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48 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I DECEMBER 2020 running signal and power integrity analysis on multi-board designs can be very tricky, and multi-board systems come with difficult con- nectivity requirements between boards and between boards and mechanical enclosures. Even simpler designs that use the latest gen- eration FPGAs and DDR memory require signal and power integrity analysis. All of this comes at a time of extreme sched- ule pressure, where the expectation is to get it right the first time, so engineering teams have to get the analysis done quickly and done right. The drive to reduce electronic form factors also drives product complexity, with tighter tolerances between PCBs and enclosures and advanced manufacturing technologies like rigid-flex, HDI, and embedded components. Organizational complexity becomes more entangled as large teams specialize, and dis- tributed groups are leveraged to develop a sin- gle product. These different design teams often operate independently or in isolation and have poorly defined touchpoints. Using design tools that cannot share data seamlessly between disciplines often leads to problems found very late in the design cycle or after physical proto- types are built. Product and organizational complexities also complicate the core processes through- out the entire development flow—from prod- uct concept to architectural decomposition, all the multiple parallel domains for electronics, mechanical, software, and finally, manufactur- ing. Not only do designs need to meet all their functional requirements, but the software that interfaces with the hardware must also work properly. Additionally, all products must meet strict guidelines for their intended operating environments as well as for manufacturability and, in a number of industries, products have to meet a set of complicated regulatory stan- dards. Succeeding With Complexity Overcoming these complexities demands a digital transformation strategy that addresses inefficiencies and optimizes both electronic and multi-domain systems design and verifica- tion. By embarking on this digital transforma- tion, companies will break down the barriers between teams, eliminate physical prototypes, and manage IP across the enterprise. A successful next-generation design plat- form must support integration, shared data, and improved intelligence. Integration across design processes and disciplines optimizes resources to reduce development time and cost. Sharing context-specific design data reduces design cycles and costs due to fewer data fidelity-driven respins. Improved intelligence provides actionable information and feedback loops to inform cost and resource management decision-making through metrics-driven pre- scriptive analytics. In turn, to deliver these three keys to product differentiation, profitability, and beating the competition to market requires five transfor- mation capabilities. Figure 2: Product, organizational, and process complexity lead to increased costs, lower design quality, and missed schedules.