Pervasive Portable Power

Welcome to this issue of PSDE which carries the industry-inspiring theme of Portable Power. The powering of portable devices has never been as important as it is right now. We have seen a tidal wave of portable devices - from the first MP3 players to the rapid adoption of smart phones and now the tablet devices supporting a broad range of applications and connectivity. The one thing they all have in common is that they are powered by batteries. These batteries although slowly improving, need to have their stored energy carefully managed to maximize the run-time of the device and to enhance the user experience. I am always impressed by the ingenuity that companies demonstrate in their quest for eking out every nanoamp of current in the portable products demanded by consumers. Power management has for years been at the forefront of successful products; the iPhone and iPad are great examples of what can be achieved by creative power engineering. Recently I was in the centre of London to meet with Micrel, a company renowned for its creative power management solutions. Here, I heard about the company's new device; forming the power foundation for forthcoming 4G designs, representing a complete power management solution for processors, multi-standard RF transceivers and power amplifiers, memory, USB-PHY, associated I/O interfaces and many other system requirements. This product has huge potential in the imminent high volume 4G market. This is what I mean by creative power engineering. Beginning with this issue of Power Systems Design Europe, I would like to highlight the first of a regular contribution from David Morrison, Editor of How2 Power. David will talk about design engineering opportunities and how jobs offered in our industry are developing, and will follow the magazine's editorial theme in each issue. This should be a valuable new career resource section. Please join me in welcoming David to our top team of regular contributors With the two major power conferences and exhibitions (APEC and PCIM) behind us there's a wealth of new products and real innovations from our industry. I attended both these shows and was amazed at the work that had obviously taken place during a very difficult recession. This tells me that our industry is alive and well, even during these difficult times. For those who could not attend, please visit our website where I have prepared a roundup report of what I saw at these two major events in our calendar. At PCIM I ran a forum themed on ‘Designing for Power Conservation and Performance' the content of which can also be accessed from our website. Also, look out for our extended weekly web-blast, PowerSurge, which now contains an extra feature article or case study. I hope you enjoy the issue. Please keep your valuable feedback and comments coming, and check out our fun-strip, Dilbert, at the back of the magazine.

All the best, Cliff Keys Editor-in-Chief Power Systems Design Cliff.Keys@powersystemsdesign.com