OUR EXPERTISE

Board Design

Hardware Design is a very tough science, especially to get it right in the first 1-2 spins. Every spin is expensive both in terms of cost and time. Technosphere approaches the Board design in a robust manner. At each stage, the key requirements are validated – Performance, Power, Area, Cost, Availability, Manufacturabilty. Detailed reviews are carried out before moving to the next stage.

Key Component Identification : Much of the intial phase is spent on identifying the right fit of the key parts like CPU, peripherals like Modems, Wireless modules, Glue logic (FPGA, CPLD).

Schematics Design : The components selected are connected together in a hierarchical method to prepare a very easy-to-understand and readable circuit diagram. Depending upon client requirement, the schematics are captured in tools such as Orcad, Altium, Kicad etc.

PCB Layout : The components are now moved to the physical domain where the components are placed and routed. Again, we choose the optimum approach of deciding on the number of layers required for the board, to be cost-effective. We can offer various tools like Allegro, Kicad, Pads etc. Our designers understand the challenges in Signal Integrity, High speed design and use the best practices to minimize design iterations. One of the key aspects to minimize spins is a proper electro-mechanical co-design, to ensure that the PCB is fitting well in the planned enclosure.

Prototype Board Bring-up: Our in-house prototype team manages the sourcing of parts and PCBs and the assembly of first few PCBAs. Complex parts like BGA, QFN are assembled at our partner facilities. After assembly, the board is tested in a systematic manner to ensure all parts are exercised and verified for expected operation. Key measurements at the hardware level in terms of power consumption, battery charging performance etc are recorded and verified against expected output.

Board Design Summary:

Microcontroller, Analog, RF, FPGA

Platforms : Microchip PIC18/24/32, TI-Tiva, pSoC, ARM9, AM335x, 8051, AVR ...

Critical review process to minimize design spins to control time and costs

In-house prototyping team to handle sourcing and assembly

DFx : Design for Performance, cost, testability, manufacturability

Complexity: upto 16 layers, BGAs, High speed DDR, RF, SI and cross-talk

FPGA/CPLD Design

FPGA is a key element in complex electronic design. The FPGA helps to realize high speed, logic which can be executed separately without loading the CPU. CPLDs are used for less complex, but high speed logic implementation such as decoders and logical operations. FPGAs follow an ASIC design methodology, which is quite different from typical Hardware flow. RTL, pre-layout and post-layout simulations help to ensure that the critical timing aspects are verified before actual usage of FPGA in a target PCB.

Architecture / FPGA selection: Based on the estimated complexity, performance and IO pins required, a suitable FPGA is selected. Provision for some buffer in terms of speed and gate count is necessary to address any additional requirements and potential increase in gate count during synthesis. In this stage, the high level architecture of the various blocks of the FPGA and their interconnects are defined.

RTL Coding / Verification: In this stage, the various blocks are coded and verified using simulation. Either Verilog or VHDL are used as the Hardware Description Language and then using Test benches and stimuli, the inputs are fed and output verified for expected behaviour.

Synthesis and routing : The successful RTL code is synthesized with timing and area constraints to get a suitable layout which will work effectively with the desired timing speeds. After the routing, a binary file is created, which is loaded into the FPGA at every power-up cycle, and configure the FPGA to perform the specific tasks as per the coding.

Technosphere’s FPGA team is very experienced and has worked on the state of art tools and devices. The team has prior experience in Telecom and RISC processor IC development and working on state-of-art projects involving new technologies, standards and intensive data capture and manipulation. Our experience includes Xilinx Spartan, Xynq and Altera FPGAs.

Firmware and Applications

Firmware in any microcontroller is the heart of the embedded system, and the firmware code execution determines how well the product functions in normal and abnormal situations. A very robust process is required to ensure that the end product meets the desired functionality. Technosphere’s Firmware team is experienced in both OS and non-OS implementation of Firmware in embedded controllers. With the multiple design wins in low level drivers and stacks, Technosphere is able to turnaround projects in a very short timeframe.

In many products, the embedded product needs to communicate to another system – a PC/Laptop/ Tablet/Phone for monitoring and control. This needs both communication protocols and also application on the host. The application can be realized using a web-server approach, where no coding is required on the host side, and the device can be monitored and controlled through a browser from anywhere in the world. In some cases, custom applications in Android, .NET are required and Technosphere has tied up with competent partners to deliver the required application.

The firmware development follows a smooth flow:

High level design: In this stage, the requirement of the product is translated into flow diagrams and state diagrams. This helps in translating the complex requirement into manageable modules and provides clarity for the subsequent stages

Coding and unit testing: In this stage, the flow is implemented in code and verified for functionality at a unit level. This is the crucial stage in the project, and proper care is taken to ensure that the code is written well with adequate documentation.

Integration testing: The various modules are integrated and tested in the target hardware for validating the desired functionality

Application development is required in many cases as add-on to the embedded solution. Technosphere, alongwith their preferred partners can provide solutions in Embedded Web-server, .NET, Android, IOS and other frameworks. Another key expertise is in developing embedded firmware for production testing, which reduces the production time substantially, thus improving the cost-effectiveness of the product.

Firmware/Application Summary:

non-OS, Linux, RTOS

IDE: Eclipse, MPLAB-X, CCS, GTK...

Device Drivers

Board Support Packages

Diagnostics Tools

Embedded Webserver, .NET, Android, IOS

Production testing

Connectivity and Peripherals

Technosphere has experience in many of the peripherals and connectivity devices which are required in today’s devices. The challenge is not just to make the peripherals connected to the controller, but also to optimize on power consumption, performance and provide a high level of error handling.

Connectivity is the way to enable “Internet of Things”. Wireless technologies have matured with good power levels to enable ubiquitous solutions. Technosphere has successfully delivered products in several connectivity technologies, including Zigbee, Wifi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, RS485, GPS, GSM/GPRS, Cy-RF.

HMI (Human-Machine Interface) is a key aspect of interacting with systems for monitoring and control purposes. Several technologies are available which can be selected for the specific application, including LED, LCD, Touch etc. Technosphere has experience in Graphics Libraries and have a unique solution for a Graphics Library for 64x128 Monochrome LCD, which helps clients to create excellent graphics on a simple platform.

Sensors play an important role in providing measurement of various parameters into the embedded system, and in turn can be propagated to any remote location, including Cloud. We have worked with several sensors for voltage, current, temperature, position, Hall-effect.

Actuators and motors are required to control and create movement related products. Technosphere has delivered solutions in several pump, solenoid, DC motor, Stepper motor and BLDC motor solutions, interfaced to Microcontrollers.

Connectivity/Peripherals Summary:

Communication including Zigbee, Wifi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, RS485, GPS, GSM/GPRS, Cy-RF.

Display: Graphic LED array, TFT LCD, Segmented LCD, e-inkC

Resistive and capacitve Touch screens

Membrane Keypad, capsense switches, hall effect and tactile switch inputs

Solenoids, DC Motor, BLDC Motor, Stepper Motors

Electrical measurement – Voltage, current, AC / DC, CT/PT, Hall sensors

General Measurement : NTC/PTC thermistors, Light intensity sensors, Contact Image sensors

Protocols and Stacks

In order to have communication between two systems/machines/controllers, a formal protocol is needed so communication can be robust and prevents chaos. For different applicatons, different protocols have been developed and standardized for ensuring interoperability for products developed anywhere in the world to work together. Technosphere team has been fortunate to work with the very relevant and current protocols and implement them in real-life projects successfully.

In order to develop the protocols efficiently, several stacks have been developed and ready-to-use in multiple platforms, thus reducing the time-to-market substantially for the end customer.

Protocols & Stack Summary:

TCP/IP, UDP

Industrial / Automotive : CANBUS, MODBUS

Building / Home Automation : BACNET, LONWORKS

RFID : ISO14443 / NFC