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Examples
of Typical Digital Technical Engagements
This section
describes some typical projects that we have been involved
with in the past. The examples include the background, what
was done to assist the project and the results.
Examples
of Projects
Need
for Engineering coverage at small firm that lost their
Digital Engineer
Situation
Client was
creating a significant upgrade in their system. A design had
been started, and needed to be updated and completed in a
hurry.
Tasks
Performed
Reviewed the existing documentation, assessed the
required changes, wrote functional specification and brought
in an FPGA engineer to complete the required pair of FPGAs.
Updated and completed the circuit design in Orcad. Held
design reviews, and interfaced with the layout engineer to
assure signal integrity in the design. Tracked FPGA
completion and coordinated Design Review
Meetings.
Results
Client was able get the design completed quickly, and
into test to meet schedule deadlines.
Requirement
for a quick turn very large FPGA Simulation PCB
design
Situation
Client was overloaded with work, and needed a very quick
turn design for a complex simulation test card.
Tasks
Performed
Worked with the client to create a definition for the
tasks, and joined with a second engineer to work on a 30
sheet schematic in parallel to complete the project very
quickly. Interfaced with layout person, and completed the
card in record time.
Results
Card was completed with a card available within a month.
This permited the simulation testing of a total large
ASIC circuit in an FPGA. This sped up
ASIC completion by several months.
Design
of a large number of DSP Circuits on a single card to be
used for testing a large PBX like system
Situation
Client was overloaded in regular engineering staff and
didn't have capacity to design a large test system to
validate their product with extreme telephone
traffic.
Tasks
Performed
Worked with the primary engineering staff to produce a
specification for the card design and the FPGA design.
Located FPGA designer. Completed the design and schematic
capture to tight schedule, then debugged and tested it.
Worked with systems engineer to make the circuit function at
the system level.
Results
Finished the design with no defects in the card and got
the system "up and running" in record time. Customer was
able to locate data traffic problems in their design and
correct them.
Design
of a special purpose satellite communications
card
Situation
Client was designing a large satellite communications
PCB as part of a large system. They were short on staff with
the required talent to complete the task.
Tasks
Performed
Took over the final design of the card. Made changes to
create newly required functionality and completed the card
design and schematic capture. Interfaced with layout person,
and led and performed the testing of the final card for
functionality. Produced all of the formal design
documentation to allow the card to be assembled
offshore.
Results
Client was able to complete a design in trouble, and get
it into initial manufacturing, ready for a system test
without having a several month delay to find a new,
qualified engineer.
Need
for a quick design of a microcontroller card for a servo
controller
Situation
Client lacked engineering staff to complete a card level
design needed for a system servo upgrade. They needed the
design in a hurry, and had a low target cost. Card had to
fit in a particular space available in the
system.
Tasks
Performed
Created a specification and block diagram for the new
circuit that defined its inputs and outputs and overall
functional requirements. Located Servo driver components,
designed and did schematic capture for the card, interfaced
with layout, shepherded the fabrication of the cards, wrote
embedded controller code, debugged and tested the card
itself and the card in the actual system.
Results
Completed the design in record time, ready well ahead of
system schedule requirements. Prevented potential delay in
system test of overall system.
Need
for a fast design of a complex microcontroller card for a
very large battery charging system
Situation
Client had received a contract and had only one design
engineer, unfamiliar with microcontroller design. Design had
to be completed very quickly.
Tasks
Performed
Worked with the client to create a specification for the
controller card and its functionality. Worked with another
firmware engineer to create a software spec and prototype so
he could begin coding of controller software very quickly in
parallel with the card development. Then completed the
design of the controller card, interfaced with layout
person, worked with getting the card fabricated, debugged
and tested the card by itself, and in the system.
Results
Customer was able to meet his schedule for a working
initial prototype in record time of just over one month.
Final product of a large number of cards in systems were
deployed at their clients factory.
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