PCB Design for FPGA SoMs and Carrier Boards
By ZM Peterson • Sep 16, 2022Learn about the design challenges and processes in PCB design for an FPGA SoM and its carrier board.
Meet Your
IoT and Embedded Design Experts
Northwest Engineering Solutions has provided electronics design services to tech startups, growing enterprises, and defense companies since 2017. As a multi-disciplinary team, we have the skills needed to engineer and build advanced embedded systems for cutting-edge applications. We provide custom hardware, system architecture design, firmware, and board bringup for your advanced systems. Let our embedded systems design expertise and deep technical experience help you bring your next product to life.
- Learn more about our expertise in the PCB industry.
Our Embedded Design Capabilities
Hardware for IoT and Embedded Products
We have experience developing simple, compact embedded devices and complex multi-board, multi-interface embedded platforms. We provide leadership on all aspects of embedded projects from concept to production and manufacturing.
- PCB design and system architecture - We design custom PCBs and engineer the system architecture for your embedded products. Learn more about PCB design services from NWES.
- Embedded firmware and software development - Our experience spans multiple hardware platforms and chipsets.
- Platform integration - Your new embedded system can integarate with your existing hardware and software stack.
- Manufacturing preparation - We provide complete design, development, and manufacturing guidance as part of a turnkey solution.
PCB Design Software Support
Success in Embedded Systems Design
Embedded systems provide a mix of capabilities that requires a multi-disciplinary approach to hardware design and development. These designs are inherently high-speed and require an industry-standard approach to digital systems design and layout, which must proceed along other critical tasks that enable integration of unique functionality and embedded computing capabilities:
- Chipset and peripheral selection - Core features that enable product capabilities and desired user experience are used to determine the appropriate chipset and peripheral components for the product.
- PCB project creation - Embedded systems often live on multiple custom PCBs, with spanning across power, compute, wireless communication, and HMI. We build custom hardware to support the entirety of your embedded system's functionality and capabilities.
- Firmware development - Custom drivers and vendor-provided libraries are used to build an embedded application and implement primary functionality. The best team to write firmware and provide documentation is the PCB design team that created the hardware.
- Evaluation in simulation - Embedded systems are power-hungry, and they demand attention to SI/PI/EMI to ensure systems are noise-free and compliant with EMC regulations. We take steps to evaluate electrical performance, thermal behavior, and EMI/EMC as required, including in 3D simulations.
Supporting Advanced Applications
We've built systems for a range of applications, including rugged systems deployed in harsh environments.
- Aerospace and defense electronics - We've developed hardware for ordnance guidance systems, wearables, drones, and military IoT.
- Industrial automation and monitoring - Our expertise includes rugged SBCs, rackmount systems, and controller boards.
- Power management - Deployed in drones, aircraft, and submersibles.
- Embedded AI - Our AI-capable embedded products can perform high-compute inference and low-compute training at the edge.
- IoT platform development - From wearables to networked sensor platforms, we'll build your connected ecosystem. We design the hardware, build your web platform, and integrate everything.
Our team delivers comprehensive embedded solutions across the full development spectrum, from low-level firmware to high-performance FPGA implementations. We combine deep technical expertise with a practical understanding of product development challenges to create robust, efficient systems that meet your performance, power, and reliability requirements. Whether you're developing cutting-edge AI hardware, safety-critical systems, or high-throughput data acquisition platforms, we provide the embedded engineering capabilities to bring your vision to life.
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| FPGA Development |
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| Embedded OS Development |
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We deliver performance-optimized, reliable solutions that accelerate your time-to-market. Through hardware-software co-design, rigorous testing, and scalable architectures, we create maintainable systems that grow with your product needs while providing the long-term support and documentation essential for mission-critical applications.
Related Resources
Why You Should Use an FPGA in Embedded Systems Design
By ZM Peterson • Jun 20, 2022FPGAs in embedded systems have many advantages not seen with standard processor architectures.
Designing With ASICs for Machine Learning in Embedded Systems
By ZM Peterson • Mar 21, 2022Learn how you can design intelligent embedded systems and IoT products using ASICs with machine learning capabilities.
Our Embedded Development Process
Embedded development and IoT systems can be challenging, but we're here to help guide you to success.- Contact us for a consultation and quote.
- Provide us your system architecture, must-have functionality, desired chipset, and PCB parameters, we'll work with you to make everything perfect.
- During schematic capture, we'll begin development of your embedded application and ensure it will be compatible with all sub-systems in your design.
- PCB layout is performed to match your mechanical specifications, as well as DFM needs and high-speed interface requirements. If needed, we perform simulations to evaluate channel compliance and signal integrity.
- All mixed-signal designs go through a final DFM/DFA check, stackup review, and routing review before generating your complete PCB manufacturing data package.
Why Work With NWES?
- Broad expertise - We're a digitally-driven remote-first organization with diverse talent and experience. We know your technology because we've used it and built it.
- Manufacturing partners - We work with local and overseas CMs and EMS providers that are ISO-9001, AS9100, ISO-13485, IPC-A-610, NADCAP, and/or ITAR/JCP certified. We help you find the best option to produce prototypes and scale to volume production.
- Supply chain management - We take a proactive approach on projects to ensure your design can be produced at the required volume. We'll manage procurement from major distributors or brokers throughout your project.
Need a hand with your next IoT platform or embedded systems design project? Find out the difference our experts can make.
Contact us today for more information.
Our Clients and Partners
