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Approaching the Edge
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Implications
1924
train wreck Wawanesa, Manitoba, Canada
I'm not suggesting
that worst-case design is useless. Far from it. A worst-case budget is
usually where projects start.
I'm just saying that worst-case budgets doesn't always work either
because you didn't include all the necessary factors, or because you
made wrong assumptions to fill in gaps in the available data.
To design efficient, high-performance designs that never fall off the
cliff you must combine your system budget with a lot of measurements.
The measurements tell you how the budget is working right now, and the
budget tells you what would happen if things got a little worse
tomorrow. Between the two approaches, you have all the information you
need.
My two-stage approach requires two things:
(1) Adequate laboratory equipment, and adequate laboratory practices
(like low-capacitance probes with really short ground wires).
(2) Good, basic knowledge about what parameters matter the most, and how
they can be adjusted.
First let's deal with the measurement issue.
-------(figure
caption)------------------
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/wawanesa/E/gallery/disasters/trainwreck2.html
1924 train wreck Wawanesa, Manitoba, Canada
Wawanesa: A Prairie Heritage
"The Train Wreck of 1924"In 1924 a great rail disaster occurred in
Wawanesa. While a train was crossing, the bridge gave way and the train
was plunged into the river. One man perished in the wreckage.
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