A recent white paper about a study exploring issues facing engineers during the design process identified a number of items that are “essential to the design process” but can be difficult to find. At the top of the list were reference designs and application notes. This is in spite of engineers being able to access a wider range of materials across multiple sources via the internet than ever before.

I think part of the reason why these two types of information are identified as essential and difficult to find stems from the growing complexity of contemporary processors. The number and variety of peripherals and special purpose processing engines that are being integrated into today’s newest processors create a steep learning curve for any developer trying to use these devices in their projects. Providing a compiler and debugger does not sufficiently compensate for the amount of effort to master the complexity of today’s processors without negatively impacting the project schedules.

The term reference design can apply to a wide range of materials. An article about reference designs presents a taxonomy for reference materials based on application complexity and design completeness versus broad to application-specific implementation details. If, as the article identifies, reference designs are a sales and marketing tool, why are such material difficult for developers to find?

One possible reason is that developers do not consider reference materials as essential. Another reason is that reference designs, by their nature, apply to a small swath of processors in a huge sea of options, and this makes classifying and getting these reference designs in front of interested developers challenging at best. Attempts by third-party information sources have had limited success at aggregating and connecting the appropriate reference materials with relevant processors. As evidenced by the conclusions of the referenced study, even processor vendors themselves are experiencing limited success getting word out about their own reference materials.

How important are reference materials in choosing and working with processors and other complex components in your designs? Are all types of reference materials equally important or are some types of information more valuable than others? Is aggregating reference material with the appropriate component the best way to connect developers with reference material? What good ways to classify reference material have you seen that help you better find the material you are looking for without having to wade through a bunch of irrelevant reference material?