Customer: Hubei

Project: PCB Cloning, BOM Generation, Reverse Engineering Schematics

Project Highlights: 6-layer board, Code Query

The customer is an automotive research center, and due to commercial confidentiality, we prefer not to disclose too much information about the client. When we received the board, we initially thought it was a 4-layer board, and it was quite large, measuring 31*25CM. Of course, the cost was also substantial. The primary purpose of the customer was to obtain files for their development needs.

After dismantling the entire PCB, we found over 2000 components densely packed in the scanned images. We used 10 A4-sized papers just to document all the components. The PCB cloning process was meticulous, involving step-by-step and repetitive work.

However, we encountered a challenge during the BOM (Bill of Materials) generation phase. There were numerous codes, especially for the transistors, which amounted to more than 50 different types. We managed to find information for around 30 of them through various resources, but there were still over 10 codes that we couldn't identify. For those who have experience in code querying chips, it is known that transistor codes differ between manufacturers, making it difficult to establish a systematic pattern, particularly for chips with long codes but small transistors, which can only be marked with codes via silkscreen printing.

In light of this challenge, we reached out to the customer and collaborated closely with their engineers, which proved beneficial to us since the customer had engineers on their side. With joint efforts, we successfully identified the specific models for the remaining codes. Thanks to smooth communication throughout the process, we also worked together on schematic design. The final schematic was clear, concise, and met the customer's requirements, resulting in the customer's satisfaction with our product. The customer made the final payment to our company account, signifying a successful completion of the project.