Integrating new technology; the low risk approach.

The board in the picture was a huge step for the company I was with at the time, and due to the fear of new technologies it was done almost as a skunkworks project on a shoestring budget.

Those fears were around multiple issues: DDR2 memory, PCI express multi-lane interfaces, low voltage high current cores, high speed connectors, effective decoupling at the interfaces and more.

I was part of the team that implemented this processing unit (it is a single board computer) that allowed us to move away from (very) high priced boards from a well known vendor of such things. My role was as consultant and mentor to other designers who were not as knowledgeable (at the time) in the various issues to be handled and their solutions.

Had the fear not been there (I was hired there, after all, to bring high speed design skills amongst other things) and the board been developed earlier, the cost savings would have been higher by a (probably) significant amount. That amount is difficult to quantise, but the new solution saved some hundreds of pounds per main board.

Moving to new and untried technology (within a given company) is usually viewed as high risk, somewhat understandably, but often the investment in that risk pays off. This particular unit ended up in numerous successful products and actually helped that company perform a job at a price the final customer could afford because it already existed and was tried and tested. Without it, it is doubtful the customer would have been able to afford the solution.

If your company would like to move to new technologies, but are unsure of whether it can be achieved and worried because it is not a core skill for you, then I and PJS Electronics are here to help you solve your problem with low risk, fast design times and competitive rates. We have the experience and knowledge of a vast array of electronics and embedded solutions that can help you.

New technology need not be fraught with problems.