The Billups tubes were an improved model of the older Tucker tubes. This was due to the fact that the Billups tubes had a third tube, whereas the Tucker tubes only had one or two.
This device was built by Ensign Livik of the USS Cerritos, which made his superior officer, Andy Billups, quite impressed. Livik even named the device after Billups, both in an attempt to gain his favor, and to one-up Ensign Sam Rutherford. (LD: "I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee")