You didn’t say it has to work

You didn’t say it has to work
by Don Dingee on 04-22-2014 at 8:00 pm

“Failure to plan is planning to fail.” If that is true – and it has been quoted verbatim or slightly modified so many times throughout modern history, there has to be some truth – why does most of the engineering community seem to detest planning so much?

Engineering planning doesn’t mean whipping out a block diagram or pseudo code,… Read More


If requirements ask for it, it had better be there

If requirements ask for it, it had better be there
by Don Dingee on 01-29-2014 at 8:00 pm

Engineers are known for their attention to detail and precision in thinking, but sometimes still struggle during compliance audits. This is especially true the longer a list of requirements becomes, especially unstructured lists kept in spreadsheets and on Post-It notes.

It gets even more complicated, because in defense circles… Read More


It’s all in the details of FPGA requirements management

It’s all in the details of FPGA requirements management
by Don Dingee on 05-23-2013 at 8:30 pm

Word association: if I said “requirements management”, you’d probably say IBM Rational “DOORS,” or maybe Serena or Polarion if you come from the IT world. But what if the requirements you need to manage are for an FPGA or ASIC, with HDL and testbench code and waveform files and more details backing verification, and compliance… Read More