Operational or performance electronic design starts with a solid architecture and carries over into a well designed component placement and PCB board design. During the beginning stages of the design, a general approach and architecture is outlined in a block diagram and categorized at the function level of each block. System level risk components are evaluated either as hardware or software. Circuit simulation (FTS uses LT SPICE) is used to mitigate design risk associated with hardware design, or at least characterize the limitations to determine if it can fit within the design parameter window. Similarly, demo boards may be used to test software in a similar way where memory requirements are better understand as well as microcontroller selection vs. performance.
As many designs today are embedded or FPGA based, our engineers are well versed on the latest processors, their limitations and programming and development.
Similiarly, our boards are compliant to PC-WHMA-610 standards. Additionally, our engineering team is certified by IPC-WHMA-620 for board level assembly, cable harness design and manufacturing.
FTS offers services at all stages in the electrical development:
- Initial stages, system level architecture
- PCB component placement and signal/power routing
- Connector identification, type based on requirements, lead times and program costs
- Silicon experts report (optional) which identifies component lifecycles and expected manufacturer's obselence
- PCB routing, recommendations on layer stackup based on performance and costs
- Circuit Design and creation of schematic and Bill of Materials (BOM)
- LT SPICE simulation for hardware risk mitigation
- Developmental boards (embedded applications) for initial code development
- Cable harness design based on EMI requirements, connector type and signal
- Cable harness drawings per both ASME Y14.M requirements as well as IPC-WHMA-610
