Barrie Gilbert

Barrie Gilbert

C. Howard Vollum, 1959

Barrie Gilbert (b. 5 June 1937 in Bournemouth, England – d. 30 January 2020 in Beaverton, OR) (→ WikiData) was an analog design engineer well known for his invention of numerous analog circuit concepts, including the Gilbert Cell, and the discovery of the Translinear Principle.

During the 1950s he pursued an interest in solid-state devices while at Mullard, working on the development of early transistors, and later, the first-generation planar ICs. After some pioneering development of sampling oscillography he emigrated to the United States in 1964 to pursue this interest at Tektronix, Beaverton, Oregon, where he developed the first electronic readout system and other advances in instrumentation.

He returned to England in 1970, where he was Group Leader at Plessey Research Laboratories, managing a team developing a holographic memory, OCR systems and integrated circuits (ICs) for communications applications. From 1972-1977 he consulted for Analog Devices Inc., Beaverton, OR, designing several ICs embodying novel nonlinear concepts.

He returned to the USA and Tektronix in 1977 to pursue HF ICs and process development. In 1979 Analog Devices allowed Gilbert to create the first remote design center for the Company, in Oregon, to persuade him to rejoin the company as their first Fellow.

Key Publications

• A precise four-quadrant multiplier with subnanosecond response, IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits, December 1968, p.365
• Monolithic Analog READ-ONLY Memory for Character Generation, IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, 1971.

Tektronix Products

• designed in-CRT readout system for 7000 series scopes and custom ICs for it:
  • 155-0014-01 Analog to Decimal Converter
  • 155-0015-01 Analog Data Switch
  • 155-0017-00 Zero Logic Counter
  • 155-0018-00 Zeros Logic
  • 155-0019-00 Decimal Point and Spacing
  • 155-0020-00 Output Assembler
  • 155-0021-00 Timing Generator
  • 155-0023-00 R-1 Character generator (Numerals 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9)
  • 155-0024-00 R-2 Character generator (Special Symbols ↓ < I / + - + C Δ >)
  • 155-0025-00 R-4 Character generator (Prefixes m μ n p X K M G T R)
  • 155-0026-00 R-5 Character generator (Letters S V A W H d B c Ω E)
  • 155-0027-00 R-6 Character generator (Special Alpha U N L Z Y P F J Q D)
  • 155-0038-01 D/A converter

{{Designer|Barrie Gilbert||

Links

• Barrie Gilbert @ Wikipedia
• Gilbert 2013 OSU lecture: The Penny Analog Computer (Youtube)
• 2011 interview
• The Gears of Genius. IEEE Solid State Circuits Society News, Fall 2007
• IEEE author profile - B.Gilbert
• Obituary @ microwavejournal.com
• Barrie Gilbert Memorial Service @ YouTube

Photos

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  Barrie Gilbert with John Addis