Born:

5th August 1955, Farnborough, Hants, England.

Status:

Married, no children.

UK Citizen UK Passport Full, Clean UK Driving License UK Private Pilot's Licence (Cert of Exp Lapsed)

Schools:

Millfield/Farnborough Tech/Davis's 7 O levels 4 A levels

Degree:

University of Cambridge (1974-1977), upper second class honours. Engineering Tripos Part I (Electrical Option) Computer Science Tripos Part II

Languages:

French to O level Norwegian (rather rusty now) Linguaphone Course

Employment History:

1997->

Tanglewood Algorithms Limited

1983-1996 Questech Ltd

1981-1983 Cardkey Systems

1979-1981 John Bell Technical Services

1977-1979 Arbat Systems Ltd

1976 (Long Vac) Technitron Ltd

1975 (Long Vac) MSDS Frimley

1974 (Year before univ. ) MSDS Frimley

1973 (Long Vac) CI Data Centre

Recent Work:

I left Questech Ltd after 12 years, finishing as head of software, and formed my own company, Tanglewood Algorithms Ltd. I have been doing contract programming and system building through this company for the past two years.

During my 12 years at Questech I was involved in the development of a number of products for the broadcast television industry. I have also been responsible for the development of the in-house computer simulation facility, which has enabled us to predict the behaviour of proposed products with a high degree of accuracy. This facility has enabled us to control development costs and lead times sufficiently well to be able to compete successfully in markets otherwise dominated by major multinational companies.

Ihave also designed and helped to develop a real-time multitasking kernel for in-house use. This is now incorporated in several products. It provides both co-operative and pre-emptive task switching, intertask messaging, memory sharing, and queue management. It also provides a disk filing system, and networking facilities.

The following is a representative sample of the products which I have helped to create, minor products omitted.

6101 Effects Framestore. This is a simple zoom machine for broadcast use. I designed the software and wrote about half of it.

Charisma ® DVE. This has become an industry-standard high quality DVE in the ten years since its launch. I was involved in the design of this machine from the beginning, working closely with the hardware engineers on the structure of the frame stores and interpolators, which are now covered by patents in most major countries. I performed the original computer simulations of the machine, wrote the hardware and software specifications, and supervised the writing of the software. This machine, and its successors, has become the primary revenue earning product of the company, and over 400 systems are now installed in television studios and facilities houses worldwide.

SSVR ®. (Solid State Video Recorder) This was the world's first commercially available video RAM recorder. I invented the basic structure of this machine, worked closely with the hardware engineers during its development, and wrote most of the original software for it. It is a very versatile product, and is used for a number of applications including editing, layering and removing satellite delays. The SSVR was used during the build up to the Gulf War to correct the delays during the three-way link at Christmas, and was mentioned by General Sir Peter de la Billière in his book "Storm Command" (P171) "Brilliant television engineering linked my Gulf forces live to services in Germany and the United Kingdom, and the result (which I later saw and heard on a video recording) was exceptionally moving."

DTV This product is a card set which is installed in a PC. It is a TBC, Mixer and optional DVE, controlled by panels which are facsimiles of normal hardware mixer and DVE panels displayed as windows under the MS Windows system. This product was originally developed by a subsidiary company, but when the project was seen to be overrunning badly I was called in to review the hardware design and oversee a complete software redesign. This product was launched after a high-pressure development exercise which involved my working through several months of weekends to write the control panel software.

CLEO® Curvi-Linear effects option. This is an upgrade to the basic Charisma DVE, which allows it to create curved surface effects. It performs in real time, creating the shapes and performing hidden surface removal in response to operator joystick movements. The unique properties of CLEO, which have made it a market leader, are its true three-dimensional geometry and immediate response to operator inputs, patented features which competitors have unsuccessfully attempted to copy. I invented the basic structure of CLEO, and worked closely with the hardware engineers on its detailed implementation. I performed computer simulation of the effects, wrote the bulk of the software and supervised the writing of the rest.

Shape Maker® (previously known as CLEO level four). This is a software package which runs on a Commodore Amiga computer. It is used by television graphics specialists to create three-dimensional shapes for the CLEO system. The unique feature of this package is that it not only defines solid objects, but the movements which parts of the objects can make, and the bindings of those movements to the axes of the operator joystick. Using this system a skilled operator can create the effects which are now commonly seen on, for example "Top of the Pops" and "Live and Kicking". I designed and wrote the whole package.

Charisma X® This is the current version of Charisma. It is a substantial redesign of the original system incorporating ten bit data paths in place of the original eight bit and a revised interpolator design. It is however completely compatible with the earlier system. I performed simulations of this product and some software design. Most of this product was based on my earlier work.

Wrap option. This is a simpler version of the CLEO system which offers a small range of fixed effects at a much lower cost, for the Charisma X system only. I performed the computer simulation of this product and wrote some of the software,

Publications: Television & Video Production -- April 1987 Digit (Guild of Vision Mixers' Journal) -- May 1987 International Broadcast Engineer -- May 1987 & Sept 1990 Electronics Weekly -- Jan 25 1989 Paper on SSVR in Proc IBC 1988

Patents: (Minor applications omitted, long titles abbreviated)

1986 September * Solid Object Combiner

1986 September * Edge Generator

1986 September * Store & Interpolator

1986 September * Multifreeze

1986 December *+ Improvements... editing of television pictures (SSVR)

1987 June *+ Improvements... editing of television pictures (SSVR)

1990 January *+ Improvements... digital video effects (CLEO)

1990 April Data Processing System

1992 March Sampling & Filtering of Digital Signals

1993 February Improvements in and relating to digital filters

1993 April Improvements in high speed sorting

1993 June Graphical Straight Line Processing

1993 June Accurate Digital Divider

* Also filed in USA + Sole inventor

Particular Skills:

Iam particularly skilled in "bare metal" programming, where a close relationship with the hardware, and the hardware engineers, is required. Having designed one of the processor boards in Charisma, and then written the code for it, and also assisted in the design of many other boards, I have a unique insight into the interactions of code and hardware. I am, however competent in or familiar with many other disciplines.

+ Linux

I have been using this operating system for about two years, and have gone deeply into the internals. I have written programs for both the command line environment, and X-windows. I have also made two small contributions to Linux itself.

+ C language I have been writing C for about 10 years, and have produced in excess of 100,000 lines of code, the bulk of which is now in use, either in house, or in TV installations around the world, much of it in "mission critical" applications, such as on-air use in television broadcasting.

+ Assembler I have written assembler for the 68000 family, transputers, Z80, many other processors. This includes both "bare metal" coding of device drivers, and assembler translation of mathematical algorithms for speed.

+ PDP-11 This machine is sadly now only of historical interest, but I include it in order to demonstrate the length of time for which I have been writing assembler (almost 25 years).

+ VAX/VMS I have used this family of machines for about 14 years, and have programmed extensively in C and a little assembler. I have also been system manager on a MicroVAX for about seven years.

+ UNIX I have a working familiarity with the Sun and HP workstation implementations, including networking and X-Windows. I am also very familiar with Linux.

+ OS/2 I pioneered in-house use of OS/2, and have set up a network using Warp Connect. I have also used the internet connection software, and have written PM applications.

+ Microsoft I have written both MS-DOS and MS-Windows applications.

+ OS/9 I have attended the basic, advanced and networking courses. These were in preparation for use of OS/9 on a project which was postponed.

+ TCP/IP I am familiar with the internals of several of the protocols, and also with obtaining and interpreting the RFCs for the parts with which I am not familiar. I have written code to implement parts of the protocol suite which were missing from one particular implementation. I have used the UNIX, HP, IBM OS/2, Winsock and CMU-IP implementations, and have configured most of them.

+ HTML I have, for my own interest, learned the basics of HTML and used it to create my own website at http://www.tnglwood.demon.co.uk.

+ Television I am familiar with composite, component, parallel digital, and serial digital television signals and have looked into the JPEG and MPEG standards. I have also designed (in conjunction with the hardware engineers) digital filters, interpolators, and special effects processors for television signals.

+ Documentation I have written extensive technical specification documents for a variety of projects. In particular I have learned to adapt the style of documentation to the particular needs of the project and the requirements of the intended audience. I have also written user manuals and promotional articles.

+ Management I have supervised programming teams of up to five on projects of varying duration.

+ Interviewing I have conducted many interviews for technical positions, and developed methods for recording and comparing candidates' performances.

+ Sales I have provided technical support to the marketing department, conducted customer negotiations, and personally obtained two orders.

+ Procurement I have been responsible for the specification and selection of capital equipment and consumables for my section of the department.

+ Safety I have taken several first aid and fire safety courses, although I have no current qualifications.

Interests: Christian fellowship, cookery, creative writing, driving a pony and trap, DIY, photography, and exploring the internet.