Voices: Pentek’s Rodger Hosking: next-generation-radio architect

Rodger Hosking is vice president and co-founder of Pentek Inc, where he is responsible for new-product definition, technology development, and strategic alliances. With more than 30 years’ experience in the electronics industry, he has authored hundreds of articles about software radio and digital-signal processing. He designed the first commercial direct-digital-frequency synthesizer and holds patents in frequency synthesis and FFT (fast-Fourier-transform)-spectrum-analysis techniques. Hosking has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Allegheny College (Meadville, PA) and both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Columbia University (New York).

What are the technical challenges that you face in high-performance-data-acquisition- and software-radio-product development?

Complexity of the silicon devices, coupled with high component density and power dissipation, pushes the limits of PCB [printed-circuit-board] design, mechanical packaging, and thermal-management technology. Gigabit serial links impose strict layout rules for matching lengths and impedances of differential-signal pairs. Testing and validation of new designs requires not only hardware expertise, but also a significant software effort because of the complexity and inaccessibility of hardware test points. Drivers and software libraries offered by the COTS [commercial-off-the-shelf] vendors to support customer-development efforts need to support multiple operating-system environments and require more testing, qualification, and documentation than ever before.

All of these factors lead to longer development cycles while the rate of new-technology-device introductions is increasing. This [combination of factors] leads to shorter life cycles for each product, even though development costs are higher.

As you look ahead for the next few years, which technologies and applications present the most interesting opportunities?

FPGAs have created a major shift in COTS-product offerings for data acquisition and software radio by offering critical functions, including fast and flexible I/O resources, DSP engines, configurable logic and RAM, gigabit serial interfaces, and built-in microcontrollers. All of these features will become more powerful in next-generation FPGAs. Monolithic ADC and DAC technology will continue to advance both resolution and sampling rates while taming power dissipation with new silicon techniques.

These trends will support small, complete, system-level solutions close to the antennas and sensors. They will include acquisition, generation, upconversion and downconversion, modulation and demodulation, analysis and detection, buffering and forwarding, and local supervisory and decision-making functions. High-speed gigabit links will connect these autonomous subsystems to a central facility through dedicated paths or over the Internet.

As a COTS-board manufacturer, how do you prevent the interoperability issues when designing for today’s rival fabric-interconnection standards?

The most successful tactic has been to follow the standards as closely as possible and declare each level of compliance your product supports. A series of simple example programs demonstrating operation of the basic messaging types can be extremely useful for interfacing with products from other vendors.

Which engineering talents are most important to Pentek, and how do you find and retain them?

Fifteen years ago, we had one software engineer for every three hardware engineers. That ratio is now exactly reversed due to the complexity of the products and the need to provide higher-level tools to our customers. Our most capable FPGA designers started as hardware engineers with a flair for algorithms, DSP, and software tools. More than ever, technical writers need to be capable engineers with specific expertise in the area of technology they are documenting but not so close to it that they overlook the need to explain some of the basics in our manuals. Customer-support engineers need a special blend of technical expertise, patience, and empathy to help customers become successful, even if it is their first exposure to this complex technology.

Retaining engineers is difficult because each one is uniquely qualified and motivated, but tasking them with several areas of engineering responsibilities often proves to be a successful strategy.

What motivated you to select electrical engineering and the high-tech industry as a profession?

As a very small child, I was always fascinated with anything that had to do with electricity. Later on, I became an avid electronics hobbyist, building hundreds of my own projects inspired by magazine articles and books. For me, a career in electronics was a no-brainer.

What activities do you pursue for relaxation outside your high-tech work environment?

Outside work, I spend my time running, rollerblading, ballroom dancing, watching old movies, and listening to music from the ’30s and ’40s.