camenzind obitSAN FRANCISCO--Hans Camenzind, the Swiss emigre analog guru whoinvented one of the most successful circuits in electronics historyand introduced the concept of phase-locked loop to IC design,passed away in his sleep at the age of 78. The news was reportedtoday (Aug. 15) by
Sergio Franco, an emeritus professor ofelectrical engineering at San Francisco State University in anemail.
Camenzind came to theUnited States in 1960 and worked for several years at some of thestoried names of the newly developing semiconductor industry:Transitron, Tyco Semiconductor, and Signetics.
In 1971 he joined theranks of entrepreneurs by founding InterDesign, a companyspecializing in semi-custom integrated circuit design. It was there,working under a contract with Signetics, that he
invented the 555 timer. Signetics commercialized the device in 1972, and it went on to becomeone of the most successful in the industry's history. The device,used in oscillator, pulse-generation and other applications, isstill widely used today. Versions of the device have been or arestill made by dozens of major semiconductor vendors, including TexasInstruments, Intersil, Maxim, Avago, Exar, Fairchild, NXP andSTMicroelectronics.
Camenzind also introduced the idea of phase-locked loop to designand invented the first class D amplifier.
Camenzind was a prolific author with interests as diverse as
electronics textbooks andthe history of the industry ("
Much Ado About Almost Nothing")to a book on God and religion (
"Circumstantial Evidence")he wrote under the pen name John Penter.
He received an MSEE from
NortheasternUniversity and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara, and,during his career secured 20 patents.
Private family services are scheduled this week. A remembrance ofHans’ life will be held at 2 p.m. PDT on Sept. 9, in the
Shoup Park Garden House in Los Altos,Calif. Friends and colleagues are welcome. In lieu offlowers, the family would prefer donations in Hans’ memory to the
Computer History Museum. To RSVP and forinformation on donations, please see camenzind.org/hans/ (requiresauthentication).
He is survived by his wife Pia, his daughter Sue (Erol Kirelik), hissons Robert (Amy), Peter (Lisa), Tim (Marie) and nine grandchildren.