Concept Design
Concept design is the early stage where the main blocks on the board, the supply architecture and the interface type are determined without going into schematic detail. At this step a block diagram is drawn on the enclosure: the power input, protection, controller, driver stage, input stage and communication interface fall roughly into place.
The decisions taken at the concept stage are the most expensive ones to change later, because the entire layout of the board is built around them.
- Supply architecture: will it work with a single voltage, will a separate logic supply be derived, will a linear or a switching regulator be used.
- Driver stage: relay, MOSFET or full bridge; are direction reversal and speed control required.
- Separation: is galvanic isolation required between the power and logic sections.
- Interface: will it be commanded with a button, with a potentiometer, or over RS-485 or CAN.
You can clearly see the traces of these decisions in the AXI product families: while in a DC motor driver the full bridge and PWM stage are at the centre, in a speed control kit the actuator and feedback stage come to the fore. Schematic drawing is not started before the concept is approved; otherwise a circuit drawn in detail goes into the bin as a whole because of one decision in the architecture.
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