The 555 timer IC is an integrated circuit

Integrated circuit

An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...

 (chip) used in a variety of timer

Timer

A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass.Timers can be mechanical, electromechanical,...

, pulse generation and oscillator

Electronic oscillator

An electronic oscillator is an electronic circuit that produces a repetitive electronic signal, often a sine wave or a square wave. They are widely used in innumerable electronic devices...

 applications. The part is still in widespread use, thanks to its ease of use, low price and good stability. , it was estimated that 1 billion

1000000000 (number)

1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001.In scientific notation, it is written as 109....

 units are manufactured every year.
The IC design was proposed in 1970 by Hans R. Camenzind

Hans R. Camenzind

Hans R. Camenzind is an electronics engineer best known for inventing the 555 timer IC in 1970. He has also acquired 20 US patents, written numerous books and technical articles, and lectured at the University of Santa Clara.He received an MSEE from Northeastern University and an MBA from the...

 and Jim Ball. After prototyping, the design was ported to the Monochip analogue array, incorporating detailed design by Wayne Foletta and others from Qualidyne Semiconductors.