Design management system uses unified approach to data

These items can be: components and their referenced models together with part choices to straddle both design and supply; content for design reuse including schematic sheets, templates and reference designs, and; production data generated concerning high-integrity board design release and lifecycle management.



Full embracement of the vault-driven electronics design methodology requires that the entire design process is vault-centric. All elements of a design — from humble components through to managed sheets of reusable circuitry, to a complete satellite design module that plugs into a parent board in another design — should come from a vault. If any element of a design is not sourced from within a vault, then that design is not considered to be a truly vault-driven design, and its integrity may suffer as a result. Consequently, a hierarchy of design building blocks with each revision and lifecycle management will be available using this approach with the ability to see where a particular managed schematic sheet or component is used. A board design cannot be released to prototype or production unless its lower-level vault-based entities are in a state to do so.



You can read the rest of this article in the September issue of Electronic Specifier Design by clicking here.