About us

Team

Systems4Silicon was founded in 2005 by communications systems professionals wanting to apply their experience gained with organisations such as: 

• Racal Communications Systems (now Thales)
• QinetiQ
• Bristol University’s Centre for Communications Research
• Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
• Marconi Secure Radio Systems
• Wireless Systems International (start-up power amplifier company)
• Toracomm (a wireless systems design consultancy)
• Powerwave Technologies (an RF subsystem manufacturer)

With experience drawn from advanced research and product design, the team at Systems4Silicon are able to provide innovative solutions to real world problems with an understanding of the cost, time and commercial pressures of product design.

Responsible for attaining multiple ISO9000 certifications, the team combines a process-driven approach to engineering with an ethical business ethos. Systems4Silicon aims for long-term customer satisfaction.

Paul Turner - Founder and CEO

Paul is an electronics systems engineer specialising in wireless communications and digital signal processing.

For his PhD at Bristol University’s Centre for Communications Research Paul conducted research into advanced reception techniques for the then emerging 3G mobile communications standard. From the CCR he joined Wireless Systems International where he took a lead technical role in a number of wireless system developments and developed a broad and deep technical expertise encompassing advanced research, product development and engineering project management. In 1998 he joined Toracomm; a start-up wireless communications design consultancy based in Bristol UK. Here Paul contributed to a range of programmes and the development of the company’s engineering processes, prior to its acquisition by Powerwave Technologies in 2001.

In 2005 Paul was co-founder of design services provider Systems4Silicon for which he currently holds the position of CEO. This role incorporates business development and management, combined with project management and technical contributions to satisfy client requirements.

Richard Hewitt - Founder and CTO

Richard is an electronics systems engineer specialising in wireless communications and digital signal processing.

Beginning his career with Racal Communications, Richard was a key member of the team that developed one of the earliest man-pack transceivers based upon digital signal processing technology. Following a move to Bristol in 1994 Richard joined Hewlett-Packard Labs where he contributed towards one of the research programmes that lead eventually to the standardisation of UMTS/3G. He also conducted some of the earliest research into the application of OFDM to in-building networks based upon the 802.11 standard. By this time his broad technical experience, ranging from advanced research through to design for production, led to his employment by start-up design consultancy, Toracomm in 1998. With an enthusiasm for business practice and customer satisfaction Richard contributed significantly to the growth of Toracomm, culminating in its acquisition by Powerwave Technologies in 2001 having expanded from 7 to 25 staff.

In 2005 Richard was co-founder of design services provider Systems4Silicon for which he currently fulfils the position of CTO. Within this role the tasks of business management are combined with the project management and technical contributions for client contract fulfilment.

Paul Fletcher - Technical Consultant

Paul is a research and systems engineer specialising in wireless communications and signal processing.

After completing his PhD, Paul was employed by the Defence Research Agency, where he worked on phased array antenna systems for radar and communication systems. When the agency became known as QinetiQ following privatisation, he was seconded to the FGAN research institute in Bonn, Germany. There he worked on high resolution radar processing and high speed digital design. On return to the UK, Paul was awarded a 3 year MOD research fellowship at Bristol University, where he developed space-time signal processing techniques and applied them to MIMO implementations of wireless communication standards such as 802.11 and Bluetooth. As a Principle Scientist at 3C Research (a collaboration between QinetiQ, the University of Bristol and others), he managed a team of engineers who demonstrated the first 2 X 2 MIMO implementation of the then new 802.11n WiFi standard.

Since joining Systems4Silicon in 2005, Paul has developed many of the algorithms within the company’s Digital Predistortion technology. His wide experience of signal processing has also been put to use for numerous clients.

Richard Bennett - Technical Consultant

Richard is a systems engineer with product development experience within the wireless communications industry and specialisms in digital signal processing and embedded software.

Richard began his career at Marconi Secure Radio in Portsmouth. While there he worked on encrypted telephone radio products and gained considerable experience of the radio communication industry. In 1995 he joined start-up Wireless Systems International as one of its first employees. Working first in the design services sector, he contributed to a telemetry system for the oil industry amongst other projects. Later he worked on linearised power amplifiers for the GSM EDGE and WCDMA mobile standards including what is believed to have been the world’s first multi carrier amplifier incorporating digital predistortion (DPD) technology. Joining Powerwave in 2002, he continued working on multicarrier power amplifiers and remote radio heads using DPD technology.

Richard joined Systems4Silicon in 2008 as a technical consultant. In this role he mainly works on design services contracts using his skills in digital signal processing and radio communication.