumentation, and timing/control platforms for aerospace, defense, and research. Broad portfolio incumbent overlapping Highland's VME data acquisition and modular instrumentation footprint.
• Keysight Technologies: Global test-and-measurement incumbent offering oscilloscopes, signal generators, and waveform/pulse generators. Competes with Highland across pulse and waveform generation categories but at vastly greater scale and broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/highlandtechnology

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Highland Technology