Embedded systems need some level of firmware development or a fully embedded OS to run an application, and the firmware development needs to happen alongside the hardware development portion of a project. Syncing everything takes a comprehensive set of design and management tools, as you’ll find in Altium Designer and Altium 365. You can keep track of everything you need in PCB design, PCB programming language, component sourcing, and much more, as you develop your embedded application.
Embedded systems design is unique in that it brings together firmware or software development and electronic hardware design. Multiple aspects of electronics engineering, software engineering, PCB programming language, and mechanical design converge with each other in these projects, and teams need a suite of product development tools to bring new embedded systems to production and, ultimately, to market. Most importantly, each member of a design team needs visibility into all other aspects of a design through simplified access to MCAD models, firmware code, and PCB manufacturing files and documentation.
Altium Designer and Altium 365 bring a complete set of design tools, together with project management features, into a single program. Anytime a design is created in Altium Designer, the embedded team can attach firmware to the project and manage everything through the version control system in Altium 365. During the project, an embedded team needs a set of development tools to work with their chipset and write production-grade code for their application.
Create a design workflow with PCB programming software
To start developing your application for your embedded system, you need to access the IDE and SDK from your component manufacturer, and download these onto your local computer. Generally, any IDE can be used to develop code for your embedded application, although your chipset manufacturer may have released a proprietary IDE for your components so that you can develop your application. However, once you finish your code and test all logic cases, you’ll need to use your manufacturer’s developer tools to compile your code to a binary so that it can be flashed to the component on the PCB.
Using your component manufacturer’s IDE as your PCB programming software is the preferred route for developing your embedded application, as they can easily integrate their SDK and any required libraries into their IDE. Instead of developing all libraries from scratch, using manufacturer-supplied libraries and open-source libraries helps cut down development time while using proven code to develop an embedded application.
Altium 365 links your embedded code and hardware design
To keep track of your code for your embedded application, Altium 365 gives you the tools you need to store, track, and access all embedded code for your project. A design team can add embedded code to an Altium Designer project and store this data in Altium 365. Everything is entered into the integrated Git-based version control system, where revisions to code are tracked and hardware revisions can be packaged with all embedded code and manufacturing data. No other platform provides this type of integration with your PCB programming language and design software.
• Altium 365 allows you to share individual files through managed folders, or entire projects with collaborators. You can also enter high-volume production by sharing manufacturing data through Altium 365.
• Your Altium 365 Workspace allows you to share with internal team members and external stakeholders.
• An important part of product development is mechanical design. ECAD and embedded development teams also need to interface with MCAD tools as part of project management and product development.
Develop your PCB layout and code in parallel
Embedded systems have to live on a circuit board, and the board design will ultimately inform how the product or application is developed. While the embedded team builds code for your product, you can work on building the schematics and PCB layout inside Altium Designer, while keeping track of all project data in a single platform. Altium Designer includes a comprehensive set of PCB design and layout tools to help you design powerful hardware platforms and prepare designs for manufacturing.
Some of the major features you’ll find in Altium Designer include:
• A hierarchical, multichannel schematic editor with built-in library access features and a SPICE simulator with an intuitive interface.
• CAD tools for PCB layout and routing that accurately place components, traces, copper pour, vias, pads, and any other feature you’ll find in a PCBA.
• Post-layout simulation tools to examine crosstalk, reflection waveforms, length/delay tuning, and impedance matching.
• Integration with enterprise-level MCAD design applications and field solver applications.
• A complete set of manufacturing file generation features to instantly generate fabrication and assembly data in standard formats.
• Native 3D design tools to help you check interferences and visualise the mechanical behaviour of the system.
Altium Designer’s PCB Editor includes everything needed to design high-quality electronics, without requiring external programs for simple design tasks. Design teams can take a methodical approach to PCB design and embedded systems development.
The most powerful PCB programming and design features in a single program
The power of Altium Designer comes from the integrated design rules engine, which ensures your PCB layout complies with basic electrical rules and DFM rules. You can use Altium Designer’s PCB Editor to establish requirements for your design by setting the standard and custom design rules for every aspect of your PCB layout. With this approach, you can write an instruction set that governs routing widths, plane connection styles, routing styles, and clearances applied to individual net classes, layers, objects, and much more. You can take full control over your design tools and your PCB layout for embedded systems with Altium Designer.
• Altium 365 can function as your centralised data management platform in the cloud. You can store, access, and manage all your hardware data and embedded code in Altium 365.
• Altium Designer and Altium 365 work together to help teams move through PCB design reviews by facilitating data sharing in a unified platform.
• Altium Designer streamlines the entire process for designing PCBs, starting with schematic editor tools and component management, and ultimately generating PCB manufacturing files in standard formats.
Store all your embedded systems project data in Altium 365
The power of Altium 365 is its file-sharing and storage capabilities, together with an integrated version control system for hardware development. All aspects of a project can be stored, and revisions tracked, with Altium Designer used as a portal into the managed cloud platform in Altium 365. Hardware and embedded designers can access each other’s data by simply opening a project in Altium Designer.
Whether you’re ready to deploy a prototype or you need to prepare to scale to high volume, Altium 365 will function as the link between your PCB design team, embedded developers, and your manufacturer.
| Tel: | +27 12 665 0375 |
| Email: | [email protected] |
| www: | www.edatech.co.za |
| Articles: | More information and articles about EDA Technologies |
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version
