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CircuitHawk® — multi-board verification before you build

AI-powered circuit simulation that uncovers hidden schematic errors across single and multi-board systems, going beyond DRC with real electrical-stress estimation.

Choosing CircuitHawk®

  • Who should evaluate CircuitHawk?: Electronics teams reviewing schematics before layout or checking how boards work together. Use an evaluation to examine logical, connectivity and stress-related findings on a representative design. The software is deployed on premises.
  • What should you prepare?: Schematic and BOM data exported through Synthelyzer, operating conditions, board interconnections and any company review rules. Define the circuit or interfaces that the evaluation should investigate.
  • What can you review?: Schematic rule violations, pin-level parametric findings, electrical overstress flags and component power dissipation. Prioritized findings and stress outputs support design corrections and downstream reliability analysis.

Key Modules

  • Circuit Simulator: Current, potential and power on each component.
  • Design Error Detection: Pin-level parametric rule checks and derating analysis.
  • Schematic Rule Check: Advanced schematic rules engine with patented user custom rules.

Key Features

  • Automated schematic review: Patented rule-based logical and parametric analysis that flags errors DRC and web applications miss.
  • Functional / safety / testability rules: Validates correct voltage levels and safety segregation.
  • Sneak circuit & NFF detection: Reveals unintended pathways and conditions that drive hidden design errors and No-Trouble-Found. Detects net-name conflicts, power/ground issues and topology mistakes using pattern-based rules (I2C, PCIe, open-drain / open-collector).
  • ESD & voltage spike rules: Verifies the protection strategy and limits to withstand transient events.
  • Precise stress simulation: Realistic stress for analog and digital domains; bus-level simulation for digital interfaces.
  • Chip interconnection verification: Checks conformance to vendor reference designs for high-pin-count ICs.
  • User-defined rules: Author custom checks with flexible pattern logic to match company policies and technologies.
  • Multi-board integration analysis: Cross-board connectivity review to uncover system-level design errors early.

Advanced Analysis & Modeling

  • Pin-level review: Current and potential calculation for each pin, used for detailed pin-level design error detection.
  • Detailed component derating: Accounting for temperature, operational stresses and specific derating guidelines per component type; complies with ECSS and other standards.
  • Advanced schematic review: Customizable logical rules engine, accounting for net names, pin types and more.

Core Benefits

  • Faster verification: Dramatically shortens schematic reviews so teams focus on fixes and innovation.
  • Scales to complex designs: Handles large boards and multi-board systems with confidence.
  • Higher coverage than DRC: Detects logic, connectivity and stress-related issues that standard checks miss.
  • Reduced rework & time-to-market: Catch errors before layout, fab and test.
  • Minimal data entry: Leverages ECAD data and rule templates; add details only where needed.
  • Improved product quality: Fewer hidden errors means fewer field issues and customer returns.

How It Works

  • Data intake: Import schematic/BOM directly from ECAD via Synthelyzer® plug-ins (Altium®, OrCAD®, Siemens Xpedition®).
  • Automated schematic review: Run rule-based logical/parametric checks and connectivity verification; triage by risk and severity with an error Pareto.
  • Stress setup & simulation: Execute CircuitHawk® for real operating parameters (P, V, I), including thermal considerations.
  • Multi-board analysis: Extend the review across boards to uncover system-level errors.
  • Design feedback & traceability: Publish prioritized findings back to ECAD; maintain revision-linked reports for V&V and audits.

Integration with BQR's toolchain

  • Synthelyzer®: ECAD plug-ins that extract schematic/BOM and annotate initial context for analysis.
  • fiXtress®: System-level derating and MTBF prediction using real stresses.
  • CARE® Suite: System-level RAMS (FME(C)A, FTA, RBD, allocation, testability) using CircuitHawk® and fiXtress® results.
  • Together, these tools provide a digital-twin reliability workflow from schematic to system safety and reliability.

Additional Capabilities

  • Technology-specific rule packs and templates — power trees, high-speed serial buses, sensor interfaces.
  • Reference-design conformance checks for complex SoCs, PMICs, DDR and SerDes devices.
  • Severity ranking, error Pareto and dashboards for rapid triage.
  • Cross-probing context back to ECAD (nets, pins, components) to accelerate fixes.
  • Export actionable findings to fiXtress® and CARE® for downstream analysis and reporting.

Outputs & KPIs

  • Pin-level overstress flags with quantitative margins (%).
  • List of logical schematic rule violations by severity.
  • Pin-level parametric design errors list.
  • Stress output for derating analysis and MTBF prediction.
  • Actual power dissipation for every IC, for accurate 3D thermal analysis.

Typical Use Cases

  • Schematic review gate before layout.
  • Supplier design assurance and incoming design reviews for OEM / ODM collaborations.
  • Compliance preparation for ECSS, MIL-STD-1547 and corporate derating policies.
  • Cost and weight optimization by identifying over-specified components without sacrificing reliability.
  • Onboarding and training aid for new engineers; codify company knowledge as verifiable rules.

Questions for your CircuitHawk® evaluation

  • How does CircuitHawk extend an ECAD design-rule check?: CircuitHawk combines schematic rules with logical and parametric analysis, operating-stress estimation and cross-board connectivity review. Evaluate those checks alongside the DRC results your team already uses.
  • Does CircuitHawk run inside the ECAD editor?: Synthelyzer is the ECAD plug-in that extracts schematic and BOM data. CircuitHawk consumes that design data for circuit simulation and verification; the tools have different roles in the workflow.
  • What should a useful demonstration show?: Ask to follow a finding from the schematic input through its rule or operating-condition assumptions to the affected component, pin or connection. Include a multi-board interface if cross-board verification is part of your buying decision.