RW TECHNOLOGY

Design

Full-cycle embedded system hardware design from initial concept through manufacturing handoff.

• Concept to Schematic
  • Select components
    • Meets functional specifications
    • Meets cost requirements
    • Meets availability needs
    • Second source?
  • Schematic Library
    • In-house or outsource?
    • Flexibility for manufacture part selection.
  • Security

    Needs to be part of design not an afterthought to be effective. Physical security is seldom sufficient on devices that you do not physically control. Know the adversary, at some level anything can be hacked. What works for basement hackers, will be useless against nation-states. Software, manufacturing, and repair involvement are critical. Without them, many units may be unnecessarily bricked.

• Schematic to Layout
  • Signal integrity
  • EMI
  • Power Delivery
  • Multi-source footprints
  • Design for panel use -- you buy panels not boards.
• Layout to Board
• Board Bring-up and Debug
  • Lab
    • ESD protected environment
    • Oscilloscopes to 1 GHz
    • Spectrum Analyzers to 1.8 GHz
    • Function Generators to 1 GHz
    • Lab power supplies
    • Logic and Protocol Analyzers
    • Photomicrographs (90X 5.1MP)
• NPI Support

  Designer(s) on-site for initial board build/assembly. Keeps 5 minute questions from becoming multi-day delays.

• Manufacturing Support
  • Part EOL

    If a product is manufactured for more than a very short time, parts will go EOL, or world events will make them unavailable. Design for multi-source. Use the cutting-edge parts where you must, but otherwise more flexible sources will save the product.

  • Line down
  • Optimizations
  • Design for Test
    • Selection of test points
    • Test Software
    • Test Hardware
    • Repair

      Manufacturing will be your first source of repair units. Even if you have properly negotiated price per unit yielded, it will go up or they will no-bid if low yields persist.

      On the other side if yields are the 'best ever', then the testing regimen is probably not adequate.

• Repair Center Support
  • Design for Test
    • Selection of test points
    • Test software
    • Test hardware
    • Diagnostic Tree
  • Repair Data

    Feeding back to design and manufacturing, helps to improve both. Data captured must be useful though. Process needs to be efficient and decisive, or boxes may get checked because they were 'easy'. Know your data, go on-site to audit from time to time.

  • Optimizations
  • Part EOL

    If a product is active for more than a very short time, parts will go EOL. Design for multi-source.

  • Even products not expected to be sent for repair
    • Returns

      Can often be 25 to 50% of units sold. Usually not a sustainable loss. Especially for units that just need repackaging.

    • Warranty

      Data from warranty returns can head off design and manufacturing issues. Initial units should get failure analysis.

    • B-Stock

      Useful to have for warranty replacements.

      Implement a 3-strike policy. If a unit comes back more than that, there is likely an escape in the testing that is letting something through. Run a deeper failure analysis.