Harnessing complexity: Innovations in multi-board design
Last year, on episode 18 of Printed Circuit podcast, host Steph Chavez discussed the intricate world of multi-board design—a critical area for technological advancement and efficiency in electronics. Chavez, alongside guest Chris Young, Lead Hardware Engineer at Moog Space and Defense Group and former owner and lead engineer at Young Engineering Services, explored the current challenges and emerging solutions in this specialized field.
Having previously collaborated on many designs, Chavez and Young share a long history of tackling projects ranging from straightforward to highly complex, particularly in multi-board design involving various signal spectrums and power levels. Now Young has been running his own consulting business for the past decade with another two decades of experience with “designing circuit boards, systems, test systems, and writing software” under his belt.
Challenges in today’s multi-board design world
“I think what doesn’t work today is the designs are done separately from each other. So, if there are three boards that make up a simple system: one might be the brains of the operation, which is like a microprocessor I/O board, one’s a power supply board, and the other one might be an interconnect card that connects the boards together and then to the outside world,” said Chavez. –
Young highlighted the primary issue in multi-board design: the lack of integration and cohesive communication among design teams working on separate components of a system. This disconnection often results in critical mismatches in signal levels and pinouts, making it challenging for designers to ensure compatibility and functionality across the entire system.
“I’ve seen my fair share of engineering teams where we were attacking signals as they traverse through the system. And that manual approach; it’s long, tedious, and time-consuming,” Chavez recounted, highlighting the fallibility inherent in complex engineering tasks. “We’re human, and humans makes mistakes.”
Overcoming multi-board design challenges
The integration of “digital thread”
Addressing these challenges, Young advocated for a “digital thread” that integrates toolchains across systems software, PCB design, and mechanical engineering. Such integration would facilitate real-time updates and adjustments, dramatically reducing the risk of error due to out-of-sync designs. Siemens EDA, he noted, offers solutions that are a step in the right direction, supporting a more interconnected and transparent design process.
The implementation of model-based design systems
“A model is worth a thousand pictures,” Young said, emphasizing the value of a comprehensive, model-based system in modern engineering workflows.
Chavez and Young discussed the transformative impact of implementing model-based systems, especially in high-stakes environments like aerospace or automotive industries, where the cost of failure is exceptionally high.
Young additionally recounted challenges in a project involving a complex dual-processor IO card, where unexpected signal transmission revealed critical timing and compatibility issues between boards. This emphasized the importance of systems-level modeling, demonstrated by successful issue resolution in a subsequent project using HyperLynx’s multi-board simulation.
“Being able to have that instantaneous feedback when you’re designing so that way all disciplines are involved and have visibility to the intelligent decisions being made is key,” Chavez stressed.
Many longstanding employees often stick to familiar methods, instead of adopting advanced system-level, model-based approaches now necessary for managing increasingly complex multi-board designs.
“What is the cost of not changing? What is it going to cost you in the long run?” asked Chavez. “It surprises me how much money has been left on the table because company culture is resistant to the evolution of change, whether it’s process or tools, or their methodology approach in multi-board design.”
Emphasizing the necessity of persistence and consistency when advocating for technological and methodological changes, Young additionally shared insights on how system modeling tools can significantly streamline design processes like regulatory documentation, complex analyses, and more.
“If you’re going to spend the time to put the system’s definition in the model, you would want a mechanism that the model or the software or the application can output an artifact that is representative of the model in documentation form,” Young concluded.
Another example of the challenges Young has addressed is the intensive process of Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) in systems with multi-board designs. These systems, often comprising thousands of components and connections, traditionally require exhaustive manual scrutiny to identify potential failure modes—a process that can span years.
Advanced system modeling tools can dramatically streamline this process by automating the grouping and layout adjustments according to specific design requirements and integrating critical information during the design phase.
Conclusions
Exploring the complexities of multi-board design, Printed Circuit podcast host Steph Chavez and a Lead Hardware Engineer at Moog Space Chris Young’s discussion highlighted the challenges in designing multi-board systems as well as the need for improved integration and communication among design teams.
Young, drawing from decades of experiences, emphasizes how traditional design processes often operate in silos, leading to mismatches in signal levels and pinouts, ultimately affecting system functionality. Chavez also shares insights from his extensive career, pointing out that many companies resist adopting new methodologies despite the high costs associated with outdated approaches.
A key solution discussed in the episode is the implementation of model-based design systems and the integration of digital threads, which streamline real-time updates and improve collaboration across engineering disciplines. While change can be met with resistance, the long-term benefits of modernizing multi-board design—such as cost savings, improved system integrity, and greater innovation—far outweigh the challenges of adaptation.
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