SAN Technology, Inc. One-List Board Design Methodology SANBlaze Technology Inc, (978) 679-1400 SANBlaze: Proven methodology for successful custom product designs Overview Inside contents Overview 1 Core Competency 1 Methodology Outline 2 Phase I Concept 3 Phase II Planning 3 Phase III Development 4 Phase IV Qualification 5 Phase IV Production 5 Summary 6 SANBlaze Technology Inc. manufactures circuit assemblies for embedded computers, including numerous custom products designed to meet special OEM partner requirements. With a focus on storage and networking functions, our company has executed dozens of embedded projects for AdvancedTCA, AMC, cpci, and PMC markets. These engagements have resulted in a richly diverse portfolio, especially in the RTM (rear transition module) product segment. We believe the key to our success lies in our design methodology. This paper outlines the SANBlaze One-list design methodology, and its application to rapidly execute and achieve your new product ideas. Core competency At SANBlaze, we excel at implementing storage and networking I/O functions as they apply to embedded computing. Our engineering team is thoroughly familiar with the relevant protocols and technologies including 6Gb SAS, SATA, SSD, Fibre Channel, RAID, battery protected caching, and the emerging importance of FCoE on 1-10Gb XAUI fabric connections. Though we have dozens of products, a closer examination reveals we tend to use the same silicon components for the major network and storage functions. We primarily use Intel for network controller silicon and LSI Corporation for the storage controller silicon. Both are undisputed leaders in their respective markets. Our engineers have become experts with these products, and now have an extensive circuit library of proven functional blocks including many ancillary I/O functions. We also have experience with 100 s of devices including PCI-Express graphic controllers, USB, UARTs, memories, EEPROMs from suppliers such as ATI, Broadcom, Marvell, NEC, PMC, and Texas Instruments. While no two designs are the same, our modular design philosophy often enables us to re-use existing functional blocks that minimize development cost, increase first pass success rate, and improve time-to-market (TTM). SB UC-119-r1
2 One-List Board Design Methodology One-list Design Methodology Outline SANBlaze assembled a team of industry veterans to define and develop its One-list design methodology. While individual expertise and capability count for a lot, a successful design methodology must be repeatab le, scalable, measurable and predictable. We created our process by examining the most successful product developments, and documenting all the tasks performed by all the people. The team then grouped all these tasks by discipline and timeline. Project success takes good digital design and software engineering. Success also requires a solid extended team to perform architecture, planning, program management, validation, certifications, documentation and product sustainability tasks. The study culminated with the creation of this 5-phase One-list Design Methodology process summarized below. Phase I Concept Feasibility Analysis, Architecture, Design option proposals Budgetary Pricing and PRD (Product Requirements Document) Phase II Planning SOW statement of work. Project plan identify resources and timeline Phase III Development Schematic Design, Board Layout Routing Spice and Thermal Analysis Proto Board Assembly, Bring-up Phase IV Qualification DVT and SVT (Design/System Verification Testing) UL60950, RoHS, FCC emissions/immunity, ECCNs Phase V Production and OEM branding Life cycle management including PCN, ECO, Errata, EOL Fig 1. SANBlaze One-List Design Methodology Process. Each Phase of the process identifies a written set of tasks and output milestones. While each project will utilize different people, the design methodology achieves repeatability and scalability by using common development lists. These lists also provide inherent measurability, as one can easily see how much is done versus how much remains to be done. More-over, the one list methodology affords a great deal of predictability. As the methodology is applied multiple times with multiple projects, the actual execution history provides deep understanding of how long each task takes, and real-life experiences that reveal which tasks can be accelerated, through either quick turn NRE, or parallel resource and development scheduling.
One-List Board Design Methodology 3 Phase I Concept - One-list milestones Most commonly, a new design engagement begins with a discussion of the application requirements followed by analysis of potential architectures that fulfill those needs. The customer may communicate these requirements through a MRD (marketing requirements document), or via white-board sessions conducted face-to-face. Either way, a new customer can expect SANBlaze to conduct a thorough feasibility analysis, which often results in several design options for consideration. Together the teams can decide which proposal best meets the requirements and cost goals. The following documents are published by SANBlaze and are the major milestone outputs of the Phase I concept stage. Phase I - milestones PRD - Product Requirements document Preliminary Product pricing goals Phase II Planning - One-list milestones Upon acceptance of the PRD, SANBlaze will prepare a detailed SOW (statement of work) that outlines the program objectives, responsible parties (SANBlaze vs. client) and a formal list of project expectations and ownership. The highlevel list outlines deliverables, expectations, and identifies the who and the when for project tasks. SANBlaze has conducted OEM partner projects where SANBlaze performs 100% of the project tasks, and others where an OEM may execute some portions. We take pride in our ability to execute projects in a fashion that leverages a partner s strength in a particular task category. For example, several of our OEM partners have their own FCC emission and immunity labs. These tasks can save thousands in NRE development costs. The SOW captures shared development details such as these. SANBlaze publishes the following documents, which represent the major milestone outputs of Phase II planning stage. Phase II - milestones SOW - Statement of work Letter of intent (LOI) agreement NRE and Product price quotes Microsoft project file (.mpp) ROI (Sanblaze internal)
4 One-List Board Design Methodology Phase III Development - One-list milestones After the client agrees with the planned SOW, SANBlaze begins phase III by establishing a secure login area on its website to exchange large files. Project team members can find and download any of the milestone documents generated during the various project phases. Phase III also marks the official addition of new project members. The one list is organized and scheduled such that inter-disciplinary activities execute in a parallel fashion to minimize development time. The engineering team members are assigned tasks from the One-list that include schematic capture, BOM generation, parts acquisition, component placement and layout, spice analysis, heat sink selection, and mechanical design. The marketing team is assigned tasks that include authoring datasheets, customer data manuals, website updates. System Test begins constructing an engineering validation test (EVT) plan. The product management team is assigned tasks that include ECCN export applications, and scheduling UL safety and FCC emission/immunity testing. Finally, a program manager leads regular team meetings, monitors the One -list task list and records progress in a project file. Phase III activity peaks when purchased parts and new PCB etch are assembled to create revision P0 prototypes (5 units), which are debugged and made operational. The customer partner will receive some number of prototypes as agreed and described in the SOW (generally 2). At this time, Phase III engineering development activity declines as efforts to perform initial qualification commences (Phase IV). Phase III- milestones Schematics BOM New product Worksheet (details FRU contents and FW) User Data sheets (2 page) User Data Manual (comprehensive technical manual) DVT (Design Validation Test) plan document P0 prototypes P1 prototypes New Product Worksheet (NPW) Phase III activity resumes as DVT results become available, specifically those that result in prototype ECO (engineering change orders). ECO s that involve hardware circuits are implemented in schematics, and a P1 etch database is readied for quick turn processing to create new P1 printed circuit boards (PCB). Following a P1 readiness checkpoint, new prototypes are assembled using new P1 etch, generally five (5) more units. Upon receipt, the P1 units are distributed to complete certification and testing milestones outlined in Phase IV.
One-List Board Design Methodology 5 Phase IV Qualification - One-list milestones Phase IV includes this set of milestones. This list includes several deliverables that have most often been the target for partner work sharing. Phase IV - milestones Complete DVT report FCC Class A emmission/immunity report (VCCI, C-Tick) UL 60950-1 test report and CB certificate IPC Class 4 RoHS report ECCN classification report MTBF reports Box testing, including product drop test report (ISTA) Phase V Production, One-list milestones When a product has completed all development and certifications, it is classified as released with limited availability (LA). Products classified as limited availability are built-to-order, and require purchase order to trigger manufacturing. A subset of finished products will merit a generally available (GA) classification. These products are stocked, and thus have substantially shorter order fulfillment lead times. GA product services are negotiable. A release note is published at the start of phase V, production. The release note is an end -user document, which contains final product details including known errata or deployment restrictions. Phase V will last many years. The lifecycle of all products are managed through the SANBlaze PCN (Product change notice) process. PCN s are issued as needed to notify customers of product enhancements or component manufacturing changes. PCN s provide technical detail, and clearly define applicable product label changes. On occasion, a customer may wish to reject a PCN, or add a special product feature not available to the public, such as OEM branding. In either case, SANBlaze supports this activity with a custom OEM worksheet (COW). This document captures any technical alteration made to a SANBlaze product. The COW also locks the product to particular firmware and software revisions. Approximately half of all SANBlaze products shipped are governed with one of these documents. Phase V eventually terminates with an EOL notification. These notifications detail last-time buy and ship dates, and will identify alternate replacement product(s) if available. Phase V - milestones Product release notes COW - Customer OEM Worksheet (optional) PCN as needed (product change notices) EOL (End-of-Life) notifications
6 One-List Board Design Methodology SANBlaze Technology, Inc. One Monarch Drive Suite 204 Littleton, MA 01460 Phone (978) 679-1400 Fax (978) 897-3171 Summary SANBlaze developed the One-list methodology as a tool to design and manufacture high quality technology products for embedded computing markets. The methodology defines a process and the metrics to run a successful project development. SANBlaze has successfully applied the process to develop dozens of products. The process enables manufacturing on a custom basis and achieves quick-turn delivery at costs below what a client would pay to develop internally. In short, the One-list Methodology ensures our clients receive the best, the fastest, and the lowest cost technology products. E-mail info@sanblaze.com For more information please visit the SANBlaze web site at: www.sanblaze.com or send email info@sanblaze.com SANBlaze Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of storage, networki ng and multifunction solutions for embedded systems. SANBlaze embedded computing products include a complete line of ATCA storage and compute blades, multifunction RTMs for ATCA blades, and AMC storage and networking controllers and modules. Additionally, the company provides fully configured and integrated ATCA systems and services. Copy right 2012 SANBlaze Technology Inc.. All rights reserv ed. Ref erenced products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respectiv e owners SB UC-119r1