Robert Frye Email & Phone Number

Implemented PCIe root-complex module in Xilinx MPSoC FPGA ZCU106 development board for PCIe solid-state-disk (SSD) storage and signal processing of real-time sampled data. Created bare-metal software on Xilinx MPSoC ARM CPU in C/C++ for control of PCIe, and real-time read/write storage to Gen3x4 PCIe SSD. Hardware subsystems include Xilinx PCIe/DMA, CDMA, ARM CPU, DRAM and BRAM function blocks. Control is hard real-time and without Linux for storage/retrieval of data to SSD.

Implemented Endpoint and Root-port PCIe modules in Xilinx MPSoC FPGA for transfer and signal processing of optical multiply-accumulate (OMAC) ASIC module data. Implemented Gen3x4 PCIe Xilinx MPSoC FPGA design with Petalinux on ZCU106 development PCB. Booted the ZCU106 with Petalinux to enable the PS DDR. Added a mass-storage FPGA-Drive as an FMC peripheral high-speed PCIe Root-Port. Provided host CentOS Linux PC access to developed PCIe ASIC hardware, resisters and memory. Added a custom SPI interface for real-time ASIC OMAC control. OMAC ASIC data processing rate 100ps / image frame. Provided CentOS Linux-based test program to test the FPGA and ASIC hardware.

Assisted with design and implementation of a nuclear-event tolerant, space-grade hardware system for a Xilinx Ultrascale+ FPGA-based star-tracker. The star-tracker is a navigation component of the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI) missile, with full radiation-hardened MIL-spec design. The star-tracker surveys the sky with a camera, determines and reports vehicle attitude to the flight-control system. Designed circuits and sub-systems for a Xilinx FPGA-controlled star imager. Designed a rad-hard, auto-resetting nuclear-event latchup recovery circuit. Produced deliverables Worst-Case-Circuit-Analysis (WCCA), Part-Stress Analysis (PSA) and Survivability Analysis documents for customer certification of the Star-Tracker design. Assisted with customer CDR for fast-track design acceptance.

Implemented advanced bootloader for 16 and 32-bit Microchip CPUs for an USAF remote weather monitor station. Bootloader executes application program validation, system BIT tests and real-time in-field firmware updates. Firmware updated remotely by Iridium SATCOM system modem. Tested, validated and documented advanced Bootloader operation. Provided on-board image file storage for robust, in-field updates and corrections to individual sensor modules.

Electronic Warfare Interferer Created Xilinx RFSoC system for practical store and replay of received radar signals for electronic warfare applications. Included the ability to disturb the signal before storage and after replay using real-time complex scaling and adjustable time delays. Implemented bare-metal Xilinx design with Vivado/Vitis on Xilinx Ultrascale+ RFSoC FPGA. Created real-time control program for the integrated ARM processors. Controlled 5 GSPS ADC and 10 GSPS DAC complex data converters in real-time via menu-based, serial terminal interface. Secure system executes self-destruct at mission terminus.

Electrostatic Discharge Generator Created medium-voltage (3kV) circuit board for control of a 30kV potted electrostatic discharge simulator power supply. Implemented computerized power supply and control for generation of 30kV sparks for commercial ESD testing. Analyzed existing EDS units for operation and safety of design. Created a 15kV reed relay assembly for use in high voltage polarity switching. Design to testing standards IEC61000-4-11 EMC Test and Measurement Techniques, ISO10605 Vehicle Test Methods for ESD.

Interference Cancelation System Designed and implemented FPGA hardware and real-time firmware for Xilinx Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC based radio dejammer. Implemented hardware adaptive filter using Xilinx Vivado, VHDL, Vitis XDK, 4GHz ADC/DAC data converters and 8b/10b interface for an advanced, RF/Optical interference cancelation system. Added AXI interfaces, block diagram design and software configuration to time-domain adaptive filter module and implemented design in high-speed VPX chassis. Designed VPX chassis and interconnects to achieve a portable cancelation unit that recovers jammed communication and restores function to blocked military systems. Implemented Petalinux on UltraScale+ RFSoC and developed full process flow for FPGA development and menu-driven real-time software support, creating a complete hardware/software development solution.

Neurostimulator Implant Telemetry Module Designed and implemented real-time Charger/Telemetry module control firmware for battery-operated neurostimulators. Used FreeRTOS, FORTH and multiple CPUs to implement a Bluetooth LE telemetry and recharger module. Developed advanced ‘Direct-to-WiFi’ transmission of collected patient data for cloud storage and clinician display. Designed multi-protocol telemetry module for advanced design and development.

Fault-Tolerant Flight Computer● Designed peer-computer group formation, reconfiguration and reintegration for the Byzantine fault tolerant flight computer (FTFC) for the DreamChaser spacecraft.● Implemented a quad-computer FTFC emulator for firmware validation in the absence of flight hardware.● Used VxWorks RTOS and SIMICS simulator for firmware validation.● Performed unit testing and generated validated test results.● Used DOORS for requirements tracking.● Debugged the DreamChaser Engineering Test Article (ETA) firmware to resolve spurious CPU exceptions.

Power-line Communication Interface● Analyzed requirements for a power-line serial communication interface for production calibration of a computerized LED luminaire.● Designed high-voltage circuit and PCB for NRZ power-signaling.● Assembled/tested/debugged power-line circuit PCB.● Implemented real-time power-line UART on embedded PIC CPU.● Implemented optical backchannel using modulated LEDs and photodetector.

Medical Device - Vital Signs Monitor● Analyzed requirements for a vital signs monitor for medical examination.● Designed real-time firmware for Blood Pressure-Pulse Oximeter-Temperature recorder.● Implemented concurrent state machine architecture on embedded PIC32 CPU without RTOS or interrupts.● Debugged and modified hardware, PCB and firmware for automated testing and FDA 510K application.● Conformed to IEC60601-1 General Safety, IEC60601-2 EMC, IEC60601-8 Auditory Alarm specs.

Hybrid Satellite to Ground VSAT Terminal● Analyzed requirements for dual-band hybrid VSAT Internet terminal.● Designed suitcase-style portable system with dual L and Ku band antennas, Linux controller, real-time PIC32 CPU, modem and router.● Implemented Raspberry Pi CPU with OLED display, RTOS controller, 300 MHz radio channel for antenna command and control, power supplies, I2C com, PCB.● Implemented menu-driven Python control panel.● Created Ku-band satellite simulator for 12 GHz testing.

Control Hardware and Real-Time Firmware for Robotic Lathe● Analyzed requirements for control of a robotic shot-peen lathe.● Designed PIC-based controller, PCB and real-time PID control firmware.● Implemented PCB and Python-based production test interface.● Ported µC/OS RTOS to bare metal PIC CPU for precise timing and preemptive, multi-process operation.● Implemented real-time Ethernet stack using embedded MAC controller.● Implemented real-time touch-screen graphical user interface (GUI) on built-in control panel.● Debugged calibrated mass-flow in lb/min for advanced manufacturing applications.

Automated Test System for Multi-Channel RFID Reader● Analyzed requirements for production-testing of 900 MHz ISM-Band RFID receivers.● Designed a PC-based automated RF test system using Robot Framework and Python to execute doc files containing test procedures and parameters.● Implemented automated test procedures, reducing test time by 2/3.● Created network interface routines in Python for spectrum analyzer, signal generator and radio data.● Debugged network stack and traffic with WireShark.● Generated test suites for multi-channel digital receiver, embedded Linux/DSP controller and general purpose I/O units.● Produced automated HTML and text-based production reports.

Real-Time Controller with GUI for Advanced Obstruction Lighting● Analyzed requirements for a real-time controller of advanced obstruction lighting.● Designed a real-time controller with Lux meter and GPS receiver for day/night obstruction light timing, status and control.● Implemented PIC CPU, menu-based OLED interface, GPS receiver, light sensor, 120V photo-controller interface.● Implemented I2C, SPI, 120 VAC power controls, AC current sensing, redundant RS-485 links, 2.4 GHz wireless IoT mesh network.● Implemented POTS & cellular modem interface, alarm contact I/O.● Created and debugged real-time C firmware for lighting status and control. AC and DC Power Systems for High Efficiency Obstruction Lighting● Analyzed requirements for power-factor corrected, high-efficiency AC and DC power supplies for LED obstruction lighting.● Designed circuits and systems for DC and line-powered LED airfield lighting.● Implemented advanced command and control of mode and brightness via a 2.4GHz wireless IoT mesh network.GPS Controller for Automated Obstruction Lighting● Analyzed requirements for a real-time embedded computer for automated control of obstruction warning lights.● Designed real-time controller with PIC CPU, GPS receiver, UART ports, I/O interface, real-time clock, A/D converter.● Implemented timers, temperature and humidity sensors, PIC microcontroller on 2” diameter PCB for coordinated LED obstruction lamp operation.● Implemented real-time embedded control system with RS-485 interface in PIC assembly language for LED beacon operation.● Implemented SPI/I2C drivers with µ-Law optical sensor decompression and Lux level calculation.● Implemented beacon alignment using MEMS tilt sensor with LED readout.● Debugged failure detection, beacon flash rates and durations, error logging and reporting.

CircumSolar Power Station for Energy Storage and Recovery● Analyzed requirements for a portable solar-powered energy storage system with continuous AC power output.● Designed system with deployable solar panels, sun-tracking mount, lead-acid batteries, battery charge-controller, AC inverter.● Implemented motorized actuators, real-time controller, backup generator on a small trailer for mobile power applications.● Implemented µC/OS real-time, multi-tasking wireless, C-Language control system with MODBUS driver.● Debugged HTML control panel using embedded web server and mobile phone.

Real-Time Embedded Systems for Goldstone Solar System RadarReal-Time Data Acquisition System● Designed and implemented a hard real-time CW and Ranging planetary radar recorder / signal processor for the Goldstone Solar System Radar.● Debugged complex mixers, PN generators, A/Ds and signal processing at the Goldstone Deep Space Tracking Station.Ephemeris-Tracking Chirp Exciter● Analyzed requirements for an ephemeris-tracking signal generator for the Goldstone Solar System Planetary Radar.● Designed a system with dual, direct digital synthesis (DDS) ICs and high-speed FPGA controls to generate a chirp modulation signal drifting in frequency and locked in phase to the motion of celestial objects.● Converted C code polynomial evaluator to high-speed FPGA hardware with 100x original performance. ● Implemented real-time kernel (µC/OS), HTML access to modulation presets and configuration options.● Provided Tx and Rx control signals for high-power, 500 kW X-Band transmitter/receiver.Laser-Based Optical Satellite Communications● Analyzed requirements for bit-error-rate (BER) measurements of free-space ground-to-orbit optical communication channel.● Implemented modulation of high-power laser with telemetry for satellite experiment. Provided 1.2 Mb/sec telemetry stream for BER measurements.● Recovered and recorded spacecraft infrared telemetry downlink.● Analyzed data and generated BER for free-space laser comm.Flight Hardware and Software Debug for Galileo Spacecraft (1984)● Analyzed schematics and digital circuits for spacecraft Galileo flight hardware and firmware.● Generated timing diagrams and function flows for fault-tolerant Command Data Subsystem.● Redesigned circuits, ran test programs, implemented hardware and firmware changes to correct spacecraft design.● Debugged redundant spacecraft computers, resolved hardware-software conflicts.● Tested flight hardware/software changes to correct design errors and effect proper spacecraft operation.

Falls Church, Va, Us

Real-Time Embedded Computers for B2 Flight Test● Analyzed requirements for B2 Bomber real-time telemetry processing.● Designed RTOS systems for Flight Test using multiple single board computers.● Implemented VME based systems with in-house and off-the-shelf hardware.● Implemented high-speed, real-time, multi-tasking firmware and device drivers in C language.Real-Time Telemetry Processing System● Extracted programmable, multi-format data words from PCM telemetry stream.● Performed calculations and output data in real-time to chart recorders and LED indicators for B2 control room displays.Real-Time Tape Storage System● Split high-speed PCM telemetry streams into lower speed components for digital tape storage.● Combined low speed PCM telemetry streams to recreate original high-speed stream for data playback.PCM Data Acquisition System● Acquired telemetry data frames in real-time for B2 Ground Support Unit (GSU).● Provided data streams to workstation for verification of B2 mission parameters.Flight Test Pilot Display● Analyzed real-time operation of vector graphic display for B2 test flights.● Debugged vector graphics and provided enhanced display for pilots during initial B2 flight tests.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Us

Infrared Image Processing● Analyzed requirements for infrared sensor image compensation system.● Designed real-time hardware and software to compensate video image from infrared detector array.● Implemented real-time two-point image compensation under computer control.● Generated pixel-by-pixel compensation values stored in high-speed memory.● Linearized pixel outputs using compensation values as terms in hardware multipliers and adders.

Glendale, California, Us

Real-Time Embedded Firmware American Adventure Pavilion● Analyzed requirements for real-time control firmware for ‘The American Adventure’ pavilion, EPCOT Center Florida.● Designed application code in C-language for a seven computer, distributed processing stage control system.● Implemented electronics and hydraulic controls for 18 vertical stages and two horizontal carriages.● Provided software interfaces, parallel and serial communications, command handling and touch screen layouts.● Debugged industrial controls, calibrated motor drives, implemented position sensing for remote controlled show equipment.