Photo & CV web page for Ron Nicholson

(Antarctic Peninsula 2000),
(Tuscany 2003) (Great Wall, Beijing 2006),

A Reading List

• some random, interesting and/or recommended books
  

Bio/CV Stuff

• Most recently, I was Director of Product Architecture at Agate Logic, Inc, designing FPGA and configurable logic semiconductor technology.   Previously, I spent a couple years doing embedded DSP consulting and developing PalmOS applications for HotPaw Productions and Aerodrome Software, as a PalmOS Certified Developer. Before that I was an SOC ASIC architect (developing intellectual property for systems-on-a-chip interconnect) for Palmchip Corp. in San Jose. During the dot com era, I spent several years at SGI (Silicon Graphics) developing interactive television systems and consumer multimedia/3D graphics ASICs (US patent 6,275,239). At SGI, I also designed a portion of the Nintendo 64 Reality Co-Processor, and was also involved in the design of ASICs for the MIPS Magic Carpet and digital video servers.
  
  
• Once upon a time, I studied engineering and mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley (where I designed a pipelined RISC CPU for Dr. Sequin's CS152A class), later worked at Apple Computer on Apple II peripherals (including the "Super Serial Card", which stayed on Apple's price list for over a decade) and on the custom IWM ("Integrated Woz Machine") disc controller ASIC and the CMOS clock chip for the original Macintosh computer ( case signatures, Mac 128k thru SE), as well as the Apple IIc. In 1983, I was one of the founders of Amiga, Inc., where I was lead architect of the original Amiga system and graphics chip set ( Amiga 1000 case signatures, US patents 4,777,621 , 4,874,164 , 5,103,499 and 5,594,473 ). As an example of the industry reinventing old terminology and ideas, way back in 1985, I was software manager in a small company named "Information Appliance, Inc." I also did stints at Compression Labs, at Hewlett Packard (developing early RISC workstations), at Sigma Designs as an engineering manager, and at Sierra Research and Technology where I was one of the architects of an OC-12 (622 Mbps) network interface ATM SAR ASIC, which at one time was said to be responsible for moving over 80% of all internet traffic in the US.
  
  
• Generic resume (text format).

• My hobbies and recreational activities have included Standard ballroom dancing (plus West Coast swing and Argentine Tango), amateur radio (call sign N6YWU), obtaining my private pilots license (ASEL), reading books on odd topics such as the latest research in evolutionary psychology, and writing fun software for Macintosh computers , PalmOS handhelds (PalmPilots) , and iPod Touch and iPhones. I've also run the Bay-To-Breakers 12k race 14 times, and the Silicon Valley half marathon (just once!). I retired from Western Square Dance calling (where I was club caller for the Andante Squares in Sunnyvale and the Highland Swingers in Redwood City) over a decade ago. The last few years of vacations have included trips to the Tuscany, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, China, the Antarctic Peninsula, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Blackpool, London, Paris, a Mediterranean cruise, plus some backpacking in Yosemite.