Andre Yoskowitz
16 Mar 2010 22:02
VGChartz has posted an interesting and speculative report this week, implying that Microsoft may be creating an Xbox 360 "Slim," a redesign that will shrink the size of the original console and mark the first major complete redesign since the console's launch in 2005.
Microsoft is hiring a new motherboard engineer, one for the 360 development team, with the job ad going up last week.
CEO Steve Ballmer, known for letting speculative comments fly almost every time he speaks, started the rumor mill last week as well, saying new console models would be available in the future with different "form factors."
Here is the full job ad (and let the speculation begin):
Job Category: Hardware Engineering
Location: United States, CA, Mountain View
Job ID: 714897
Product: Xbox Home
Division: Entertainment & Devices Division
Motherboard Design Engineer
Job Description
The Xbox 360 Console development team is seeking qualified candidates for an Electrical Engineer. The responsibilities of this position are focused on specifying, designing (schematic capture, PCB layout, BOM, cost analysis), implementing and verifying the mother-board and other various sub-system boards that make up the XBOX 360 product line. This work includes development of requirements and evaluating different solution for functionality, cost, and risk. The subsystems on the XBOX 360 mother board include (but are not limited to): High speed busses (front side bus, memory bus, PCIe bus, SATA bus, USB bus, I2S, etc.), memory, Ethernet, audio/video, system clocking, power and thermal management, and misc. analog/digital circuitry.
The XBOX 360 Console Development team is responsible for aggressive cost reduction of the console throughout the life of the product as well as expanding the market for the console in derivative products. The position involves working closely with industrial designers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, software engineers, test engineers, component engineers, and program managers.
Qualifications:
Minimum BS/MS in Electrical Engineering
Minimum of 4 years experience contributing to the design and production of complex products in the consumer PC or consumer electronic industry.
A solid understanding of core engineering principles, fundamental circuit design, and analytical techniques is required.
Familiarity with PC, embedded system architectures hardware and software, experience with implementation of high speed serial busses (SATA, PCIe, USB) and/or high speed parallel busses such as: memory bus (DDR2, GDDR3, etc.), CPU front side bus, Hyper transport, and/or voltage regulator/power delivery design a plus.
Design for manufacturing and test experience is required.
Strong bench evaluation and in-lab debugging skills are required.
Strong communication skills required. Including the ability to clearly express technical concepts in verbal and written forms.
Must be able to plan work, and work to a plan adapting as necessary in a rapidly evolving environment.
The ability to comprehend and assimilate technical concepts across multiple disciplines is a plus.
Enthusiastic, motivated and self driven.
Domestic and international travel may be required.