Ross Freeman - inventor of the FPGA

Have you seen this:

Some time ago I was wondering about Jim Barnett because I could found no mentioning of him except that he co-founded Xilinx?!?

Thomas

Yes, I saw that, (thanks).

Really I wondered how he died so young.

It's a sobering thought that in ~10 years I'll be as old as he was when he died, and I haven't yet done anything that I'm *really* proud of.

fancier,

"Ross Freeman, along with Bernie Vonderschmitt and Jim Barnett, founded Xilinx in February 1984. It is Ross's invention, the FPGA, that is the foundation of our company and the basis for a multi-billion-dollar industry. Quite literally, if it were not for Ross and his vision, Xilinx would not exist.

"Ross was a brilliant engineer. He was formally educated in physics with a BS from Michigan State and an MS from the University of Illinois. He began his IC design career at Teletype. He joined Zilog when it was a startup. By the time he reached his early 30's he was the Director of Engineering for the Components Division at Zilog, in charge of all engineering activities for the division. In 1986, while the VP of Engineering here at Xilinx, the San Jose Mercury News named Ross one of Silicon Valley's dozen Rising Stars (along with the likes of Sun's Bill Joy and Cypress' T. J. Rodgers).

"Unlike many very bright engineers, Ross was not a prima donna. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He was unassuming and approachable. He heaped praise on others, often when he was the person deserving of the recognition. He was supremely self-confident, without being arrogant or cocky.

"But more than that, Ross was a good human being. Before he started his professional career, he was a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching math and electronics in Ghana. He treated everyone fairly and with respect. He was extremely loyal. Quite simply, he cared about people.

"As stated before, if it were not for Ross's vision Xilinx would not exist. But equally important, if it were not for Ross and Bernie's shared values and beliefs, Xilinx would not be the special company that it is. Please take a moment and remember Ross."

From an internal website here at Xilinx.

I thought it appropriate that the newsgroup understand who Ross was, what he accomplished, and what a role model he is to all engineers here at Xilinx.

Austin

I only got to see Ross Freeman speak once, but it was a memorable event.

Back in the late 80's, when I was putting in my time at AMD, the company was second-sourcing some of the Xilinx product line. One year, Freeman was booked as a Field Applications Engineering conference speaker. Many of the FAEs were upset by the fact that Xilinx was selling new part types well before AMD was able to, and they were out for blood. AMD FAEs were no wallflowers, and from the way some of them were talking, Freeman's presentation was going to turn into a roast.

The time arrived, and Freeman gave an interesting, upbeat talk about what was going on at Xilinx, then asked for questions. One of the FAEs asked why they were being denied the right to sell new Xilinx parts as soon as Xilinx released them. Freeman, in as calm and polite a way as you could possibly imagine, said (and I'm paraphrasing through the filter of almost 20 years), "Of course we're selling them first. We invented them, we sweated bullets making them, and it's only right that we get first crack at the sales."

Silence. There was not a single follow-up question on the subject. The guy sounded so darned *reasonable* that you would have felt like a dope arguing the point.

Many people will remember Ross Freeman as a brilliant technical innovator. He was certainly that. But I'll remember him as an engineer who knew how to talk to people--warmly, politely, yet with utter conviction.

Bob Perlman Cambrian Design Works