DESIGN AUTOMATION
Education
Graduate Courses: Management of Research and Development, 1961; Solid-State Physics, 1954; and Theory of Solid State, 1955; Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
Lecture Series sponsored by local IEEE chapter: "Microwave Devices & Applications," 1975; "Applications of Coding and Modulation Techniques to Digital Communication," 1973; "Computer-Aided Electronic Engineering," 1968.
Professional Experience
Mr. Sokal founded DESIGN AUTOMATION, INC. in 1965 and has been President of the company since then. He supervised and contributed to many of the projects and products described in the company brochures. His work involved product design, design review, product evaluation, and problem-fixing for electronic equipment and systems for industrial, military, space, and consumer applications, both analog and digital, from dc to UHF, from microwatts to megawatts. Examples are given below.
Analog signal processing and high-precision instrumentation: a digitally-controlled analog radar signal cross-correlator; a speech signal processor comprising six precisely-adjustable low-noise feedback-type active filters; a microelectronic random-digit generator of high randomness and low autocorrelation, based on electrical random noise; high-speed wide-dynamic-range precision nonlinear function generators with high-current outputs, for linearizing the nonlinear control characteristics of PIN-diode RF attenuators; a radar video quantizer and digital signal storage and signal processor for a marine collision-avoidance system
Switching-mode power conversion and motor-speed control: design of high-efficiency switching-mode power amplifiers (up to 2.5 GHz), dc/dc converters (switching frequency up to 14 MHz), dc/ac inverters, and motor-speed controllers; development of new lossless-snubber technology for improving efficiency and reducing transistor stress in switching-mode power
converters and amplifiers; analysis of system instabilities caused by negative input impedance of switching-mode regulating or amplifying systems, and possible remedies
High-speed, high-current pulse drivers: development of high-speed high-current drivers to drive PIN-diode RF switches and computer clock buses
Digital signal integrity: modification and new design of printed circuit wiring, ground distribution, and line terminations to reduce ringing, overshoot, and undershoot in transmission of high-speed digital signals (particularly, heavily loaded clock busses) in computers and
digital-communication equipments
Analog monolithic and hybrid IC development: architecture design of a current-mode-control IC and a resonant-converter control IC, for use in switching-mode power supplies; circuit design of monolithic IC for use in electronic push-button switch; analyses of possible timing and logic traps for a LSI monolithic integrated circuit for control of the drive motor in an automatic camera; design of hybrid ICs for RF, IF, audio, and control circuits of radio-paging receiver
High-efficiency RF power generation: invention and development of Class E switching-mode high-efficiency RF power amplifier; same for high-efficiency high-linearity RF power amplifier (e.g., for use in Single-Side-Band transmitter)
RF technology: PIN-diode RF power switches; conventional-sized and microelectronic RF filters, power amplifiers, and receivers; system design and analysis for a time-division-multiplexed i-f amplifier system for a monopulse radar, considering high-speed switches, spectral analyses of sampled signals, switching noise and channel-to-channel crosstalk as functions of signal bandwidth, sampling rate, and non-idealities of the switches, amplifiers, and filters
EMI/RFI: equipment redesign to eliminate malfunctions caused by susceptibility to, and generation of, radiated and conducted electromagnetic interference
Video display equipment: development of high-speed video and deflection amplifiers for magnetic-deflection CRT displays and computer-output-to-microfilm equipment
Digital data-communication equipment: computer interfaces and digital data modems for data communication via RS-232, RS-422, RS-423, and coaxial-cable channels
Prediction of nuclear-radiation effects: computer simulation of numerous analog and digital circuits for prediction of response to transient radiation and of long-term performance degradation from total dose
Computer-aided design: development and application of techniques for efficient use of computer programs for analysis of electronic circuits and systems; development of semiconductor-device modeling methods for use in circuit simulation; computer simulation and analysis of many analog and digital circuits for pre-fabrication design, analysis, optimization, and evaluation of production-tolerance effects; development of Design Automation's HEPA, HB, and RESOCAD programs for very fast simulation of the steady-state periodic response and of the transient response to a change of any combination of circuit parameters, of a circuit driven by periodically operated switches, and circuit design, analysis, and optimization; consulting to clients' software-development projects on simulation-program specifications and evaluation of their program design
Technical assistance to attorneys: preparing drafts for patent applications, and dialogs with U. S. Patent Office examiners about patentability; analyses of clients' patents and opponents' equipment, clients' equipment and opponents' patents, and client's opponent's similar unpatented designs, to determine technical bases for allegations or defenses regarding patent infringement or copying of trade dress, including expert-witness testimony in court; assisting client in preparation of a claim against the U. S. Government for a contract change of scope based on allegations of inconsistencies among the contract requirements, deficiencies in the Government-furnished design, misrepresentations by the Government as to the adequacy of the design, and technical direction (and lack thereof) furnished by the Government during the contract effort; expert witness in lawsuits alleging defective design of automatic doors which closed and struck pedestrians who were passing through doorways
Teaching: seminars in computer-aided circuit analysis, device modeling for computer simulation, high-frequency power-converter design, switching-mode power-supply design, RF power amplifiers, and maintaining signal quality in high-speed digital systems
Automatic test equipment: devising and programming test methods for production-testing of Polaris and Poseidon analog and digital electronic assemblies on programmable general-purpose automatic test equipment
From 1964 to 1965, Mr. Sokal was Manager of Research and Development at Di/An Controls, Inc., Boston, MA, directing development projects on low-power miniature aerospace magnetic-core memories, high-speed general-purpose core memories, magnetic-core/transistor logic elements and stable oscillators, and a system design study for a satellite-borne digital data processor to insert latitude/longitude grids and auxiliary annotations onto weather pictures to be transmitted from the Automatic Picture Transmission system on NIMBUS weather satellites.
From 1959 to 1964, Mr. Sokal was with Sylvania Electronic Systems Division, Needham, MA. His first assignment was as a Section Head responsible for the design of several series of digital logic circuits for use in commercial digital flight simulators and in military computers and
digital communications systems, and a semiautomatic tester for performing functional, dynamic, and dc production tests on one of the series of digital modules, which were constructed in high-density cordwood potted modules. Three of the military developments went into large-scale production and demonstrated excellent performance in the field. In 1962, Mr. Sokal was
promoted to Department Manager in charge of advanced development of digital electronic techniques. He was responsible for planning and directing development projects in all-magnetic logic, magnetic thin-film memory, 400-MHz tunnel-diode logic, data electronics and servos for a high-performance militarized magnetic tape transport, and automated design of electronic
circuits. He also served as a consultant to Sylvania Semiconductor Division on logic functions and circuit design for integrated digital logic circuits. Sylvania's introduction of TTL integrated circuits to the market evolved from his recommendations at that time.
From 1956 to 1959, he was a Senior Engineer with Di/An Controls, Inc., and its predecessor, Mack Electronics Division. He was responsible for the development of an interferometer counter and readout system with formatted Flexowriter punched tape and typed output for rocket flight data reduction, and two different digital cross-correlated sonar signal detection systems using binary pseudo-random transmitted code streams. Each system cross-correlated the contents of two recirculating shift registers. One system used two 500-stage 2-MHz transistor-circuit shift registers; the other used 2048-bit coincident-current core memories operated in sequential-address mode. He designed major portions of other core memories and special-purpose magnetic computing and data-processing equipment. During his last year at Di/An Controls he was also Technical Sales Manager, responsible for customer technical contacts, application engineering, and preparation of product specifications and data sheets.
From 1951 to 1956, he was at the M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, MA; as a Staff Member from 1951 to 1954, and as an Air Force Lieutenant from 1954 to 1956. He designed an electronic facsimile system using a CRT flying-spot scanner, and the data modems to transmit and receive the facsimile signals via long-distance carrier telephone circuits. He designed the equipment and the tests for experimental evaluation of a new synchronization method for transmission of digital data over carrier-telephone circuits; the new method was shown to have greatly superior resistance to frequency shifts in a suppressed-carrier system, and to line noise. He performed a theoretical prediction and experimental confirmation of dynamic performance and error in a sampled-data azimuth position servo for a radar PPI indicator. He designed the following subsystems for a digital radar data processor later manufactured as the AN/FST-2: a video quantizer, a video-mapper attachment for a radar indicator, and clock and range-mark generators. He designed the memory test equipment and conducted experiments on an air-supported magnetic drum for high-density storage of digital data. He calculated the expected propagation loss for a VHF radio link, taking account of the antennae heights and the terrain contour along the propagation path.
From 1950 to 1951, Mr. Sokal was an Electronic Engineer with Holmes and Narver, Inc., Los Angeles, California, engaged in instrumentation, data recording, and data reduction for the 1951 series of atomic-weapons tests at Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands.
During his junior, senior, and graduate years at M.I.T., Mr. Sokal was a Cooperative Student Engineer at Philco Corporation, Philadelphia, PA. During four semesters at Philco he worked in the Research, Engineering, and Test Engineering Departments. He designed a low-noise 30-MHz IF amplifier for use in studies of low-noise microwave detectors, a Geiger counter, the control unit for the AN/APS-35 radar, and test equipment for power thyratrons, and he made acoustic and electrical tests of loudspeakers and cabinets, and of design changes to them.
Professional Organizations
Elected a Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, for his contributions to the technology of high-efficiency power conversion and RF-power amplification; he is a member of the IEEE professional groups on Power Electronics, Industrial Electronics, Industry Applications, and Microwave Theory and Techniques.
Member, The Electromagnetics Academy, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi honorary professional societies.
Participating Member, Design Automation Technical Committee and Simulation Technical Committee of IEEE Computer Society, and IEEE Technical Committee on Computers in Power Electronics
Technical Advisor on RF power amplifiers, radio transmitters, and dc power supplies since 1979 and Member since 1968, American Radio Relay League
Research Management Association; Board of Governors 1975 to 1980 (Chairman 1978-1980)
Reviewer of technical papers for publications and conferences: IEEE publications: J. Solid-State Circuits, Trans. Circuits and Systems, Trans. Electron Devices, Trans. Microwave Theory and Techniques, Microwave and Guided-Wave Letters, Microwave and Wireless Components Letters, Trans. Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Trans. Power Electronics, Trans. Industrial Electronics, Trans. Industry Applications, and Proceedings; IEEE conferences: Power Electronics Specialists Conference (Program Committee since 1987), International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (Program Committee, 1975), Applied Power Electronics Conference (Program Committee since 1986), and Design Automation Conference (Program Committee since 1985); Trans. South African Institute of Electrical Engineers, EPE [European Power Electronics] Journal and EPE Conference, International Power Electronics Conference [IEE of Japan], and IEE [Institution of Electrical Engineers, U.K.]: Proc. Circuits, Devices, & Systems.
External Reviewer for University of Hong Kong: Ph.D. theses and research-grant applications
Specialist Referee for Hong Kong Research Grants Council, evaluating proposals for research grants to be awarded by the Government of Hong Kong
Reviewer of proposals for research grants: National Science Foundation, and Rehabilitative Engineering Research and Development Service, Dept. of Medicine and Surgery, U.S. Veterans' Administration
www.boston-consult.org/member/resume/108_2.doc
Maria Gabriela Medina
C.I.16779553
CAF
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