Draft:Eric John Swanson
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Comment: patents confer zero notability. Theroadislong (talk) 20:47, 10 December 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: No evidence of notability on this individual. All sources are primary sources or are nothing more than a passing mention. Nothing here can show the significant coverage required to merit a Wikipedia article.Thank you for your interest in editing Wikipedia. aaronneallucas (talk) 02:42, 2 December 2025 (UTC)
Eric John Swanson | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 16, 1956 United States |
| Died | October 14, 2014 (aged 58) |
| Education | BSEE, Michigan State University, 1977 |
| Alma mater | Caltech (MSEE) |
| Occupations | Electrical engineer, inventor |
| Known for | Contributions to switched-capacitor circuits, mixed-signal integrated circuits, and high-resolution data-converter design |
| Notable work | Comparator-recovery architecture (U.S. Patent 5,247,210) |
Eric John Swanson (August 16, 1956 – October 14, 2014) was an American electrical engineer and inventer known for his contributions to switched-capacitor circuits, mixed-signal integrated circuits and high-resolution data-converter design. Swanson held sixty-five U.S. patents, most of them heavily cited, primarily in analog-to-digital conversion, comparator design, and mixed-signal systems. His IEEE papers have been cited a total of 290 times. His patents have been cited over 1000 times.
According to Jim Williams, "His development experience includes millions of CMOS transistors, a few dozen bipolar transistors, and nary a vacuum tube."[1]
Education
[edit | edit source]BSEE Michigan State University, 1977
MSEE CalTech 1980. One of his professors, John Choma, note in a forward to his textbook,[2]
"...some, by virtue of their unusually strong support, interest, and ultimate friendship, deserve to be acknowledged. These are ...Eric Swanson...
Eric worked at Bell Labs from 1980 to 1985. At Bell, he was granted 6 solo patents, one of which (US 4518926) is considered fundamental, and has been referenced as prior art in 66 later patents.[3]
Cystal/Cirrus Logic
[edit | edit source]He joined Crystal Semiconductor in Austin, Texas, as the 12th employee, where he became principal engineer.
In 1990 he was listed as VP Technology for Crystal Semiconductor in the DataQuest/ D&B "decade of semiconductor start ups".[4] In March, 1998, he was named CTO[5] following the company’s integration into Cirrus Logic.[6][7] At Crystal Semiconductor/ Cirrus Logic, he recieved 87 patents.[8] Five of these have been cited more than 100 times, showing that the body of work is foundational to analog circuit design.
One of Swanson’s notable inventions was the comparator-recovery architecture described in U.S. Patent 5,247,210, based on a priority chain beginning in 1986, which became part of Crystal Semiconductor’s delta–sigma and digitally calibrated converter technology.[9] This work showed that the MOS memory effect was treatable.
Submarine patent: - this patent was a classic submarine patent. It had been filed in 1986, and continued in 1988, 1989, 1990, and finally issue in 1993. The secrecy of this patent was protection of the Crystal/ Cirrus data converters, as described in.[10]
Swanson also authored several technical papers on oversampled data converters and MOS analog behavior.[11] He was considered an expert on data conversion.[12]
Teaching and Mentoring
[edit | edit source]Eric taught mixed-signal system design at the University of Texas at Austin for 13 years[6]. He mentored numerous young engineers and inventors. One of the engineers he managed was Nav Sooch, founder of Silicon Laboratories.[13]
Eric was an author of chapter 15 of "The Art and Science of Analog Circuit design"[10] edited by Jim Williams. This chapter is a detailed dive into the physics and labwork of MOS memory effects. The book also contains a biography.[1]
IEEE
[edit | edit source]Eirc is the author of 10 IEEE publications[14], including a conference publication on the history of monolithing data conversion.[15]
"Commercial analog integrated circuits crossed the VLSI threshold of 10,000 transistors back in 1984. Today's analog VLSI circuits routinely surpass the million transistor complexity level. This Moore's Law increase in integration, combined with the analog designer's tradition of cleverness, is responsible for most of the decade's performance improvement in state-of-the-art data converters."
Eric was a regular at IEEE ISSCC events, participating in many panels. In ISSCC 2014 he participated a a distinguished panel of luminaries including Michael Flynn, Sanroku Tsukamoto, Marcel Pelgrom, Beomsup Kim, Ali Hajimiri and Behzad Razavi.[16]
His presentations at IEEE conferences were noted as seminal papers in his field.
His paper on 20-bit data converters[17] was citied by IEEE as "This paper pushes the frontier of precision using a non-precision process technology.]"[18]
His paper on echo cancellation[19] was cited by IEEE as "Moore's law continued to work its magic throughout the 1980s."[20]
Other IEEE publications:
"A 5 V, 118 dB /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ analog-to digital converter for wideband digital audio", cited 20 times[21]
"Analog VLSI Data Converters - The First 10 Years," cited 2 times[22]
"A 126 dB linear switched-capacitor delta-sigma modulator", cited 28 times[23]
"A single-chip stereo audio codec", cited 7 times[24]
"A monolithic 20-b delta-sigma A/D converter", cited 91 times[25]
"A monolithic 20 b delta-sigma A/D converter", cited 14 times[26]
"A 12-bit, 1-MHz, two-step flash ADC", cited 37 times[27]
"A 50-Mbit/s CMOS monolithic optical receiver", cited 41 times[28]
"A 667 ns, 12-bit two-step flash ADC", cited 4 times[29]
"Measurement and modeling of charge feedthrough in n-channel MOS analog switches", cited 46 times[30]
Patents
[edit | edit source]Swanson has approximatly 50 patents applied for by Crystal or Cirrus. Below are key US patents, each of which is referenced more than 25 time in later patents. Patent citations are a proxy for the importance adn value of a patent.[31][32] THe average technology patent is cited 9 times.[33]
US 5157395 A Cited 94 times[34] VARIABLE DECIMATION ARCHITECTURE FOR A DELTA-SIGMA ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER
US 5594439 A Cited 52 times[35] Diagnosing problems in an electrical system by monitoring changes in nonlinear characteristics
US 6271780 B1 Cited 55 times[36] Gain ranging analog-to-digital converter with error correction
US 6486806 B1 Cite 42 times[37] Systems and methods for adaptive auto-calibration of Radix<2 A/D SAR converters with internally generated stimuli
US 4746899 A Cited 72 times[38] Method for reducing effects of electrical noise in an analog-to-digital converter
US 5257026 A Cited 66 times[39] Method and apparatus for calibrating a multi-bit delta-sigma modular
US 7808324 B1 Cited 40 times[40] Operating environment and process position selected charge-pump operating mode in an audio power amplifier integrated circuit
US 8093951 B1 Cited 77 tiems [41] Pulse-width modulated (PWM) audio power amplifier having output signal magnitude controlled pulse voltage and switching frequency
US 5079550 A Cited 48 times[42] Combining continuous time and discrete time signal processing in a delta-sigma modulator
US 5608676 A Cited 31 times[43] Current limited current reference for non-volatile memory sensing
US 6424276 B1 Cited 31 times[44] Successive approximation algorithm-based architectures and systems
US 5121080 A Cited by 34[45] Amplifier with controlled output impedance
US 6292911 B1 Cited by 30[46] Error detection scheme for a high-speed data channel
Death
[edit | edit source]Eric passed away unexpectedly on October 14, 2014.[47] There is a legacy page where many have written about Eric.[48]
"Eric was the reason that there was so much engineering talent at Crystal Semiconductor. I enjoyed working with him." Jerry Gray
"Truly, one of the most passionate engineers I have ever known in my 35 years in industry. One of the best mentors on the planet." Chuck Storvik
"Eric is the reason we love analog CMOS. We will miss him dearly in the electronic design community." Ken Dyer
"His engagement and pride in his kids was what he was all about - when not showing his amazing intellect, insight and inventiveness...What a tragic loss. Tomorrow I'll lecture on delta-sigma ADCs, and for the first time since I was lucky enough to meet Eric, I'll have to say I knew one of THE GREATS, rather than I know him" Bob Morley
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US4518926A, Swanson, Eric J., "Gate-coupled field-effect transistor pair amplifier", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US 5247210, "Method and circuitry for decreasing the recovery time of an MOS differential voltage comparator", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US5157395A, Signore, Bruce Del; Swanson, Eric J. & Klaas, Jeffrey M. et al., "Variable decimation architecture for a delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US5594439A, Swanson, Eric J., "Diagnosing problems in an electrical system by monitoring changes in nonlinear characteristics", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US6271780B1, Gong, Xue-Mei; Leung, Ka Yin & Swanson, Eric J., "Gain ranging analog-to-digital converter with error correction", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US6486806B1, Muñoz, Carlos Esteban; Thompson, Karl Ernesto & Piasecki, Douglas S. et al., "Systems and methods for adaptive auto-calibration of Radix", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US4746899A, Swanson, Eric J.; Sooch, Navdeep S. & Knapp, David J., "Method for reducing effects of electrical noise in an analog-to-digital converter", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US5257026A, Thompson, Charles D.; Bernadas, Salvador R. & Bavel, Nicholas R. van et al., "Method and apparatus for calibrating a multi-bit delta-sigma modular", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US7808324B1, Woodford, Scott Allan; Allen, Daniel John & Swanson, Eric J., "Operating environment and process position selected charge-pump operating mode in an audio power amplifier integrated circuit", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US8093951B1, Zhang, Lingli; Shen, Dan & Gaboriau, Johann et al., "Pulse-width modulated (PWM) audio power amplifier having output signal magnitude controlled pulse voltage and switching frequency", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US5079550A, Sooch, Navdeep S.; Kerth, Donald A. & Signore, Bruce P. Del et al., "Combining continuous time and discrete time signal processing in a delta-sigma modulator", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US5608676A, Medlock, David L. & Swanson, Eric J., "Current limited current reference for non-volatile memory sensing", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US6424276B1, Muñoz, Carlos Esteban; Thompson, Karl Ernesto & Piasecki, Douglas S. et al., "Successive approximation algorithm-based architectures and systems", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US5121080A, III, Baker P. L. Scott & Swanson, Eric J., "Amplifier with controlled output impedance", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ US6292911B1, Swanson, Eric J., "Error detection scheme for a high-speed data channel", issued Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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