physics

JDSU

JDSU is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand JDSU rather than just read about it. In short: JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU) was an American company that designed and manufactured products for optical communications networks, communications test and measurement equipment, lasers, optical solutions for authentication and decorative applications, and other custom optics. It was headquartered in Milpitas, California.

Key takeaways

JDSU belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect JDSU to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of JDSU from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU) was an American company that designed and manufactured products for optical communications networks, communications test and measurement equipment, lasers, optical solutions for authentication and decorative applications, and other custom optics. It was headquartered in Milpitas, California. In August 2015, JDSU split into two different companies – Viavi Solutions and Lumentum Holdings.

History Uniphase was started in 1979 in a San Jose, California garage, and made lasers for chip makers and scanners. In 1981, JDS Optics was founded in Ottawa, Ontario by Philip Garel-Jones, Gary Duck, Jozef Straus, and Bill Sinclair. The "JDS" is short for Jones, Duck and Straus/Sinclair. The company became JDS Fitel when it formed a partnership with Fitel, a fiber optic and optical connector company. In 1999, JDSU was formed by the merger between JDS Fitel and Uniphase, and it became known as JDS Uniphase subsequent to the merger. Three other major fiber companies were acquired by JDS Uniphase during the telecom boom – Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. (OCLI), bought for $6.2 billion and based in Santa Rosa, California, E-TEK Dynamics, bought for $15 billion, and SDL, bought for $45 billion, both based in San Jose, California. In 2003, CEO Straus retired, and the company moved its headquarters to San Jose, California, to consolidate its business. On August 3, 2005, the company acquired test and measurement equipment company Acterna for $760 million, which became part of JDSU's Test and Measurement Group. Acterna had been formed by the May 2000 merger of network test solutions developer Wavetek Wandel Goltermann (WWG) and hand-held test equipment developer TTC. In 2006, the company moved its headquarters to Milpitas, California. In December 2013, the company announced it was acquiring fellow network performance management company Network Instruments, for $200 million. On August 1, 2015, JDSU split into Viavi Solutions and Lumentum Holdings Inc.

Stock During the 1990s, JDS Uniphase stock was a high-flyer tech stock investor favorite. Its stock price doubled three times and three stock splits of 3:1, 2:1, and 2:1 occurred roughly every 90 days during the last half of 1999 through early 2000 and further enabling JDS Uniphase to go on an acquisition and merger binge. After a downturn in the telecom industry as part of the dot com bubble, JDS Uniphase announced in late July 2001 the largest (up to then) write-down of goodwill. Employment soon dropped as part of the Global Realignment Program from nearly 29,000 to approximately 5,300, many of its factories and facilities were closed around the world, and the stock price dropped from $153 per share to less than $2 per share. On September 23, 2005, JDSU announced a reverse stock split one-to-eight.

Shareholder litigation After the 2001 crash of the telecommunications industry, the state of Connecticut filed a lawsuit against the company and four key executives, claiming that they had misled and hid from company shareholders advance knowledge of the company's impending downturn. Unlike most similar lawsuits, which are dismissed or settled before trial, Connecticut's lawsuit went to trial in October 2007. JDSU was acquitted of all charges in November 2007.

References

Litigation references Dan Levine. "JDS Uniphase Scores a Win in Securities Case," Law.com, November 28, 2007 Kevin M. Lacroix. “Defense Verdict in JDSU Securities Trial,” The D&O Diary, November 27, 2007 Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, November 2007

External links USA Today article about best and worst stocks of the George W. Bush presidency (JDSU last)

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with JDSU

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what JDSU claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to JDSU before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about JDSU ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of JDSU

In research: JDSU appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses JDSU in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: JDSU is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1999 establishments in California, 2015 disestablishments in California, American companies disestablished in 2015, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for JDSU outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study JDSU in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what JDSU means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain JDSU out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is JDSU in simple terms?

Why does JDSU matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study JDSU?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on JDSU.