Art Goldstein

The founder of Modbus Devices, Art Goldstein, has been designing embedded circuits, systems, and products for over 40 years. He was first introduced into the world of microprocessors at the time when the Intel 4004, arguably the world’s first microprocessor, was released. This introduction took place in a college EE class where the first assignment was to write a machine level program to emulate the behavior of an UART. A fascination with the interplay between software methods and hardware functionality has persisted to this very day since that introduction. Over the years Art has executed many designs based on the use of microprocessors, from the humble beginnings of the Intel 4004, through 8-bit and 16-bit processors, to the current crop of Arm-based processors. In addition, he has also designed FPGAs and ASICs, using Verilog as the implementation language. This continues the theme of language-based design methodology. Art believes that all language-based designs, whether utilizing assembly language, Verilog, or C, should be based on appropriate selection of data structures and algorithms. Indeed, the initial planning and evaluation of a variety of approaches and structures is of the utmost importance to laying a proper foundation for designs which are understandable, extendible, and testable. Art believes that rushing the implementation of a design, without adequate planning, guarantees a disastrous outcome – and wastes time. Another aspect of a design is the importance of documenting it. This tutorial illustrates the type of documentation which is needed to convey an adequate understanding a design. In Art’s view merely cataloguing a set of functions is not adequate. There also needs to be a discussion of program design and dataflow, and insight into the choice of data structures and algorithms against a backdrop of timing constraints. In terms of application areas, Art has executed designs for SCADA Systems, Graphics, Data Communications, Networking, Ulrasound Imaging, GPS, Error Correcting Codes, Test Equipment, Industrial Automation, and many other areas. He loves the challenge of designing in new areas and derives great satisfaction in delivering robust, well-engineered solutions to customers.