The challenge at hand

TI is known for many new products and technologies. In this particular situation, the Educational Technology group was tasked with creating a next generation graphing calculator that would enable secondary through collegiate mathematics students to learn visual representations of problem solving, which in turn, would allow them a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. This would be no ordinary graphing calculator. It would require an advanced gray scale LCD, 32-bit CPU, SDRAM, NOR Flash, NAND Flash, USB, and secure 802.11 – all on an extendable operating system that could handle a variety of additional demands such as support for peripherals, including temperature and motion data collection sensors.

As a result of these challenges, the new TI-Nspire™ family of graphing calculators was born. The idea behind TI-Nspire is to bring together representations of graphing, interactive geometry, and mathematical spreadsheets onto a single LCD screen. Therefore, graphs, geometric sketches, spreadsheets of problem-based data, mathematical figures and symbols, along with text conveniently organized and linked would serve as the core functionalities.

TI turns to Mentor

Because TI graphing calculators have a long, useful life it was important to align with a company that would be in business for the foreseeable future. Further, as new models of the graphing calculator roll-out, it's critical that the software already developed by TI, be rapidly re-used, to reduce development time and costs. Mentor Graphics represents the ideal company in this regard.

“We were looking for a software platform with a high longevity, which is mission critical for us in order to meet our long-term objectives and maximizing ROI.”

TI decided to work with Mentor Graphics because of Mentor's track record in developing and supporting its own connectivity middleware solutions for interfaces such as USB , TCP/IP , and secure 802.11. The TI-Nspire team knew that future products will likely require additional connectivity middleware and working with Mentor Graphics, a company that develops, supports, and offers a wide portfolio of middleware products, would allow TI to cut down on development time and costs over the years.

About TI

Since its inception in 1941, Texas Instruments (TI) of Dallas, Texas, has been recognized as a technology innovator and leader in areas such as consumer electronics, computers, defense electronics, and software.

Today, TI focuses primarily in the semiconductor sector, which includes DSPs and other application-specific products. Another area of concentration outside of semis is Educational Technology, where the main focus is providing students and educators with the latest technology to make classroom learning a more rewarding experience.