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78 The PCB Design Magazine • June 2016 Matties: That makes sense, especially back in those days. One of the things that I see happening is a lot of automation. Is automation replacing the need for designers? Brown: I've been hearing it for the last 20 years. Especially when you talk about auto routers, for example. The old theory was that the great Cooper and Chan Specctra autorouter that came out back in the late '80s to early '90s was supposed to be the end-all, be-all for designers. The problem is that technology keeps changing, the chip scale keeps changing, and the type of materials keep changing. The frequencies and speeds keep getting higher and higher, so things keep getting harder to design. The packaging is smaller to have the system on, and you have integrated embedded passives and components at that point. The board becomes an integrative part of the overall solution. Automation is great, but you have to have somebody that knows how to drive the auto- mation. You have to have an understanding of what it takes to design some of these products, and the problem is some of the guys who are writing the software for the automation aren't necessarily designers. As far as the automation that occurs there, it still takes that human in- tervention to drive it the right way. Anybody can get a license to drive a car, but can anybody go on the Daytona 500 or run some road rally race and win? The whole process of design is an evolution. Throughout the course of design from start to finish, when you lay down the first track, when you import the first net list, the design is go- ing to be slightly different than when you started because it's an evolutional process. Whether it be through that one spin or multiple spins, there's an evolu- tion that occurs and power con- sumption. It may be designed initially to handle a certain amount of amps or watts for that particular product. Well next thing you know, as you ac- tually design the product you might be able to reduce the power consumption because you're simulating at maximum power. When you do that it is definite overkill. Do you need to design it to that maximum power curve or can you de- sign it for less? There might be a cost driver on the board, maybe fewer layers or less copper. Your component selection might be derated at a different level than the higher rated compo- nents. Again, it comes back to the original ques- tion about designing out costs or DFP. Matties: Yes, you can design to increase profit and performance. Just to shift gears a little, we're here at Geek-A-Palooza. What do you think? Brown: It's actually a pretty good event. It's al- lowing everyone to network in a more casual atmosphere than a traditional trade show type environment, which is kind of nice. It lets peo- ple let their hair down per se, and relax. This is nice. Matties: Well, thanks for being here. It's been great talking with you. Brown: Thank you. It's been a pleasure. PCBDESIGN THE IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN FOR PROFIT (DFP) Mike Brown