Intellectual Probell
Hi.
I’m Jonah Probell.
You can reach me at
(first name)@probell.com
Investing
I seek startup companies raising a seed stage equity round of investment. The most interesting companies have a competitive advantage through an innovation that solves an expensive problem. A strong team of founders with experience in the field and the business is important.
If you are founding a startup, please send me email or connect through LinkedIn.
Professionally
My resume is available on LinkedIn.
I work as the IP Strategist in-house at SoundHound. SoundHound develops artificial intelligence software that uses machine learning to derive meaning from sound, including speech and music.
I spend much of my time developing the company’s patent portfolio. That involves harvesting ideas from inventors and performing due diligence on patentability and market value of inventions. You can check out the company portfolio on Google Patents.
I have drafted dozens of patents, papers, and other writings to share knowledge. My areas of particular specialty are
Small company needs for building a patent portfolio
Patentable subject matter eligibility in the US and Europe
International patenting strategies
My engineering background is in the field of semiconductor intellectual property. Specifically, I have worked on RISC and DSP processors for video codecs and supported network-on-chip IP users. Since 1998 I have done development engineering, sales, and marketing for my own startup and several other small companies.
At Lexra, in the late 90s, I learned about MIPS-RISC processors and delivering soft-core semiconductor IP. Too soon, a patent lawsuit killed the startup. Next, I co-founded Ultra Data, developer of the first programmable processor capable of HD H.264 video decode. The Ultra Data IP assets were acquired at the end of 2004. Later, I worked for each of ARC and Tensilica, the competing pioneers in processor cores with configurable instruction sets. I aspired to get their video-optimized processors integrated into consumer chips. After hardwired overtook programmable cores for video codecs, in 2008, I led a group of designers known as YAP IP in an unsuccessful attempt at an open RISC ISA project. As RISC-V took off, we wound down. In 2010 I joined Arteris to support chip makers integrating IPs using configurable network-on-chip interconnects. That is where I began my self-education in patent practice.
Through those years, I was a member of the Boston and Silicon Valley technical committees for the Synopsys Users Group and eventually chair in Silicon Valley. Currently, I lead a monthly group for Discussion of Patents in Silicon Valley that caters to giving startups free education on patenting considerations relevant to their companies.
Personally
I seek to broaden my horizons. I often learn everything that I can about something new. Wikipedia is my favorite web site. I also edit Open Street Maps. I enjoy technical writing and teaching because that is the best way to learn a subject thoroughly. I never lie.
I love that I have diverse friends and acquaintances. I view strangers as friends that I have yet to meet. I enjoy helping others. I will take either side for the sake of a good debate.
I enjoy cycling. I tend a fine garden. I watch live local theater but not television. I like cloudy weather and wind. I am selective about what organizations I join.
I love to travel, have spent time in most US states and many nations of the world, and have a friend in each one. Though I wander, I spend most of my time in Silicon Valley. I am also licensed ham radio operator N1QLO.
I enjoy trying new languages, but I know only one fluently. Lately, I am studying Mandarin and reading traditional characters. I speak and write with impeccable English grammar. I enjoy limericks, wordplay, thoughtful sayings, and general trivia. I like studying maps and have a good sense of direction. I drive a stick shift and can back up a trailer.
If your name is Probell, please let me know, especially if you are interested in having an email address ending in @probell.com. Otherwise, just enjoy this site.
Patenting for the Small Company
I wrote a concise book for small company executives setting up their organization and processes to maximize the efficiency of converting patenting budget to portfolio value.
Accolades
“The definitive guide for organizing a PATENTING team.” -Thomas Alva Edison
“Jonah Probell unveils the secrets to building a valuable patent portfolio while saving money.” -Benjamin Franklin
“A mandatory desk reference for patent portfolio managers and small company executives alike.” -Steve Jobs
Discussion of Patents
I host a free online co-educational meetup group with monthly discussions to give innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders basic education on protecting their intellectual property with patents. We are a friendly group of patent agents and attorneys with startup and large company experience. Meetings are by video conference and open to anybody who wishes to discuss anything related to patents.
National Association of Patent Practitioners
NAPP is an organization for patent practitioners to share practice tips. I am a frequent contributor of both questions and answers to the members’ forum.
Publications
Here is a list of some things that I have written.
Neural Generation of Blocks for Video Coding paper arXiv 2020
中小テック企業の特許取得戦略 −シリコンバレーの特許専門家が思う 日常業務の押さえどころ article Tokugikon 2017
Patenting for the Small Company – Third Edition book Amazon 2017
The Rubber Jigsaw Puzzle: Floorplanning for Network-on-chip conference paper SNUG 2015
Slash SoC power consumption in the interconnect magazine article EDN 2014
Midpoint at 237 City Council Packet letter to city council San Jose city planning department 2014
Demand-based Scheduling using NoC Probes conference paper unpublished 2013
Endianness technical brief unpublished
Power and Area Benefits of Modular Interconnect Design white paper Arteris web site 2012
Critical word first or Sequential cache miss refill policy white paper unpublished 2011
The Growing Cost of Wires white paper ARM Technology Conference 2010
NoC Advantages for SoC Prototyping on Big FPGA Boards white paper Arteris 2010
The Conundrum of Peer-to-Peer Video Distribution long article EE Times Signal Processing DesignLine 2010
MIPS in Handsets – Why Not? article EE Times 2009
Synergies could trigger a Synopsys-ARM merger article EE Times 2009
6 critical keys to IP licensing success article EE Times 2009
Processor architecture not a factor for low-power mobile systems long article Embedded Systems Design 2009
Who Killed My Battery? short article DSP DesignLine 2009
Video processing pipeline design article EE Times DSP DesignLine 2008
A Designer’s Guide to HD Video Pre- and Post-Processing white paper Tensilica 2008
Truly Understanding Low-Power Multimedia Chip Design conference presentation Portable Design Conference 2008
Frame Processing Time Deviations in Video Processors white paper Tensilica 2008
Selecting Video IP for SOC Design: Ask the Tough Questions webcast EDN 2007
Letter to the editor: IP pros, cons magazine article EE Times 2007
Minimizing Power Consumption in a Mobile Video Subsystem magazine article Portable Design 2007
A Brief History of Video Coding white paper ARC 2007
Memory bandwidth metrics for video processing magazine article DSP DesignLine
Ghosts of Video Processors Past, Present, and Future magazine article unpublished 2006
ARCHITECTURES: Multimedia platform stresses flexibility magazine article quotation EE Times 2006
Integrating IP in Multicore DSP/Processor SoCs conference panel Global Signal Processing Conference 2006
System Design Tricks for Low-Power Video Processing conference presentation Global Signal Processing Conference 2006
System Design Tricks for Low-Power Video Processing conference paper Global Signal Processing Conference 2006
Architecture Considerations for Multi-Format Programmable Video Processors journal article IEEE Journal of Signal Processing Systems for Signal, Image, and Video Technology 2006
Architecture Considerations for Multi-Format Programmable Video Processors conference paper Picture Coding Symposium 2006
The Trade-Offs of Software Programmability in Video Processors conference panel DesignCon 2005
Processor system that allows for simultaneous access by multiple requestors to a target with multiple ports patent application US Patent & Trademark Office 2005
Data movement within a processor patent application US Patent & Trademark Office 2005
Digital Video to Come Alive in 2005 (article text) magazine article TechOnLine 2004
What Choices Make a Killer Video Processor Architecture (presentation slides) conference presentation Global Signal Processing Conference 2004
What Choices Make a Killer Video Processor Architecture (presentation slides with audio narration) conference presentation Global Signal Processing Conference 2004
What Choices Make a Killer Video Processor Architecture (published paper) conference paper Global Signal Processing Conference 2004
Processor Architecture for High Performance Video Decode (article text) article Video/Imaging DesignLine 2004
The Ultra Data UD3000: A Next Generation Video Processor Core conference presentation Embedded Processor Forum 2004
Improving Application Performance with Instruction Set Architecture Extensions to Embedded Processors conference paper DesignCon 2004
LX5380 RISC-DSP for New Internet Applications conference presentation Microprocessor Forum 2001
Considerations for the Design of a Reusable SOC Hardware/Software Development Board magazine article ICD Magazine 2001
Verification of Lexra Processor Cores conference presentation DesignCon 2000
High-Performance RISC-DSP for IP Licensing conference presentation Microprocessor Forum 1999
Identifying Bacteria by Spectral Analysis research report Westinghouse Science Talent Search 1994
You can also search for me on Google Scholar and Google Patents.
The Lexra story
Lexra was the first startup company I joined. It taught a harsh first lesson in patents. You can read the story here.
Good luck