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Introduction:
CE1.1
The episode I narrate here is my experience, while designing and implementing hardware
board for a product named ILANE which is a Bluetooth Voice Gateway/Car Email Manager.
b) Background
To design, develop, implement, and test a hardware platform board based on an IMX31 processor
from Freescale Semiconductors that would meet the requirement specifications for a complete
product.
Design, development, Implementation and testing of Main PCB and debug board for
software development
Involved in the design of power supply topology and circuit for the entire board
Various power input sources and priority selection and switching
Overview and guidance of the PCB layout design team during the PCB design.
Involved in component selection and cost reduction activities. Involved in driving the
physical layout of the design in a highly integrated form factor PCB.
Involved in board bring up and testing of the assembled boards
Interacted extensively with the manufacturing team to ensure the PCB was Designed for
Test and Manufacturing
Involved in interacting with the Mechanical design team, software team, component
engineering team, component and external vendors etc
Played the role of onsite coordinator for the offshore team interacting with customer and
conveying specific requirements to offshore team and ensuring high quality deliverables
Created and maintained design documentation – High & Low level design document,
Schematic Capture, Bill of Materials, Test Document, Requirements tracking
Handling customer requirements, change requests and defect tracking, regular project
updates, customer reviews at critical junctures and ensuring smooth progress of project and
achievement of milestones
Siiri Corby
Program Manager
Ed Strehle
Hardware Engineering Manager
I coordinated with customer to understand the requirements and the key deliverables to be
considered in the project
I created a detailed Requirement tracking matrix from an extensive requirement document to
ensure all the requirements were tracked to its logical closure
I interacted with various certifying and qualifying agencies to clearly understand their
requirements for our product to be designed for certification and qualification
I suggested cheaper alternatives to some of the modules to be used on the product to replace
expensive ones
I suggested for the Bluetooth module to be replaced by discrete circuit design to save a
significant cost on the Bill of Materials
Designed the processor (IMX31) subsystem, memory subsystem, and key interfaces like USB 2.0
(host and OTG), UART, CSPI, PCM etc
I designed the power supply circuitry to meet automotive requirements including design of
protection circuit against transients, Electro Magnetic Interference
I designed an intelligent power switching and priority-based selection for input power sources
among the car’s battery, USB-OTG expansion and USB OTG inputs.
I created a dedicated document to list down special instructions for the layout and routing of
PCB which was a significant phase to ensure first-time-right design
I worked on selecting the right components after detailed study of data sheets to meet the
requirements and created comparison matrix of various choices available for a class of
component
I designed a simple multiplexing system to work with either an 8GB or 16GB flash memory
without manual intervention which meets the processor requirements
I designed the input ESD protection circuits for USB and Audio to ensure clean signal integrity
I designed a standalone test fixture PCB for debugging and testing the Main board consisting of
serial interfaces like the RS232 and USB
I coordinated the delegation of work from onsite to offshore and review of deliverable work
from offshore team before handing it over to the customer
I supported the PCB fabrication and assembly teams for smooth progress of production and
assembly line testing
I worked on tuning the dual Bluetooth Antennae for best performance by testing with a network
analyzer and dedicated tuning circuit on the board.
I tested multiple boards with a test suite and software developed by the software team to bring
up the fresh PCBs for further testing at customer location
I created various documentation for the different phases of the project – requirement
specification, high level design document, low lever design document, schematics, change
feasibility document, impact analysis document, root cause of failures, reliability matrix as per
process templates
c) Personal Workplace Activity
My technical responsibilities and the technical details of the project are explained in stages.
Various requirements of the project and product were discussed over extensive meetings with
different teams of customer. A high level requirements document was created to capture the
meeting points and critical requirements along with important milestones and delivery dates.
Planning with the customer and various design teams – mechanical, manufacturing, purchasing etc
to come up with a viable plan for smooth execution of the project and meeting of goals.
The power supply needed to be protected against various transients that are present on a typical
automotive power source. A protection circuit was designed that consisted of high voltage
capacitors, ESD diodes, EMI filters to filter out the noise and unwanted signals from the power
supply input to the circuit.
12V input
Expansion USB-OTG port
USB-OTG Port
Using transistor switches controlled by two least priority power sources and analog power switches
a circuit was designed to select the power source with the highest priority according to the table
above to power the device. The circuit was also made robust against changes in the input power
sources when the device was powered.
I used my engineering knowledge and experience to study and understand the various design
requirements on the ILANE project.
I used my knowledge and skills in power supply design to come up with the topology for entire
device.
I used my knowledge of automotive transients as specified by the ISO standard ISO7637 to
design the input protection circuit of the device.
I applied by skills in schematic capture and bill of material generation to produce error-less, clear
schematics to capture the detailed design and MS excel skills to generate bill of materials.
I used my knowledge and experience to define the PCB layout stack-up and specific routing
instructions for the ILANE PCB.
I used my knowledge and skills to bring up the ILANE PCB by powering up the device and testing
individual interfaces and handing it over to the software team for further testing
I used my knowledge and experience in RF design to design the layout for Bluetooth PCB and
tune the same to get best performance from the antenna.
I was assigned to meet with the customer to completely understand the requirements and
expectations
o I achieved the same by clearly capturing all the requirements and expectations in a
track-able requirement matrix that was used to bring all the requirements to its logical
closure.
I was assigned to understand and design the power supply topology for the entire device
o I achieved the same by designing a robust and efficient power supply topology with
minimal losses and excellent immunity against input transients.
I was assigned to understand the problem of multiple power input sources and come up with a
solution for the same.
o I accomplished the task by coming up with a unique solution based on priority selection
of input power sources that involved intelligent sensing and analog switching.
I was assigned the task of designing the Processor and sub-systems of the device
o I achieved the same by designing the power supply for IMX31 processor, selection of
DDR SDRAM for memory, Flash for storage memory, USB physical device interfaces and
Bluetooth Baseband interfaces.
I was assigned the task of selecting and designing the Bluetooth RF interface
o I accomplished the task by selecting a Bluetooth chipset from CSR and corresponding RF
circuit using Murata’s Balun and Antenna along with the tuning circuit. The layout of the
PCB was designed carefully to meet Bluetooth quality standards
I was assigned the task of handling the Bill of Materials and procurement.
o I accomplished this task by maintaining a clear and detailed bill of materials of all the
components of the system and PCB. Critical components were identified and 2-3
alternative components were selected as backup for these components.
I was assigned the task of designing a Debug board for testing the PCBs that would be
manufactured.
o I accomplished this task by designing a simple but effective debug board along with a
mating connector on the main PCB to help bring up the board during initial testing and
loading of software.
I was assigned the task of documentation for the entire project.
o I accomplished the task by maintaining clear and precise documentation from the
requirements phase to the manufacturing phase. Some of the key documents I
generated were Requirements Traceability matrix, high level design document, low level
design document, schematics, layout instruction document, and impact analysis
documents.
I was assigned the task of interacting with the customer, various vendors and in house teams.
o I accomplished this task by organizing regular meetings with customer to review and
update on the progress of the project, escalate outstanding issues and seek approval,
conduct reviews of the design and other artifacts at critical junctures of project.
Solution: Upon power-up the source currently powering the device needed to be maintained
even if other sources were available no matter what priority. After power-up, power switch state
must be sensed before changing
Current limited analog switches are used to control the power input from the two USB OTG
ports. The switches are default in ON position. The control to the two switches sense 12V
presence and if present it disables both the switches thereby powering the circuit from 12V. IF
the 12V rail is not present then the first switch remains ON letting USB_EXP rail and the second
switch is disabled sensing USB_EXP presence. If USB_EXP and 12V both are not present then the
second switch turns ON thereby powering the device from USB_OTG rail.
There was a similar switch system designed to deal with the other signals of the USB interface
and the physical device for the same.
Reducing Noise in the 3.3V Power Supply Rail
Problem Definition: The 3.3V power supply rail powers the Processor companion chip which
generates all the necessary power rails for the processor. 3.3V also powers the Audio circuitry
and other critical components on the board. Hence it was necessary for the 3.3V rail to be clean
with noise levels at less than 40mV ripple voltage. However when the first version of the board
was tested the measured noise level was 140mV which was not acceptable.
Solution: The solution to this problem consisted of analyzing the circuit and the PCB layout for
the same. Some of the observations made were:
o The switching frequency was at 2MHz which high
o The capacitance on the output rail was less
o Bulk capacitor on the output rail was not placed close to the pin
o The switching loop on the layout was bigger than necessary
To reduce the noise of the power supply rail the following actions were taken:
o The switching frequency was reduced to 1.2MHz by changing the corresponding resistor
o Another bulk cap of 10uF was added to the circuit
o The bulk capacitor placed on the output rail was brought closer to the pin
o The switching loop was reduced by bringing the components closer on the PCB
o A Snubber circuit consisting of resistor and a capacitor was added to reduce the noise
The Device PCB consists of one USB OTG controller and physical transceiver shared by two USB OTG
ports – one through µAB connector and another through expansion connector.
The device can be powered through the VBUS power source – 5V – of the USB OTG connections.
However since there could be conditions where more than one of the three available power sources
– 12V, 5V Exp, 5V µAB – are connected to the board, there is a power sequencing circuit that handles
the priorities of power supply as below:
1) 12V input
2) Expansion Connector USB VBUS
3) USB-OTG microAB Connector VBUS
Problem Definition:
The device entered unstable states in three conditions from the table above:
When being switched from being powered from 12V to USB OTG µAB
The initial condition for this test is when the board is being powered off of the 12V DC input
power supply with the USB OTG µAB plugged in. The 12V power supply is switched off and
the device is expected to reboot and come up being powered off of USB OTG µAB power
source. However the device enters an unstable state and does not boot up as expected.
When being switched from being powered from USB OTG EXP to USB OTG µAB
The initial condition for this test is when the board is being powered off of the USB OTG
Expansion connector bus with the USB OTG µAB plugged in. The USB OTG Expansion is
disconnected or powered off and the device is expected to reboot and come up being
powered off of USB OTG µAB power source. However the device enters an unstable state
and does not boot up as expected.
When being switched from being powered from USB OTG µAB to USB OTG EXP
The initial condition for this test is when the board is being powered off of the USB OTG µAB
connector bus as the lone power source. The USB OTG Expansion bus is now plugged in to
the device. The USB OTG Expansion bus power source is expected to take over the priority
and reboot the device to be powered off of the USB OTG EXP power source. However, the
device enters an unstable state and does not boot up as expected.
Solution: The following changes to the ILANE Board makes the device boot up without any failures
during hot plugging and hot swapping of the available power supplies.
Addition of Boost Diode to the 3.3V Switching regulator
The addition of a boost diode between the PVIN (pin 4) and BOOST (pin 6) of the TPS40222 provides
the required boost for the 3.3V switcher to kick start the regulation and bring the 3.3V rail to a
steady state. This was implemented in Rev 1.01 of device. However, during testing it was observed
that the addition of the diode did not have any major impact – negative or positive – on the
performance of the power supply and hence removed from Rev 2.0.
Addition of 40K Ohm Pull Down resistors to the ON pins (pin 6) of analog switches that
handle the USB power input.
The addition of one each 40K Ohm Pull Down resistor to the ON Pins (pin 6) of U44 and U45
respectively brings the Analog switches to a definite OFF state when they change from ON state. This
helps to keep the other switch in a definite ON state since the two switches are exclusive of one
another during switching between the two USB sources – USB OTG µAB & USB OTG EXP.
The device did not enter in to the unstable conditions on Hot Plug/Swap of multiple power supplies
as experienced before the enhancements.
I developed & implemented the Power Supply architecture and selection of components along
with the detailed design of the same.
I strategized the design and development of the USB power scheme which was used to power
the device through the various input sources according to a pre-determined priority
I co-ordinated with various teams like mechanical design team, industrial design team, and the
software team to ensure smooth progress of the design to meet all the requirements
I strategized the design to make it suitable for Test, Manufacturing and Assembly.
I interacted with the Bluetooth RF antenna vendor providing necessary requirements and design
details to ensure a robust performance of the Bluetooth circuit. I also fine tuned the RF circuit
with the help of network analyzer to tune the antenna to maximum performance.
I developed and maintained the requirements matrix capturing all the requirements of the
customer and ensured all of them were met or exceeded in the design and implementation.
I designed a test fixture to test, simulate and validate the board bring up of the Main PCB for the
device and also made it easier for other team members to follow a simple routine to test a large
number of boards as required by the customer.
Summary
CE1.13 MY VIEW OF THE OVERALL PROJECT
Exposure to high end automobile embedded system design, complex power supply circuitry and
complex layout of multi-layer PCB were highlights of the Project.
Enhancements made to the USB powering scheme for the device, Tuning the antenna circuitry
for Bluetooth were significant challenges and opportunities for learning.
All the customer requirements were either met or exceeded and a number of unique and
efficient circuits were designed for the device.
USB powering scheme, RF Antenna circuit design to handle 2 Bluetooth circuits, Design for Test,
Manufacturing and Assembly, Four button remote control circuits were proposed to and
accepted by the customer to meet functional requirements a reality.
Second revision of the device PCB were manufactured in large numbers and tested with various
wireless carriers and were found to perform exceptionally well.
The device today is a commercial success across North America waiting to be deployed in other
parts of the world.
Introduction:
CE2.1
b) Background
The objective of the project was to demonstrate the working of a bio-mechanical energy generator
system. Also to conceptualize, design, develop and test a successful method to charge a lead acid
battery using a legacy bicycle and a mechanical stand.
Kumar R
Project Manager
Venkat N
Project Lead
I coordinated with the customer to understand the requirements for the concept of the project
and also visualize a solution
I created a requirements matrix to capture all the requirements of the customer to track and
take it to closure
I conducted extensive research on present systems that were similar to what we wanted to
achieve
I shortlisted various systems that were similar to what we wanted to achieve with different
limitations and features
I put in all the effort required to identify, get the information required and order a few systems
that were similar and procured them to study them in the lab
I conducted extensive research on the systems that were procured to list down their way of
working, their features, short comings and areas that we could improve upon.
I extensively visited manufacturing units and factories to identify various components of our
system – mechanical stand, DC Generator/motor, bicycle etc – that would be low-cost,
dependable and met our requirements
I studied and researched various Solar energy based chargers, wind power based charges to list
down similarities and differences between those and our system to aid the design
I designed various circuits and simulated them using PSPICE software from different vendors like
Linear Tech, Texas Instruments etc.
I procured various components and different samples of components from various vendors to
test them in the lab and list down their parameters that would aid the selection of the best
component for the final design. This process was important since the power to be handled by
the components was in the range of 150-200 watts and hence the heating and eventual break
down of components was expected. We needed components that could withstand high currents
and power offering least lossy performance.
I hand soldered the components on general purpose PCBs to test out the circuits that were
designed and simulated in the lab.
I conducted extensive testing on each of the components of the charge controller circuit to
identify the right one from each component group – which were current sense resistor, power
MOSFET, high current diodes, high voltage operational amplifiers etc.
I put together the final charge controller circuit with the least number of individual components
that was low cost but still effective and could handle various power ranges from 10-200 watts.
I also designed a battery monitor circuit that would intelligently indicate the amount of charge
left in the battery and when to charge the same.
I designed a circuit that would intelligently indicate to the user to pedal the bicycle at an
optimum speed which would generate the highest usable electrical energy from the generator
without putting too much of human effort. This circuit also let out a beep from a buzzer if the
user put in too much of effort to pedal the bicycle which would waste human/electrical energy.
I designed a sensor based circuit that would calculate the rotations per minute of the bicycle
wheel which could be used for various purposes.
My technical responsibilities and the technical details of the project are explained in stages.
i. Requirements Collection and Discussion with Customer
Various requirements of the project and product were discussed over extensive meetings with
different teams of customer. A high level requirements document was created to capture the
meeting points and critical requirements along with important milestones and delivery dates.
Planning for the concept of the system, various blocks of the same, different teams to be involved,
necessary tools and components were discussed.
ii. Conceptualization of Bio-Mechanical Energy System
The system was to be designed for emerging markets and hence needed to be as low cost as
possible to appeal to the bigger group of low income people who faced acute shortage of electricity.
The challenge was to design a bio-mechanical energy generation system using widely available off-
the-shelf components and with very less customized parts to bring down the cost.
iii. Research of existing systems and comparison to Solar and Wind power systems
There are quite a few pedal powered generator based systems available in the market mostly in the
US. Another challenging aspect was to study, understand the existing systems and identify areas
where our system could be designed to improve and also achieve the lowest cost comparable to
existing systems.
The other area of research was to compare our system to more widely accepted Solar Energy based
systems and Wind Power based systems. The research activity threw up some very interesting
results which helped us to conceptualize and design of bio-mechanical energy generator system.
iv. Design and Implementation of Charge Controller Circuit
The charge controller circuit for Bio-mechanical energy generator system was to be designed to
meet following requirements:
Lowest cost of components & PCB.
Ability to handle high range of power
Ability to handle voltage transients from the DC Generator
My responsibilities involved design of the charge controller circuit, identification of the various
components, and evaluation of the components to select the most suitable one available from
various vendors. I was also responsible for design and simulation of the circuits before being built in
the lab for testing.
v. Converting the Bicycle as a Joystick
Another important objective of the project was to pursue the motivation vector of the pedal-for-
power system. This involved converting the bicycle as a joystick which would be used to play a
computer based video game when charging the battery. The important factor was the computer
would be powered off the battery which would encourage users to pedal the bicycle as long as they
could to actively participate in the game and win it. This involved re-engineering of an existing off-
the-shelf joystick like Logitech Rumblepad.
I used my engineering knowledge and experience to study and understand the various design
requirements on the project.
I used my knowledge and skills in conceptualization of the project and the various components
of the same.
I used my knowledge of analog electronics and power electronics to design, simulate, build and
test the charge controller circuit and the sub modules of the same.
I applied by skills in schematic capture and bill of material generation to produce error-less, clear
schematics to capture the detailed design and MS excel skills to generate bill of materials.
I used my knowledge and experience to successfully test out the prototype in the lab integrating
the various sub-systems of the system.
I used my knowledge and skills to convert the bicycle into a Joystick for using it to play a game as
and when the user was charging the battery.
I used my experience and knowledge of various low cost systems to come up with the lowest
system cost to set up the bio-mechanical energy generator.
CE2.9 TASKS DELEGATED TO ME AND THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
I was assigned to meet with the customer to completely understand the requirements and
expectations
o I achieved the same by clearly capturing all the requirements and expectations in a
track-able requirement matrix that was used to bring all the requirements to its logical
closure.
I was assigned to understand the concept requirements and come up with a system design idea
o I achieved the same by coming up with a concept to generate energy using a legacy
bicycle and a simple charge controller circuit and battery.
I was assigned to come up with an idea to pursue the motivation vector for the system.
o I accomplished the task by coming up with a unique solution converting the bicycle in to
a joystick that could be used to play a computer based video game.
I was assigned the task of designing a low cost charge controller circuit
o I achieved the same by designing a low cost charge controller circuit from the scratch
after researching various systems, existing methodologies and careful selection of
components.
I was assigned the task of putting together a setup to take continuous readings from the system
o I accomplished the task by setting up a National Instruments’ Data Acquisition device
based set up to capture various parameters of the system to aid continuous data
acquisition from the system when being used. I also created a generic MS Excel based
template to receive data from data acquisition system and project graphs and plots
relevant to the measurement criteria.
I was assigned the task of handling the Bill of Materials and procurement.
o I accomplished this task by maintaining a clear and detailed bill of materials of all the
components of the system and PCB. Critical components were identified and 2-3
alternative components were selected as backup for these components.
I was assigned the task of maintaining documentation for the entire project.
o I accomplished this task by maintaining all the documents related to the project in an
organized folder structure that was easy to follow and locate the necessary documents. I
created clear and precise schematics needed to capture the design through various
phases of change and updation.
I was assigned the task of interacting with the customer, various vendors and in house teams.
o I accomplished this task by organizing regular meetings with customer to review and
update on the progress of the project, escalate outstanding issues and seek approval,
conduct reviews of the design and other artifacts at critical junctures of project.
Solution: The battery chosen for the system was a Sealed Lead Acid battery with a capacity of
26AH. There are various methods to charge a lead acid battery and the most effective one is to
use an off-the-shelf charge controller IC from leading IC manufacturer’s like Texas Instruments.
Though a few of them were studied from an understanding perspective, the cost of actually
using one on our system would have been very high.
Hence we wanted to use a simple circuit that would do the job of effectively charging the circuit
without damaging the battery or its life. After a lot of research, study and simulations, we agreed
upon a simple constant current based charging circuit that would set the current at which the
battery would be charged by a current sense resistor. The components that were part of this
circuit were very less. The prominent ones being, a large capacitor functioning as a low pass
filter, power MOSFET, current sense resistor, reverse charge limiting diode and high voltage
operational amplifiers. This circuit was demonstrated to withstand high voltages and current and
effectively charge the battery by limiting the current to a maximum set point.
Solution: The solution to this problem consisted of designing a sub-circuit system that would
bring down the voltages of the signals needed to be acquired to within the -10V to +10V range. I
designed such a circuit sub-system using the already available components and a general
purpose PCB and tapped the different locations of the charge controller circuit to acquire data
on various signals indicating generator voltages, current, battery voltages and rotations per
minute of the DC Generator shaft.
Another challenge was to calculate the current through the circuit at which the battery was
being charged with. The current sense resistor was used for the same purpose along with a
differential amplifier and the current was calculated from the output of the differential
amplifier. This gave an exact instantaneous value of current at which the battery was being
charged.
Calculation of RPM of the DC generator shaft was another challenging parameter to be acquired.
For this purpose a flywheel with a round shaped black and white screen was attached to the
shaft of the generator. A circuit sub-system was designed with an optical sensor that would
sense one rotation of the flywheel with one pulse and send out that pulse. This was sent to an
instrumentation amplifier to amplify the signal to be large enough to be sensed by the data
acquisition device. This was captured in an excel sheet and using MS Excel formulas, the
instantaneous RPM of the flywheel which in turn was the RPM of the DC Generator shaft was
calculated. This input was used for various analysis and graphs to measure the efficiency of the
system.
I developed the concept of the bio-mechanical energy generator using a legacy bicycle and a
simple setup.
I strategized the design and development of the charge controller circuit and evaluation and
selection of major components of the same.
I designed and setup the infrastructure for continuous data acquisition with the existing
equipments in the lab
I came up with the re-engineering of the off-the-shelf joystick idea to convert the bicycle in to a
joystick that could be used to play a computer based video game as a motivation vector of the
project.
Summary
CE2.13 MY VIEW OF THE OVERALL PROJECT
Introduction:
CE3.1
The episode I narrate here is my experience, while designing and implementing hardware
printed circuit boards for a product named DZLIVE which was an automotive Telematics system used
for Fleet management and communication.
b) Background
This Project involved design, development, and testing of an embedded electronic product
named the DZLIVE. DZLIVE is an automotive Telematics product which will also have the diagnostics
capability along with navigation, wireless capabilities like 802.11g, Bluetooth, Satellite modem. The
product is intended for use in automotive fleet management and asset tracking. DZLIVE is the
derivative of earlier version product Prism 3 with new features included such as touch panel LCD
module, 802.11g, Bluetooth, GSM/GPRS and Satellite modem.
To design, develop, implement, and test a hardware platform board based on an IMX31 processor
from Freescale Semiconductors that would meet the requirement specifications for a complete
product.
Suresh G
Project Manager
Sadanand S
Hardware Engineering Manager
Gaurav G Chockalingam S
Schematic Engineer Hardware Engineer
I coordinated with customer to understand the requirements and the key deliverables to be
considered in the project
I created a detailed Requirement tracking matrix from an extensive requirement document to
ensure all the requirements were tracked to its logical closure
I interacted with various certifying and qualifying agencies to clearly understand their
requirements for our product to be designed for certification and qualification
I suggested cheaper alternatives to some of the modules to be used on the product to replace
expensive ones for GSM module, GPS module, Bluetooth module etc.
Designed the processor (IMX31) subsystem, memory subsystem, and key interfaces like USB 2.0
(host and OTG), UART, CSPI, PCM etc
I designed the power supply circuitry to meet automotive requirements including design of
protection circuit against transients, Electro Magnetic Interference
I created a dedicated document to list down special instructions for the layout and routing of
PCB which was a significant phase to ensure first-time-right design
I designed the input ESD protection circuits for USB and Audio to ensure clean signal integrity
I coordinated the delegation of work to junior team members and review of deliverable work
from them before handing it over to the customer
I supported the PCB fabrication and assembly teams for smooth progress of production and
assembly line testing
I worked on bringing up the boards from the initial assembly, sub-system by sub-system and
finally integrated the firmware and board support package on the main PCB with the support of
firmware engineers.
I tested multiple boards with a test suite and software developed by the software team to bring
up the fresh PCBs for further testing at customer location
I created various documentation for the different phases of the project – requirement
specification, high level design document, low lever design document, schematics, change
feasibility document, impact analysis document, root cause of failures, reliability matrix as per
process templates
My technical responsibilities and the technical details of the project are explained in stages.
i. Requirements Collection and Discussion with Customer
Various requirements of the project and product were discussed over extensive meetings with
different teams of customer. A high level requirements document was created to capture the
meeting points and critical requirements along with important milestones and delivery dates.
Planning with the customer and various design teams – mechanical, manufacturing, purchasing etc
to come up with a viable plan for smooth execution of the project and meeting of goals.
ii. Power Input Protection Circuit Strategy and Design
The requirements and constraints of the input power protection circuit were very stringent as can be
seen from below.
The operating temperature range shall be -40C to 125C
The operating voltage range shall be +4V to +18V
The maximum continuous load current can be 3A
The maximum inrush current can be 5A
The voltage regulator design should survive typical automotive requirements and
standards listed below.
o ISO 7637 Automotive Transients
o ISO 10605 ESD Requirements
o ISO 11452 EMI/RFI Requirements
All inputs and outputs, excluding grounds, shall be capable of direct connection to
system voltage (defined as battery voltage or any derivative of battery voltage) for a
minimum of 12 hours without damage
The power input protection circuit was designed with utmost care and diligence to meet the
stringent requirements and constraints of various ISO Standards.
iii. Creation of Power Supply Hardware Verification Test Plan
Since the power supply circuit was complex and built to withstand high voltage transients of various
kinds, the customer requested for a detailed hardware verification test plan for the same. I created
the test plan filled with details about the functional requirements, compliance requirements of
different standards, and constraints of the circuit. The document also contained detailed explanation
about the impact of the requirement, how the designed circuit met or exceeded the requirement
with circuit description and simulation results wherever applicable.
iv. Guiding the PCB Layout Design
The DZLIVE PCB design was challenging due to the following requirements:
Small form factor – 5 in X 3 in
High density of components
High speed, Critical Audio, RF signals – USB, High quality audio, GSM, GPS, Bluetooth signals all in
the close vicinity of one another on the daughter board.
IMX31 being a high speed processor with BGA packaging and power supply requirements being
demanding, high speed RAM and large density Flash memories used and the number of
interfaces along with a co-processor from ST micro, the main PCB consisted of 12 PCB layers.
Hence the stack-up definition, routing guidelines, component placement etc assumed greater
importance.
I created an extensive document listing down specific instructions for PCB layout and routing of
critical signals, power supply rails, high speed signals, audio signals, Bluetooth RF area etc. Designed
the PCB stack-up consisting of 12 layers of signal, power and ground areas.
To satisfy the above requirement, I created an intelligent MS Excel based Bill of Material that
consisted of various sheets for differently flavored product offering. The main sheet would prompt
the user to enter the different features of the product that they required and at the end of selection,
a new sheet would offer them the complete Bill of Material, cost for different volumes – 10, 100,
10000, etc – and features for their product. This application received acclaim from customer for the
ease of use and innovative yet simple techniques used to solve the problem.
I used my engineering knowledge and experience to study and understand the various design
requirements on the DZLIVE project.
I used my knowledge and skills in power supply design to come up with the power supply
distribution topology for entire device.
I used my knowledge of automotive transients as specified by the ISO standard ISO7637, 10605
for ESD and 11452 for EMI/EMC to design the input protection circuit of the device.
I applied by skills in schematic capture and bill of material generation to produce error-less, clear
schematics to capture the detailed design and MS excel skills to generate an intelligent feature-
rich bill of materials.
I used my knowledge and experience to define the PCB layout stack-up and specific routing
instructions for the DZLIVE Main and Daughter PCBs.
I used my knowledge and skills to bring up the Main PCB by powering up the device and testing
individual interfaces and handing it over to the software team for further testing
I used my knowledge and experience in RF design to design the layout for Bluetooth, GSM, GPS
and tune the same to get best performance from the antenna.
I was assigned to meet with the customer to completely understand the requirements and
expectations
o I achieved the same by clearly capturing all the requirements and expectations in a
track-able requirement matrix that was used to bring all the requirements to its logical
closure.
I was assigned to understand and design the power supply topology for the entire device
o I achieved the same by designing a robust and efficient power supply topology with
minimal losses and excellent immunity against input transients that met the compliance
requirements of various ISO standards like ISO 7637, ISO 10605, ISO 11452.
I was assigned to understand the problem of multiple RF modules and interfacing them to the
IMX31 processor and come up with a solution for the same.
o I accomplished the task by coming up with a unique solution by logically isolating the
various RF modules to be placed on a daughter PCB and the processor and sub-systems
to be built on the main PCB.
I was assigned the task of designing the Processor and sub-systems of the device
o I achieved the same by designing the power supply for IMX31 processor, selection of
DDR SDRAM for memory, Flash for storage memory, USB physical device interfaces and
Bluetooth Baseband interfaces.
I was assigned the task of selecting and designing the different RF interfaces
o I accomplished the task by selecting RF modules dedicated for GSM/CDMA, Bluetooth,
GPS and Satellite Modem by conducting extensive research and compiling comparison
reports of various modules offered by different manufacturers.
I was assigned the task of handling the Bill of Materials and procurement.
o I accomplished this task by maintaining a clear and detailed bill of materials of all the
components of the system and PCB. Critical components were identified and 2-3
alternative components were selected as backup for these components.
I was assigned the task of documentation for the entire project.
o I accomplished the task by maintaining clear and precise documentation from the
requirements phase to the manufacturing phase. Some of the key documents I
generated were Requirements Traceability matrix, high level design document, low level
design document, schematics, layout instruction document, and impact analysis
documents.
I was assigned the task of interacting with the customer, various vendors and in house teams.
o I accomplished this task by organizing regular meetings with customer to review and
update on the progress of the project, escalate outstanding issues and seek approval,
conduct reviews of the design and other artifacts at critical junctures of project.
I was assigned the task of handling and mentoring 2 junior members on my team and also to
delegate work to share the burden
o I accomplished the task by effectively delegating schematic capture, draft
documentation and datasheet comparison work to efficiently manage my time as well as
mentor the junior members.
CE3.10 TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES/PROBLEMS AND ITS SOLUTION
Solution: The protection from automotive transients described in ISO 7637 is provided at the
power supply point. The protection circuit protects the electronic circuits from Load dump pulse,
Battery reversal and over-voltages. We used RBO40 which is an application specific discrete IC
from ST Microelectronics.
To protect the power supply circuit against the ISO 7637 Transient surges, ST Microelectronics’’
RBO40-40G-TR Reverse Battery and Overvoltage Protection device was employed. The
monolithic device has three functions integrated on to the same chip.
The Forward Diode D1 protects against the reverse battery connections. The Transil T1 provides
clamping against the Negative Overvoltage surges. The Transil T2 protects against the positive
overvoltage surges like the “load dump”.
Protection against ESD – ISO 10605: To protect the power supply circuit against Electro Static
Discharge transients specified by ISO 10605, SMCJ78CA-13-F diodes from Diodes Inc are used
across the Battery Power supply line and ground plane.
The SMCJ78 Diode has a Maximum Standoff Voltage of 78V and a Maximum Breakdown Voltage
of 95.8V. Hence the ESD pulses like the ±25 kV is clamped to an acceptable value.
Protection against EMI/RFI – ISO 11452: To protect against the EMI/RFI for the automotive
power supply circuit, BNX012H01 Block EMI Filter from Murata was employed. The BNX EMI
Filter exhibits significant noise suppression effects over a wide frequency band – Extending from
100 kHz to 1 GHz – which is the primary requirement of the ISO 11452 EMI/RFI Standard
Problem Definition: The customer required the DZLIVE device to enter in to various sleep states
based on various conditions and circumstances. The primary reason for this requirement was that
the device would be powered off the automobile battery and hence it should not be in fully ON state
when it was not required.
Solution: I strategized the solution to above problem in the following way. The IMX31 processor
offered various sleep modes programmable and controllable by software. I studied the various
modes and their usage and presented my understanding and study to the software team. I
converted the different modes and their usage in simple software requirements to the benefit of the
software team who were then able to create software programs to monitor the device continuously
and push the device and the processor into different sleep modes thereby ensuring efficient usage
of input power.
For this purpose, I also created a detailed power consumption estimation document that listed down
the various components of the PCB and their individual power consumption on different voltage rails
to accurately predict system power consumption. The document also listed down which of those
components offered sleep modes and the method to control the same. Some of components could
be controlled by the main processor’s general purpose I/Os and this was listed down in the
document too. The PCB design included these inputs to build a highly power efficient system that
could be pushed in to and out of various sleep modes.
I developed & implemented the Power Supply architecture and selection of components along
with the detailed design of the same.
I strategized the design and development of the input protection circuitry for the whole system
capable of efficiently handling high voltage input transients.
I coordinated with various teams like mechanical design team, and the software team to ensure
smooth progress of the design to meet all the requirements
I strategized the method to make the device suitable for Test, Manufacturing and Assembly by
employing DFM, DFT, DFA methodologies.
I strategized the concept of having 2 different PCBs – main and daughter – to meet the
requirement of multiple RF modules. I logically isolated the sub-systems that would be present
on the main board and daughter boards.
I developed and maintained the requirements matrix capturing all the requirements of the
customer and ensured all of them were met or exceeded in the design and implementation.
I strategized and created an intelligent Bill of Material that would offer complete cost
information, component list and features for a particular flavor of product selected by its user.
Summary
CE3.13 MY VIEW OF THE OVERALL PROJECT
Exposure to high end automobile embedded system design, complex power supply circuitry and
complex layout of multi-layer PCB were highlights of the Project.
Handling of multiple teams located across various geographies, interaction among the teams
and successful tracking of all the requirements to a logical closure gave me an opportunity to
learn to work with distributed teams – logically & physically.
All the customer requirements were either met or exceeded and a number of unique and
efficient circuits were designed for the device.
Power input protection circuitry, strategy to isolate sections of the device to form 2 PCBs,
intelligent Bill of material document were proposed to and accepted by the customer to meet
functional requirements a reality.
Second revision of the device PCB were manufactured in large numbers and tested with various
wireless carriers and were found to perform exceptionally well.
The device passed all the major standards conformance pre-qualification tests which validated
the methods employed and circuits designed.