Security hardware is a mixed-signal problem in a sealed box. An antenna, an image sensor, an infrared illuminator and a power over Ethernet front end sit within a few centimetres of each other, and the unit is expected to run unattended for years in a place nobody visits. The board set has to be designed, built and recorded as one system.
Radio, imaging and power on one board set
A wireless reader needs a defined impedance, an image sensor needs a clean analogue front end, and the PoE stage brings both heat and switching noise. When those sections are fabricated and assembled in the same plant, the stack-up, finish and shielding decisions are made together, and a fault found at functional test is traced to the board, the part or the fit without a second supplier in the loop.
Thermal management inside a sealed housing
A sealed dome has almost no convection, so heat has to leave through the board. Metal-core laminate and heavy copper planes carry heat from the IR illuminator and the PoE stage into the housing wall, thermal vias move it between layers, and conformal coating protects the surface where condensation forms. The mix follows the thermal model agreed with engineering, with the published process limits on the capability page.
Unattended service life is an inspection question
A device that nobody services has to be right the first time. Incoming material is inspected at IQC, paste deposits are checked by SPI before placement, both sides are inspected by AOI after reflow, hidden joints are X-rayed, the first article is measured against the CAD data and every board is electrically tested before it is packed. Once the unit is assembled, functional and burn-in test confirm the whole device, not just the board.
Built units, firmware and serial numbers
A camera or panel usually ships complete. Cable and harness work, firmware loading, functional and burn-in test, packing and serial-number traceability run in the same plant as the boards, so the device can leave as one built unit whose serial number maps back to the lot that produced it — and to the inspection record for that lot.
Next step
Send the Gerber set, the BOM and pick-and-place file, the quantity and the target date; a complete package is quoted within 24 to 48 hours. Board families used in security work have their own pages — high-frequency, HDI and aluminium metal-core — and box build covers the finished device. Lighting and IR heat problems are described under LED lighting PCBs, the rest of the industries we serve are on the industries page, and a quote can be requested on the contact page.
