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George Frye: Difference between revisions
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|Countries=USA; | |Countries=USA; | ||
|Affiliations=University of Kansas;Tektronix;Frye Electronics | |Affiliations=University of Kansas;Tektronix;Frye Electronics | ||
}} | }} co-invented the [[random sampling]] technique. | ||
George Frye grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and attended Rockhurst High School in Kansas City. | George Frye grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and attended Rockhurst High School in Kansas City. | ||
After that, he attended Rockhurst College as a physics major. | After that, he attended Rockhurst College as a physics major. | ||
He transferred to the University of Kansas and studied electrical engineering. | He transferred to the University of Kansas and studied electrical engineering. | ||
As an undergrad project, he built a [ | As an undergrad project, he built a [[wikipedia:Carrier_current|carrier current]] system for the campus. | ||
During these early years, George was active on ham radio (W0EZU) and eventually worked all continents. | During these early years, George was active on ham radio (W0EZU) and eventually worked all continents. | ||
During undergrad, Frye worked at Wilcox Electric, initially in shipping, | During undergrad, Frye worked at Wilcox Electric, initially in shipping, | ||
later on the assembly line, soldering, and later helping debug 10 kW shortwave | later on the assembly line, soldering, and later helping debug 10 kW shortwave transmitters. | ||
transmitters. | |||
As a grad student, also at the University of Kansas, | As a grad student, also at the University of Kansas, under Professor Norris Nahman, | ||
under Professor Norris Nahman, | |||
he developed the [[random sampling]] technique under a grant from the US National Security Agency. | he developed the [[random sampling]] technique under a grant from the US National Security Agency. | ||
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Their group was in a building on Barnes road. Later, they moved to the second floor of [[Building 50]] on the Tektronix Campus. | Their group was in a building on Barnes road. Later, they moved to the second floor of [[Building 50]] on the Tektronix Campus. | ||
George's first assignment at Tek was to build a high speed | George's first assignment at Tek was to build a high speed (around 100 MHz) square wave waveform generator for internal purposes. | ||
(around 100 MHz) square wave waveform generator for internal purposes. | |||
It didn't go into production. | It didn't go into production. | ||
After Norm Winningstad left Tektronix in the mid-1960s, | After Norm Winningstad left Tektronix in the mid-1960s, George Frye's manager was [[Al Zimmerman]]. | ||
George Frye's manager was [[Al Zimmerman]]. | |||
Frye is listed as "Project Engineer, Electrical" on the [[4S2A]] sampling plug-in for the [[661]]. | Frye is listed as "Project Engineer, Electrical" on the [[4S2A]] sampling plug-in for the [[661]]. | ||
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He decided to leverage the very short turn-off time of Tek's Schottky diodes. | He decided to leverage the very short turn-off time of Tek's Schottky diodes. | ||
This led to the invention of the traveling wave sampling gate, [[Patent US 3629731A|US patent number 3629731]]. | This led to the invention of the traveling wave sampling gate, [[Patent US 3629731A|US patent number 3629731]]. | ||
In this new sampling gate design, | In this new sampling gate design, the aperture time is not a function of the length of the sampling strobe pulse. | ||
the aperture time is not a function of the length of the sampling strobe pulse. | |||
Only the falling edge matters. Another way of viewing this is that conventional sampling heads depended on the | Only the falling edge matters. Another way of viewing this is that conventional sampling heads depended on the | ||
sampling pulse having a high second derivative, whereas the new design only required a high first derivative. | sampling pulse having a high second derivative, whereas the new design only required a high first derivative. | ||
This led to a significantly faster sampling head. | This led to a significantly faster sampling head. | ||
The first product using this new sampling gate design was the [[S-4]], | The first product using this new sampling gate design was the [[S-4]], which has a rise time of 25 picoseconds. | ||
which has a rise time of 25 picoseconds. | |||
===After Tektronix=== | |||
George Frye left Tektronix in 1972. | |||
In 1973, he incorporated ''Frye Electronics'' to produce audiological test equipment <ref>George Frye: ''[https://www.electronicdesign.com/displays/george-frye-family-need-leads-better-hearing-aid-and-new-industry Family Need Leads To A Better Hearing Aid And A New Industry]''. Electronic Design, Nov 2008</ref><ref>[https://www.frye.com/wp/history/ Frye Electronics: History]</ref>. | |||
Frye Electronics produces instruments for measuring the performance of hearing aids. | Frye Electronics produces instruments for measuring the performance of hearing aids. | ||
As of May 2023, George is still actively involved with Frye Electronics. | As of May 2023, George is still actively involved with Frye Electronics. | ||
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{{Designer|George Frye}} | {{Designer|George Frye}} | ||
* Project Engineer on [[4S2A]] (1966; see [http://w140.com/tek_4s2a_eng_spec.pdf Tektronix 4S2A Engineering Specification]) | |||
* Designed [[S-4|S-4 Sampling Head]] (1968) | |||
{{Patents|George Frye}} | {{Patents|George Frye}} | ||