Welcome to AEi Systems

Analysis is critical to product performance, quality, and reliability. There are many reasons to perform it.

You know you need to do more analysis. But there's never enough time, money, resources, or schedule. Let AEi Systems solve your analysis problems.

AEi Systems offer engineering services such as:

• Worst-Case Circuit Analysis


• Pre-WCCA Design Review


• Signal Integrity Analysis


• Power Integrity Analysis


• Stress & Derating


• FMEA/FMECA - Failure Analysis and Troubleshooting


• MTBF/Reliability


• Radiation Analysis


• Modeling (SPICE, ADS, Simplis)- Parts/Circuit Characterization and Test

AEi Systems' engineers are the best way for your company to get Worst Case and Reliability analyses done ASAP and right, the FIRST time!

While many companies perform WCCA and Stress analyses in-house there are many reasons why our customers have found AEi Systems to be a better solution.

We are Faster

• We have historical Parts Variability databases along with radiation and aging data. We have data that is hard to find. In addition, we have our own in-house testing facilities.


• We are the world’s leading expert in SPICE modeling and have many of the SPICE models already built for commonly used SPACE parts. AEi Systems is the company that makes models for TI/Webench, Linear Technology and many others. We have proprietary agreements and can get data others can’t.


• We have created our own proprietary software to greatly speed up Sensitivity, Signal Integrity, and Stress & Derating analyses.


• Analysis is never done by a single person. It’s always done by a team with analysis done in parallel by experts in key WCCA disciplines (Tolerances, SPICE, Test, Mathematics, Simulation, etc.)

We are More Accurate and Rigorous

• Analysis is what we do. It is our core competency and we do it every day. We have been doing WCCA for over 20 years and count as our repeat customers top-tier players such as Boeing, Aeroflex, Lockheed Martin, Space Systems Loral, Seakr, Honeywell, Ball Aerospace and many others.


• Our staff has decades of satellite/aerospace experience in SPACE based power systems, RF, and digital designs.


• Less is missed the first time, saving you iterations and schedule.


• We help FIX the findings and issues we discover.

We are Independent

• Let’s face it. Companies, programs, and engineers have biases. Schedule, time, and corporate pressures force a biased result. The design suffers. Independence is key to preserving the checks and balances that make WCCA valuable.


• Because of our efficiency we can do more in the time and budget allotted. You end up with more findings caught and fixed.

Together these give AEi Systems a tremendous time and cost advantage compared with other resources. They give you a better product and an analysis done more quickly and at a lower overall cost.

We are happy to work in conjunction with in-house resources, as a parallel asset, and within your budget. If you think we can benefit your company or program please do give us a call.

News

• NEW - Introducing NISM for Cadence PSpice


• NEW - How to Quantify Flat Impedance and Control Loop Stability with PSpice




• Webinar: The Challenges of Automotive Worst Case Circuit Analysis


• Learn about WCCA - Check out the EDN Blog


• Post 1 - "Why WCCA is Challenging to Perform" - looks at the challenges associated with performing Worst Case Circuit Analysis. The blog focuses on a discussion of the skills, resources, and techniques required to properly perform a WCCA, as well as, some of the reasons why WCCA is challenging to get right.


• Post 2 - "Lack of Rigor will cost you" - The failure to do a rigorous job is the biggest problem with WCCA. There are many aspects to think about: Limited documentation, insufficient model correlation, tolerances that are not WC EOL, and the biggest, analyses completely left out. The impact of these deficiencies and the loss to ROI is discussed.


• Post 3 - "Circuit and component models, getting them right" - Circuit models are the heart of WCCA. So why don’t most WCCAs bother to correlate vendors models? As with reference designs there is way too much trust. Vendor provided data and models are suspect until proven otherwise. The post discusses all the pitfalls.


• Post 4 - "Monte Carlo Gone Wrong" - Why you are likely not performing this critical analysis correctly. The fourth post in the series talks about the pitfalls associated with performing Monte Carlo analysis and assessing its results. The two proper methods for electronics studies are covered including Tolerance Intervals for Normal Distributions and Distribution-Free Tolerance Intervals (nonparametric statistics) along with the correct number of trials you should be using for your analysis.


• Post 5 - "Too Many Escapes and Biases" - “Escapes” is a euphemism for all the excuses programs, program managers, engineers, and reviewers use to curtail or eliminate WCCA associated activities. It is essential that all the elements noted in the (first) Going It Alone blog section, necessary to perform the WCCA, be brought together along with the right software, people, test data, and experience. With each hurdle, the analysis will stall, impacting the level of rigorousness, and the veracity of the conclusions. This article discusses the many excuses we use not to perform WCCA.


• Post 6 - "The Fantasyland that is Resistor Aging" - pdf - Using 0.5%, or even 1%, for MIL-PRF-55342 resistor end-of-life effects? You might reconsider. It is probably not supportable. This article discusses resistor tolerances including the end-of-life tolerances for aging/combined environments in detail. Aging test data from SOTA is reviewed and assessed and calculations using Arrhenius equations are shown. Source control documents, mil-spec tolerances, stress, and accounting for temperature, time, and manufacturing effects are all discussed.



• NEW - 4/20/2021 - AEi Systems Releases Power IC Model Library for Cadence PSpice 4.4, Adds Regulators, Opamps, Semiconductors; Now over 1200 Models


• AEi Systems Gives Papers on Migrating from Si to GaN and Power Integrity Lessons Learned at Space Power Workshop


• Switched-Mode Power Supply Simulation with SPICE Book Available Now

Newsletters

• NEW - WCCA Escapes Blog, Webinar: Test vs Analysis


• WCCA Blog Part 4, Monte Carlo Gone Wrong, WCCA Rules to Live By


• WCCA Blog Part 3, Part and Circuit Models, Getting Them Right


• WCCA Blog Part 2, Lack of Rigor, SMPS Simulation Book


• What is Power Integrity Analysis and Why is it so Critical?


• New Text Book on Power Integrity

Popular Publications

Worst Case Analysis UPDATED!

• How WCCA Saves Time & Money


• Introduction to Worst Case Circuit Analysis


• UPDATED! Why Perform a WCCA? (Who, What, When and Why)


• Lessons Learned From WCCA


• Tailoring WCCA for Class D, Commercial, and Cubesat Missions


Simulation and Modeling

• SPICE Models Need Correlation to Measurements


• Lessons Learned from SPICE

Power Integrity

• Video: How to Design for Power Integrity: Noise Problems


• SSO Noise Effects in RTAX FPGAs
• Video - The Unfortunate State of Power Integrity in Space Systems
• Learn about PDN/Power Integrity Analysis - New Articles Posted