Technical Features

November 2013
Molded Inductors

Figure 1: Reference schematic of a buck converter Vin = 24 V; Vout = 5 V

Increasing current densities and short switching times in MOSFETs are placing ever greater stress on the dielectric strength of inductors. Molded inductors with a distributed air gap based on iron powder enable high inductance values in the smallest of spaces and thus increase the power density. A new test con
Date:
03/31/2025
High-performance resistors in custom power supplies

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Figure 1. A simple Zener regulator circuit

The subject of power supplies is potentially very broad and the application of resistors in power supplies is quite diverse. Here we will focus on power supply units (PSUs) designed for use in electronic appliances that nominally require fixed DC outputs ranging from just a few volts up to a few kV. Whether
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Date:
11/19/2013
Normally-Off and Current Collapse Free by Unique GIT Technology Realize Commercialization of GaN Transistor

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Figure 1: I-V Characteristics of Normally Off GIT GaN and Conventional Normally On GaN

For more than thirty-five years, the power MOSFET dominated the power management systems due to its constant technological evolution from its device structure to its applications to circuit topologies. However, at the dawn of the new millennium, power MOSFET reached its theoretical limitations that it became un
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Date:
11/14/2013
Power Mgmt. in Health Care Applications
Different health care applications require different power management solutions. From a power management view, health care is a very interesting market. Though design cycles within health care are quite long, a high level of innovation is fueling the need for new health care electronics. These do not only replac
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Date:
11/05/2013
Using Dynamic Bus Voltage (DBV) technology reduces board level energy usage at times of both high and low data-traffic demand in ICT systems. Energy savings from 3% to 10% are achievable. The European Commission DG INFSO (Directorate General – Information Society) estimates that communications network energy co
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Date:
10/18/2013
Since the recession of 2008–2009, many R&D organizations, including those within the green power and related industries, have had to become leaner and more efficient, just like their products. In addition to all the other cutbacks they’ve made, they are employing fewer dedicated test engineers with in-depth T&
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Date:
10/14/2013
First published in 1977, the internationally accepted IEC 60601-1 standard has been continuously developed to help alleviate safety issues relating to all types of medical equipment. The 3rd edition of this medical safety standard was first published by the IEC in 2005 (IEC60601-1:2005) and was adopted by the Eu
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Date:
10/14/2013
Powering up universal mobile telemedicine

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Figure 1. Global Mobile Sensing Health & Fitness Sensor Shipments.

Universal health care is one of the most important governmental, societal and economic issues in recent time. Attention has been mainly focused on providing health insurance to the uninsured. However,
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Date:
10/11/2013
Solar thermodynamic power challenges traditional PV technology

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In addition to photovoltaic systems to produce solar energy, another technology exists that can make better use of clean energy based on the principle known as thermodynamic solar power. Opened in
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Date:
10/11/2013
Power Management in Health Care Applications

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Figure 1. Typical power chain for portable battery powered home health care device

Different health care applications require different power management solutions. From a power management view, health care is a very interesting market. Though design cycles within health care are
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Date:
10/11/2013
Considering COTS connector solutions for solid-state lighting design:

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Figure 1: AVX's 70-9159 coplanar contact system

Now that the color, quality, and cost issues often associated with early solid-state lighting technologies have been addressed and overcome by so many leading manufacturers, consumers are adopting
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Date:
10/10/2013
Microgrid Market Trends and Outlook

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Figure 1

In the wake of increasing blackouts and brownouts, and particularly after the recent power outages caused by Hurricane Sandy, the need for a more reliant grid is undeniable. One solution is to consider
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Date:
10/10/2013
Enhancing RF system efficiency with bypass mode in hysteretic step-down converters

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Figure 1. Data from the MAX8805W show how a bypass FET affects output voltage line regulation.

A hysteretic DC-DC step-down converter has been widely used in 2G/3G/4G RF power amplifiers (PAs) as a replacement for a direct battery supply to the PA's DC supply. By dynamically adjusting the PA
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Date:
10/04/2013
Customizable Wirewounds in Utility apps

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Figure 1: Devices like these handle thousands of 6KV surges yet fuse quickly under continuous overload

Wirewound resistors have attributes that give them advantages over film resistors. Frequently, engineers have designs that require a resistor to meet specific characteristics in order to satisfy
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Date:
10/01/2013
What is the Smart Grid, really?

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Figure 1: Escalating installations of renewable energy sources are likely to be distributed far and wide

The Smart Grid - a changing landscape of supply, demand and storage Definitions of the "Smart Grid" range from highly technical descriptions to purely commercial interpretations, but whichever one
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Date:
09/26/2013
Understanding power factor and the need for power factor correction

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Figure 1: An ideal waveform with a power factor of 0

Until the era of switching power supplies, Power Factor - and power factor correction - wasn't a big concern for all but a handful of electrical engineers working with large electric motors, and other,
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Date:
09/24/2013
Selecting the Right MOSFET for Power Factor Correction Applications

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Figure 1: PFC schematic

Power factor is the ratio of the real power (P = Watts) to the apparent power (VA = Volt Ampere); the goal is to achieve a power factor as close to 1 as possible. A load with a lower power factor
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Date:
09/19/2013
Online Design for FPGA Power

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Figure 1: High-level schematic showing the power tree for an Altera Stratix III FPGA.

The Internet has become a key resource used by engineers to obtain information. In spite of the wealth of data, the assimilation and practical application of information remains a challenge. Cloud
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Date:
09/05/2013
Urban Legends about Thermal Interface Materials

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Figure 1: Simplified thermal model using datasheet values. The thermal interface material is hidden inside the yellow area

Proper thermal design in power electronics is the necessary fundamental to ensure that the final application will operate throughout the predicted lifetime. Thus, it remains a key element in the design
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Date:
08/22/2013
Transient thermal resistance (Zth) of power modules determined by simulation and measurement.

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Fig. 1. Comparison of measurement with FEM-Simulation and calculation results

The transient thermal resistance (Zth) of a power module describes a key performance that is used to estimate the maximum output current for transient loads. It can also be used to calculate the temperature
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Date:
08/16/2013
High-accuracy current measurement in automotive applications

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Figure 1: Transducer accuracy

The automotive industry has been undergoing a major transformation during the past few years. After more than a century of improving and refining the traditional gasoline and diesel engines that
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Date:
08/13/2013
Considering high-voltage GaN Cascodes

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Figure 1

Price, performance and availability will be the obvious primary determinants of the initial sales growth of GaN transistors and diodes. Product acceptance also hinges upon the additional factors
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Date:
08/06/2013
In any operating system, distribution losses are a significant factor in overall system efficiency at every level. In the case of telecom central office applications, traditional 48Vdc systems become very expensive to install (due to increased copper cost and weight) and run (due to I2R loss) while in large da
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Date:
08/01/2013
MEMS Time-Keeper Extends Standby Life of Mobile Devices

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Figure 1: Block diagram showing high-level architecture of a smart phone

With un-tethered instant access to data, news and entertainment, consumers are spending more time on Smartphones and mobile devices. Device users are demanding faster connectivity, multi-core Ghz+
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Date:
07/08/2013
Filter capacitor considerations

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Figure 1. Theoretical (left) and Actual (right) models of a capacitor.

Due to the constant evolution of consumer electronics, efficient power conversion is critical for reliable performance, and the filtering of output ripple is a critical factor in supplying consistent
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Date:
07/08/2013
Technology trends in mobile charging

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Figure 1: Greenchip solution based on TEA1720B and TEA1705

Mobile battery capacity is increasing to cope with the extra energy demands of power-hungry features, larger displays and more powerful CPUs. With bigger batteries to charge, how can system designers
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Date:
07/08/2013
New power architecture addresses PFC load efficiency issues

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Figure 1: Block Diagram of an Isolated AC/DC Compound Converter

As Power Factor Correction (PFC) migrates to lower power AC/DC converters, maintaining efficiency at low loads becomes an increasing challenge. The approach usually taken involves adding an extra
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Date:
07/08/2013
Next-generation SJ MOSFETs extend performance of silicon-based power devices

Figure 1

For more than a decade, development of Infineon's CoolMOS™ super-junction (SJ) MOSFET technology has extended the "silicon limit line" that restricts the performance of planar-type power MOSFETs.
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Date:
07/05/2013
Maximising the value in modern power system designs

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Figure 1: CAD drawing & photo of completed semi-custom design for a high-rel radar implementation within a space constrained enclosure

In what can be an increasingly cutthroat business environment, the engineers of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are under huge pressure to deliver products that will differentiate themselves
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Date:
06/28/2013
It is a well-known fact that engineers do not appreciate being advertised to. In my experience, they tend to prize function over style and want accurate information without attempts to massage the
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Date:
06/27/2013
Crucial selection criteria for an AC/DC supply

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Figure 1: The AC line can feed a single larger AC/DC converter (top), or several smaller ones (bottom)—even with the same output voltage.

Naturally, when specifying an AC/DC supply for a new project, one needs to select a product with the right output voltage and current rating, as well as input voltage range. But it goes much deeper
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Date:
06/25/2013
The number of mobile broadband subscriptions has grown by around 45% year-on-year reaching 1.7 billion in 2012, according to data released in the latest Ericsson Mobility Report . In addition to this growth, there also is steady progress in the amount of data usage per subscription. The changing habits of people an
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Date:
06/10/2013
In support of Governor Andrew Cuomo's strategic vision to enable innovation-driven educational opportunities and further develop New York's high-tech workforce, SUNY's College of Nanoscale Science
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Date:
06/07/2013
Automotive Forward Lighting Applications Demand  High Performance LED Drivers

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Figure 1. 2013 Honda Accord Touring/Hybrid LED DRL & Headlamp

The market size for high brightness (HB) LEDs is expected to reach $12 billion in 2012 and grow to $20.2 billion by 2015 with a 30.6% CAGR ramp (source: Strategies Unlimited). One of the key application
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Date:
05/21/2013
The no-load power crunch: 30 mW and beyond

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Figure 1. DOE proposed regulations vs. Level V performance for a 5V output EPS.

The need to reduce active-mode power consumption is somewhat obvious. What has not been so obvious is the need to minimize power drain in standby and no-load when products are essentially doing nothing.
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Date:
05/20/2013
USB power sensors in RF power measurement
In many of today's RF power measurement applications there is a need to make multiple power measurements simultaneously. Added complexities occur when the measurements need to be obtained from places
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Date:
05/20/2013
Advanced LED Drivers for Automotive Instrument Clusters
The usage of LEDs in automotive applications continues to grow due to their longer service life and lower power consumption. Simultaneously, the diversity and size of integrated state-of-the-art instrument
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Date:
05/17/2013
Integrated power management enables smaller machine vision systems
As the form factor of machine vision systems continues to get smaller while the processing power in these systems continues to increase rapidly. Power management is becoming a more important design
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Date:
05/17/2013
Wireless systems for Internet control of smart lighting
Electric lighting has been around since the first commercial incandescent lamps were sold in 1880. Since then, we have seen little widely adopted innovation - the introduction of the fluorescent in
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Date:
05/17/2013
Migrating from power-centric to space-sensing daylighting systems

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Figure 1: Daylight harvesting energy savings

Incumbent lighting installations today fail to address the most important energy saving "feature" a lighting system can implement, namely maintaining a user-defined amount of light that considers
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Date:
05/17/2013
Improving the reliability of MR16 LED lamps

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Figure 1. Forward operating mode of SBR structure

With their attractive low forward voltage drop and significant cost advantage, it's no surprise that Schottky diodes have become a defacto standard for AC bridge rectification in a myriad of different
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Date:
05/17/2013
Automobile lighting in the face of things to come
Going from lanterns to LEDs, in a nutshell, describes the course of development in automotive lighting since cars first came on the scene 100 years ago. What originally served only a functional purpose
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Date:
05/16/2013
Lighting Control - How much do you need?
Lighting controls are becoming ever more sophisticated with the capability to provide real-time data on system status, settings, light levels, energy consumption, etc. For some applications this level
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Date:
05/16/2013
Improving Appliance Safety: Designing for Protection
When it comes to home appliances, the overwhelming focus tends to be on advanced features and functionality. Nevertheless, design choices that enhance user safety and overcome possible malfunctions
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Date:
05/14/2013
What's shrinking AC-DC power supplies?
Power supply design trends are clear and dramatic: additional features, improved efficiency, and smaller size for the same power ratings, for both battery-powered portable units as well as larger,
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Date:
05/08/2013
Elegant step-down conversion for 24V industrial applications
Industrial power supplies need to have very high efficiency today and often times need to be highly compact. In combination with the typical 24V rail available, many solutions utilize a switching
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Date:
05/07/2013
Power interface module selection
A comparison of alternative on-board power solutions is rarely at the top of the agenda for a board designer. Often designers will use a previous solution because all available resources and time
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Date:
04/30/2013
Considering that almost 60 percent of total electric energy produced worldwide is used to run motors of every size, shape and efficiency, the adoption of variable speed drives can save as much as 70 percent of energy costs by controlling the speed of the load. New energy efficiency standards for compressors an
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Date:
04/15/2013
Many high power systems require the use of a hot-swap device to safely control of the inrush currents at powerup and provide fault protection. These circuits are commonly found in systems such as servers, network switches, redundant-array-of-independent-disk (RAID) storage, and other forms of communications infrastru
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Date:
04/15/2013
Using Uninterruptible Power Supplies in harsh environments

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When used in a controlled temperature environment ranging from 0?C to 40?C (32?F to 104?F) any domestically available on-line UPS should meet the requirement, as most have been tested and approved
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Date:
03/12/2013
eGaN FETs improve performance in industrial POL converters

Figure 1: Conventional vertical power loop PCB layout (a) Side view (b) MOSFET top view (c) eGaN FET top view

Designers of point of load (POL) converters used in 24 VDC systems traditionally have had to decide between the high cost of an isolated converter and the low frequency and efficiency of a buck
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Date:
03/12/2013
Manufacturers are increasingly focusing their efforts on energy conservation. This trend is reflected in the growing emphasis on both renewable energy and energy efficiency measures to reduce the
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Date:
03/12/2013
Measuring and sourcing DC transients and other DC test conditions

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1. Biasing with a static DC voltage and measuring current: This is the most basic application of DC power related bench instruments. Any power supply, so long as it has the right voltage and current
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Date:
03/09/2013
The power-semiconductor switches used in power supplies and inverters are based on two technologies, namely MOSFETs and IGBTs. MOSFETs can operate at relatively high switching frequencies significantly above 30 kHz but, unlike IGBTs, they have a very large chip surface area. A new generation of IGBT modules f
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Date:
02/15/2013
Measuring wireless-power charging systems for portable electronics

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Figure 1: Qi wireless-charging system simplified block diagram

Mobile electronics can be found everywhere—homes, hospitals, schools, purses, and pockets. With the explosion in portability, consumers have come to expect and demand long battery life. Energy-efficient
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Date:
02/13/2013
Hall-effect sensors deliver higher efficiency in brushless-DC motors

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Figure 1: Hall-effect sensors can mount in three locations: inside the motor, at the end of the motor's shaft, and around the rotor shaft's ring magnet.

As energy efficiency and cost savings become the biggest drivers in the design of electronic equipment, BLDC (brushless-DC) motor manufacturers must adapt to these new requirements, and deliver motors
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Date:
02/13/2013
Increasing efficiency in LED streetlight power supplies

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Figure 1: Shoot through due to drive-signal timing mismatch

Solid-state exterior lighting requires a regulated AC to DC power supply to drive LED loads which can vary in size from 1 W to over 500 W. To ensure a good return on investment, these power converters
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Date:
02/13/2013
Extend battery life with auxiliary charge-pump circuits

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Figure 1: Low-cost power supply providing a regulated 1.8 V and 2.5 V using a step-down converter and auxiliary charge pump

In many low-power battery-powered applications, cost is king. If the cost to produce a device is above a certain threshold, determined by the device's functionality and the market, that device simply
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Date:
02/13/2013
Two methods for increasing AC-distribution efficiency

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Figure 1: Transformers that utilize the auto-zigzag construction can perform the delta to wye transformation without the efficiency loss of an isolation transformer.

The most common options for increasing data-center energy efficiency, including elimination of the PDU (power-distribution unit) and converting to DC power, require disruptive, expensive, and time-consuming
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Date:
02/13/2013
Smart and efficient cities

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Figure 1: The SignalGuru application from MIT and Princeton, saves drivers an average of 20% fuel costs compared to those that had to stop at traffic lights.

A city by its very nature tends towards chaos. As the population of the world continues to grow, so does the population living in urban areas. The need to maintain all of the essential services
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Date:
02/13/2013
Flash corruption: software bug or supply-voltage fault?

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Figure 1: Typical CPU section and firmware memory map

Embedded systems commonly use Flash memory to store firmware. Occasionally, the firmware stored in the Flash memory in some systems is accidentally corrupted, preventing the system from booting up
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Date:
01/27/2013
Convert a buck regulator into a high-current LED driver

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Figure 1: Projected relative cost of LED Luminaire and percentage due to the cost of LEDs (Source: DOE SSL 2011 Manufacturing Roadmap)

LEDs promise to change the world, and few doubt that they will. However, a key limiter to more rapid adoption is the cost of the LEDs themselves. The cost breakdown of LED luminaires varies, but it
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Date:
01/26/2013
90-W plug-n-play Power over Ethernet over 100-m CAT-5e cable

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Figure 1: A typical PoE system

PoE (Power over Ethernet) has been increasing in popularity due to its flexible and cost-effective method of delivering both power and data over a single Ethernet cable. This allows equipment to be
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Date:
01/21/2013
Five considerations for deploying Ethernet in wind farms

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Figure 1: A network topology for wind-farm applications makes use of redundant devices and cabling to maximize system uptime and minimize the operational consequences of single points of failure.

Data is a key element to the successful operation of a wind farm. Real-time data access allows operators to monitor wind turbine uptime, performance, and power output—even from remote locations. This
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Date:
01/21/2013
Modeling and simulation for wind and solar energy

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Figure 1: Shading and current distribution inside the solar module

The market for green and renewable energy is growing, but also presents numerous new challenges when it comes to technology, environment, and acceptance. Concerning technology, these challenges require
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Date:
01/20/2013
Such a dense power grid however may not be as vulnerable to power outages as some experts fear. One might assume that it is much harder to synchronize the many generators and machines of consumers,
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Date:
01/20/2013
The smart grid surrounds us these days. In the U.S., approximately 36 million smart electricity meters have deployed since 2007 (reference 1). In Europe, both Italy and Sweden have each achieved complete
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Date:
01/19/2013
Renewable energy prices; weather driven and volatile

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Figure 1: Wholesale energy prices will be increasingly driven by the weather.

Pöyry Management Consulting has conducted a series of studies over the last two years to investigate how European energy markets would need to evolve in the face of the radical changes expected from
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Date:
01/19/2013
Optimizing output noise through low-noise power design

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Figure 1: Micrel's MIC94300 integrated design reduces the combined footprint of filter and load switch by as much as 65%.

The proliferation of portable connectivity devices over the last decade has seen most of us become more reliant on technology than ever before. At home and at work, as we embrace technology, we demand
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Date:
01/09/2013
Active network management offered as grid panacea

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Figure 1: Active Network Management creates a new layer of grid management.

The power industry faces some significant future challenges: to create a more visible and controllable electricity grid to deliver power more reliably, efficiently, and cost effectively and find smarter
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Date:
01/09/2013
Properly implemented, galvanic isolation is an effective defense against disturbances in the ground plane often referred to as ground loops, which occur as a result of varying electrical potentials. Physical limitations require that electrical components on a PCB connect to the ground plane at different physical
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Date:
01/03/2013
Power inductors and peak-current handling capability

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Figure 1: Inductor-current waveform

As high-tech electronic products and their power supplies continue to shrink in size, design engineers should look closely at the peak-current handling capability of power inductors. Design engineers
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Date:
12/23/2012
Thermal design considerations for thin power MOSFETs

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Figure 1: SOA (a) and ZthJC (b) charts for the BSC014N04LS

Thermal challenges accompany almost all advances in power-electronic designs. Load cases not covered under a datasheet's parameters are often particularly problematic. Each new MOSFET generation
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Date:
12/19/2012
String central inverter system

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Planners of photovoltaic power plants are no longer bound to string inverter concepts if multiple MMP(maximum power point)-trackers are required. Central inverter systems are, today, standard for
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Date:
12/18/2012
Designers of solar power—photo-voltaic or PV—generating systems face some of the same problems as their counterparts in any other power-related technology: the need to constantly improve performance, reliability, longevity, and—above all—efficiency. As with any engineering endeavour, improved performance re
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Date:
12/12/2012
Designing a DiSEqC-antenna phantom power-supply

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Figure 1: The DiSEqC application circuit

The DiSEqC (digital satellite equipment control) standard is a communication protocol developed by Eutelsat used between a satellite receiver (decoder), defined as the master, and satellite peripheral
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Date:
12/04/2012
New technology and acquisitions benefit wireless sensing

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Figure 1: Emerson Rosemount's 3051S series wireless instrumentation exemplifies the benefits WSN brings to industrial applications: It can reduce total installation costs by 45% and total deployment time by as much as 75%, eliminating design and installation time and cost associated with wiring, conduit, cable trays, and junction boxes.

Wireless sensing is the most important new technology in process measurement to appear in decades. For this reason alone, it has attracted the sustained attention of ARC Advisory Group and other industry
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Date:
11/27/2012
Making the switch to silicon carbide

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Table 1: SiC MOSFET and Si IGBT comparative specifications

To demonstrate the advantages of silicon-carbide MOSFETs versus silicon IGBTs (insulated-gate bipolar transistors) when used in high-power, high-frequency circuits, it is necessary to employ a test
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Date:
11/19/2012
Medical applications demand mixed-signal ICs for high reliability

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Table 1: The LTC2376 through 2380 pin-compatible family of differential, no-latency SAR ADCs are available in 16- and 18-bit versions.

Advances in medicine and medical treatment bring the promise of more-accurate diagnoses, new treatment methods, and more patient-friendly medical care. From high-resolution imaging systems to drug-delivery
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Date:
11/08/2012
Measure VSWR to quantify transmission-line imperfections

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Figure 1: Transmission line circuit illustrating the impedance mismatch boundary between the transmission line and the load. Reflections occur at the boundary designated by ?. The incident wave is V+ and the reflective wave is V-.

Impedance mismatches in an RF transmission line causes power loss and reflected energy. The VSWR (voltage standing-wave ratio) is a way to measure transmission line imperfections. In an RF electrical
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Date:
11/07/2012
Designing with digital power for optimum system performance

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Figure 1: Optimising transient response parameters via a digital-power GUI.

Digital power has emerged to satisfy the need for power supplies capable of handling the complex and rapidly changing power demands of high-performance computing subsystems. These include equipment
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Date:
11/01/2012
Enhancing medical-product usability with IEC 62366

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Figure 1: General usability-engineering design cycle

Manufacturers are required by the 3rd edition of IEC 60601-1 to avert the poor usability risks involved in identification, marking, and documents, which can be achieved by an "application of usability
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Date:
10/30/2012
Power management of an artificial hand

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Figure 1: Southampton hands. Across each palm can be seen a dc motor with a worm and wheel to rotate the thumb. Five other motors flex and extend the fingers and thumb. The fingertips have touch (force), slip/texture, and temperature sensors.

For an upper extremity amputee, mass is a main factor when choosing an artificial hand. A hand should be lightweight so that high pressure points do not develop inside the plastic socket that attaches
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Date:
10/25/2012
Optimize data rates in isolated SPI buses

Figure 1: The 8-bit data registers in the SPI Master and Slave devices link through the MISO and MOSI signals to form a 16-bit control register. (Click image to enlarge.)

The simple SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus is a popular serial interface commonly employed in automotive, industrial-control, and communication applications. To provide isolation and minimize
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Date:
10/21/2012
Reliability of copper wire bonding for power devices

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Table 1: Process-control measures

Though copper wire bonding developed nearly 30 years ago, it has only recently gained in popularity due to the rapid increase in the price of gold, which is now about 7,000 times that of copper (Reference
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Date:
10/19/2012
The 60-W TV

Figure 1: The local-dimming function saves 10 to 20% of power on edge-lit systems (left) and 20 to 30% of power on direct back-lit TVs (right).

TVs in households are regular companions for many people around the world. It is common that people have the TV on in a living room while preparing a meal in the kitchen. In many cases, the TV is
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Date:
10/18/2012
Reducing standby power consumption for LED Lighting
LEDs provide high-efficiency, environment-friendly characteristics, and a long life compared to conventional lighting sources. Therefore, they are becoming a primary light-source choice to reduce
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Date:
10/16/2012
Integrated Current Sensing
Competitive markets put pressure on OEMs to improve energy efficiency in their product designs. Accordingly, it is important to be able to monitor accurately currents through critical paths
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Date:
09/21/2012
Performance vs power in off-chip DDR SDRAM

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Figure 1: Relative active power

To deliver new features and higher performance in consumer-electronic products, SoC developers constantly look to integrate more functionality into their designs. SoCs with more features
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Date:
09/12/2012
How high-TJ TRIACs benefit your applications

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Figure 1a: Two TRIACs operating near their Tj(max): The BTB16-600CW standard TRIAC (a) and the T1635H-6T high-temperature TRIAC (b).

High-temperature TRIACs present several benefits particularly useful in applications demanding high current density or imposing high-temperature environments. These applications include
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Date:
09/12/2012
IEC 61850 increases grid reliability

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Figure 1: Redundant 8.46 kV lines power an industrial customer's facility.

A power industry consultant recently asked for assistance solving a reliability problem for a municipal utility. The utility had recently experienced disturbances on its system, negatively
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Date:
09/10/2012
Test today your PV inverter for tomorrow

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Figure 1: Micro-inverters convert direct current from individual solar panels into alternating current for the electric grid.

An increasing number of DERs (distributed energy resources), which include storage systems, are connecting to the grid by means of inverters. This is already evident in countries with dedicated
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Date:
09/10/2012
Securing the life cycle in the smart grid

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Figure 1: A conscientious life-cycle design will consider threats at every step of product development and manufacturing.

Investment in smart meters and smart-grid end equipment continues to grow worldwide as countries try to make their electric delivery systems more efficient. As critical as the electric delivery
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Date:
09/07/2012
Improving electric-motor testing techniques

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Figure 1: Each stage of embedded-software validation for electric-motor simulation introduces new challenges for test engineers such as high-speed processing and high-power signals.

The growing adoption of electric motors in the automotive industry creates new challenges for embedded-control-system developers and test engineers. Control algorithms for electric-drive
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Date:
09/05/2012
New power electronics based on GaN MISHEMPTs

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Figure 1: EpiGaN deposits a unique in-situ SiN capping layer, grown by MOCVD on top of HEMT epi wafers.

GaN appears to be a highly suitable material for power switching devices operating at high frequencies without suffering major losses. The Promise of GaN This is due to the drastically
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Date:
09/04/2012
Estimating bond wire current-carrying capacity
Semiconductor manufacturers use wire bonds extensively to connect a chip's I/O pads, including power, to its package's external pins. Wire bonding processes typically use gold wire because
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Date:
08/28/2012
High-side automotive battery monitoring

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Figure 1: Functional blocks for amsï½s two-chip sensor interface for high-side automotive battery current sensing.

Manufacturers are electrifying more functions within a car, reducing the mechanical load on the internal-combustion engine. These functions include water, oil, and fuel pumps; valve actuation;
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Date:
08/28/2012
Current sensing in an automotive environment

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Figure 1: An example of a shielded air-core open-loop current sensor from Raztec provides a strong combination of high performance in a small package and at low cost.

The Automotive industry has long been the ultimate test ground for electronic components. Few terrestrial environments present such a combination of demands as does the under-hood locale
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Date:
08/28/2012
Improving engine stop-start system design

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Figure 1: Integrated gate driver with external passive components.

Automatic engine stop-start is effective in helping reduce CO2 emissions from private cars. When integrated in an otherwise conventional combustion-engine power train, engine stop-start
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Date:
08/24/2012
Non-contact driver�s ECG monitoring system

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Figure 1: Block diagram of a typical EPIC sensor

EPIC (Electric Potential Integrated Circuit) is a very-high-impedance electric-field sensor that measures the ambient electric field with minimal disturbance. EPIC sensors are suitable for
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Date:
08/19/2012
Hall effect current sensing in HEVs and EVs

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Figure 1: Typical HEV system block diagram

Consumers are embracing environmentally friendly green cars due to the rising cost of fossil fuels and a growing concern for the health of the environment. Sales forecasts predict that green
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Date:
08/19/2012
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