ADI aims to help engineers solve design challenges in analog, RF and mixed-signal systems
"We see a lot of engineers that used to be on teams with four or five people or eight or ten people who are now working on smaller teams," explained Dan Ledger is Analog Devices’ Worldwide Tools & Web User Experience Manager and the Program Manager for Circuits from the Lab. "We see 2010 and 2011 has been a pretty rough time for a lot of design engineers particularly those working in or being asked to move into analog, mixed-signal and RF domains".
"ADI has looked at this situation today and we looked at the challenges with design re-spins being given shorter design cycles and smaller teams. The challenges are that we are seeing a lot of RF, analog, mixed-signal and isolation technologies that a lot of people out there do not seem to understand very well but have to apply to their designs. ADI has been working with these technologies for a long time. Our application engineers have been doing this kind of thing for 40 years and we have a lot of experience in these domains so this ‘Circuits from the Lab’ initiative is offering an approach to try and help bridge that gap. We are aiming to provide some of the expertise we have to customers in an offering that hopefully makes it easy for them to get their analog and mixed-signal portion of their design working right, minimize the number of re-spins and hopefully nail the necessary function of performance on the first shot rather than needing two or three re-spins".
With more than 150 solutions, ADI’s Circuits from the Lab reference circuits are detailed, yet easy-to-understand, building blocks engineered and tested for quick system integration.
For reliable, repeatable circuit performance, the company has created reference circuits that have been carefully documented with test data, design considerations and trade-offs, and design guidelines.
A growing number now also include schematics, PCB (Gerber) layout files, software device drivers, and evaluation hardware.
ADI’s reference circuits, including circuit notes, schematics, layout files, and device drivers, are available for free download at www.analog.com/pr/circuits. Hardware, when available with a circuit, can be ordered through ADI and its authorized distributors.
Circuits from the Lab reference circuits have been developed by ADI to anticipate practical issues related to moving a design into real-world production with minimum time to market. ADI’s market-leading technical support teams identify which circuits and end-use applications are the most challenging for engineers.
Circuits from the Lab are available for many of ADI’s product technologies and span various applications areas, including industrial automation and instrumentation systems.
All Circuits from the Lab reference circuits include circuit notes and provide test data to help designers quickly and accurately select components. Many also include the following, all of which can save additional days to weeks of engineering time:
Design and integration files – includes schematics, PCB and EDA interface files, and bill of materials listing active and passive components by manufacturer and model number.
Software device drivers – allows communication with and control by external processors.
Evaluation hardware – allows designers to stress the circuit and see how it performs.
ADI’s Circuits from the Lab reference circuits include fully documented test bench configurations and operating parameters to help engineers rapidly recreate, customize and integrate their circuit designs. Circuits from the Lab reference circuits use a testing protocol that is specific to each applied technology and end-use scenario. The test protocol anticipates and approximates engineers’ application needs and tests for the most relevant performance characteristics.
More about Circuits from the Lab at www.analog.com/circuits/about
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Reference Circuits from the Circuits from the Lab program include:
