Powering PSD and Consumer Electronics

Though I may horn in from time to time, this space will soon not be mine to fill: Power Systems Design recently welcomed aboard Gail Purvis as European Editor and key point of contact for Europe-based companies. Kicked upstairs, I'll serve as Editor in Chief and contact for companies in North America. I've been reading, enjoying, and learning from Gail's reporting on technologies, the companies that develop them, and the markets in which they compete for more than a decade. I'm indeed pleased that she's now helping to power PSD. Gail is an award-winning technical journalist with extensive experience. Her practice has included editing stints at Photovoltaics, Smart Materials, European Semiconductor, and III-V Review. She was also founding editor for the public journal of Scotland's Environmental Protection Agency, SEPA View. Her broad subject experience will help us deepen PSD's editorial in sector-specific power topics. ------------ The theme for this issue's Special Report is Powering Consumer Electronics. Despite guarded consumer spending in Europe and North America during the last several years, the consumer-electronics sector continues as a key point of focus for many technology companies and the OEMs they supply. In keeping with general trends in the consumer-electronics sector, battery powered and multiply-powered energy-management subsystems are key in many products. Our cover story from Linear Technology discusses charger trends for modern consumer-electronic products, many of which operate on single-cell lithium as their primary energy reserve and must charge from any of several sources. Battery-charge management and protection are also central topics in articles this month from Cadex, TE Connectivity, and Texas Instruments. Of course managing battery power isn't the only challenge consumer electronics bring to the party. Vicor reports on an interesting new approach to PFC (power-factor correction) and AVX offers a method for minimizing capacitor leakage. Lastly, I take a bit of a departure from all of the above with a small review of a very large trade show: The PCIM Europe International Exhibition and Conference organized by Mesago. And our newly-minted European Editor, Gail Purvis, brings news from the oft-overlooked world of fuel cells in this month's GreenPage. www.powersystemsdesign.com