9dotDesignCoaching Services

Contact: Jason Johnson (360) 281-6388 [email protected]

Nine Dot Connects

Nine Dot Connects’ Coaching, Engineering & Design Services

Table of Contents

Nine Dot Connects Design Services in General Page 2

Design Consulting Services Page 3

What exactly is “consulting” anyway?

What makes our consulting services different?

What is provided with the consulting service?

PCB Layout Services Page 5

Your Intellectual Property (IP) is Important to Us Page 5

Remote Coaching Service Page 6

Why Choose Coaching vs. Training? Page 7


Nine Dot Connects

Nine Dot Connects Design Services in General

Do you have a design schedule that is difficult to meet without outside help, but unsure of

the quality of work that you will receive from a 3rd party?

Are you tasked with a new PCB design project that requires expertise in areas that are

challenging (e.g. DDR3, DFM (Design for Manufacturing), rigid-flex circuits, sensitive analog

and RF circuits)?

Though you may own Altium Designer, are you worried that your proficiency in the tool

may not be enough to complete a PCB layout project in a timely and low-risk manner?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, we at Nine Dot Connects are ready to assist

you with our expert design services. Though Altium Designer and Mentor Graphics PADS

are our preferred tools for PCB creation, members of our technical staff have experience in

other EDA tool suites. And for cable harness design, we provide coaching and design

services using Zuken E3 series.

The list below is a few of the many areas of our experience and expertise. More so, if you

have a project that has an unusual constraint or circumstance, we welcome the challenge!

Design Review Consultation Design for Noise Reduction

Architectural Engineering Project Planning

Controlled Impedance Design Functional Specification Creation

Software & Firmware PCB Design & Layout

Schematic Capture Autorouting (Altium, PADs, Specctra)

Cable Harness Design PCB Library Creation or Clean-up

Fabrication & Assembly Documentation

PCB DFM Analysis & Optimization

Centralized PCB Library Implementation

Script Creation & Automation Templates

Our team has deep expertise in electrical engineering, PCB design, fabrication and

assembly. We will not bid or accept an assignment that is beyond our understanding or

capabilities. Your time is precious and we’re not going to commit to something that does

not fall within the boundaries of our strengths. It’s key to understand that our model is to

work as an extension of your organization’s engineering team. To us, this seems like an

obvious requirement, however, the complaint that we most often hear about other service

providers is that they go into stealth mode after agreeing on a project and the client has

little visibility or input until the project is completed. Unless the design is very simple, this

approach clearly is going to lead to a project that doesn’t effectively allow the client to be

involved in make decisions regarding important engineering trade-offs, resulting in a sub-

optimal end result or project failure. Our approach is to be in regular communication

regarding trade-offs and decision points in an effort to ensure the client is fully involved in

guiding the design intent.


Nine Dot Connects

Design Consulting Services

What exactly is “consulting” anyway?

“Consulting” is connecting with a team of experts with the skills to help make your project a

success. At Nine Dot Connects “consulting” ranges all the way from conceptualization,

specification and review all the way to fabrication, test, and reduction of support problems

once your products are in the field. Sure, we can draw schematics and layout PCBs, but our

staff are experts on the whole process. Many of our clients have found great value in the

consulting services that we provide. Because we are truly experts in PCB design optimized

for fabrication and assembly, you can be assured that when you seek our services, you will

not be disappointed.

What makes our consulting services different?

We know what we’re talking about. Our experts have decades of experience in every facet

of developing products containing electronics. We will not bid or accept any assignment

that is beyond our understanding or capabilities. Your time is precious and we’re not going

to promise something that is not a strong suit.

Our consulting is a 2-way conversation. We are not here to simply perform a function and

throw it back at you at the end with a list of cryptic recommendations. From the very start

of an assignment, we speak to our client to understand the area(s) of need. As the effort

progresses, there are e-mails and phone calls to ensure that the recommendations being

made are understood, aligned with your design intent. With consulting, we are not limited

to a specific task or function. Whether it is to assist in the understanding a manufacturing

concept or to provide a design review, we are there to ensure your success as you progress

through the design cycle.

We consider our consulting service an education. At the end, we want our customers to not

only be successful, but to gain the necessary understanding so that they can apply it to

other projects.

What is provided with the consulting service?

We understand that consulting needs to be more than a just handful of recommendations.

Our recommendations will be in writing, this allows for a history of communication to be

recorded. Pictures may also be included if they provide additional details.


Nine Dot Connects

Here is an example:

Title: Rotating MOSFETs (Q38 & Q39, etc.)

Category: Routing Optimization & Noise

Summary Notes:

Rotating switching MOSFETs (Q38 & Q39, etc.) by 180 degrees as a pair places

gates on right near U33.

Switching junctions closer to inductor L17. (Smaller switching node reduces E

field EMI.)

Other fuses, caps, etc. should also switch south-north sides of L17 inductor to

minimize switching current paths.

Since opening exists under inductor, you can’t route there. Minimize & Balance

switching current paths.

Isolate non-switching circuitry.

Recommendations:

Minimize Switching voltage node size & coupling

Minimize Switching current loop area

Maximize isolation of switching nets to other nets.

Additional Details:

Applies by analogy to other 5 converters as well.

A report consisting of the correspondences and any final recommendations

prior to parting ways.

A log of the hours and what was done during those hours.

Thank you very much for the in-depth reviews you have provided. I believe that we have been

provided with a product that has exceeded expectations, and will continue to approach NDC

for future design reviews and assistance. Your recommendations have all been considered

and implemented as appropriate. I especially appreciate the EMI considerations in your

review, as well as the DFM analysis.

– Zac Blume, Lead Electrical Engineer


Nine Dot Connects

PCB Layout Services

A large portion of the design projects that we undertake for our clients are PCB layout

projects. Depending on the situation, we can work on either an ‘hourly not-to-exceed’ or a

‘fixed-bid’ basis for PCB layout projects. We work diligently to determine a project’s scope-

of-effort prior to bidding, so that our clients can rest easy knowing what they are getting is

at a fair, predictable price ; This is one of the ways that Nine Dot Connects reduces risk for

our clients.

In order to provide a fixed bid, the design must be well defined so that we may accurately

determine the scope of work required. It is key that the schematics are complete and

locked down, the Bill of Materials (BOM) is accurate, and that the netlist integrity has been

verified (such as by the Electric Rule Checker in Altium Designer.) The customer can further

reduce the scope of effort and price by providing all necessary footprints, layer stack up

information, design rules based on their manufacturer’s recommendations, and

mechanical constraints.

If the design is not complete and ready for layout, we will bid on a ‘not-to-exceed’ hourly

basis or if EE resources are required, design consulting services are a great way for us to

assist you in preparing to move into the PCB layout phase.

Your Intellectual Property (IP) is Important to Us

At Nine Dot Connects, we value our relationship with our customers. A large part of that

trust is protecting the client’s IP. More so, we believe that the IP that we create as part of

our service to the client belongs to the client. When we deliver the final product, the

customer receives ALL files related to the project, both the sources files (i.e. schematics,

PCB layout) and the manufacturing files for fabrication and assembly.


Nine Dot Connects

Remote Coaching Service

Would you like to increase your knowledge of how to use Altium Designer, but are wary of

taking a structured course that may cover the bulk of what you already know?

Are you unable or unwilling to spend a week out-of-office in an 8-hour a day Altium training

class?

Are you proficient with Altium Designer, but wish to increase your skills in using Altium

Designer to that of an expert?

Are you looking for that middle ground between self-study and formal training of Altium

Designer?

Are you looking for expert guidance as you work your way through your design project?

Are you trying to balance a tight schedule while trying to bridge knowledge gaps?

Are you in need of help integrating Altium with a particular revision, process, and release

control structure?

Are you finding the need to make a significant jump in the complexity of your high-speed

digital design skills and looking for help in ramping quickly?

Are you struggling with installation, configuration, standardization, or methodology

questions and decisions?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you will benefit from our individualized

coaching service which allows you the control to schedule sessions as they fit your time

constraints while focusing on the areas that you would like to learn more about. All of our

coaching staff regularly engages in design projects, so they are expert trainers as well as

designers.

The process of learning new software is similar to learning a new language. Without a teacher

and guidance, a potential student is destined for feelings of defeat and eventual failure.

Recently, I became a new Altium user. I played around with the program, but could not master

it in a way that I felt confident in its use. I decided to invest in coaching offered through Nine

Dot Connects. The instructor named Paul Taubman is a professional teacher who has helped

me significantly build my skill level. At the start of each session we discuss goals, and then

quickly got to work. At the end of each session, I feel like I leaned as much in an hour or two

as what would have otherwise taken me a week. The sessions have allowed me to take an

idea from my head and turn it into a product at a pace that I never thought possible.

Andrew Quinlan - Sr. Electronics Engineer

Packers Plus Energy Services

Houston, Texas, USA


Nine Dot Connects

Why Choose Coaching vs. Training?

“Training” is a service that the user purchases to attend a class that has a designated time

and meeting place. It will have a structure or outline of topics. There are generally more

than 8 individuals in the class. Most classes last between 2-4 full days, depending on the

subject matter. The class may be held online or in a classroom. In many cases, there may

be PowerPoint slides, a reference manual, and exercises. The training will generally

provide all of the software tools and workstations necessary for the individual to attend.

Pros:

The outline is known and the structure is defined

Allows user to focus on the training

Tool ramp up time shortened

Cons:

Requires several days that may impact work schedules

May require travel and incur expenses

Many of the topics may not be applicable or of interest

Drinking from the fire hose if new to the tool

“Coaching” is a service in which the user purchases a block of hours (a minimum of 8). The

hours are used in 2-hour blocks and the sessions are arranged between the customer and

Nine Dot Connects. The topic(s) is up to the customer, although it is best to provide a wish

list to ensure that the design coach best suited for instruction is provided. Though these

hours are primarily for the purpose of one-on-one training, the user may have one other

colleague attend the session (i.e. via their own computer or by reserving a conference

room at their company facility.) All of the coaching sessions are performed online using

GoToMeeting.

Pros:

Optimal for “learn on the go” engineers who have to learn the tool and complete the

project at the same time

Time flexibility - the coaching sessions are set up to the customer’s hours of

availability

No travel required or expenses incurred

Detailed insight into the tool's usage and capabilities that is not always provided

during a formal group training

o Can use purchased hours over a 12-month period

Cons:

No PowerPoint slides, reference materials or exercises. All of it is demonstrated as

necessary

Documents

9dotDesignCoaching Services