RAM Commander provides multiple libraries for convenient reliability calculation and analysis.

The reliability-related libraries include:

 

1. Component library

This library may contain technical part data required for the reliability prediction (such as specific capacitor style, capacitance, V rated etc.). The library uses the Generic Name of the component as a key for search and retrieval of the components. Customer may enter/import component data to the library or purchase library from ALD with more than 70,000 widely used active electronic components data.

 

2. Cross-Reference Library

Frequently, electronics developers must cope with a variety of part numbering schemes when designing products. Part numbers can be based on a variety of numbering schemes, including military, catalog number, and internal part numbers. RAM Commander provides a flexible cross-reference between generic names and other part numbers using the Cross-Reference Library. It simplifies the component search and retrieval from the Component Library.

 

3. Part Number automatic recognition

Leading manufacturers use special algorithms naming their parts. RAM Commander implements these algorithms for the opposite direction in order to get reliability data from Part number.

RAM Commander supports algorithms for decoding Part Numbers of Resistors and Capacitors of the following manufacturers:

AVX, ATC, Bourns, Cal-chip, DALE, Hitano, Garrett, IRC, Johanson, Kemet, KOA, Kyocera, Mallory, Meritek, Murata, MSI,NIC, Nichicon, Novacap, Samsung, Siemens, Syfer, OhmCraft, Paccom, Philips, Phycomp, Ralec, ROEDERST, TDK,TaiyoYuden, Vishay, Roedenstein, Vitramon, Yageo.

This works like the component library - the  only difference is that component data are not stored in the actual library, but are defined by Part number decomposition and analysis according to a manufacturer's algorithm.

This is much more powerful than the component library because it covers a huge amount of parts, even parts which do not exist at the current moment – as soon as the manufacturer uses the same naming algorithms.

 

4. GPRD Library

The GPRD (General Part Reliability Data) Library covers:

The GPRD module allows the use of available field and manufacturer’s data in the process of reliability analysis, and provides prediction of the Failure Rate for unknown temperature values.

Sometimes modules of the system under analysis are off-the-shelf products with existing field reliability data. In such cases, it would be necessary to manually enter or automatically import (such as from FRACAS) the available field data for the reliability analysis.

The GPRD module gives an efficient solution to this problem and extremely useful when:

 

5. Calculation Defaults Library

RAM Commander provides defaults values for all component information required for reliability prediction. RAM Commander uses these default values for reliability prediction in all places where the necessary data was not entered. Any user can review the defaults for any component type defined for a specific reliability prediction method.

 

This chapter deals with data management: how to use libraries, cross-referencing, failure rate tables - their reports and formulae, backing-up and restoring libraries, the default manager and project defaults. It will also explain how various values for a project are entered automatically into the project either from the Global Libraries or Project Library or through the management and provision of default values.

 

See the Reliability Calculation chapter for more information on libraries usage during the reliability prediction.

See other module-specific chapters for information about other RAM Commander libraries such as FMECA, Maintainability etc. This chapter covers only the reliability prediction-related libraries.