Signality Solutions


Analogue and mixed signal


Having a circuit that works on a breadboard is one thing.

Having one that is right by design so that it works on a PCB, with a specified safety and reliability performance in the field, over the whole of the temperature and power supply range and with whatever source or load the user may throw at it, across a production run of over a thousand, starting in four weeks time is something very different.

Analogue and mixed signal design is well supported by most device manufacturers and, of course, the web can be an invaluable resource but if you need something very different from the manufacturer's reference design or the cookbook approach of something lifted straight out of their applications notes then the task can get much more complicated.

With knowledge, insights and techniques gained in over 30 years industry experience, Signality Solutions has the expertise across a wide range applications to turn your requirements into a working solution that is right by design.

And this is how it works.

One of the most powerful tools in our toolbox is modelling and simulation.

Board level simulation is often used to look at a design once it has been captured in an EDA tool. The schematic is exported to some form of simulation tool and then edited to wrap a suitable test jig round it. Only then are simulations attempted. By its very nature, this export stage tends to happen at the same time as PCB layout commences.

This approach can be very useful but in many cases these simulations fail because the circuit is too complex, they take too long to run or they fill up the hard drive.

Capturing the basic ideas straight into a simulation tool right at the start of the design process leads to far more reliable simulations with fewer convergence and related failures. Used interactively, it can also speed up the whole design process by delivering a design with a very high level of confidence before any major PCB or other production investment needs to be made.

These simulated designs can be exhaustively tested far faster and at significantly lower cost than using real products.

Data can be extracted to feed directly into:

Faster, more complete Failure Modes Effects Analysis can be carried out without destroying a single component. Failure modes that are almost impossible to insert into real circuits can be modelled while your simulated devices don't blow up or burn holes in the PCB.

These techniques have applications beyond what may be considered normal analogue designs.


To help get your analogue and mixed signal right by design just contact us.



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