Software design techniques evolve significantly as different industries adapt to new market pressures and opportunities. Over the last 20 years, I have been fortunate to contribute to many interesting areas of software development. This page describes my three most recent positions, but you can learn more in my bio or by requesting a copy of my CV.
My current position is as a software team leader for EXPRO Wireless Well Solutions. We design new communications platforms to provide critical operational data wirelessly from deep within modern oil wells. This allows the producers to establish the integrity of the wells and optimise their productivity.
The solutions we develop require the design of the full protocol stack, from the physical medium all the way up to the application layer. The systems we develop are required to operate at extreme pressures and temperatures, without the luxury of the internet backbone available to data services in many other domains.
There are many challenges involved in this job, and my responsibilities include making significant contributions to architecture, design, project management and software integrity.
My work for Telesoft Technologies involved developing applications for core telecommunications infrastructure in both mobile and fixed networks.
Exploiting the power of the company's industry-leading line card technology, we developed server-side solutions rapidly for various customers, ranging from call routing, through media streaming to network data analysis and packet inspection.
The domain requires a deep understanding of the lower layers of the protocol stacks used in modern 3G, LTE and SS7 networks. This position provided me the opportunity to develop further knowledge of telephony and internet protocols, in addition to team leading in an Agile environment.
Thales (Racal Radio) introduced me to digital radio communication networks. Here, I contributed significantly to the design and development of secure voice and data communications in military radio networks in the HF/VHF/UHF bands. This experience has given me a firm grounding in protocol design, embedded drivers and RTOS as well as applications like audio processing, cryptography and network management.
Continental Automotive Systems is a large company that design and manufacture almost every element of a modern road vehicle. Following Conti's acquisition of Motorola's automotive business, I led the design of functional components within the telematics units developed for a number of major automotive manufacturers.
Telematics products integrate mobile communications, Bluetooth, GPS and vehicle infrastructure (such as CAN and MOST) into a unit that can provide various safety features, as well as multimedia experiences. This may include synchronising the vehicle with your iPhone, or dispatching emergency services to a GPS location automatically when an airbag is deployed.
With Conti, I developed embedded systems software to high-integrity automotive standards.