James Russell
Encyclopedia
James T. Russell is an American
inventor. He earned a BA
in physics from Reed College
in Portland
in 1953. He joined General Electric
's nearby labs in Richland, Washington
, where he initiated many types of experimental instrumentation. He designed and built the first electron beam welder
.
In 1965, Russell joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
of Battelle Memorial Institute
in Richland. There, in 1965, Russell invented the overall concept of optical digital recording and playback. The earliest patents by Russell, US 3,501,586, and 3,795,902 were filed in 1966, and 1969. respectively. He built prototypes, and the first was operating in 1973. In 1973, 1974, 1975 his prototype was viewed by about 100 companies, including Philips and Sony engineers, and more than 1500 descriptive brochures were sent out to various interested parties. The concept was picked up by many technical and media magazines beginning in 1972.
Russell's optical digital inventions were available publicly from 1970. Early optical recording technology, which forms the physical basis of videodisc
, CD and DVD
technology, was first published/filed by Gregg in 1958 and Philips
researchers, Kramer and Compaan, in 1969. It is debatable to say whether Russell's concepts, patents, prototypes, and literature instigated and in some measure guided the optical digital revolution.
Russell also invented an optical, massively parallel, memory system that uses no moving parts. This concept is taught in 6 patents.
He has developed concepts for a novel transportation system and urban structure.
Russell currently (July 2007) holds 54 US patents.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor. He earned a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in physics from Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
in 1953. He joined General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
's nearby labs in Richland, Washington
Richland, Washington
Richland is a city in Benton County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington, at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 48,058. April 1, 2011 estimates from the Washington State Office of Financial Management put the...
, where he initiated many types of experimental instrumentation. He designed and built the first electron beam welder
Electron beam welding
Electron beam welding is a fusion welding process in which a beam of high-velocity electrons is applied to the materials being joined. The workpieces melt as the kinetic energy of the electrons is transformed into heat upon impact, and the filler metal, if used, also melts to form part of the weld...
.
In 1965, Russell joined the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is one of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, managed by the Department of Energy's Office of Science. The main campus of the laboratory is in Richland, Washington....
of Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute
Battelle Memorial Institute is a private nonprofit applied science and technology development company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle is a charitable trust organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of Ohio and is exempt from taxation under Section 501 of the...
in Richland. There, in 1965, Russell invented the overall concept of optical digital recording and playback. The earliest patents by Russell, US 3,501,586, and 3,795,902 were filed in 1966, and 1969. respectively. He built prototypes, and the first was operating in 1973. In 1973, 1974, 1975 his prototype was viewed by about 100 companies, including Philips and Sony engineers, and more than 1500 descriptive brochures were sent out to various interested parties. The concept was picked up by many technical and media magazines beginning in 1972.
Russell's optical digital inventions were available publicly from 1970. Early optical recording technology, which forms the physical basis of videodisc
Videodisc
Videodisc is a general term for a laser- or stylus-readable random-access circular disc that contains both audio and analog video signals recorded in an analog form...
, CD and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
technology, was first published/filed by Gregg in 1958 and Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
researchers, Kramer and Compaan, in 1969. It is debatable to say whether Russell's concepts, patents, prototypes, and literature instigated and in some measure guided the optical digital revolution.
Russell also invented an optical, massively parallel, memory system that uses no moving parts. This concept is taught in 6 patents.
He has developed concepts for a novel transportation system and urban structure.
Russell currently (July 2007) holds 54 US patents.
Physical details of the early Russell patents
Major features of the early Russell patents:- The preferred embodiment of the scanning mechanism is awkward since the disc is not rotating but fixed. A scanning mirror with which the light is deflected is attached to a rotating shaft.
- The entire disc or oblong sheet to be read is illuminated by a large playback light source at the back of the transparent plate instead by focused laser light in reflective mode. There is no objective lens for reading the data.
- Dynamic track or focus servos are absent.
- The patent specification mentions the use of a protective layer(s) or coating to prevent scratching during handling, but the layer does not offer significant benefits, as its task is merely to protect. Fingerprints and scratches will obscure the data read. In a CD, on the other hand, where a focused laser beam is used in conjunction with a protective layer at the reading side of the disc, scratches and fingerprints are out of focus, and thus not detected by the reading spot. As a result, the CD/DVD method offers a great resilience against disc anomalies, offering great playability.
- Low information density. According to the patent specifications the spot diameter is around 10 micrometres. Thus, the areal information density is, according to the patent specifications, around a factor hundred less than that of a regular CD. This amounts to a capacity of 5 Mbytes for a disc of 12 cm diameter. The inevitable downside to this is that Russell’s disc offers playing time less than one minute of digital CD sound. In case we have digital video at 30 Mbit/s, as claimed above, Russell’s disc would be read in less than two seconds. How such extremely fast scanning could be implemented was not disclosed.
- Photographically copying of data.
- The patents do not address any details of the digital coding techniques used and/or details of methods how to solve the problems associated with extremely high bit rates of digital video signals. Due to limitations of electronics circuitry, there was no (MPEG) source coding at the time to lower the overall bit rates. The uncompressed bit rate of a color video signal is around 200 Mbit/s, and it is far from clear how the mechanical (scanning speed) and electronic challenges imposed by these enormous bit rates were solved. The patents do not mention error correction or other digital coding technology.