Electronic Product Development - Skill Sets
There are many areas in electronic design where, to get the best-performing -- or most cost-effective -- design results, both digital and analog design skills are needed, and they must be integrated in such a way that the best aspects of both disciplines are used.
Here is a small sample of the electronic design skill sets brought to the table:
General
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Cost Effective Design:
An appreciation of cost-effective design, and an understanding of the
difference between cost-sensitive and cost-no-object approaches
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Circuit Design:
Schematic capture, circuit simulation, and printed circuit board layout
using ORCAD™ tools
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System Architecture:
A strong understanding of the way in which circuit modules interact, and what is
needed to keep these interactions from causing unexpected noise or
crosstalk problems
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Regulation Compliance:
CE and UL regulations, and the way they affect the way a specific design is
approached
Analog
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Low-noise photoamplifiers and related high-gain, high-performance circuitry
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Diode laser drivers, for visible and infrared lasers, CW, pulsed, and modulated
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Professional-grade audio: wide-band interface, amplification, and signal processing
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Power supplies, both linear and switching, including designs appropriate to
low-noise approaches
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RF and infrared remote controls
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Multicolor and high-power white LED drivers
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Tube-based audio electronics, for the ultimate in high fidelity sound reproduction
Digital
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8, 16, and 32 bit microcontrollers. MicroChip PIC™ processors are a
specialty
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A to D, D to A conversion, for both audio and instrumentation purposes
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LCD displays, both graphic and alphanumeric
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Digital signal processors, particularly for specialized audio processing
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USB, serial, and Ethernet communications
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Power-over-Ethernet
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SPI and I2C peripheral interfaces
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Modbus™ instrument protocol, TCP/IP and serial
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Embedded systems programming in Assembly and C.