email: tblack@quantalink.com smail: 21392 Madrone Drv. Los Gatos CA 95033
Skilled with a "C" compiler, a soldering iron, an oscilloscope and a staff meeting, My ideal project uses all four.
Aug 1999 - Current Consultant, Quantalink and Oxford & Associates
Project for Oxford include Sun Microsystems on the firmware and diags for the SunRay product line:
Projects for Quantalink include proprietary prototype development for several startups, a myoelectric pre-amp for MindTel, and several electronic art installations.
Feb 1999 - Aug 1999 Senior Product Engineer, Avio Digital
Avio tried (and failed) to create a new kind of home networking . I did embedded systems work, ran the prototype lab, did FCC measurements and reverse-engineered competitive products.
Feb 1998 – Feb 1999 Interface Wizard, Kodak Imagination Works
KIW did advanced research for Eastman Kodak Entertainment Imaging. Prototypes were created to test new forms of user interfaces. A patent was filed for an invention using dual color TV cameras to track objects for a new kind of arcade game platform. Custom Video multiplexers were built and ‘C’ code written to do object tracking at full video frame rates. Interface devices were created to control lights and motors using PIC micros.
July 1997 – Jan 1998 Senior Software Engineer, Be Inc.
Be Inc. made BeOS, a multiprocessor, multi-threaded, multi-media operating system. My tasks include writing device drivers (CAM-SIM SCSI format), testing and debugging kernel functions, and creating debugging tools.
Jan 1997 – July 1997 Senior Tech Support, Microtec VRTX RTOS
Responsible for interfacing with customers and recreating problems with the VRTX Real Time Operating System. Using HP 16500 logic analyzer to verify behavior of program test cases. Testing and verification of new releases of compilers, debugging tools, and RTOS packages.
Nov 1994 - Dec 1996 Independent Consultant
A computer consulting office called Tech Knowledge was operated in Sedona. This office provided custom programming and system design for a wide variety of clients.
An Internet database system called the HyperBrowesr was been created
Automation systems have been installed at major cable TV sites.
Provided programming and hardware prototyping services using a small Z180 based translator- controller to connect "home" type VCR decks to a 422 network for computer control.
Aug 1993 - Oct 1994 Consultant , Spencer & Spencer Systems
Provided technical leadership for a team converting 15 year old mainframe PL/1 to GNU 'C'.
Wrote a drawing generator in Gnu 'C' on a DG/UX 88k system with ESQL access to an Ingres database and an HP - Apollo X station.
Wrote a 'C' program to interface a production testing device to a PC. The program provided Statistical Process Control charting from test runs.
Rebuilt a 20 year old mainframe FORTRAN IV program to run on a Data General AViiON 88000 system and added a DXF file feed to Autocad Ver 11.
June 1992- July 1993 Senior Programmer, Print Research Tech.
Programming the main software of a press control in Metaware HighC 29K and 29K Asmb. Wrote the low level drivers for the AMD Mace Ethernet controller and ported the PhoenixPage postscript source to the PRT multiple- processor 29000 RISC system. Using the Nucleus RTOS. Worked on the real time code for the mult-processor system. Did System Administration work for the in-house network (10baseT, Ethernet, NFS) on the Sun workstations
Oct. 1990 - July 1992 T. E. B. Engineering.
Owner of T. E. B. Engineering, Providing custom software to the cable and broadcast industries. Installed automation systems at many sites across the Midwest. These systems include an election tracking database package at WMC Memphis, a controller for movie playback with 50 VCRs in Warner Cable Houston, a system controller for WCSC, Charleston SC. and a retro fit system for Spectradyne, San Francisco. Developed a electronic time card system based on ROM chips inside small plugs. These programs were written in Borland 'C' and SCO UNIX
Mar 1984 - Oct 1990 Asst. to VP of Engineering Scripps Howard Broadcasting
Designed, wrote, and installed four complete newsroom systems, two commercial spot playback systems, two net delay systems, and several other systems. Each newsroom contained 20 to 40 MS-DOS PC's connected to a UNIX database through an Async data switch. Wrote the UNIX databases in Informix SQL, BRS Search, and UNIX "C". The reporter workstations were written in Prolog and Turbo "C". Wrote a real time hypertext database that received the newswire feeds. This system keyed and cross-referenced all words in the real time text stream. Did systems work on real time video effects and graphic "paint" systems.
May 1980 - Mar. 1984 R&D manager for KAVCO, Dayton Oh.
Responsible for the creation and production of a complete family of automation products. Managed the R&D office with six employees in Terre Haute. Wrote a number of embedded Z80 programs. Wrote a complete database system for automation support in Cromemco S-basic. Designed the hardware for interfacing to tape decks and switchers.
July 1978 - May 1980 Chief Eng. of E.S.I. Terre Haute IN.
Was responsible for repair of many different types of electronic systems, including NC punches, Sheeter mills, 50 HP DC motor servos, Video production and security systems. Wrote an embedded 8080 program (4k in 1702 EPROM’s) to read and sort the data from a card reader system.
June 1974 - July 1978 Electronic Tech for B&A Electronics Terre Haute IN
Designed and built audio/video editing systems and repaired aircraft avionics.
1972 - 1975 Indiana State University EE and CS majors (quit to work full time and never looked back.)
Some Hardware examples:
Partial Language listing:
Examples of Other Software:
My work with embedded Real Time system covers almost the entire history of the microprocessor. The first networked embedded system I designed was back in 1978. I was R&D manager for this project which grew into a fully distributed processing system using both Z8 and Z80 single board computers. My team created our own RTOS for this system. This RTOS had tasks downloaded into RAM and boot processes stored in PROM.
In the mid 1980s I wrote my own kernel for a line of Broadcast/ Cable TV automation systems that ran on the PC platform. This kernel did dynamic load balancing and could run 16 comm ports (with RS422 networking) on a 25Mhz 386. It used MSDos to boot the system software and then took over the hardware to run the custom RTOS system. Different driver configurations would be linked into the software as needed.
In the early 90s I worked on a triple-processor (29K RISC chips) embedded controller for high speed postscript offset press printing. (three 500M baud fiber links to the print head) This system used the NUCLEUS RTOS kernel. I wrote high performance Ethernet Drivers and inter-CPU communications systems using hardware FIFO chips. I also ported the Phoenix Page Postscript code to run as tasks under NUCLEUS. This software was debugged with a ICE system and deployed with software downloaded over the Ethernet interface from a host system.
In 95 and 96 as leader of a team of three, an Internet Web server was created that provided real-time regeneration of documents with "on the fly" creation of hypertext links. The links were fitted to the results of a database retrieval. This program used UNIX sockets to run as a distributed system under Linux.
At Microtec I provided senior level support for the VRTX kernel. This kernel supports remote debugging and task downloading over a net. My tasks included customer interfacing, test case creation, documentation of bugs and features, and support for a wide selection of CPU platforms (PPC 603, 505, 680x0, and 68360 to name a few)
A real time video object tracker was created and submitted for a patent while at KIW. This public document may be viewed on request.
In 2002 I created an installation art project called "Ship to Ship". This was a wireless network of four Linux computers designed to allow people to experience the feeling of sending a message to another planet. People could pick a star and Audio-Video messages were then recorded as MPG files. The messages were "voted" on by three other (random) people. Approved messages were sent into space by a modulated xenon arc lamp (AM light) mounted on a radio telescope tracking platform. The project included the creation of a 2800 watt "class A" water cooled current regulating amplifier, tracking motor electronicts, PIC embedded control software and interfacing software on Linux.
I have written a program called Queue Master. Queue Master is a broadcast/cable system automation controller. It was written in Borland "C". Queue Master can control remote devices such as tape decks, routing switchers, CGs and Sat. receivers over 16 Comm ports on a DOS PC. Hundreds of I/O bits can be individually labeled and used as input and output lines. The Queue Master system uses a unique "Vocabulary Based" approach to automation. Although this program is getting old, it is still useful at some locations.
