Manufacturing Technology Insights: Specials Magazine

Advances in manufacturing technologies have significantly simplified the process of building most electronic products. Manufacturing devices that incorporate radio frequency (RF) technology, however, present a particular set of challenges, the resolution of most of which begins after the devices are assembled, when secure connectivity, precise RF calibration, and unique digital credentials must be managed in interference-heavy environments. These hurdles demand an expert hand to resolve—one with skill and experience that goes beyond standard manufacturing expertise. CA Engineering (CAE) steps in to provide that expert hand, guiding clients and manufacturers through the additional layers of testing, calibration, and security that make wireless devices perform reliably in real-world applications. Over the past several years, CAE has managed QA and testing for nearly two million wireless devices. Its proprietary CAIMAN^™ system serves both as a quality assurance framework and a management platform, providing clients with full oversight of their product across the entire production cycle. “The CAIMAN^™ system has evolved over more than 15 years. A dedicated team of engineers, with some working on it full-time for over a decade, are continuously refining it to meet the growing demands of wireless product manufacturing,” says Jim Stout, CTO. Through technology built for accelerating manufacturing tests, CAE ensures complex electronics, like RF-integrated PCBAs, move from production to performance faster and more reliably. The company enables manufacturing speed by crafting custom test fixtures and providing best-practice recommendations that ensure consistent high-quality output. These fixtures and manufacturing processes are fully integrated into the CAIMAN^™ system, providing a holistic approach to ensure that every device meets rigorous operational, security and performance standards, giving clients confidence in both the reliability and readiness of their products. While the initial focus is on manufacturing speed and quality, CAE goes further by tackling one of the trickiest challenges in wireless devices: security. Vulnerabilities in wireless communication devices extend beyond the manufacturing site, into the silicon and individual components themselves. Most contract manufacturers focus primarily on IPC-A-610 standards or ISO 9001 quality inspection. CAE, through the use of its CAIMAN^™ system, confirms that the manufacturing quality of each device satisfies these standards by, among other things, measuring, calibrating and testing each device’s transmitters and receivers. But the system goes far beyond that, helping to ensure that each device also receives correctly signed firmware, with appropriate MAC IDs, tokens, and keys securely installed, none of which is addressed by IPC-A-610 or ISO 9001. The system also enables the registration of devices with cloud services (if needed), permits real-time management of all test parameters, and records and maintains the results of each test that is run, providing clients with complete visibility and control.