FUSE Application Experiment 26715 Demonstrator Document ... fileDemonstrator Document FUSE AE 26715 Page 1 FUSE Application Experiment 26715 Demonstrator Document Ignition Controlled

Demonstrator Document FUSE AE 26715 Page 1

FUSE Application Experiment 26715

Demonstrator Document

Ignition Controlled Engine Analysis:

Applying PLD, DSP and SMT technology creates newmarket opportunities for portable, realistic

monitoring and analysis.


Abstract of Application Experiment ......................................................................................... 3

Keywords and signature............................................................................................................ 3

1 Company name and address............................................................................................... 4

2 Company size ...................................................................................................................... 4

3 Company business description........................................................................................... 4

4 Company markets and competitive position at the start of the AE................................... 4

4.1 The competition in the market and the position of COM ............................................... 4

5 Product to be improved and its industrial sectors ............................................................. 6

5.1 Product description ....................................................................................................... 6

5.2 Reasons to innovate ....................................................................................................... 7

6 Description of the product improvements.......................................................................... 8

6.1.1 Advantages of improved product ......................................................................... 10

6.1.2 Application areas of improved products............................................................... 11

7 Choices and rationale for the selected technologies, tools and methodologies ............. 11

7.1 Choice of Technology................................................................................................... 11

7.2 Design Methodologies .................................................................................................. 12

7.3 Test Methods ............................................................................................................... 12

8 Expertise and experience in microelectronics of the company and the staff allocated tothe project ................................................................................................................................ 12

9 Workplan and rationale ................................................................................................... 14

9.1 Workpackage description............................................................................................ 16

9.1.1 Workpackage 1: Management.............................................................................. 16

9.1.2 Workpackage 2: Training..................................................................................... 16

9.1.3 Workpackage 3: Specification.............................................................................. 17

9.1.4 Workpackage 4: Design........................................................................................ 17

9.1.5 Workpackage 5: Evaluation................................................................................. 17

9.2 Costs and effort............................................................................................................ 18

10 Subcontractor information ........................................................................................... 18

10.1 Subcontractor 1 ........................................................................................................... 18

10.2 Subcontractor 2 ........................................................................................................... 18


10.3 Subcontractor 3 ........................................................................................................... 19

11 Barriers perceived by the company in the first use of the AE technology .................. 19

12 Steps taken to overcome barriers and arrive at an improved product......................... 20

13 Knowledge and experience acquired ............................................................................ 20

14 Lessons learned ............................................................................................................. 21

15 Resulting product, its industrialisation and internal replication ................................ 21

15.1 Work plan for industrialisation .................................................................................. 22

15.1.1 Investment for industrialisation........................................................................ 22

15.2 Internal replication...................................................................................................... 22

15.2.1 Programmable logic device .................................................................................. 22

15.2.2 Digital signal processor ........................................................................................ 22

15.2.3 Surface mounted technology................................................................................ 23

16 Economic impact and improvements in the competitive position ............................... 23

17 Added value to the portfolio and target audience ........................................................ 24


Abstract of Application Experiment

COM GmbH from Graz, Austria, has over 25 years of experience in the development andproduction of instruments for IC (internal combustion) engine and medical measurementimplementing PCB and microcontroller. COM has six employees (two electronic engineerswith experience of analogue and digital design with discrete components and through holeplated PCB) and a turnover of about 581,4 k€ (1998).

COM produces IC engine indicating systems, necessary for improvements when developingIC engines (measuring the pressure inside the cylinder, the angle of the crank shaft, and theinternal temperature) and a ballistic Analyser for ballistic measurements. Furthermore COMproduces several signal conditioners for transducers. COM distributes its products world-wide by agencies.

1970 (year of foundation), the company developed and produced the world-wide firstcomputer aided IC engine indicating system. Several improvements have been made withthe actual system, DATAC-1, being on the market since 1989. It comprises a data acquisitionsection and an IBM-compatible PC. All PC components, a small monitor and the COMhardware is installed in plug-in technique in an industrial case.

The current DATAC-1 technology is not up to date, which makes a redesign necessary tohold the shares of the market. A dramatic space saving to approximately 10% of the size ofDATAC-1 can be achieved by using PLDs and SMDs. Additional use of new monolithicanalogue components and a DSP can improve the performance and flexibility and adapt it totoday's standard.

COM is a first user of PLD, DSP, and SMT.

The main reason to innovate was to enter the new market opened by forthcoming regulationsfor IC engines. Therefore size and power consumption had to be reduced, which also leadsto cost reductions. This was achieved with the new design making it a perfect follow up.Furthermore, two new market segments were opened: On board investigations in cars andships.

The importance of both segments is rising. In cars because stationary operated test benchesdo not characterise the real behaviour of the engine and in ship diesels because even thelightest performance changes of an engine can lead to serious problems on sea.

COM will develop and industrialise a new complete system where the PC is not visible for thecustomer.

The design of the prototype took 13 months with a budget of 75,18k€ of which 70K€ was theFuse investment. The payback period of the FUSE investment will be approximately 12months while the ROI over a product lifetime of three years is estimated to reach up to 650%.In addition 59K€ of industrialisation costs were necessary.

Keywords and signature

Keywords: PLD, DSP, SMT, indication, internal combustion, engine monitoring, indicatingmeasuring, combustion analysis

Signature: 3-0100-550-0400-1-2911-1-33-A


1 Company name and address

COM GmbHAm Mühlgraben 5A-8041 GrazAustria

2 Company size

COM GmbH has six employees, two of them are electronic engineers. The turnover of COMwas about 581,4 k€ in 1998.

3 Company business description

The company COM has more than 25 years of experience in the development andproduction of instruments for IC engine measurement and medical measurement. 1985 theRepublic of Austria awarded the prize of innovation to the company.

The synergetic interlacing of physics, electronics, software engineering and fine mechanicsresults in exceedingly attractive problem solutions. COM is an innovative company, whichdistributes its products world-wide by agencies.

COM produces IC engine indicating systems (DATAC-1) and a ballistic Analyser (BAL) forseveral measurements in ballistic. Furthermore COM produces signal conditioners fordifferent transducers, for example the PCA Precision Charge Amplifier for crystal pressuretransducers, the PRA Piezoresistive Amplifier for piezoresistive transducers, the TATemperature Amplifier for temperature transducers and the CA Carrier Amplifier for needlelift sensors.

TDC Top Dead Centre is a product to measure the top dead centre of an IC engine cylinder.We produced an optical crank angle transducer with electronic signal conditioning too.

In the field of medical measurement COM produces a so called Viskosimeter to measure theviscosity of blood. Other products are used for monitoring functions of medical instruments.

Prodcom code of company: 332Prodcom code of product: 2911, 3410, 3541

4 Company markets and competitive position at the start of the AE

4.1 The competition in the market and the position of COM

COM develops and produces so called indicating measuring systems for determining thequality and nature of the combustion of internal combustion engines. COM main market aremanufacturers of IC engines (Diesel or Otto) for vehicles, manufacturers of IC engines usedin general purpose machines, research institutes and tuners (racing, also for two strokeengines).

Due to lawful regulations becoming stricter each year and the demands of the consumers,the fuel consumption and the resulting emissions have to be reduced. The increasingsensitivity of the consumers concerning fuel consumption and emission led themanufacturers to use this as a marketing instrument.


The main manufacturers of IC engines (Diesel or Otto) are operating roughly 1800 testbenches for research and development purposes. About 50% of them are equipped withindicating measuring instruments (= 900 indicating systems sold). COM supplied 78instruments (DATAC-1, DATAC-4), which is equal to a market share of 8%.

The indicating system DATAC-1 is generally used in the IC engine research anddevelopment, examples are Daimler Benz, Skoda or Bosch.

Due to the fact that COM supplies the whole world market the main competitors come fromAustria, Germany, Japan, and USA.

The table below provides an overview of the distribution of the competitors market share:

Competitor

Market share(%)

Comp1 55Comp2 10Comp3 17Comp4 10COM 8

Table 1: Market share distribution

The following table illustrates the economic history of the current product (DATAC-Family):

94 95 96 97 98Turnover (k€) 252 180 144 152 72Produced

pieces 7 5 4 3 2

Table 2: Economic history

The price/performance ratio of our current product DATAC-1 is very close to that of ourcompetitors. Due to a significant improvement by a factor of three we expect a real enhance-ment of our shares.

Basically there is no difference between the products of the competitors and COM’s productexcept that COM uses a faster bus system.

The requirement profile to be fulfilled by an indicating system is more or less standardised.The only way to get a step further is therefore to offer the full specifications at a lower price.In addition the miniaturisation and significantly reduced power requirements open two newmarket segments by the possibility of mobile usage which is not possible with the currentsystems.

Both segments become more and more important, in the case of cars because stationaryoperated test benches do not characterise the behaviour of an engine in a car (a car engineis not operated stationary in a car, gear change, start stop etc.) and in case of ship’s dieselsbecause even small changes in the performance of an engine can lead to serious problemsat sea.

The opportunity of COM’s market can be identified in forthcoming regulation demanding a lifetime monitoring used for optimising the motor management. An intermediate stage will be anonboard research used during the test drives carried out at the manufacturer, this is were thenew product is aimed at.


5 Product to be improved and its industrial sectors

5.1 Product description

The existing product DATAC-1 is an indicating system for IC engine research anddevelopment. It has been designed specifically for engine analysis, which distinguishes itfrom other general purpose measuring instruments, e.g. by performing the measurements ona crank angle basis.

A data memory offers sufficient capacity to store a statistically significant number of singlecombustion cycles. The comprehensive measured data evaluation permits a dramaticreduction of huge quantities of data to a small number of significant figures, which preciselydescribe the combustion process and are easy to survey. The engineer therefore can berelieved of the handling of huge quantities of data and extract the required information in ahigh efficient manner. The system creates a 3D-plot out of 3 Mil. measured values whichcharacterises the entire behaviour of the IC engine. The incorporated personal computer(PC) with appropriate software performs further analysis, data reduction and evaluation ofthe measured data directly at the test bench, giving an immediate feedback and evaluation ofchanges in test engine conditions.

Picture 1: 8-channel version of DATAC-1


Figure 1: Block diagram of the existing product DATAC-1

The data acquisition section, the electronic part to be improved, is currently realised in amodular technique, where each module comprises one or more PCBs in the format100x160mm, equipped with wired components and standard logic.

By means of the analogue voltage, input sensor signals, which are processed by externalsensor amplifiers, can be measured. The system can be extended up to three analogue inputchannels, what makes 12 channels available. The input signals can be amplified by thefactor 1, 10 or 100. The multiplexed input channels (multiplexer) are sampled simultaneously(sample & hold). Measurements are performed on a time basis or a crank angle basis withup to 0.1° resolution by connecting a crank angle signal of 1° resolution. For time basedmeasurements channel 1 can be used for positive triggering, negative triggering andautomatic triggering (trigger logic). External triggering is also available. The capacity of thedata memory allows the storage of 360 consecutive cycles on 4 channel operation with acrank angle resolution of 1°. Through the interface the measured data can be accessed bythe PC.

This data acquisition section is used to measure the cylinder pressure, exhaust temperature,etc., and on a test engine for further evaluation and computation of significant figures andparameters like peak pressure and their crank angle position for each measured cycle.

5.2 Reasons to innovate

DATAC-1 comprises a data acquisition section and an incorporated PC, which is availablealso for general use. The installation of a PC inclusive monitor and a lot of separatedmodules of the data acquisition electronics in a big case and the wiring of the componentsand the front elements results in a very expensive production. The dimension of the usedcase is 520x340x500, so it is not suitable for mobile operations. A lot of components on over10 PCBs represent a lot of possible error sources. The effort for testing and adjusting a lot ofpotentiometer is relatively high. To be able to compete these costs must be minimised. Anadditional disadvantage is the necessity of additional amplifiers, which increase the costs forthe complete system once more. Additionally, the limited capacity of the data memory doesnot meet today's measuring standards anymore. The computation power is too weak to doreal time computations without loosing measuring data. In the meantime, long timemonitoring of IC engine test benches are not possible. To keep the current shares of marketthe product has to be redesigned completely.


The main reason to innovate is to enter the new market opened by forthcoming regulations.Therefore a reduction of the size and the power consumption is necessary, this will also leadto a reduction in costs.

6 Description of the product improvements

The new product will be named MIND1 and offers in its basic equipment 8 input channelsand can be extended to 16 channels by use of one additional module. Instead of normalvoltage inputs MIND1 offers integrated sensor amplifiers, which can be adapted very flexibleto several common used transducers. These transducers can be connected directly to theindicating system MIND1, additional external sensor amplifiers as with DATAC-1 areunnecessary.

MIND1 includes in its basic version 8 built in charge amplifiers, which allow the directconnection of up to 8 crystal pressure transducers or 8 universal (current/voltage) amplifiers.Other transducers can be used together with a corresponding external signal amplifier byconfiguring the input channel as programmable voltage or current amplifier. Beside thetransducers MIND1 does not need additional external components, which reduces theoverall costs for the user. The miniaturisation and integration of these amplifiers is possibleby using new monolithic analogue components in combination with SMD technology.

The higher total sampling rate allows sampling rates up to 300kHz on every channeloperated in time based operation. The sensor signal can be adapted better to the input rangeof the ADC by infinitely variable gain of the amplifiers and by unipolar or bipolar operation ofthe ADC, so the 12bit accuracy of the ADC can be realised optimally.

MIND1 offers crank angle based sampling too. The polarity and the resolution of the crankangle signal can be adjusted, additionally common used crank angle signals like AVL or 58Xcan be connected directly without any external converter. The crank angle signal can beinterpolated internally to a resolution of up to 0.05°, independent of the input crank anglesignal. This is continuously checked for errors to ensure error-free measurement. So themost common crank angle transducers can be used without any additional hardware. TheADC speed of 300kHz is high enough to sample 8 channels with 0.25° resolution up to12000 rev/min.

With modern PCs it is possible to transfer all incoming measurement values directly to themain memory of the PC without storing them in a limited memory. By this way the capacity ofthe memory can be adapted in a flexible and cheap way to the needs of several customers.Memory capacities of up to 256MByte meet all standards. The fixed memory of 12 Mbit perchannel of DATAC-1 is not enough anymore in some applications.

Due to the inclusion of a DSP real time computations can be executed without loosingmeasurement data in the meantime, therefore monitoring without data gap will be possible.The local data memory is used for this computation and for buffering a few measurementvalues in the time the PC is busy. Further the DSP offers a suitable host interface forcommunication with the PC.

By using modern, monolithic analogue components together with space saving, flexibleprogrammable logic devices (PLDs), all in SMD technology, the whole data acquisitionelectronics (without PC interface) can be integrated in a case of the dimension of a standardCD-ROM drive for PCs (DATAC-1 has a dimension of 520x340x500). So the complete dataacquisition unit has simply to be shifted in the 5 1/4" shaft of a standard PC case, the powersupply of the PC case is to be connected to the unit. An interface cable is used to connect it


to the interface. The complicated installation and production of DATAC-1 does not exist anymore.

In addition adjustments and calibration of the product by potentiometers (as for DATAC-1)are minimised by the possibility of complete control of all analogue parts by the PC.Adjustment and calibration routines can be automated, which reduces production costsagain.

To achieve the planned goal we use the following new technologies:• programmable logic devices (PLD)• digital signal processor (DSP)• surface mounted devices (SMD)

By the miniaturisation of the whole electronics to 2 PCBs (DATAC-1 needs 12 PCBs for 8input channels, sensor amplifiers not included) and by the change from a big case withrelatively complicated installations and connections to a cheap standard PC case withintegrated power supply it is possibly to reduce the costs dramatically by an improvementand an expansion of functionality.

For our already completely redesigned software package for data evaluation and analysisjust the drivers for the access to the new hardware are to be developed.

Figure 2: Block diagram of the improved product MIND1

The new product MIND1 presents a complete, compact and very powerful indicating systemfor the stationary as well as for the mobile usage, with a price/performance ratio, which is notreached at the market at this moment. The aim is not only to keep the actual market sharesbut also to increase them


The new design shows a significant reduced power and space requirement compared to theoriginal one, which makes the product not only a perfect follow up but opens two new marketsegments which were not available for the old design: On board investigations in cars andships.

The electronic part of the improved product will be implemented on two PCBs, the dataacquisition unit and the interface unit.

The analogue part of the integrated adaptable sensor amplifiers with modern, monolithicanalogue components is placed on the data acquisition unit. The control of this componentand other digital parts of this unit are built by a programmable logic device. The multiplexedchannels are sampled simultaneously on time basis or crank angle basis, the analogue inputsignals are converted to 12 bit digital data. By use of surface mounted devices (SMD) it ispossible to place the whole data acquisition unit on one PCB in the dimension of a standardCD-ROM drive. Through a digital interface this unit is connected to the interface unit.

A digital signal processor is placed on the interface unit. It is used for real time computationswith the measured data and also for the simple data transfer to the personal computerthrough its host interface. A few additional logic components are used to manage flexibleaddress decoding for the PC access and some logic around the DSP.

The new technologies for our company are again:• Programmable logic devices (PLD)• Digital signal processor (DSP)• Surface mounted devices (SMD)

6.1.1 Advantages of improved product

• Reduced space requirement by a factor 10• Reduced power consumption by a factor 3• More flexibility for customer wishes due to universal front-end amplifiers• Memory capacity is improved by a factor 32

Picture 2: The new product is a plugin-unit for aconventional PC


• Adaptation to today’s standard (Windows98 compatible)• Reduction of production costs by 42%• Increasing the number of channels from 12 to 16• Total sampling rates improved from 200kHz to 300kHz on every channel• Choosing between time basis or crank angle basis for sampling the channels• Automated adjustment and calibration routines

6.1.2 Application areas of improved products

Two new markets can be entered: On board investigations in cars and ships.

7 Choices and rationale for the selected technologies, tools and methodologies

7.1 Choice of Technology

The technology requirements to be met were: To allow a suitable reduction in space andpower consumption.

The following table provides a general comparison of the new technology options consideredfor this experiment:

DSP digital ASIC µC/µP FPGA/PLDspeed + ++ + +space + ++ + +consumption o ++ o −flexibility + −− + +costs/unit (40units)

+ −− + +

training needed + −− ++ Oeconomical &technical risk

+ −− + ++

Table 3: Assessment of the technology options

By using PLD a lot of space can be saved, the error probability during production can beminimised and the flexibility for customer wishes or future improvements can be increased.Together with subcontractor 1 we met the decision for ALTERA by reason of developmentsupport.

ASIC was considered too, but because of a too low expected number of pieces (estimated40 in three years) it is too costly and does not justify a large design cost.

The DSP will be used in the interface unit. A normal microcontroller does not have thecomputation power demanded, otherwise the microprocessor of the PC could be used. Forthis work a PLD was considered too. For data transfer a PLD would be the optimal choice,also for DSP-functions PLDs will be used more and more. However, PLDs are suitable morefor monotone and special DSP-functions, to get most flexibility for different and changingcomputations the DSP is the optimal choice. Because of the host interface of a DSP ofANALOG DEVICES ADSP2100-family this is the ideal choice for data transfer between thedata acquisition unit and the PC in combination with powerful real time computations, by agood price.

In production it is much cheaper to produce one SMD PCB than more PCBs with wiredcomponents, in addition it is necessary for the mobile usage.


7.2 Design Methodologies

The PLD in the data acquisition unit was designed with AHDL, ALTERA's programminglanguage for PLDs, in combination with graphical design entry. This language is not aspowerful as VHDL but nevertheless helpful for developing PLDs of medium complexity, fasterand more efficient than with the graphical editor only. Further AHDL is quite simple to learnfor first users, which is not true for VHDL. Therefore we have chosen after consulting withsubcontractor 1 to use the design methodologies mentioned for the PLD in the dataacquisition.

For the DSP ANALOG DEVICES delivers a comfortable development environment for theprogramming language C or for a processor near programming language. For our applicationspeed and software transparency is very important and therefore we chose in consulting withthe design house of ANALOG DEVICES to use the processor near programming language,which is relatively comfortable

We used the same CAD tool for these components as for wired components by extendingour component library.

7.3 Test Methods

First of all the PLD as well as the DSP was tested and simulated by using the correspondingsimulation tools of the development environment. This step was done very carefully for thedifferent parts because it can be quite difficult to find the errors not detected during thisphase later. After the simulation we started with the hardware test.

First the down load of the DSP routines had to be checked. After this was done, COMchecked step by step the functions of the interface unit including DSP and address decodingand then the data acquisition unit including analogue parts and all the functions of the PLD.These tests were done step by step using suitable software test routines, were alwaysjust a small part of the electronics was tested. In addition the hardware was controlled by adigital storage oscilloscope for its right function.

8 Expertise and experience in microelectronics of the company and the staffallocated to the project

Since more than 25 years C0M is developing electronic products for IC engine measurementand medical measurement. Analogue electronics as well as digital electronics are used in ourproducts.

With data acquisition systems including analogue signal conditioning (PCA Precision chargeamplifier, CA Carrier amplifier, PRA Piezoresistive amplifier, etc.), DACs and ADCs COMhas a lot of experience (DATAC-1, DATAC-4, PI-Meter). For digital control circuitry we stilluse single digital components in all speed ranges.

We have a good experience with PC oriented electronic designs because of our existingproducts (DATAC-1, DATAC-4). In addition optical systems (crank angle transducer)extend our experience.

In some of our products microcontroller are used (P1-Meter). All of our products aredeveloped completely in house.

Since about 10 years we design our layouts by the usage of a CAD tool. With the digital CAMthe PCB manufacturer produces the PCBs.


Our company is a first user in this project for three technologies:• Programmable logic devices (PLD)• Digital signal processor (DSP)• Surface mounted devices (SMD)

All three technologies are not only important for this project but will be used for the redesignof other existing products in the near future. Especially PLD and SMD are necessary in everyredesign as well as new designs. They bring advantages everywhere. We would like to use aDSP for at least one other project in the near future, but its usage is restricted to specialproblems in contrast to PLD and SMD.

An analogue designer with 10 years of experience in the field of designing high precisionwide band signal conditioners in a noisy environment was responsible for the design work inthis project.


9 Workplan and rationale

The workplan at the beginning of the AE was as follows: PD = Person daysWP Task Description FU

[PD]Sub1[PD]

Sub2[k€]

Sub3[PD]

11 Project management 122 Dissemination 33 Reporting 6

21 PLD basic training,

AHDL and graphical design training,PLD simulation training

6

2 Exercises and experiments with DSP design 153 DSP workshop 34 Exercises and experiments with the DSP 205 SMD handling 5

31 Detailed specification of system protection part 22 Detailed specification of interface between PC

and interface unit with respect to the DSP5

3 Detailed specification of interface between dataacquisition unit and interface unit

5

4 Detailed specification of sensor amplifiers 85 Detailed specification of analogue part of data

acquisition unit2

6 Detailed specification of control logic and digitalpart of data acquisition unit

8

7 Detailed specification of the DSP environment forreal time computation and address decoding

2

41 Design of system protection part 22 Design of DSP environment 203 Designing of address decoder 94 Layout and post-layout of interface unit (IU) 135 Design of power supply for analogue and digital

components of data acquisition unit6

6 Design of charge amplifier 57 Design of bridge amplifier 168 Design of analogue data acquisition part 69 AHDL description and simulation 24 510 Synthesis of digital part, timing verifications 1211 Layout and post-layout of data acquisition unit 24

51 Prototype PCB of interface unit 0,92 Equipment of PCB of interface unit 33 Test routines and drivers 74 Test and evaluation of interface unit 65 Prototype PCB of data acquisition unit 1,06 Test and evaluation of sensor amplifiers 87 Test and evaluation of PLD function 68 Test and evaluation of interface between data

acquisition unit and interface unit6

9 Test and evaluation of data acquisition circuitry 4TOTAL 270 11 1,9 3


The first line in the following table shows the time plan before the start of the AE. The secondline shows the real time course of the project!

Month1

Month2

Month3

Month4

Month5

Month6

Month7

Month8

Month9

Month10

Month11

Month12

Month13

WP 1

1,1

1,2

1,3

WP 22,1

2,2

2,3

2,4

2,5

WP 3

3,1

3,2

3,3

3,4

3,5

3,6

3,7

WP 4

4,1

4,2

4,3

4,4

4,5

4,6

4,7

4,8

4,9

4,10

4,11

WP 5

5,1

5,2

5,3

5,4

5,5

5,6

5,7

5,8

5,9


9.1 Workpackage description

9.1.1 Workpackage 1: Management

Labour(person days)

LabourCost (k€)

First User 31 7,37Total 31 7,37

The technical management included the scheduling of the several work phases and themanagement during the whole duration of this project. Due to the fact that the responsibledesigner left the company, COM had to put more effort in managing the AE.

9.1.2 Workpackage 2: Training

Labour(person days)

LabourCost (k€)

First User 44 11,30Subcontractor 1 1,27Subcontractor 3 0,63Total 44 13,20

The training took place by attending regular training courses on AHDL and practisingexercises comprising off :• usage of the graphic design editor• usage of the text design editor i.e. specification of logic structures by means of Boolean

expressions.• design of an assumptive rpm ( revolution per minute = engine speed) unit and an address

logic of the interface unit• Introduction into the principal architecture of the DSP by an expert from ANALOG DEVICESby transfer of design hints and programming tricks. The software training was primarily aimedto time critical assembler solutions. A program for calculating the rate of heat release (themost time critical routine in our current software package) was implemented and proofeditself 13 times faster than our original PC based version.

SMD technology:Some companies (=3) were visited who have been using SMT for a longer period of time andpractical experiences were acquired.

The additional effort was also caused by the fact that the responsible designer left thecompany.


9.1.3 Workpackage 3: Specification

Labour(person days)

LabourCost (k€)

First User 62 8,80Total 62 8,80

The complete system was defined in this stage, using DATAC - the forerunner of MIND1 – asreference. Due to the simulation capabilities of AHDL very important decisions like –Multiplex versus ADC per channel, parallel versus serial could be made finally.

A change in the specification was necessary at a certain time of the project because a designengineer who was heavily involved in the project left the company. To be able to get theproduct onto the market without a heavy delay we decided to change the specification a bit.After the change, the most important features were:

universal front end amplifiers300 kHz sample rate per channel16 bit AT bus interface

This was a bit simpler than the original one, but does not make any differences for apresumptive customer.

9.1.4 Workpackage 4: Design

Labour(person days)

LabourCost (k€)

First User 158 33,21Subcontractor 1 0,00Total 158 33,21

All components were either computed, simulated, or designed around real life test circuits.Care was taken on the dynamic accuracy of the new front end amplifiers (like topologydependent stray capacities which are influencing the dynamic behaviour of the system). Thefinal artwork was routed by our EDS package from CADDY.

The planned design effort of the subcontractor was included in the training-on-the-job inworkpackage 2.

The additional effort in this workpackage was caused by the re-specification of the system.Due to the knowledge gained during the training phase and the re-specification of the systemCOM was in the position to carry out the development by themselves.

9.1.5 Workpackage 5: Evaluation

Labour(person days)

LabourCost (k€)

First User 48 10,00Subcontractor 2 2,40Total 48 12,40

The evaluation of the design was performed by using engine simulators and real engines.First the digital part was tested by using programmable signal sources, which weremonitored by a special PC based test routine. It turned out that the original FIFO size did notfit the bus latency time, evoked by interrupt handling of the operating system (Windows 98).


Fortunately a pin compatible memory with 4 times the capacity did the job, without anychanges necessary in the board layout. With a fully tested digital data acquisition part theevaluation of the analogue part was done. Here the ADC per channel concept proofed thatcross talking, and well known memory effects in multiplexer circuits were not longerdetectable. Temperature dependent failures were also checked and were in perfectaccordance with the design.

9.2 Costs and effort

The following table reports the forecast versus effort and the costs per workpackage.

fore

cast

effo

rt F

U(p

erso

nda

ys)

actu

al e

ffort

FU (p

erso

nda

ys)

fore

cast

cost

s F

U(k

€)

actu

al c

osts

FU (k

€)

fore

cast

cost

s S

ub1

(k€)

actu

al c

osts

Sub

1 (k

€)

fore

cast

cost

s S

ub2

(k€)

actu

al c

osts

Sub

2 (k

€)

fore

cast

cost

s S

ub3

(k€)

actu

al c

osts

Sub

3 (k

€)

fore

cast

TO

TA

Lco

sts

(k€)

actu

alT

OT

AL

cost

s (k

€)

Management 21 31 5,00 7,37 5,00 7,37Specification 40 62 7,30 8,80 7,30 8,80Training 32 44 6,40 11,30 4,30 1,27 0,70 0,63 11,40 13,20Design 137 158 28,80 33,21 3,60 0,00 32,40 33,21Production &Evaluation

40 48 8,40 10,00 1,90 2,40 10,30 12,40

Equipment 0,60 0,20 0,60 0,20Travel &Subsistence

3,00 0,00 3,00 0,00

SUM 270 343 59,5 70,88 7,90 1,27 1,90 2,40 0,70 0,63 70,00 75,18

10 Subcontractor information

10.1 Subcontractor 1COM is of the opinion that subcontractors responsible for the design should fulfil thefollowing requirements:• Excellent experience in the proposed technology (PLD)• Offering training courses• Possibility of training-on-the-job• And also important for COM is the geographical vicinity

For several years now, the company makes designs especially with all kind of programmablelogic devices in all categories of complexity. With its experience the company already hadhelped us to get an overall view of the advantages and possibilities of PLDs and of theseveral distributors of this components. In consulting with them we decided us for ALTERAcomponents, which are a good choice for medium complexity designs at the moment, also inrespect to the corresponding development tools. Beside consulting the company offerstraining for all parts of programmable logic, too as well as the possibility of training-on-the-job. Also the requirement of the geographical vicinity was fulfilled by this subcontractor.

10.2 Subcontractor 2

The requirements to fulfil by the subcontractor producing the PCB were as follows:• Excellent experience in the proposed technology (PCB)• Flexibility and reliability• Possibility to send the Gerber files via Internet• Possibility to get information on handling SMD


The company is European-wide one of the leaders in the production of single-sided, double-sided, double-sided plated through hole and multilayer PCBs with highest technology andquality standard, certified by DIN ISO 9002. The company is flexible and reliable.

The company already produced PCBs for our company with highest satisfaction for a longtime. For the change from wired components to SMD technology in this project the companywas available for any technical problems concerning the layout. The company had done theproduction of the prototype as well as will do the serial production in the quality as up to now.

10.3 Subcontractor 3

The subcontractor was responsible for the DSP training but in addition they will supply COMwith the DSPs. The subcontractor fulfilled the following requirements and was thereforeselected:• Excellent experience in the proposed technology, in this case DSP• Offering training courses• DSP supplier• Support to their products if technical problems occur

The company, with the headquarter in Vienna, is a part of a world wide operating company.

The company sells DSPs, A/D and D/A converters, analogue components (e.g. analoguemultiplexer, OPAMPs, etc.), provides consulting for their products and technical support forapplication problems as well as training. Their main markets are industrial enterprises mainlyoperating in the communication, data acquisition and computer industry.

The company is specialised in applications typical for their products and has a lot ofexperience in solving application problems.

In all three cases an order was placed and accepted later by means of a confirmation.Additionally it has to be mentioned that the contracts did not include any clause concerning apenalty due to a delay but merely reflected the deliverables, schedules and costs.

11 Barriers perceived by the company in the first use of the AE technology

The company was technically confident that it could integrate new technologies into itsproducts.

Consequently the barriers perceived by the company before the FUSE project in the use ofthe three new technologies used in the AE were more to do with specific know how for theparticular technologies, resources and economics:

The first barrier was the ROI expected. We did not see a market need for a reduced sizeDatac system using SMD technology instead of drilled through holes and PLDs instead ofdiscrete logic but otherwise identical. After investigations at our customers a market formobile indicating systems and therefore another barrier came up.

A mobile indicating system needs a massive reduction of size and power consumption of thecurrent product, the only way to achieve this goals is to implement three differenttechnologies. The introduction of three, for the company, new technologies at the same timewas seen as major barrier to over come.

The next identified barrier, which actually can be derived from the first is the cost of thedevelopment. The high cost (and of course the ROI we expected) prevented an improvementof the product.


Finally the specific know how for the particular technologies was a barrier to progress but notsomething which would have prevented us from pursuing the innovation.

12 Steps taken to overcome barriers and arrive at an improved product

FUSE had a big role in overcoming the barriers seen as described in the previous section.The possibility of an external support made us evaluate our market chances. The TTNprovided technology benefits information which led us to believe that markets could bedeveloped. We found out that currently no market for mobile indicating equipment existsbecause none of our competitors is able to offer adequate equipment. Additionally we foundthat there is a big need for this kind of equipment after talking to potential customers. Thus,we would be able to sell additional units with SMD, PLD, and DSPs. Here the first barrier wasovercome.

The barrier (risks) when introducing three new technologies at the same time was over camethrough investigations made in the run-up of organising the project and mainly throughtraining carried out within the FUSE project.

The financial barrier was directly overcome by looking for external financing. The decisionwas then taken to try to take part in the FUSE project. By getting the investment of FUSE wewere able to minimise the financial risk to the company of introducing new technologies intoour product.

The know how barriers were overcome by application of the engineering staff to the projects,training and self learning of technology implementation skills and the contracting ofcompetent technologists.

13 Knowledge and experience acquired

COM gained know how during this project on how to use programmable logic devices. Thisknowledge was acquired through a basic training on PLDs and a special training for AHDLand graphical design entry and simulation with the development tool.

By using the development tool for doing exercises and experiments the knowledge gainedduring the training was strengthened. During the project the company collected firstexperiences in a practical application of the new technology. During the whole developmentphase it was supported by subcontractor 1 which has a lot of experience in the practical useof PLDs. Their experience was very helpful to give COM an overall view about possibilitiesand advantages of PLDs.

Further knowledge acquired was how to use digital signal processors. Because of existingexperience in the use of microcontrollers it was decided to learn about the new technology bystudying manuals and special application notes of the used DSP. Additionally, practicalexperiments with the corresponding development kit were done to get the necessaryknowledge to start with the first real application.

Another experience gained was how to handle and operate with SMDs. During extension ofCOM’s standard component library of their CAD-tool the designer responsible for the layoutgot a feeling for the usage of several SMD components in layout design. The subcontractor 2consulted COM during this phase.


The experience gained by COM was higher than expected especially in the case of PLD. Thegained knowledge in the field of PLD opened up new applications which led already toadditional orders from other companies.

14 Lessons learned

• Take care of the disturbance signals of your circuits!This was one the most impressive lessons learned. When calculating the effective noisegenerated by a well designed circuit it often happened that at the end of a design thenoise budget was significantly exceeded in reality. Spectrum analysis showed that theexceeding part could not be related to one of the well known noise sources. During theimplementation of the AE we found that the SMD technology significantly reduced theproduced noise level. The explanation was the dramatic reduction of ground-inductivitiesof all involved ICs which led to a better dynamic behaviour (less noise, faster settling) ofthe analogue components of a system.

• Take advantage of a high level design language like AHDL for your digital circuits !AHDL is a simple to learn and very powerful to use design language which apart fromsimulation allows a permanent control of the status of your design like critical clock-frequency determination which proofed as a very useful design aid duringimplementation.

• Try to create a new market when redesigning an existing product !A small scale company, operating in an international market, should try to generateproducts which are too special to be processed by large scale competitors. During theprogress of the AE we could clearly see that because standard test benches of ICengines offer enough room, the moment when a critical instrument size was reached, themarket of mobile instrumentation was created.

• Use PLDs to have a better protection against unauthorised copying!It is much more harder for other companies to copy your development when using PLDsinstead of standard logic.

• Don’t hide your valuable development in standard products!The improved product is very small compared to the old one and fits into a slot of astandard PC. It is also more expensive than the old product. Some customers find it veryhard to understand why there is an enormous difference in price when your developmentis just a subsystem of a standard product e.g. of a PC.

15 Resulting product, its industrialisation and internal replication

A prototype has been implemented. The functionality of it is in good accordance to thedesign. The only problem occurred is the noise immunity of the involved DSP. Whenoperated from a battery in a car, the DSP was reset at some occasions. This makes aredesign of the power supply for the DSP necessary. Additionally some improvements in thesoftware package are necessary. The most important goal is to allow long term monitoring, aspecial requirement of mobile indicating investigations. After having improved the noiseimmunity of the DSP supply three prototype will be produced which are allowed to be testedby leading customers of the market.

COM has decided not to industrialise the developed prototype in the current version (a box,which fits into a standard PC slot). There are mainly two reasons for this. The first one wasalso mentioned in the previous section and is a marketing problem. The customers of COMhave, when being introduced to the new product, found it difficult to understand why the costof a subsystem of a PC is so expensive. The second reason is that there is a much higherprobability of system failure or error when the customer can “play” with the units of thesystem (i.e. take the box out of the PC, put it in another one etc.). Therefore COM chose to


go one step further and integrate the hardware designed in this project with a PC and use asbefore an own industrial case. Here the PC is not visible for the customer.

15.1 Work plan for industrialisation

The following work plan is based on the industrialisation of the new complete system andstarts in January 2000.

M = month

Work plan for industrialisation M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7Management x x x x x x xPCB development x x xSoftware improvement x x xIn house testing xLeading customer testing x xStart of series production x

15.1.1 Investment for industrialisationThe following table shows costs based upon the industrialisation of the new complete systemincluding the built-in PC.

Personalcosts [k€]

Subcontractor costs [k€]

Total

Management 4,0 4,0PCB development 10,0 10,0Software improvement 24,0 24,0In-house testing 5,0 5,0Production of 3 prototypes 7,0 1,0 8,0Documentation and leaflet production 2,4 5,6 8,0Sum 52,4 6,6 59,0

15.2 Internal replication

15.2.1 Programmable logic deviceIn all of the companies existing products, you can find a lot of logic components of the74-family. They need a lot of space, offer low flexibility and high production costs. The sameadvantages as COM had in this project they will have more or less in all our existing productswhere logic components are used, and those are several. So COM has planned to redesignmost of its existing products step by step by using space saving and flexible PLDs. Also fornew planned projects (small hand-held indicating system, crank angle marker,magnetometer) the development time of logic parts can be reduced dramatically by usingPLDs instead of inflexible single logic components. Therefore, this technology will be veryimportant in COM’s future.

15.2.2 Digital signal processorCOM planned to use a DSP for at least one new project (hand-held indicating system) in thenear future, but its usage is restricted to special problems. So this technology will not beused for a lot of our projects. When used, though, it will be the core of the product with itspowerful computation functions and is responsible for the most important features notreachable with other components.


15.2.3 Surface mounted technologySMD technology means saving of space and this means reduction of costs. In a lot ofapplications the limited space is a condition, like in a new planned transducer amplifier, butalso in the planned hand-held indicating system. So this technology has high importance intheir company too.

16 Economic impact and improvements in the competitive position

The following description discusses economic impact of the new complete system as well asthe resulting competitive position.

The production costs of the new product has been dramatically reduced (by more than 42 %)which allows us to produce systems not only on order, as in the past, but also to producesystems for stock to allow a much shorter reaction time than today: typically 2 months versusex stock. The market for mobile indicating investigations is roughly 120 systems in Europe.Due to investigations at our customers a market share of 25% is reasonable. Another resultof the investigation was that there is no competitor on the market offering a mobile indicatingsystem. A market share of 25 % will imply 40 systems to be sold within the next 3 years (=787 k€ turnover) which is an improvement of 300% compared to the turnover without thefeatures evaluated by the AE implying a ROI of 650% on the FUSE investment based on aproduct lifetime of three years. Industrialisation costs of 59K€ were required.

2000 2001 2002Increase in profitability (k€) 79 171 205Accumulated increase (k€) 79 250 455

Table 4: Increase in profitability

2000 2001 2002Produced pieces 7 15 18Turnover (k€) 137,73 295,13 354,15

Table 5: Estimated turnover with the AE innovation

2000 2001 2002Produced pieces 2 2 1Turnover (k€) 80 78 39

Table 5: Estimated turnover without the AE innovation

050

100150200250300350400

2000 2001 2002

Turnoverwith AE(k€)

Turnoverwithout AE(k€)

Figure 3: Estimated turnover

The payback period will be approximately 12 months.


The increase in profitability of 42% comes from the reduction of the production costs (42%)by implying the same selling price for the new product.

The miniaturisation and significantly reduced power requirements opened new marketsegments by the possibility of mobile usage which is not possible with the current systems.

Stationary operated test benches do not characterise the behaviour of an engine in a car (acar engine is not operated stationary in a car, gear change, start stop etc.) and in case ofship's diesels because even lightest chances in the performance of an engine can lead toserious problems on sea.

Another advantage for the customer can be identified in forthcoming regulation demanding alife time monitoring used for optimising the motor management. An intermediate stage will bean onboard research used during the test drives carried out at the manufacturer, this is werethe new product is aimed at.

17 Added value to the portfolio and target audience

One the most impressive lessons learned was to take care of the noise budget of the circuitto develop. Finishing a design it often will turn out that the noise budget was significantlyexceeded in reality.

When designing a digital system take the advantage of a high level (behaviour modelling)design language like AHDL to have permanent control of the status of the design.

A small scale company, operating in an international market, should try to generate productswhich are too special to be processed by large scale competitors.

The information about the product is of interest more for IC engine manufacturers and in theresearch and development of them.

The experiences with the new technologies and the economic aspects are of interest foralmost all electronic design houses which do not yet use this technologies. PLD, SMD can beused in all industry sectors. DSP of course is of interest only if high computation power isdemanded, an example is the audio industry or digital signal conditioning in general.

In any case they are a good example of what even very small companies can achieve withentering into new technology and encourage others probably still hesitating.

The following table shows the Prodcom codes of the industry sectors that may benefit fromthis document:

Description ProdcomManufacture of engine and turbines 2911Manufacture of instruments for measuring 332Manufacture of television and radio transmitters 322Manufacture of television and radio receivers 323

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