Vinicius' Brain Dump
Electronics | FPGAs | Organization | Development | Random Thoughts
Don't mind the messy brain
This is not a clean personal portfolio site, it's just a blog that I can put all the ideas and things that I've been learning through the years.
I tried physical notebooks, evernote, word files, etc. and I have never thought they are organized enough. I hope this site is the latest try and I can finally organize and get information out fast when I need it.
A little bit about me
I am a brazilian hardware engineer. I started my professional career a few years ago on a telecom company, since then I worked on defense and medical equipment and now I am back at the telecom industry.
I see myself as a generalist, I prefer to study a few stuff about of lot of subjects than a lot of stuff about few subjects
Brain Dump
August 13, 2023To make sure that electronic circuits last a long time, it's important to perform an initial test (known as burn-in) on all PCB boards right after they're made. This helps catch any early problems that might arise due to manufacturing flaws. The idea is that it's better for the board to fail...August 13, 2023Component derating involves a basic calculation used to keep a component within safe limits. For instance, with a capacitor, the goal is to ensure it doesn't operate at its highest possible voltage. It's recommended to apply a derating of at least 25%, and it's even better to increase it to 50%. ...August 6, 2023During the board verification for a project, I often felt uncertain about whether the results represented the entire project accurately. Sometimes, we gain insight when the first batch is produced and compare the results to a previous board revision, especially when dealing with a large quantity...August 6, 2023Most of the projects I've worked on required a connector for debugging, programming binary files to a memory, and testing purposes, among other things. The common solution is to solder a connector to the board, usually having around 6 to 10 pins, including UART, JTAG, sometimes SPI or I2C, and...August 2, 2023In my opinion, I'd recommend using it. Sometimes, you might not have a computer nearby when you are debugging. Here are some reasons against using it: It increases the cost.I would suggest checking with the manufacturer as I've never seen any price increase for adding silkscreen. If you are...July 31, 2023As a lean quality agent on the hardware team, one of my main tasks was to identify how time and money were being wasted within our reduced team. The key question was, "Which tasks contributed to project progress, and which ones were likely just wasting time?" I was surprised to find that the...July 31, 2023This is one of the aspects in PCB design that might be familiar in concept and purpose, yet surprisingly, you may not have known it had a specific name. During my work with RF boards, I frequently encountered the need for a trapezoidal shape to connect two traces with different widths. Initially,...January 13, 2023At first sight, I liked this methodology to think about the development. It's (like almost all the time) a software development guide but it can be easily transported to hardware. The first thing to notice is that the x-axis is time and the y-axis is how detailed is the design. So we begin...January 13, 2023I'll Conformal coating - small quantity of a dielectrical non-conductive sprayed on top of the PCB, does not affect the weight of the product, does not require any changes on the PCB layout from a regular PCB. Potting - large quantities of material poured over the PCB enclousure, affects the...January 13, 2023Hiccup mode is a protection for the regulator when there is a short circuit on the output. The IC disconnects the output and asserts the output for a small period of time so that it can see if the short circuit remains. If it senses a high current on the output, which means a short circuit...January 13, 2023I just realized how important it is to have a meeting that closes a phase on the project. I had problems divising the prototype phase and manufacturing phase for example. What's a prototype afterall? By making a checklist of documents and a formal meeting between the developers, you could...January 13, 2023I have never used an external load to test my power supply before Ericsson. I guess I never really stressed the regulators in my boards in previous companies, which might have lead to some problems down the road. So, now I think it's always good to do these simple tests with load. If possible,...January 13, 2023Some useful links for Bode Plots tests: https://www.electrical4u.com/bode-plot-gain-margin-phase-margin/ https://www.analog.com/en/technical-articles/power-supply-design-how-bode-plots-can-help.html https://www.edn.com/testing-a-power-supply-stability-part-3/ Basically the idea is to...
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