Firmware Engineer Software Development

Henry W. Jacobs

Austin, TX *****

512-***-**** • adyepg@r.postjobfree.com

DISTINGUISHED ENGINEER DEVELOPER

Accomplished professional, experienced in innovative and patented Computer Software Design and Integration. Over 18 years of experience in selecting hardware (memory, speed, I / O, power usage) for 8 and 16 bit microcontrollers, and developing algorithms and device drivers in both C and assembly language. Developed cost-effective software solutions in diverse fields of engineering. Experienced in the life-cycle processes of bringing new technologies from R&D to implementation and producing a marketable and profitable finished product. Self-starter with excellent presentation and writing skills. Able to lead teams and work effectively with others. Specific expertise in the following:

Systems Architecture

Operations Research & Six Sigma

Digital Signal Processing

Programming Techniques

Embedded Firmware

Artificial Intelligence

Object Oriented Design

Facsimile Protocol

Robotics

Communications Protocols

Hardware Troubleshooting

TECHNICAL SKILLS

C / C++

Assembly Language

Java

Visual Basic

SAS

VHDL / Verilog

Matlab

Fortran

Lisp / Scheme

Pascal

AJAX

jQuery

HTML

Java Script

MODBUS

BACnet

PLATFORMS, OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND TOOLS

TI C30 DSP

Windows

RISC-V

Intel x86

Sun Solaris

Unix / Linux

VxWorks

PIC Microcontrollers

Hyperception

LabView

Motorola DSP5600

8051

Freescale HCS08

TI MSP430

Atmel Tiny13 & ATMega256

TI TMS320C5509A

ST Micro

Renesas R5F21324

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

InspireSemi April 2022 - July 2023

Sr. Embedded Firmware Engineer

Verification of RISC-V processor design using C-code for 1024 core array. Testing used Cadence RTL compiler (xcelium) and debugger (simvision) running on Linux server.

Tested Blake2b hashing algorithm functionality. Passed all benchmark tests.

Investigated porting of Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) to RISC-V: FreeRTOS, Zephr, and RIOT. Work halted after decision to support LINUX was made.

Bare metal development of Interrupt Service Routines (ISRs) for local mtimer and 3 additional timers running in both interrupt and polling mode.

Developed software emulation of Platform Level Interrupt Controller (PLIC) to handle global interrupts from multiple RISC-V processors. Initial development using PC and then ported to RISC-V processor.

Testing of Gigabit Ethernet interface and loop-back code.

Triple Crown Consulting LLC, Austin, TX

Consultant to Ideal Power Converters May 2021 – November 2021

Ported and tested bare-metal application to control a hardware driver for a bi-directional transistor device (BTRAN).

Developed logic programs to control critical timing signals using on-board logic blocks.

Wrote software to monitor temperature, voltage, and current of the driver and BTRAN part.

Played a major role in board bring-up and testing of new version of the driver circuits.

Developed logic analyzer tests and Graphical User Interface (GUI) to test timing diagrams and operation of the driver.

Assisted with stocking new lab with equipment and parts.

Consultant to Intellihot November 2020 – February 2021

Ported and tested bare-metal application and bootloader firmware from Atmega128 to Atmega256 for Intellihot commercial tankless hot-water controller.

Designed and built custom test hardware to verify digital and analog I/O signals.

Developed software to back-up a copy of bootloader firmware to high flash memory pages in case over the air updates failed.

Cloud Safety Systems, Austin, TX February 2017 – May 2020

Chief Technical Officer (CTO)

Technical director and lead for start-up company producing wearable device that monitors user activities and generates alerts for possible safety related events.

Designed and built hardware prototype using GPS, WIFI, and Bluetooth radios and MEMS sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope) and developed code to report events to the cloud (AZURE).

Participated in Microsoft IoT Insider Lab and gained valuable insights.

Evaluated several commercial systems and prototyped Real Time Location System (RTLS) using Bluetooth beacons.

LithiumWerks, Austin, TX January 2019 – April 2020

Independent Contractor

Continued development on Battery Monitoring system (BMS-MX) started at Valence Technologies as part-time contractor.

Valence Technologies, Austin, TX October 2017 – October 2018

Sr. Development Engineer

Software development on battery management system (BMS)

Fix software bugs as required.

Supported troubleshooting CANBUS communication between battery packs and BMS.

Port code to new processor and develop new board support drivers for USB, CRC, DMA, serial communications.

Microsemi, Austin, TX May 2017 – October 2017

Embedded DSP Firmware Engineer

Software development on audio processor used in Alexa devices.

Optimize DSP code to reduce memory footprint.

Optimize DSP code to improve performance.

Fix software bugs as required.

Universal Lighting Technologies (Panasonic), Austin TX 2006 – Dec 2016

Distinguished Engineer - Firmware

Advanced technology demonstration and evaluation:

Wireless parking garage lighting system (Atmel mesh)

Wireless product demonstrations (Zigbee, BLE, Atmel mesh)

Douglas Metering four-channel Current Meter

Bluetooth Smart (BLE) CSR Mesh lighting control system.

Architect and primary developer for DCL product line to dim electronic fluorescent lamp ballasts and LED modules firmware over power-line with RS-485 serial communications to building management system. Developed eight different models using BACnet, MODBUS, and proprietary protocols at 120V-277v. Presented new architectures for DCL and building management systems to peers, executive management and customers. Patented design to use Time Division Modulation (TDM) and modified Hamming Code for power-line communications.

Work with major microcontroller vendors (Renesas, TI, Freescale, Microchip, Atmel, NXP) to develop DSP techniques to cost reduce electronic ballasts by removing analog filters. Ported existing assembly language code to C-language.

Mentor 4 co-op students and a junior engineer in firmware and hardware development.

Develop full-stack code for embedded web server to replace suite of PC-based applications.

Champion for software specifications, C-language implementation, and State Machine tools.

Work with Product Marketing group to develop and document building management system architectures (LONWorks, Modbus, and BACNet).

Work with other engineering departments (component engineering, manufacturing engineering, and procurement and documentation departments) to prepare and maintain engineering documentation.

Work with technicians and designers to enter schematics, build and test prototypes, and supervise PCB layout activities.

Mentor interns and junior firmware engineer.

SigmaTel, Austin, TX 2005 - 2006

Firmware Engineer

Developed and tested embedded software (C and assembly) for SigmaTel’s Consumer Audio Decoder Software Development Kit (SDK) for MP3 players, including defect fixes and new features, using SigmaTel’s System on a Chip (SoC) based on Motorola DSP5600 processor.

Optimized device driver for I2C I / O interface to digital FM radio.

Auto detected FM chip and dynamically remapped LCD I / O pins.

Developed algorithm to correct errors in laser fuse programming.

Developed algorithm to perform DC offset-zeroing for A / D converter.

Prototyped DSP IIR filter code in C and optimized ASM code provided by third-party contractor.

Independent Consultant, Austin, TX 2004 - 2009

Served as an adjunct instructor of Mathematics at University of Phoenix, Austin Campus – College Algebra, and undergraduate and graduate Statistics classes.

Designed hardware and software (firmware) for embedded wireless thermostat using MPLAB and PIC microcontroller. Used CAD tools for schematic capture and PWB layout. Hardware debug using oscilloscope and custom test software. Developed code based on hardware device specifications (data sheets). Article published in Circuit Cellar Magazine (Feb 2005).

Experienced with serial protocols, including RS232, RS485, and I2C, both hardware and software.

Developed Visual Basic.Net report writer and DSP code for x-ray fluorescence analysis of lead paint. Designed and implemented handlers for keypad, OLED display, 4 MHz ADC, and digital signal processing (Warrington, Inc.).

Sun Microsystems, Austin, TX 1999 - 2004

Staff Engineer

Six Sigma Black belt - Projects included data analysis of Server reliability for all models and determination of Pareto model of failure modes for specific model(s).

Designed portions of Netra ct800 cPCI server for Telecom industry. Work recognized with Netra Award for Excellence.

Integrated and validated embedded PPP routines in auxiliary service processor under VxWorks and Chorus operating systems (SDKs).

Developed I2C debug hardware and software to monitor I2C bus and troubleshoot hardware problem.

Sun Microsystems (continued)

Modified existing C-language UNIX disk benchmark program (vxbench) as part of project to measure additional CPU utilization using RAID1 and RAID5 at different I / O loads. The program used threads and pipes.

Mentored a student intern in the automation of an environmental test chamber for temperature / voltage control and measurement for unit under test using LabView. Completed training in Networking, Solaris Internals, Device Driver Programming, and Unix System Administration.

Network programming experience in the management of the transfer of information for a Reliable Communications project that sent duplicate messages with identical MAC addresses over separate networks and then re-assembled the message.

Hardware / Systems Engineer 1997- 1998

Alcatel / DSC Communications, Austin, TX

Supported Product Marketing with requirements for future products.

Provided hardware support and troubleshooting for current and legacy Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) telecommunications equipment.

Developed alarm subsystem for the hardware platform used as System Control Point (SCP) in cellular switching applications.

Developed custom serial analyzer to debug rare lockup of embedded alarm controller by triggering a Logic Analyzer on occurrences of complex data sequence.

Performed maintenance and troubleshooting of alarm software.

Wrote request for information (RFI) and request for quote (RFQ) for next generation of telecom computing platforms.

Software Engineer / Member Group Technical Staff 1973 - 1997

Texas Instruments, Austin, TX

Developed AI based scheduling system using dispatch rules and search techniques. The system was evaluated for scheduling engine assembly by Ford Motor company and was used by Swatch Watch.

Designed, implemented and maintained AI inference engine for the Personal Consultant expert system running on IBM PC. Development was done in Scheme dialect of LISP.

Led small team to develop mathematical algorithms and software to control a six-axis robotic arm with vision capabilities. Used Monte Carlo simulation to optimize location of calibration jig. This calibration system was patented.

Designed and implemented TMS320C30 DSP based call progress detection and call delivery routines for T1 telephone channels. These embedded voice recognition algorithms discriminated between answering machines and live callers.

Led a team developing embedded software / firmware for DSP-based T.30 fax protocol and modem software for MCI. Negotiated contracts with vendors for DSP modem code (V.17) .

Negotiated with SPOX SDK vendor to fix problem with “task priority inversion”.

Improved embedded software fax system performance by using a Logic Analyzer and Jtag interface to profile code and by using a CASE tool to build a state-machine for the T.30 fax protocol. Results were six simultaneous transmissions per DSP with 98% CPU utilization.

Managed a software team of 8 individuals for an IBM token ring LAN research project.

Performed system design and directed the work of six programmers for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) software for TI Central Utility Plant.

Developed device drivers and graphical user display (GUI) for real-time plant automation and Automated Test Systems.

EDUCATION

Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Operations Research, 1986

University of Texas at Austin

Master of Science (MS) and Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mathematics,, 1970-72

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Six Sigma Black Belt by Sun Microsystems

Elected Member Group Technical Staff at Texas Instruments (Top 12% of technical population)

Past member of Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Facsimile Standards Committee (TR-29)

PATENTS

2013 “System and Method for Encoding Ballast Control Signals” - Demand Control Lighting

(DCL)power-line signaling using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) and Modified Hamming

Error-Correcting codes. (Universal Lighting Technologies) Patent number 8,405,488 B1

1995 "Method and System for Determination of Signal / Noise Ratio of Telephone

Transmission Line Used for Facsimile Transmission" Patent number 8,371,945

1993 "Method and Apparatus for Determining Facsimile Quality and System Using Same"

Patent number 5,369,500

1984 "Calibration System for a Programmable Manipulator." Patent number 4,481,592

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

2009 Third place winner of 2009 DLP Design DLP-232PC Design Contest with “I2C Monitor”

2005 “XTstat: A Portable Wireless X10 Thermostat” Circuit Cellar Magazine (#175 Feb 2005).

1992 "Digital Signal Processing: What, Why, Where, When and How", Presented at TI Technical Seminar (May 1992).

1991 "A Knowledge-Based Manufacturing Scheduling Shell", published in the Texas Instruments Engineering Journal, presented at the Third International Conference on Expert Systems and the Leading Edge in Production and Operations Management, and published in the conference proceedings (May 1989).

1987 "Successful Applications of Expert Systems in Manufacturing" Presented at May Joint meeting of Operations Research Society of America and the Institute of Management Sciences. Presented at University of Texas O.R. Colloquium.

1987 "Applications of the H-Function Distribution in Classifying and Fitting Classical Probability Distributions" American Journal of Mathematical and Management Sciences. Vol. 7.

1986 Ph.D. dissertation - "Curve Fitting Probability Density Functions Using the H-Function".

1986 Contributions to TI's AI Interaction newsletter: "Controlling Context (Frame) Creation" and "An Example of Using Meta-Rules to do "Learning"”.

1985 "Expert Systems: How the Inference Engine Works" Presented to 1985 meeting of Texas Instruments Minicomputer Exchange (TIMIX) and published in the Texas Instruments Engineering Journal.

1982 "Device Service Routines: The Hardware / Software Interface." Presented at 1982 meeting of TIMIX.

1981 "Computer Monitoring and Control in a Central Utility Plant." Presented at 1981 meeting of TIMIX

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