When Peter Meets William

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

In my 2005 book “Open A Way for the Next Generation” (Kuo, Li-Chang, 2005: p.191), I recorded the importance of creating opportunities for future generations. Many endeavors cannot be completed within a single generation; therefore, one generation must pave the way for the next. When the right moment arrives, that prepared path can turn adversity into opportunity and ultimately create a model for others to follow.

In 1979, when I went to the United States to start a business, I heard a middle-aged lawyer express concern about the future of the next generation. In particular, he noted that the rise and fall of Seattle depended almost entirely on a single aerospace company. He believed a new industry combining “Law + Software” should be created, and he aspired to become a “Big Engine” to open a path for the next generation. Ten years later, this Mr. William H. Gates Sr. indeed became the father of the world’s richest man.

Fig 1: “Open A Way for the Next Generation” (p.191)

In January 1979, on the very day when U.S. President Jimmy Carter severed diplomatic relations with Chiang Ching-Kuo’s government, I still took the risk—for the industrial lifeline of both Taiwan and the United States—of flying from Taipei Songshan Airport to Narita, transferring to a Boeing 747 bound for Seattle, and then continuing on to New York to develop "Satellite Receiver and Personal Computer (PC)." In the 1980s, the United States truly relied on these products to realize Reaganomics, and in 1986, Chiang Ching-Kuo’s administration also used them to reverse its fortunes, laying the foundation for Taiwan’s forty years of economic growth.

On a narrow domestic flight, I took out my handwritten notebook and studied how to quickly get up to speed and lead a group of engineers — who did not dare go to Taiwan — to complete the development work.

Fig 2: Scribbles in my notebook

The tall American sitting next to me shifted uncomfortably. He seemed to notice the “scribbles” in my notebook — diagrams of transmitters and receivers. He politely nodded, said, “Hi,” and pointed to my notes, asking, “Are you an engineer?”

I replied, “No.”

“Then why does what you’re writing look like engineering?” he asked curiously. He introduced himself as a lawyer living in Seattle. His name was "William."

I then asked him about something I had seen a few days earlier when traveling from Seattle Airport into the city—a sign at the city boundary that had been spray-painted with the words: “The last to leave, please turn the lights off.”

He explained, “Because Boeing has laid off workers. Many people have left Seattle to find new jobs, and the city has become very depressed.” However, he said he would stay in Seattle to “incubate something new”—though even raising $5,000 in funding was difficult.

During our conversation, he learned that I had come to the United States to extend "Taiwan’s Precision Industry." He gave me his business card and said I could contact him if I had any legal issues—adding with a smile, “Free of charge!”

When the plane landed in New York and we were about to disembark, I realized just how tall he was—his head nearly touched the cabin ceiling. I asked his height, and he said, “Over 6 feet 7 inches (about 80 inches, or 202 cm).”

A few days later, somehow we got in touch again and went together to Barnes & Noble to buy the two-volume "Home Computer." We pointed at an illustration of a “Future Human” on one of the pages and smiled at each other. Later, we became good friends. At some unknown time and place, we even took a photo together, which I included in my 2005 book Opening a Path for the Next Generation.

Fig 3: Book's Illustration of the “Future Human”

Today, as I look at a preserved page from my old notebook, I wonder: what characteristics caught William’s attention? He was a lawyer who chose to stay in Seattle and “incubate something new” while others were leaving. Combined with his later achievements, it is clear that he was a strategic pathfinder in industry.

Upon reviewing this notebook page today, I found several “exceptionally ahead-of-its-time” and highly compelling features. From both engineering and historical perspectives, they can be analyzed in five points:

I. The 1979 Context: The Notes Were “Too Early”

In 1979:

(1) Personal computer (PC) had not yet taken off (the Apple II and IBM PC had not fully emerged);

(2) GPS was not yet available for civilian use (still under military development);

(3) Satellite communications were limited to large institutions.

Yet the notebook was already simultaneously considering:

(1) Satellite receivers;

(2) Communication links (transmitter/receiver);

(3) Positioning (triangulation/trilateration);

(4) Signal processing (correlation);

(5) Frequency and link budgets;

(6) PC applications.

This was in fact system-level integration, not a single technology — something almost unimaginable at the time. Yet here was a 25-year-old from Taiwan thinking about all these domains on an airplane.

II. Key Technical Features of the Notes (What Truly Attracted Attention)

1) System Architecture Thinking Rather Than Isolated Technology

I was not drawing a single component, but rather:

"Transmitter → Satellite → Receiver ; Communication + Positioning + Processing ."

This shows I was thinking about how the entire world could be connected through electronic systems. This kind of thinking foreshadowed:

“The Internet, GPS systems, Cloud + terminal architectures.”

2) Emergence of the Core Mathematical Model of GPS

The notes already included:

" Triangulation / Trilateration (determining position using three known reference points and distances); Speed of light: c = 299,792,458 m/s; The pseudorange equation."

These elements form the mathematical foundation of modern GPS systems.

This corresponds to the core GPS formula:

This shows that, at the time, I had already understood that:

"Distance = geometric distance + time error. Multiple satellites are required to solve the equations."

In 1979, it was almost impossible for civilian engineers to access this domain.

3) “Link Budget + C/N”: A Complete Communication Engineering Model

The notebook recorded: “(1) Link Budget; (2) Gain / Loss / Path loss; (3) Carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N).”

These are standard models used by professional satellite communication engineers, yet I was merely the general manager of a precision industry company in Taiwan.

The notes even included:

”C/N = Pt + Gt + Gr − Lp − kTB”

This is the fundamental logarithmic formula (typically in dB) for carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N). Pt is the transmit power, Gt is the transmit antenna gain, and Gr is the receive antenna gain — these are positive values. Lp represents path loss, and kTB is the system noise power—both negative values.

I was already thinking about the relationships among:

(1) kT — thermal noise, related to temperature;

(2) B — bandwidth (Hz);

(3) System noise.

This indicates I was evaluating whether a signal could “survive” and be successfully received.

4) “Correlation”→ Touching the Core of GPS

The notebook mentioned: “(1) Code Correlation; (2) Frame / Frequency.”

In fact, this corresponds to: “(1) Spread spectrum communication; (2) The core of GPS signal decoding.”

At that time, this was military-grade (MIL-level) technology.

5) Complete Breakdown of the Receiver Chain

The notes included:

(1) Antenna;

(2) Low Noise Amplifier (LNA);

(3) Filtering;

(4) Demodulation;

(5) Baseband Processing.

This is precisely the standard architecture of a modern communication receiver. These were not ordinary engineering notes, but rather a product design blueprint—advanced knowledge that could be monetized to sustain Cheng Guang Precision. Even though business conditions in 1978 were poor, I was still able to support my family and maintain a stable life.

6) Frequency Planning (L-band)

The frequency ranges noted were: “(1) 1–2 GHz; (2) 2–6 GHz.”

These correspond directly to: “(1) GPS L1/L2 bands; (2) Satellite communication frequency bands.”

This shows that these “casual notes” were not random scribbles, but reflected a clear understanding of spectrum allocation.

III. The Most Critical Point: Cross-Disciplinary Integration

What I was doing was integrating multiple domains simultaneously:

Field	Content
Communication Engineering	Transmitter / Receiver
Electromagnetics	Frequency / Waves
Signal Processing	Correlation
Mathematics	Trilateration
Systems Engineering	Link Budget
Application Layer	PC + Satellite Receiver

Today, this capability would be called a "System Architect." At the time, it could only be described as a visionary “Dr. Blacksmith.”

IV. Why Did This Attract William’s Attention?

He was not an engineer, but he possessed three key traits:

1) He was thinking about future industries

As mentioned in my book, he was considering “Law + Software.” When he saw my notebook, he likely realized: this person is not merely an engineer, but someone designing the future world.

2) He was looking for a “Big Engine”

My notes represented exactly that: "(1) Communication; (2) Computing; (3) The early form of networks."

These are the engines of the future information industry.

3) He recognized cross-domain capability

He asked if I was an engineer; I answered, “No.” (I was a business scientist). Yet I could freely sketch: "(1) Engineering; (2) Mathematics; (3) Systems."

This creates a strong intuition: this person is not constrained by existing frameworks. That is extremely attractive to innovators.

V. The Deepest Consideration

What truly made my notes compelling was not the technology itself, but this:

As early as 1979, I was already thinking about a “global electronic transaction and communication system.”

This, in fact, paved the way for what my wife, Linda Din, would later define as “TES, eStore, Cashless System, and more.” In other words, that notebook was the "original seed" of the contactless TES system. As early as the 1970s, after Mr. Dieska and I had established its direction, we absorbed knowledge from books around the world, which later manifested as the outcomes of “Social Responsibility Investment” (SRI).

Fig 4: Linda Din defining her contactless invention

In summary, what William saw was not “meaningless scribbles,” but rather: “a blueprint of a future architecture that the world had not yet come to understand.”

Conclusion

Taiwan rarely enjoyed more than three good years at a time. In 1966, at the age of 13, I took on the extremely demanding requirements of "Avnet" (Transworld Electronics Company) in order to support my family, successfully helping them achieve NASA's "PTH" (Plated Through Hole) targets. However, within less than two years, vacuum tubes were phased out, and we endured the harsh downturn of 1969. In response, we developed a “Portable Transistor Tape Recorder,” which triggered worldwide production — eventually leading to oversupply.

Fortunately, in 1970, an American named Mr. Dieska arrived. He had previously served on a U.S. naval vessel and explained that on warships, one must be able to “hear and see,” making antennas and radar critically important. As a result, I helped him develop a wide range of antenna products.

However, he pointed out that in the American Midwest, due to terrain limitations, conventional antennas were ineffective. After further research, we chose "Satellite Receiver" as the flagship product for the next generation.

At that time, no one possessed knowledge in this field—not even Professor Yao Jing-Bo of the Electrical Engineering Department at National Cheng Kung University. So I directly called “Chiyuan Bookstore” in Taipei and asked them to source all relevant books worldwide. In engineering, there is a universal language — "diagrams and formulas" — and with patience, one can gradually understand everything.

Meanwhile, I had to resolve my military service obligations. I delayed my departure until the U.S.–Taiwan diplomatic break, and only then did I take the risk of leaving. Before departing, I gave my mother (A-Jin) "NT$6 million as settlement funds," asking her to use it frugally. I had already left them with a large factory and advanced production equipment, yet even during my military service, she continued to ask me for money. At the same time, I insisted that she allocate funds to support my younger brother’s education for his college reexaminations. With deep anxiety, I departed from Songshan Airport to Narita, then transferred to Seattle, and finally to New York.

Unexpectedly, I arrived in a place with “no natural competitors.” In March 1979, after I miraculously obtained the SSC, I established the "Blackstone BSC Angel Fund" on March 13, preparing to replicate my "Cheng Kuang Precision Industrial Empire" in the United States.

Fig 5: Apostle Peter and Annie Dieska

In 1979, a young man from Taiwan sketched out a future blueprint for integrated satellite communications, positioning, and computing — handwritten on an airplane. At the time, PCs were not yet widespread, GPS was not civilianized, and communications remained institutional patents; yet his notebook already glimpsed the prototype of "global electronic transactions and information networks." These "ghostly scribbles" were more than mere technology — they were the seeds of cross-disciplinary system architecture, ultimately giving birth to the "TES and Cashless Transaction" concepts. As everyone fled the declining Seattle, William hustled in search of the "big engine" and crossed paths with me, igniting the pivotal spark that changed the era and truly wrought the miracle.

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.