Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1490195
An Engineer's Guide to High Reliability Components 4 What is COTS? In designing analog circuitry on the board level, one can generally take two different paths. The first path is discrete design, in which engineers design their desired circuit entirely from scratch, using several interconnected individual components. In this scenario, the engineer designs the schematic, chooses the components, and performs the layout of the circuit, all in-house. The engineer also performs design validation and reliability assessment. The second path is design based on COTS components. COTS is an industry-standard term describing any device that is a general or standard product from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM). COTS products can be bought quickly and in large quantities, without the need for a custom design or a waiting period for availability. Traditionally, most manufacturers produce COTS products when an apparent market need arises based on customer feedback and requests. Informing design decisions with inputs from many customers allows OEMs to design and release COTS products that can be used to solve many of the commonplace challenges shared among engineers in the field. In the context of analog power electronics, COTS products tend to be designed to provide solutions for a broad application segment that applies to many of the fundamental challenges in power analog design. COTS SOLUTIONS Aaron Bondy, Global Sales Manager at Apex Microtechnology COTS Solutions for High-Reliability Analog Design Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions from Apex Microtechnology can simplify the design of high-reliability analog power electronics. T oday, the demand for high-reliability analog power electronics is greater than ever before. However, achieving high reliability can be a significant challenge, requiring considerable design expertise and experience. Instead, many engineers turn to commercial- off-the-shelf (COTS) components, which, if from a reliable source, can enable shorter times to market, decreased design complexity, and more reliable designs. Apex Microtechnology provides its customers with a large variety of COTS power analog components uniquely designed and validated to ensure the highest reliability possible for end-users. In this article, I'll discuss the advantages of COTS components and how Apex Microtechnology's unique approach ensures the highest reliability possible.