AEi Systems

AEi Systems is a United States space and power electronics engineering firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

AEi Systems is most well known for its analysis and design of space-bound and other industrial power supplies and power systems -- especially those that must operate reliably under extreme conditions (such as radiation, magnetic fields, heat, and the like) and yet also keep within size and weight limitations [http://www.lsengineer.com/m1.html] .

AEi Systems is the world leader in Worst Case Circuit Analysis (WCCA) and failure and reliability analysis for space-bound DC-DC converters.

The company has more recently become known as a designer and supplier of highly specialized radiation-hardened power supplies and related power system circuitry.

"'Divisions/Organization

:"'

The company has four, inter-related business lines:

Analysis -- Worst Case Circuit Analysis (WCCA) and failure and reliability analyses.
Design -- Design and licensing or sale of space-bound and other industrial power supplies and related power system circuitry.
SPICE Modeling -- Modeling of complex ICs for major manufacturers and to support AEi Systems' analysis and design work.
Software -- Sale of licensed copies of (i) the company's Power IC Model Library for PSpice, and (ii) WCCA templates and tables.

"'Noteworthy achievements and facts

:"'

* Motorola University's "six sigma class" on worst case analysis was created by AEi Systems

* The updated LVPS power supply for the Atlas Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator) is being designed by AEi Systems.

*Most SPICE models for Power ICs that electrical engineers find on the Internet were created by AEi Systems, including those found on the websites of ON Semiconductor and Texas Instruments and used via National Semiconductor's online Webench tool

*AEi Systems analyzed the power buss for the International Space Station

History:

The company's predecessor, Analytical Engineering, Inc., was founded in 1995 by Steve Sandler.

The company met with significant early success as the developer of simulation models and performed worst case circuit analysis on International Space Station's power buss electronics. A series of satellite projects continued to keep Sandler and Analytical Engineering busy, including Tempo, Globalstar, Goes, GPS, MCI, Omegasat and P-81. Analytical Engineering provided computer simulation models and worst case circuit analysis on most projects.

In 2002, with the idea of expanding the business and the management team, the businesses of Analytical Engineering, Inc. in Arizona, and a related company, Analytical Services, Inc. in New York, were combined and purchased by AEi Systems, LLC and moved to Los Angeles in transactions spearheaded by Charles Hymowitz (an electrical engineer formerly of McDonnell Douglas and Intusoft) and his business partner, Lee Weinberg.

Defense and Aerospace Projects:

AEi Systems has been involved in the development and analysis of some of the most sophisticated and technically challenging power systems in the world, both in the space and defense arena and also with respect to commercial and industrial applications. The company has provided computer simulation models and worst case circuit analysis on most projects. Among the company's publicly-known projects are:

BSAT CMIS Globalstar GMI Goes GPS HS-702 Intellsat Juno MCI Milstar MSV MUOS NPOESS Omegasat P1196 P-81 SMMA SMU Spaceway Tempo Virgo XPC - -

Commercial and Scientific Projects

AEi Systems' power supply analysis and design expertise has also been sought for commercial and industrial projects not involving space or defense. For example, AEi Systems worked on:

Darwin, an [http://www.schilling.com/products_ROV_Systems.php Alstom Schilling Robotics] 100kW Remotely Operated underwater Vehicle (ROV) that operates underneath the North Sea under 17 kPSI at over 6 kM

The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATLAS_experiment Atlas Experiment] at the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider Large Hadron Collider (LHC)] at CERN, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator

A project for DeLL computer.

SPICE Modeling and Power IC Model Library:

AEi Systems provides SPICE models to many major IC manufacturers, including Texas Instruments, ON Semiconductor and National Semiconductor.

Since 2005, this business unit has produced and distributed the Power IC Model Library for PSpice [http://pcdandf.com/cms/content/view/2002/95/ 2002 Release] [http://www.ema-eda.com/documents/PR_AEiModelLibrary%20_092007.pdf 2007 Release] , which is distributed by Cadence's sole North American distributor (EMA-EDA) in the United States and Canada, and by other major distributors in Asia and Europe.

WCCA Training and WCCA Support and Project Enabler:

The company developed and taught the "six sigma" WCCA training class for Motorola University, and continues to teach WCCA techniques via on-site classes for customers as well as several LA-based workshops.

References