curriculum
vitae for:
Norm
Bernstein
24
Foxfire Drive
Sharon,
MA 02067
617-759-0094
OBJECTIVE:
Contract/consulting
opportunities, designing circuits and firmware which utilize my talents and
experience.
SKILLSET:
General
board-level circuit design, with an emphasis on proper grounding and
shielding, proper power distribution, design for manufacturability and test. Component
selection and specification to meet performance benchmarks. Bill of Materials
management, cost estimates, interface with layout engineering and contract
manufacturing. OrCAD schematic capture
Precision analog
design,
specializing in high precision and accuracy to 18 bits, both integrating and
successive approximation A/D converters
Signal
conditioning for low level signals and sensors, especially
industrial signals such as thermocouples, RTD’s, bridges, pressure sensors,
etc. Linearization, cold junction compensation, lead resistance compensation,
using both linear and digital (microcontroller-based) techniques
Embedded 8 bit
microcontroller experience, specifically, variants of the 8051 architecture,
using very tight assembly language coding. Extensive experience over nearly 30
years with this family of microcontrollers. Procedural and mathematical code,
including single precision floating point. Also, some experience with the
Microchip PIC family.
Communications
experience:
RS232, RS485, using asynchronous protocols. I2C,SMBus and SPI peripheral
communications. Experience with Bluetooth at the system/module level
Windows GUI
programming,
using Embarcadero Delphi XE. Applications programs, Demo programs, and utility
programs written to support testing, or as companion programs in systems
Ultra low power
design
for battery-based products and small systems, using micropower components,
small switching power supplies, Li-MgO coin cells
What I DON’T do: To avoid
wasting anyone’s time, these are the things that I am not experienced in doing:
VHDL, Verilog, C/C++ programming, high power, RF, TCP/IP, or Visual Studio.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
March
2016 to present
As a
contract engineer Alpha Moisture Systems, of Bradford UK, I developed a new
ultra-precision hygrometer instrument using the ‘chilled mirror’ technique for
highest accuracy. The project included instrumentation circuits to measure
temperature to 0.01°C degree resolution, the measurement
of a precision photosensor circuit, and the development
of 8051-based code to implement a control loop based on the reflectance of an
LED source as measured by as phototransistor.
June
2013 to November 2015
As
a contract engineer to Clearview Audio, I was tasked to help develop the
Clearview Clio, an innovative transparent stereo speaker with Bluetooth
connectivity. My activities included the continuing development of a 400 volt,
400KHz PWM Class D amplifier output stage, as well as some power supply
development, protection circuits, and associated audio circuitry.
February 2012 to September 2012
As a contract engineer to Cummings Electronics Labs, I designed both hardware and firmware for a system of control boards to be used in medical diagnostic equipment. The boards incorporate the Silicon Laboratories C8051F124 microcontroller, RS232 and RS485 communications, a 2 line x 24 character vacuum fluorescent display, etc. The firmware includes a bootloader, multi-board communications, and GUI control of the system using Embaracdero Delphi XE, running on Windows 7 platforms.
April 2009 to Februry 2012
As Chief Technical Officer and partner in DataFetch LLC, a start-up company, I developed a ruggedized, handheld, wireless bar code reader and display for use in Law Enforcement, EMS, and University/College security applications. The product design was based on a Silicon Labs microcontroller (8051 core), and utilized a micropower switcher chip from Linear Technology, along with a Bluetooth module from Roving Networks. I worked with mechanical designers in Taiwan, and with a Chinese vendor, on the design and production of a custom polycarbonate enclosure for the product, and located vendors for an optically correct cast acrylic window through which the OEM scanner engine would be aimed. The design was intended for intermittent use and very long battery life, which required me to fully power-cycle the entire circuit for long standby life. I also designed a custom LCD display for early versions of the product, which was driven directly (no display controller chip) by the microcontroller.
September 2007 to April 2008
Contractor to CandleDragon, Inc., tasked to assist in the development of a new digital pen product for the graphic design market. Designed a switching power supply to convert single cell NiMH battery voltage to +5VDC to drive high current infrared diodes, along with other general development responsibilities, including component specification and sourcing, general schematic and bill of material management, and interface to layout engineering.
November 2007
Contractor to Kensey Nash, Inc., tasked to design a motor timing/control circuit for a thrombectomy catheterization system. Originally, the circuit was implemented with discrete bipolar transistors in an attempt to be able to withstand the 4.5 kGy radiation used to sterilize the instrument, but testing proved that the intense radiation resulted in an unacceptable failure rate. The circuit was redesigned, using a small PIC microcontroller, and placed outside of the radiation field.
February 2007 to March 2007
Contractor to Ameritrol, Inc, tasked to develop a loop-powered 4-20mA temperature transmitter with HART protocol and USB capability. This project involved primarily hardware design using ultra-low power techniques.
June 2005 to February 2007
Contractor to Iquum, Inc., a biomedical electronics startup firm, engaged to assist in the design and development of a bench-top medical analysis instrument. Acted as a mentor to less experienced engineers in solving analog circuitry problems.
June 2006
Contractor to Analog Devices, Inc., to develop a power control circuit for the next generation of laptop computer power adaptors
June 2005 to August 2005
Contractor to Analog Devices, Inc., to develop a microcontroller-based emulation of a future monolithic micro-machined accelerometer with both I2C and SPI interfaces.
June 2004 to June 2006
Subcontractor to Venture Technologies, Inc., a design and development firm. Worked on a variety of projects, including a centralized home audio distribution system, environmental air quality analyzers, motor controllers for child riding toys, and an innovative blood flow sensor technology used by vascular surgeons.
May 2004 to December 2004
Contracted to Analog Devices, Inc., to develop the hardware and firmware for a laptop battery management subsystem. This design, which was to serve as a technology demonstrator for laptop manufacturers, was based on the ADuC845, an 8051-type microcontroller with analog capabilities. The device measured voltage and temperature of each cell in a laptop battery pack, along with total pack current, and reported the results to the laptop CPU via the SMBus (System Management Bus, similar to I2C).
September 2000 to June 2003
Contracted to the Indikon Company, Somerville MA, to design the hardware and firmware for a torque measurement system used in large rotating machinery. This contract was the result of an independent proposal I made to their management. The project employs several different microcontrollers from Analog Devices (the ADuC834, ADuC832, and ADuC824), along with a 5,000 gate Altera FPGA, to measure, compute, and display torque and horsepower up to 250,000 foot lbs and 700,000 horsepower.
February 2001 through April 2001
Contracted to Analog Devices Inc. to design a demonstration board for the new ADuC824 microcontroller. This project required a complete hardware design, with LCD display and RTD interface, functional firmware, and a PC-based GUI application, which was written in Delphi 5. The demonstration board was shown at the 2001 Embedded Circuits Conference in San Francisco, in April 2001.
July 2000 through August 2000
Contracted to Analog Devices Inc., to write the firmware for a laptop switching power supply monitor, intended as a benchmark design for a major semiconductor manufacturer. This design employed the ADuC812, a new 8051-class microcontroller from Analog Devices, which monitored the power supply voltages for the laptop and executed essential power supply sequencing tasks for startup, shutdown, and brownout conditions.
September 1999 through June 2000
Contracted to the Indikon Company, Somerville MA, to rewrite the firmware for a torque and alignment measurement system used in large rotating machinery in nuclear and petrochemical applications. This system employed triple 8051-class microcontrollers, including one that was embedded inside the spinning shaft of a large rotating shaft, coupled to the outside world with rotating transformer windings. The code for all three microcontrollers was re-written from the ground up, tested, and evaluated within a very tight 6 month schedule.
October 1998 through July 1999
Contracted to SensorPulse, Inc., a division of GE-Fanuc, Charlottesville, VA. Retained to help develop a new family of low channel count I/O modules. These modules were projected to be used as an extension of the existing GE Versamax family of I/O products, as well as a stand-alone system. Conducted an extensive technical survey of the existing products in the market, and devised a new architecture for communicating to/from modules. Presented this new architecture to the GE-Fanuc senior staff, including the CEO. Designed four new analog I/O modules for this family, and supervised preliminary layouts at the Charlottesville facility.
November 1994 through June 1998
Contractor for Analog Devices, Inc., originally retained to develop the firmware for a series of proprietary industrial signal conditioning modules for a major Japanese customer. This series of modules was heavily based on work I did while as a regular employee of Analog Devices, Inc., in the 1985 through 1991 timeframe. Ultimately, my contract was extended to include the hardware design of two of the eight modules in the series. The work included intensive negotiations with the Japanese customer, both in Japan (three trips) as well as in the United States.
In mid 1995, I was asked to conceive and propose a new integrated circuit product for industrial data acquisition applications. This resulted in the development of the AD280, an industrial data acquisition IC. As part of the development team, I invented a new type of high resolution A/D converter, and also did the detail design of the control logic portion of the chip (approximately 1000 gates, in a BiCMOS process). The product was mostly functional after first silicon.
In late 1995, I was made a member of a Business Planning Team at Analog Devices, charged with the task of visiting customers, soliciting requirements, and proposing products in both assembled and integrated circuit formats. In this capacity, I traveled extensively, visiting major industrial process control equipment manufacturers in the US and abroad, and concluded the program by proposing a major new modular signal conditioning system architecture for Analog Devices.
August 1992 through present
Formed Marisystems Inc. to develop, manufacture, and market the TideTracker Handheld Tide and Current Computer for the recreational and commercial marine marketplace. This product won a 'Best of Show' award at it's introduction at the Newport Boat Show in September 1992. I also licensed the underlying technology for tide and current prediction to Northstar Inc. and Simrad, Inc. who incorporated this technology in their differential GPS chartplotter products.
In addition, I have performed short term consulting work for several clients, including Analog Devices, Raytheon, Johnson Controls, Volumetrics, and ADP Inc. These assignments were highly varied and included applications assistance for products I had designed or was involved with at Analog Devices, applications articles, and Visual Basic Programming.
1974 through 1992
Employee of Analog Devices, Inc., ultimately as a Senior Staff Engineer. In the late 1970's, I developed ISA bus compatible board level data acquisition products, including the RTI815 and RTI821 series of boards, the uMAC4000 Remote Industrial Data acquisition system (as a team member), and a series of isolated 4-20 mA output modules.
In 1985, I made an original proposal to management which resulted in my development of the AD1170, a high resolution/linearity (18 bit) A/D converter, which was the first such product to use an embedded microcontroller, gate array, and algorithm-rich approach to A/D converter operation.
In 1987, I made an original proposal to management, resulting in the development of the 6B series of industrial digital signal conditioning modules. This series was an extension of the technologies I developed in the AD1170, and featured a number of industry 'firsts', including true digital temperature compensation, digital cold junction compensation, and digital nonvolatile calibration. I designed the three initial modules of the series, plus the PC compatible applications program; later modules were developed by more junior engineers under my direction.
In 1989, I proposed a monolithic industrial data acquisition IC, called the AD1B60, which contained both an 8 bit microcontroller, and a custom ASIC front end chip, together in a single molded plastic gull-wing package. I developed the total architecture of the product, and coordinated the development of the ASIC, including seven trips to ADI's Limerick, Ireland facility during the design phase. I developed all of the firmware, which included complete linearization, compensation, and scaling of all standard thermocouples and RTD's. This product was released and sold to key customers, but ultimately was withdrawn from the market due to package manufacturability problems after I had left ADI.
In addition to my design activities, I also acted as technical resource for the venture capital arm of Analog Devices, for which I traveled throughout the US, evaluating small start-up companies for possible investment by the ADI venture capital group.
EDUCATION
BSEE, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 1974
PATENTS
Number 4,460,891, 'Analog-to-digital Converter with Explicit Interpolation', July 17th, 1984, assigned to Analog Devices, Inc.
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APPPICATIONS ARTICLES
See "Interfacing the AD22100 Temperature Sensor to a Low Cost Microcontroller", at: