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EE Web

PULSE

EE Web.com

Issue 30

January 24, 2012

Jean J. Labrosse

Micriμm

Electrical Engineering Community

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

4

Jean J. Labrosse

MICRI μ M

Interview with Jean Labrosse- Founder, CEO, and President

13

Introduction to Real-Time Kernels

BY JEAN LABROSSE

Learn about the internals of real-time kernels using a commercial-grade kernel.

17

Featured Products

18

How Does Synthesis Work?

BY RAY SALEMI

An introduction to the basics of synthesis.

23

A System Perspective on Specifying

Electronic Power Supplies: Source

Characterization

BY BOB STOWE WITH TRUE POWER RESEARCH

Important source characteristics for power supply specification.

27

RTZ - Return to Zero Comic

3

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INTERVIEW

J ean J.

L abrosse

Micriμm

connected to light #2, #10, #18,

#26, et cetera. The outputs would

be turned on in sequence giving

the illusion that light was actually

moving and thus ‘chasing’ around.

This got me interested in figuring out

how strobes and chasers worked.

Back then, there was no Internet

and to find information I had to go to

the library or my local Radio Shack,

which was some 10 miles from

home. I started with figuring out how

to do a strobe light and eventually

got into digital electronics to come

up with a chaser.

Jean J. Labrosse - Founder, CEO, and President

In 1980, I started a company called

M ė phistronique with a friend of

mine (Mr. Marcel Larivi ė re) to

create disco lighting systems

(discos were quite popular back

then). We sold strobe lights, color

organs (lights controlled by music)

and our first chaser. I started with

a 4-channel chaser using a couple

of JK flip-flops and I was able to

actually do neat things with switches

and logic gates. For one thing, we

could change the chase sequence.

How did you get into

electronics/engineering and

when did you start?

I was born in Montreal, Canada and

I got into electronics when I was

about 15 (1972). I was invited by

friends to go to a concert and they

had a really cool light show with

strobe lights and light chasers. A

chaser is an electronic device that

controls a series of lights. Each

light is individually controlled. An

8-channel chaser would have 8

individual outputs. Output #1 would

be connected to light #1, #9, #17,

#25, et cetera. Output #2 would be

4

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INTERVIEW

Specifically, we were able to easily

change the chase direction and

the pattern of the chasing light.

The patterns we had were 1-2-3-

4, 1-3-2-4, 4-3-2-1 and 4-2-3-1. The

rate of chasing was controlled by

a ubiquitous 555 timer. Once we

had our first prototype, we went to

a local theatrical lighting store and

offered to build these for $200 each,

our cost was about $100. The store

immediately ordered 10 and we

were quite surprised by this initial

order. We actually delivered the

units a couple of weeks later and

the store asked for a more complex

device. So, my partner and I set out

to design an 8-channel chaser. At the

time, I was investigating the use of

EPROMs to generate the patterns,

and in fact, I believe I was the first

to come up with a chaser using this

technology. I designed quite a few

models of chasers and the business

was doing relatively well.

languages, data structures and

algorithms. When I graduated,

I was offered the opportunity to

work for a medical electronics

company in Princeton, NJ, so I sold

my shares of Mephistronique to my

partner. The company was called

Biostim and they manufactured

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve

Stimulator (T.E.N.S.) devices.

These devices were used as

electronic pain killers. I designed

the very first microprocessor-based

T.E.N.S. units on the market using

an Intel 8049 and another unit

using a more powerful MC68711

microcontroller unit (MCU). These

were battery operated devices and

the microprocessors offered us a lot

of flexibility when it came to the user

interface and the type of patterns we

could generate out of this device.

I worked for Biostim for two years,

and after one year I was promoted

to head of engineering and had

seven people working for me.

and a colleague was handling the

control algorithms. One of the first

things I put in place was a coding

standard so that we could have

one programming style for all

the software we’d create for this

product. We also decided to use a

real-time kernel to help us with the

architecture of the system. The real-

time kernel made designing the

system a lot easier, and I was then

convinced that I would no longer

want to design products without

one. I worked for Allied Signal for

four years and then was offered a

job in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to

design much larger engine control

systems. At Allied our controls were

supervisory, which meant that they

basically provided setpoints to other

devices that controlled actuators

and the like. Dynalco wanted to

create full authority controls and

were thus much more complex and

demanding systems. And that was a

direction I was interested in going.

Can you tell us about your

work history/journey to

becoming the Founder, CEO

and President of Micriµm?

During my undergraduate studies

(around 1980), I got interested in

microprocessors and programming.

Microprocessors were quite new,

and at the time there were only

two choices: either you used a Z80

from Zilog or a 6800 from Motorola.

I actually played with both and

each one had its strong points and

weaknesses. I immediately fell in

love with this field even though the

tools were quite crude at the time.

I simply could not have enough

classes on microprocessors, so

I decided to pursue a master’s

degree and take computer

science classes such as high-level

I left Biostim to pursue a dream to

work in California and found a job

with Allied Signal in San Diego

designing engine controls for

large reciprocating engines. These

engines were the size of a single-

car garage and contained between

six and 16 cylinders. The engines

are used to pump natural gas that

is extracted from the Gulf of Mexico

and moved up north to supply gas

to heat homes. Each engine station

could have between one and 10 or so

engines. Obviously a very different

application than when I worked

at Biostim so I had to learn quite a

lot about this industry. I worked on

the hardware and software design

of a MC68000-based (32-bit CPU)

engine control. I was responsible

for the infrastructure software

At Dynalco, I was put in charge of

software engineering, and being

an electrical engineer, I influenced

most of the hardware designs. I

was at Dynalco for a total of about

13 years. I designed many products

and wrote most of the user manuals

for those products. Here is a list of

some of my designs:

• A few models of ignition

control systems. Some of these

controlled one or two spark

plugs per cylinder. I designed

a way to accurately control the

firing of spark plugs with 1/16

of a degree irrespective of

accelerations or decelerations.

• Fuel-injection control system.

• Dual-processor ‘total engine

control’ system where we

5

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