Technology

The first and most important challenge for our R&D team is to always keep pace with emerging technologies, also thanks to a policy of continuous investment in human resources, know-how, relationships, processes and technologies.
On this page you can find an overview, albeit not exhaustive, of the technical and technological aspects we have been able to address and deepen over the years, which are now an integral part of our know-how.

Electronic design analog, digital, power and radio frequency

Founded twenty-five years ago as an electronic design house, Protech has always focused its research and development efforts in this field, building up an extensive knowledge base across all key areas of electronics.

Today our experience extends to numerous fields, mainly including industrial and control electronics, IoT (Internet of Things) and telecommunications.

Digital design

CMOS/TTL logic circuits
FPGA - Lattice, Altera, XilinX, Actel
VHDL design
High speed ECL logic

Analog design

Amplifiers and signal conditioning
Audio signal processing
Data acquisition
Telephone line interface, caller ID and ring detection
Modem and fax

RF and microwave design

Fiber optic systems, ROF (radio over fiber) links
Low noise RF gain blocks, hi-linearity, wideband
RF driver amplifiers, RF Power Amplifiers
RF power generators for plasma applications
HF-VHF-UHF band TX/RX modules, FM/DAB/DAB+ receivers
SDR (Software Defined Radio) with firmware and application software development
Antenna design and matching

Power electronics

Linear power supplies
Audio power amplifiers: linear and Class D
Switching power supplies: buck, boost, flyback
High power DC/DC and AC/DC converters
Full-bridge and half-bridge converters
Inverters and controls for arc welders (MMA, TIG, MIG, Pulsed MIG, Synergic MIG)
UPS and solar technology
Low power designs

Wireless technology

GSM - GPRS - UMTS/3G - 4G/LTE - voice and data applications
WiFi, Bluetooth, BLE, ZigBee
Pocsag/Ermes paging technology
TCP/IP protocol stack

Interfacing techniques

HMI - human-machine interfaces
Canbus, DeviceNet, Canopen protocols and devices
RS232, RS485, RS422
I2C Bus
LAN/Ethernet
Fiber optics
USB peripherals and devices
MIDI and MIDI/USB

Firmware and software embedded and high-level

Protech has built up considerable experience over the years in software design and development, ranging from firmware, often closely linked to electronic design and IoT devices, to complex high-level software, both native and web-based.

Our team has advanced knowledge of the most widely used programming languages, the main operating systems, and numerous software architectures, with particular attention to the increasingly widespread ARM architecture.

Firmware

Real Time Operating Systems, FreeRTOS
Programming languages - C, C++, ASM
Device drivers and memory management
User interface design - keypads, panels, GUIs, LCD/TFT displays
Telephony software stack
Motor control algorithms and digital control loops
Design and development of Embedded LINUX

Software

High-level programming languages - C++/Qt, NodeJS, Java, C#, VisualC, Delphi
Operating systems - Linux, Windows, Unix, WinCE
Client/Server applications
Database management - MYSQL, SQLITE
Networking/internet applications - HTML, PHP, JAVASCRIPT

DSP

DSP applications on ARM CORTEX M4/M7 cores
Analog Devices
Texas Instruments
Voice and audio processing applications
Telephony signal processing
Digital control loop design

Microcontrollers and microprocessors

ARM CORTEX M0/M3/M4/M7 microcontrollers from all major manufacturers
ARM9/ARM11 and CORTEX A-series microprocessors
Fujitsu/Spansion LX/FR/FX (16/32bits) and FM3/FM4
NXP/Freescale LPCXXX
Hitachi 8/16/32 bit
AVR - Z80 - 8051 and derivatives
CML CMX850 communication processor

Cross-disciplinary skills project management, testing and documentation

Protech also takes care of all the ancillary activities that support development, which are essential for effective project management and success.

Our team is able to plan, analyze and coordinate every stage of a project's evolution and can boast many years of experience also in planning, prototyping, validation and documentation.

Project management

Project specifications
Project planning, coordination and analysis
Cost analysis
Concurrent engineering

Mechanical design

Mechanical specifications
3D modeling
ESD protection and EMC compatibility
Thermal analysis

PCB layout

Single-sided and double-sided
Multilayer and flex circuits
PCB and mechanical co-design
3D PCB rendering
Virtual Prototyping

Test and validation

Project validation and verification
Support for CE certification
Compliance with specific standards and regulations
In-house testing and measurement
ESD & EMC testing

Documentation

Mechanical drawings
Circuit diagrams, assembly drawings, bill of materials
Assembly and production documentation
Test procedures
Special assembly instructions
Use and maintenance manuals