Thorough design review at both schematic and PCB layout stages are an essential part of any project. Yet how often does the pressure of work mean that somehow the design review gets put off or is tacked on as an afterthought?
Working to tight budgets and schedules can all too easily mean that you are so focussed on the task in hand that you can no longer see the wood for the trees. Bringing in an external resource for a design review allows a fresh set of eyes to see the things that can simply be overlooked or forgotten in the day to day hassle of trying to get product out of the door.
An independent review early in the design cycle can pick up mistakes before they delay release of the schematic into layout or, worse still, require PCB changes to correct. A detailed understanding and analysis of any schematic and - depending on the circuit - the PCB layout is a necessary precursor to Failure Modes Effects Analysis (FMEA). Early review can contribute significantly to reducing failure rates by detecting overstressed components or by highlighting areas where often simple changes can mitigate the outcome of failures.
Integrating modelling and simulation from the start of the design allows circuit operation and behaviour to be clearly demonstrated at the schematic level as part of the review process. Proposed changes can be investigated quickly and remove much of the risk often associated with alterations to designs in the later stages of development.Any design can of course be checked by a variety of means but a major advantage of doing as much of this as possible through simulation is that because large sections of a design can be tested in a single simulation run, such checking and testing can be much faster. More importantly, there is far less reliance on the design or test engineer having to remember to check individual components and situations. There's a lot less:
“Have you checked X?”
“Yes and we think that it will do Y.”
or worse still;
“No because we haven't had time so we're not sure ... um, it might do Y or it might do Z.”
A simulation run will show you what will happen.
If you think you could do with a fresh pair of eyes, just contact
us.
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