Mentor.com :: System Modeling Resources

Blog Post:Analog Modeling - Part 3

Mike Jensen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:07:53 GMT

Welcome to the third installment in my Analog Modeling blog series. In Part 1 I wrote about why equations are important for simulation. In Part 2 I suggested a process flow for turning device equations into a simulation model, and introduced the basic structure of a VHDL-AMS model. Now it’s time to begin the model definition process. As I outlined in Part 2, the first step is deciding what you want

Blog Post:Analog Modeling - Part 2

Mike Jensen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:27:56 GMT

In Analog Modeling – Part 1 I reviewed the importance of equation selection in the analog modeling process. In a nutshell, the first step in getting good simulation results is choosing equations that best describe the behavior or device you want to analyze. Your analog equation set could be as simple as a single transfer function describing the relationship between the inputs and outputs of a

Blog Post:Analog Modeling - Part 1

Mike Jensen — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:13:24 GMT

I recently spent some time rummaging around my basement. I suppose my basement is not unlike many others — it’s kind of my family’s catch-all storage place for items too big to fit in a closet. Besides housing my HVAC and water heating systems, my basement is home to a variety of holiday decorations, lots of canned, bottled, and bulk food items, a small collection of mismatched folding tables

Blog Post:Connecting Tools and Processes

Mike Jensen — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:39:35 GMT

Searching the Internet is like having a giant, international reference library at your fingertips. If you know what you’re looking for and have a reasonable idea of where to look, with a little patience you can usual find some pretty interesting material related to your search topic – okay, you can also find a bunch of stuff you aren’t looking for, but as I often say, “That’s a topic for a different

Blog Post:Use vs. Experience

Mike Jensen — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 06:14:10 GMT

Whether your company creates airplanes, cars, widgets, or software, product planning is an essential part of the development process. And if your group is like mine, product planning meetings are seldom boring. I am privileged to work with some pretty sharp folks who are very capable engineers, and very passionate about what they do. Our planning discussions are always interesting, and often animated.

Blog Post:Analyzing the Big Picture

Mike Jensen — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:31:03 GMT

As engineers we often use “system” to describe different levels of design abstraction. Chip designers refer to integrated circuits as systems on chips. Audio designers refer to an amplifier as a system. Aircraft brake designers create systems for stopping aircraft. There truly are a variety of ways to define and implement a system. And most things we call a system are really just a subsystem

Blog Post:Simulating for Reliability

Mike Jensen — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:46:36 GMT

An important performance metric for any system is reliability — does the system do what it’s supposed to do, when it’s supposed to do it, time after time, without fault or failure. Obviously, system reliability doesn’t just happen; it’s not just dumb luck when a system delivers flawless performance, whether it’s your car, your cell phone, your garage door opener, or your

Technology Overview:Using SystemVision with Minitab for High Reliability Design

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:32:00 GMT

The brief demonstration shows how to use SystemVision to:

Automate the grading of waveforms to insure design specifications are met
Setup multiple parameters to be varied in a set of experiments
Generate statistically independent parameters for a set of experiments in Minitab
Automatically run simulations for each set of parameters while automatically grading the results
Easily return actual simulation measurements to Minitab for statistical analysis.

Technical Paper: Model-Driven Design for Six Sigma

Technology Overview:Addressing Aircraft System Development Disconnects

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 15:00:00 GMT

System design is, by nature, a process of decomposition, starting from specifications and resulting in a detailed, multi-discipline design. Systems failures are often the result of disconnects in the process. However, gaps can be closed by moving to model-driven development in a structured, requirements-driven process. By applying a seamless, concurrent development process, engineers are able to move validation and verification earlier into the design cycle, when changes can have positive impacts and real improvements can be made. This presentation demonstrations a top-down, multi-discipline, concurrent design methodology that provides a structure for managing system complexity and ensuring design success. Models from different domains are integrated at each phase of the design flow, allowing system integration issues to be identified and addressed earlier, and helping to reduce overall program time and costs.

White Paper:A Requirements-Driven System Design Process (with a Preview of ARP 4754A)

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:00:00 GMT

This presentation, which was delivered at IESF Mil-Aero in Long beach, CA, on Sept 13, 2011, discusses the importance of a requirements-driven systems development process. It also introduces the new regulatory policy ARP 4754A, which governs aircraft and systems development, and advocates such an approach.