Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/553274
August 2015 • The PCB Design Magazine 39 wireless." This is probably a good platform for a network. So let's make it flexible vs. fixed. You pay a little more money for that, for the Tier 2, but the volumes are not the same. Those par- ticular guys that have programmable fabric are implementing new technology like processors, memory, and specialized communications like wireless and Bluetooth in one package. It's like, "Here, you have the concept, I'm giving you all the tools, and you build it." Matties: now the rF market is a booming market, with automobiles really driving a lot of it. Viklund: The interesting thing is that it's a new market, but RF used to be military, satellites, and space. Now RF is everywhere. Everything needs to be wireless, even if it's just data com- munication. You have automobiles now with tracking, cruise control, and radar that can scan objects, the perimeter of the road, stuff like that. And it's coming online more and more. We know that type of design needs to be really cheap; otherwise it's not in the range for nor- mal people to buy them. That has been going on for some time. When we presented our RF product for the first time, we got some boards from a company who was doing back-up radars for SUVs. Their radar board, which was com- plete radar, was $280 in fabrication costs. This is already happening. I bet there are going to be even more new markets coming into play just like automotive, and they will have the same drivers—faster designs, higher performance and cheaper products. That's what's driving it. Caravajal: It's still an ecosystem that's world- wide, because if you think about the chips mod- el I just told you about, the packaging is actual- ly designed here, assembled overseas, sent back and tested here. The chips could be designed here and made there; the package could be de- signed here, tested here and then mass made overseas. You really don't see one hot spot. I'd say it's an ecosystem. Matties: i see it globally, too. But it's interesting because we almost see this fervor for product made in usa or even made in China. they have a nation- alistic approach now where they're really looking at the internal markets as much as they are the external markets. india has the same tone. i saw an ad in usa today that said, "Walmart looking for us-made products to sell." Viklund: How interesting. Caravajal: A long time ago, Walmart had a "Made in America" sign on the outside of the door. And then that dissolved over the last 25 years and now you see it pushed back. If you could do it cost-effectively, that's what it's all about. A very interesting thing you mentioned about radar. Early adopters who needed it were mainly mil/aero, and the really late adopters are automotive consumers. Viklund: But it's also technology, because it was expensive to build a radar 20 years ago, and to- day, any student can build a simple radar on a circuit board and it will be $100 or so in parts. Technology has driven the market. Caravajal: Moore's law does drive more ca- pability every year. And by the way, this is an extension of Moore's law. Moore's law used to say it could double your performance every 18 months. Well, they're running into cost is- sues and this extends it. What you're doing is integrating in a package and just thinking of the best cost performance and integrating it through a whole process. So we covered the RF integration, which is part of co-design, and then I covered the integration of the IC, the package, the boards. Then of course the next level inte- grates that package into a board, and then the board into a system. If you think about it, it's all co-design. Matties: it's all co-design. You've got to start end- to-end and work all the way through. Caravajal: If you close your eyes and just throw it over the wall, poor planning will produce poor products. Matties: Well, gentlemen, thank you so much. Caravajal: Appreciate you dropping by. Glad to see you. PCBDESIGN feature MENTOR GRAPHICS HELPS BRIDGE GAP BETWEEN PCB AND RF continues