ParkerVision was founded in 1989 as a supplier to the robotic camera industry. Leveraging the invention of a patented motion tracking technology, which enables a remote camera to automatically "follow" a presenter via wireless communication; ParkerVision became a leading provider of innovative products for the video conferencing and distance education markets.

In December 2007, ParkerVision signed its first commercial license agreement with a worldwide provider of chipsets to mobile handset manufacturers. The license agreement covered both ParkerVision's d2p RF transmit and d2d RF receive technologies. The agreement centered around the development of d2p radio applications in high-growth markets. Additionally, future applications would be designed for both d2p and d2d in multi-radio 4G devices.

In 2007, ParkerVision announced its first d2p design win with ITT for government and military applications. ParkerVision agreed to license its intellectual property for these applications and provide engineering design services. This also established a royalty payment schedule post-product development with ITT.

In January 2005, ParkerVision announced the second technology breakthrough using ESP technology: Direct2Power™ (d2p™). d2p abandons the precepts of RF transmit chain design by unifying the transmitter and power amplifier into a single process. Wireless products implementing d2p will enjoy extended battery life and better performance that traditional RF transmit chain solutions.

In 2002, the first product based on ESP was released. Direct2Data™ (d2d™) was implemented as an 802.11 based receiver that empowered a line of critically acclaimed wireless networking gear.

In 1997, the team made a discovery that would significantly alter the way that radio signals are processed by wireless devices. This revolutionary technology, called Energy Signal Processing (ESP™), allows wireless products to be designed for maximum performance.

In 1993, the company developed automated tracking video applications that initially empowered presenters in distance learning and video conferencing and evolved into professional TV by allowing live television broadcasts to be produced with only one or two production crew-members. But this technology required a high end RF link that at the time was unavailable, so in 1995, ParkerVision formed an advanced Research and Development team to address this issue.