Roger Melen

Last updated
Roger Melen, Ph.D.
Roger Melen co-founder Cromemco.jpg
Roger Melen
BornOctober 31, 1946 (1946-10-31)
DiedApril 23, 2024
EducationB.S.E.E. Chico State College M.S.E.E. Stanford University Ph.D. Stanford University
Occupation(s)Electrical Engineer, Entrepreneur
Known forCo-founder Cromemco
Call signWB6JXU

Roger Douglas Melen (1946--2024) [1] [2] was an electrical engineer recognized for his early contributions to the microcomputer industry, and for his technical innovations.

Contents

Dr. Melen was co-founder of Cromemco, one of the earliest microcomputer companies. At Cromemco he developed color graphics systems that were widely used in television broadcast, and in mission planning systems deployed by the United States Air Force. He also developed the first microcomputer systems widely distributed in China. In addition to his work in microcomputer systems and color graphics, Dr. Melen has made significant technical contributions to the development of CCD image sensors, ultrasonic imaging systems, implantable cochlear devices, image processing technology, and vehicular information systems.

He has been recognized as one of the most important inventors and innovators in the history of Silicon Valley. [3]

Early contributions

As a young man, Roger Melen enjoyed ham radio, operating an amateur radio station from his home in Chico, California under the call sign WB6JXU. He attended Chico State College where he received the BSEE degree in 1968. His first published invention, an audio filter he called the "Beatnote Basher," appeared in the amateur radio publication 73 Magazine in 1969. [4] Melen attended graduate school at Stanford University, and there he continued to design projects for the electronic hobbyist, collaborating with a fellow graduate student, Harry Garland, on a series of inventions published as construction projects in Popular Electronics magazine. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] He received the MSEE degree from Stanford in 1969, and the Ph.D. degree in 1973. [10] Dr. Melen was invited to join the research staff of the Stanford Integrated Circuits Laboratory in 1972, and was named Associate Director of the laboratory in 1974. Recognizing that charge-coupled device (CCD) technology had greater potential than MOS technology in delivering "full video quality imaging" for solid-state image sensors [11] he worked on the development of CCD image sensors for application to the Optacon reading machine for the blind. [12] He also applied CCD technology to medical ultrasonic imaging systems, [13] and worked on the development of an implantable cochlear device for the profoundly deaf. [14]

He also continued to write for Popular Electronics magazine, which resulted in a meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico that would change the course of his career. In 1974 he submitted a design for a digital camera, called the “Cyclops”, to Popular Electronics. While visiting the editorial office of Popular Electronics in New York to discuss the Cyclops, Melen saw a prototype of the MITS Altair Computer that was also being readied for publication. Recognizing the potential of interfacing the Cyclops digital camera to the Altair, Melen changed his return flight to California to go through Albuquerque to visit Ed Roberts, president of MITS. [15] Roberts was anxious to develop third-party support for the Altair, and encouraged Melen to interface the Cyclops digital camera to the Altair computer. [16] Roberts agreed to ship an Altair computer to Melen so that he could get to work on the interface. [17]

Cromemco

The MITS Altair Computer appeared on the cover of Popular Electronics in January 1975, and the Cyclops digital camera appeared on the front cover the following month. [18] Melen went to work on an interface to connect the Cyclops to the Altair. To market the Cyclops Camera, and its Altair interface, Melen formed a company with Harry Garland; they named the company “Cromemco” after “Crothers Memorial Hall”, the name of the Stanford dormitory where they both had lived as graduate students. [1] The MITS Altair was an immediate success, and this provided an opportunity for Cromemco to develop other products. [19]

The next product developed by Melen was a color graphics interface for the Altair, called the “Dazzler”. The Dazzler appeared on the front cover of the February 1976 issue of Popular Electronics. [20] Melen and his team developed a series of other products culminating in the introduction of complete computer systems based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor, and later the Motorola 68000 processor. These systems were used for graphics generation in U.S. television stations, [21] were widely deployed as Mission Planning Systems by the United States Air Force, [22] [23] and were the first microcomputer systems widely distributed in China. [24] Dr. Melen served as Vice President of R&D for Cromemco from its inception in 1975 to its sale to Dynatech Corporation in 1987. [22]

Further contributions

Dr. Melen served as Vice President of R&D for Canon Research Center of America from its inception in 1990 until 2001. [2] During this time he developed image processing technology for document imaging, [25] stereographic photography, [26] and radiographic imaging. [27] In 2001 Melen joined Toyota InfoTechnology Center, U.S.A. as Senior Advisor. [28] At Toyota he has focused on developing technology for vehicular information systems in support of vehicle safety and efficiency. [29] [30]

Recognition

Dr. Melen served as Editor of Charge-Coupled Devices: Technology and Applications published by the IEEE Press. [31] He is also co-author of two other technical books: Understanding IC Operational Amplifiers, [32] and Understanding CMOS Integrated Circuits. [33] His role as a pioneer in the microcomputer industry has been recognized in numerous books, [1] [3] [16] [17] and by his appearance in the 1996 PBS documentary, The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires. [34] Dr. Melen has been awarded 70 patents by the U.S. Patent Office. [35]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorola 6800</span> 8-bit microprocessor

The 6800 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and first manufactured by Motorola in 1974. The MC6800 microprocessor was part of the M6800 Microcomputer System that also included serial and parallel interface ICs, RAM, ROM and other support chips. A significant design feature was that the M6800 family of ICs required only a single five-volt power supply at a time when most other microprocessors required three voltages. The M6800 Microcomputer System was announced in March 1974 and was in full production by the end of that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microcomputer</span> Small computer with a CPU made out of a microprocessor

A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of a microprocessor. The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers, were comparatively much larger and more expensive. Many microcomputers are also personal computers. An early use of the term "personal computer" in 1962 predates microprocessor-based designs. (See "Personal Computer: Computers at Companies" reference below). A "microcomputer" used as an embedded control system may have no human-readable input and output devices. "Personal computer" may be used generically or may denote an IBM PC compatible machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Li-Chen Wang</span> American computer programmer (born 1935)

Li-Chen Wang is an American computer engineer, best known for his Palo Alto Tiny BASIC for Intel 8080-based microcomputers. He was a member of the Homebrew Computer Club and made significant contributions to the software for early microcomputer systems from Tandy Corporation and Cromemco. He made early use of the word copyleft, in Palo Alto Tiny BASIC's distribution notice "@COPYLEFT ALL WRONGS RESERVED" in June 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homebrew Computer Club</span> Computer hobbyist users group in California

The Homebrew Computer Club was an early computer hobbyist group in Menlo Park, California, which met from March 1975 to December 1986. The club had an influential role in the development of the microcomputer revolution and the rise of that aspect of the Silicon Valley information technology industrial complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altair 8800</span> Microcomputer designed in 1974

The Altair 8800 is a microcomputer designed in 1974 by MITS and based on the Intel 8080 CPU. Interest grew quickly after it was featured on the cover of the January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics and was sold by mail order through advertisements there, in Radio-Electronics, and in other hobbyist magazines. According to Harry Garland, the Altair 8800 was the product that catalyzed the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. It was the first commercially successful personal computer. The computer bus designed for the Altair was to become a de facto standard in the form of the S-100 bus, and the first programming language for the machine was Microsoft's founding product, Altair BASIC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S-100 bus</span> Early computer bus

The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE 696-1983(inactive-withdrawn), is an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800. The S-100 bus was the first industry standard expansion bus for the microcomputer industry. S-100 computers, consisting of processor and peripheral cards, were produced by a number of manufacturers. The S-100 bus formed the basis for homebrew computers whose builders implemented drivers for CP/M and MP/M. These S-100 microcomputers ran the gamut from hobbyist toy to small business workstation and were common in early home computers until the advent of the IBM PC.

<i>Popular Electronics</i> American magazine (1954–1982, 1989–1999, in print)

Popular Electronics was an American magazine published by John August Media, LLC, and hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com. The magazine was started by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company in October 1954 for electronics hobbyists and experimenters. It soon became the "World's Largest-Selling Electronics Magazine". In April 1957, Ziff-Davis reported an average net paid circulation of 240,151 copies. Popular Electronics was published until October 1982 when, in November 1982, Ziff-Davis launched a successor magazine, Computers & Electronics. During its last year of publication by Ziff-Davis, Popular Electronics reported an average monthly circulation of 409,344 copies. The title was sold to Gernsback Publications, and their Hands-On Electronics magazine was renamed to Popular Electronics in February 1989, and published until December 1999. The Popular Electronics trademark was then acquired by John August Media, who revived the magazine, the digital edition of which is hosted at TechnicaCuriosa.com, along with sister titles, Mechanix Illustrated and Popular Astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Sasson</span> American electrical engineer and inventor of the portable digital camera

Steven J. Sasson is an American electrical engineer and the inventor of the self-contained (portable) digital camera. He joined Kodak shortly after his graduation from engineering school and retired from Kodak in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the camera</span>

The history of the camera began even before the introduction of photography. Cameras evolved from the camera obscura through many generations of photographic technology – daguerreotypes, calotypes, dry plates, film – to the modern day with digital cameras and camera phones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital photography</span> Photography with a digital camera

Digital photography uses cameras containing arrays of electronic photodetectors interfaced to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to produce images focused by a lens, as opposed to an exposure on photographic film. The digitized image is stored as a computer file ready for further digital processing, viewing, electronic publishing, or digital printing. It is a form of digital imaging based on gathering visible light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Image sensor</span> Device that converts images into electronic signals

An image sensor or imager is a sensor that detects and conveys information used to form an image. It does so by converting the variable attenuation of light waves into signals, small bursts of current that convey the information. The waves can be light or other electromagnetic radiation. Image sensors are used in electronic imaging devices of both analog and digital types, which include digital cameras, camera modules, camera phones, optical mouse devices, medical imaging equipment, night vision equipment such as thermal imaging devices, radar, sonar, and others. As technology changes, electronic and digital imaging tends to replace chemical and analog imaging.

The following are common definitions related to the machine vision field.

Cromemco, Inc. was a Mountain View, California microcomputer company known for its high-end Z80-based S-100 bus computers and peripherals in the early days of the personal computer revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electronic line judge</span> Electronic device used in tennis

An electronic line judge is a device used in tennis to automatically detect where a ball has landed on the court. Attempts to revolutionize tennis officiating and the judging of calls in the sport began in the early 1970s and has resulted in the design, development and prototyping of several computerized, electronic line-judge devices. The methods have been based upon the use of pressure sensors, sensors to detect magnetized or electrically conductive tennis balls, infrared laser beams, and most recently video cameras.

ColorGraphics Weather Systems was a computer graphics company that pioneered the use of computer graphics for displaying weather forecasts on local television. Formed in 1979 by Terry Kelly and Richard Daly, it is now part of Weather Central, another of Kelly's companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromemco Dazzler</span>

The Cromemco Dazzler was a graphics card for S-100 bus computers introduced in a Popular Electronics cover story in 1976. It was the first color graphics card available for microcomputers. The Dazzler was the first of a succession of increasingly capable graphics products from Cromemco which, by 1984, were in use at 80% of all television stations in the U.S. for the display of weather, news, and sports graphics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Garland</span>

Harry T. Garland is a scientist, engineer, author, and entrepreneur who co-founded Cromemco Inc., one of the earliest and most successful microcomputer companies. He received the B.A. degree in mathematics from Kalamazoo College, and the Ph.D. degree in biophysics from Stanford University. Dr. Garland has been recognized as one of the most important innovators in the development of personal computers in Silicon Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromemco Cyclops</span> First all-digital solid-state camera

The Cromemco Cyclops, introduced in 1975 by Cromemco, was the first commercial all-digital camera using a digital metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) image sensor. It was also the first digital camera to be interfaced to a microcomputer. The digital sensor for the camera was a modified 1 kb dynamic RAM (DRAM) memory chip that offered a resolution of 32 × 32 pixels (0.001 megapixels).

Cromemco DOS or CDOS is a CP/M-like operating system by Cromemco designed to allow users of Cromemco microcomputer systems to create and manipulate disk files using symbolic names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cromemco Bytesaver</span>

The Bytesaver, introduced by Cromemco in 1976, was the first programmable memory board for the MITS Altair and S-100 bus microcomputer systems. The Bytesaver had sockets for 8 UV-erasable EPROMs providing up to 8 Kbytes of storage. The EPROMs could be programmed by the Bytesaver, or read as computer memory. In the history of microcomputer systems, the Bytesaver was the first viable alternative to the use of punched paper tape for storing programs, and has been called “a great advance in microcomputer technology”.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Levering, Robert; Katz, Michael; Moskowitz, Milton (1984). The Computer Entrepreneurs . New American Library. pp.  36–40. ISBN   0-453-00477-6.
  2. 1 2 "Roger Melen - Camera Phone Image Sensor Market 9.11.07" . Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  3. 1 2 Piscione, Deborah (2013). Secrets of Silicon Valley . Palgrave MacMillan. p.  80. ISBN   978-1-137-27917-0.
  4. ↑ Melen, Roger (February 1969). "The Beatnote Basher: a selective audio filter". 73 Magazine. 101: 12.
  5. ↑ Garland, Harry; Melen, Roger (1971). "Build the Fil-oscillator". Popular Electronics. 34 (5): 58–62.
  6. ↑ Garland, Harry; Melen, Roger (1971). "Add Triggered Sweep to your Scope". Popular Electronics. 35 (1): 61–66.
  7. ↑ Garland, Harry; Melen, Roger (1971). "Build the Muscle Whistler". Popular Electronics. 35 (5): 60–62.
  8. ↑ Garland, Harry; Melen, Roger (1973). "Build a Low-Cost Op Amp Tester". Popular Electronics Including Electronics World. 4 (6): 34–35.
  9. ↑ Garland, Harry; Melen, Roger (1974). "A Single-IC Capacitance Meter". Popular Electronics Including Electronics World. 5 (2): 44–45.
  10. ↑ Stanford Alumni Association (1989). Stanford Alumni Directory Centennial Edition. p. 870.
  11. ↑ Melen, Roger (May 24, 1973). "The tradeoffs in monolithic image sensors: MOS vs CCD". Electronics. 46: 106–111.
  12. ↑ Melen, R.D.; Meindl, J.D. (April 1974). "A transparent electrode CCD image sensor for a reading aid for the blind". IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. 9 (2): 41–49. Bibcode:1974IJSSC...9...41M. doi:10.1109/jssc.1974.1050460.
  13. ↑ Melen, R.D.; Shott, J.D.; Walker, J.T.; Meindl, J.D. (October 1975). "CCD dynamically focussed lenses for ultrasonic imaging" (PDF). Proceedings of the 1975 International Conference on the Application of Charge-Coupled Devices: 165–171.
  14. ↑ Gheewala, T.R.; Melen, Roger; White, Robert L. (December 1975). "A CMOS implantable multielectrode auditory stimulator for the deaf". IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. 10 (6): 472–479. Bibcode:1975IJSSC..10..472G. doi:10.1109/jssc.1975.1050643. S2CID   2891373.
  15. ↑ Solomon, Les. "Solomon's Memory". atariarchives.org. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  16. 1 2 Freiberger, Paul; Swaine, Michael (2000). Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer (Second ed.). McGraw-Hill. p.  48. ISBN   9780071358958.
  17. 1 2 Levy, Steven (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution . Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday. pp.  202. ISBN   0-385-19195-2.
  18. ↑ Walker, Terry; Garland, Harry; Melen, Roger (1975). "Build Cyclops". Popular Electronics. 7 (2): 27–31.
  19. ↑ Garland, Harry (March 1977). "Design Innovations in Personal Computers". Computer. 3. 10 (3): 24–27. doi:10.1109/c-m.1977.217669. S2CID   32243439.
  20. ↑ Walker, Terry; Melen, Roger; Garland, Harry; Hall, Ed (1976). "Build the TV Dazzler". Popular Electronics. 9 (2): 31–40.
  21. ↑ "Cromemco Computer Graphics 1987". wn.com. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  22. 1 2 Kuhman, Robert. "The Cro's Nest RCP/M-RBBS". www.kuhmann.com. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  23. ↑ "USAF will equip its tactical fighter squadrons with a mission planning system". Aviation Week & Space Technology. 126 (22): 105. June 1, 1987.
  24. ↑ Ost, Laura (November 9, 1979). "Cromemco Saw the Future for Computers Overseas". The Peninsula Times Tribune: E1, E3.
  25. ↑ "Reduced resolution document storage and retrieval system". USPTO. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  26. ↑ "Stereographic image compression with image moment normalization". USPTO. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  27. ↑ "Flipping stereoscopic radiographs". USPTO. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  28. ↑ "Sixth Annual Fujitsu Laboratories of America Technology Symposium Speaker Biography: Roger D. Melen". Fujitsu. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  29. ↑ "Group interaction system for interaction with other vehicles of a group". USPTO. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  30. ↑ "Managing vehicle efficiency". USPTO. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  31. ↑ Melen, Roger; Buss, Dennis (1977). Charge-Coupled Devices: Technology and Applications. New York, NY: IEEE Press. ISBN   0-87942-083-9.
  32. ↑ Melen, Roger; Garland, Harry (1971). Understanding IC Operational Amplifiers. Howard W. Sams. ISBN   0-672-22484-4.
  33. ↑ Melen, Roger; Garland, Harry (1975). Understanding CMOS Integrated Circuits. Howard W. Sams. ISBN   0-672-21598-5.
  34. ↑ "Full cast and crew for The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires". IMDb. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
  35. ↑ "USPTO Patent Full_Text and Image Database". USPTO. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.