ovarex was commissioned by DenX Advanced Dental Systems to develop the LED driver board for use in its DentSim™ dental simulator and IGI™ image-guided implantology products. The board forms part of an infrared motion tracking system and is designed to deliver precisely-timed sequences of electrical currents (up to a total maximum instantaneous current of 80 amperes) to a set of infrared LEDs located in the dentist's drill. The board includes an FPGA (Field Programmable Logic Array) for communicating with the host controller and controlling the LED timing and currents, a bank of high-current, controlled-waveform LED drivers, other analog circuits, built-in test circuitry and a custom-designed switching power supply. The board's logic is designed for field upgrade via the host controller, permitting new versions to be released to customers together with software distributed on CDs or through the Internet. We employed a highly defensive design strategy to protect the LEDs from potentially harmful power levels in the event of a controller or software malfunction. The board was designed to meet EMC and stringent safety requirements, and is optically and magnetically isolated.

This was a complete turnkey design, including preparation of the detailed requirements specification and data protocol for communications with the host controller, development of the electronic circuits and PCB together with VHDL code for the FPGA and submission of production file data. We also supplied DenX with an initial run of tested boards.

Novarex also designed and delivered quantities of a number of other circuit boards for DenX, and assisted with troubleshooting and improving video-camera circuits from another supplier.

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e were commissioned by OTM Technologies to develop the digital portion of a mixed-signal ASIC for use in a range of the company's miniature optoelectronic modules, which include the NaviLite™ solid-state optical joystick for mobile devices (shown above). The design, which we created in VHDL, includes asynchronous I2C and SPI serial interfaces, quadrature motion detectors, logic for control of the analog portions of the chip, special techniques for battery-power saving, and a safety interlock for protecting the user's eyes from stray laser radiation. When the ASIC came back from the manufacturer, Novarex's design was shown to be 100% functional.

In addition to the digital design, Novarex developed a board for testing the ASIC, and assisted OTM with troubleshooting the analog design of the ASIC, during which we spent several weeks overseas at the ASIC manufacturer's plant. We also participated in working with one of OTM's major customers, and answering queries relating to the device application.

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ovarex served as the telephony consultant to the Internet telephony company Tundo for three years, during which we wrote requirements specifications, developed interface boards for analog trunks and POTS telephones and switching power supplies, provided day-to-day consultation concerning the connection of Tundo's products to international public telephone networks, and assisted with the telecoms, EMC and safety regulatory testing and approvals process.

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e designed the electronic circuits of a cellular gateway for bridging the connection between a PBX and the cellular network. The design, commissioned by Quasar Communications Systems Ltd., included a switching power supply for the generation of DC telephone line voltages and ringing voltages, telephone line interface circuitry, progress tone generators and an embedded microcontroller. The design has been reliably mass-produced, and the product has been installed in Israel and overseas over a period of several years.