IoT & Smart Cities

May 2015
A niche market only a few years ago, the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is now becoming a mainstream electricity provider, and changing the way the world is powered. Following a difficult period of industry consolidation and economic crisis, PV installations saw another record year in 2013, with more than 38
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Date:
05/29/2015
Energy harvesting has been around for a very long time. I still remember my 1980s pocket calculator with a solar cell powering the computing unit as well as the LCD display. But even much before that, usable energy was harvested in the early days of the electrical revolution with putting generators on river mi
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Date:
05/29/2015
Many fields of research focus on achieving a combination of more powerful batteries and devices that consume less and less energy. However, Moore's law does not apply to batteries. The performance and component density of processors and memory chips double approximately every 18 months. Gordon E. Moore pred
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Date:
05/29/2015
Designing the future

Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

The first modern wave of rapid human development, also known as the first industrial revolution, began in the middle of the 18th century. The development of devices that could be used to magnify a human’s capabilities immediately changed the face of the planet, impacting everything from agriculture to warfare. T
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Date:
05/29/2015
Today’s power conversion and power management applications demand compact yet robust power switching circuitry that supports high-voltage, high-frequency operation with the minimum of losses from the smallest possible PCB area. By definition, the choice of MOSFET technology has a significant impact on how su
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Date:
05/29/2015
Avago Technologies and Broadcom announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Avago will acquire Broadcom in a cash and stock transaction that values the combined company at $77 billion in enterprise value. Upon completion of the acquisition, the combined company will have the
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Date:
05/28/2015
EPC unveils 7mΩ 200V, and 5mΩ 150V GaN power transistors

EPC eGaN FET

Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announced the introduction of two eGaN FETs that raise the bar for power conversion performance. These products have a maximum operating temperature of 150°C and pulsed currents capabilities of 200 A (150 V EPC2034) and 140 A (EPC2033). Applications include DC-DC co
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Date:
05/28/2015
Towards a new era in power electronics

Jim Witham, CEO, GaN Systems

GaN material offers orders of magnitude improvement in switching and conduction performance and, when produced on GaN-on-Silicon substrates, can reduce power system costs.  Only diamond power semiconductors have been proposed as a superior material system to GaN, but the consensus is that we are decades aw
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Date:
05/28/2015
As power levels are increased and output voltages drop, it is common to have just a few turns in the windings of inductors and transformers. When this happens, standard round wires are usually not the best choice for building magnetic structures, and foil is often used. With a foil winding, the width of the fo
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Date:
05/28/2015
We thought it would be helpful to assemble a top five list of the most common mistakes or “don’ts” that occur during the design of efficient power systems – and how to avoid them. This information comes from our observations and yes, some of our own experiences during Electrocube’s 50-plus years in th
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Date:
05/28/2015
Did you know that every 10°C rise in ambient temperature reduces every component’s lifetime by 50%? That power supplies with drop-offs or variances can lead to premature failures and even completely fried parts in your system? Indeed, most agree that power-intensive applications need, and really must have, lo
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Date:
05/28/2015
System architects of embedded systems, networking, and datacom equipment are constantly being pushed to increase the data throughput and performance of their systems as well as add functionality and features. At the same time, pressure is being applied to decrease the system’s overall power consumption. For ex
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Date:
05/28/2015
There is near-consensus in the UK that smart grids and smart meters will substantially advance the way energy networks operate in the coming years. According to a recent report, more than two-thirds of utilities executives expect the benefits of the smart grid to actually be greater than the industry’s original ex
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Date:
05/28/2015
Innovative clipKIT heatsink attachment system now available from Digi-Key

clipKIT heat sink attachment system

Advanced Thermal Solutions introduced clipKIT, a heat sink attachment system that can be used with most industry standard, off the shelf straight fin, pin fin, cross cut or slant fin heat sinks. The new system improves on heat sink performance in thermal transfer, and vibration and shock resistance. The clipKIT li
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Date:
05/27/2015
Qualcomm Technologies and Daimler announced a strategic collaboration focused on pioneering innovation in the connected car. In the first phase of the collaboration, the companies will focus on transforming future vehicles with mobile technologies that enhance in-car experiences and vehicle performance such as
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Date:
05/26/2015
Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems POSCAP TC series polymer capacitors withstand high temperatures range, have a low ESR and a high resistance to stress suiting them to industrial and other applications that require a life of 10 years. The wide operating temperature range of -55 to +125degC ensures th
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Date:
05/26/2015
Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen (MR) acquired all industrial property rights, including patents and brands, of Amantys, along with the bulk of the company's technical facilities and equipment. MR, a traditional family-run company headquartered in Regensburg, Germany, is a leader in the regulation of power transformers wit
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Date:
05/26/2015
Infineon’s next-gen CoolMOS delivers 50% improved switching losses

2EDN7524 MOSFET driver

Infineon Technologies has launched a new family of CoolMOS C7 series superjunction (SJ) MOSFETs. The 600 V series offers a 50 percent reduction in turn-off losses compared to the CoolMOS CP, offering a GaN-like level of performance in PFC, TTF and other hard-switching topologies. The CoolMOS C7 achieves an industry fi
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Date:
05/22/2015
Torex's step-down synchronous DC/DC converters offer HiSAT-COT fast transient response control

Torex's 1.0A output, step-down, synchronous DC/DC converters

Torex Semiconductor has developed a new series of 1.0A output, step-down, synchronous DC/DC converters with an output current of 1.0A and equipped with their novel HiSAT- COT fast transient response control. Compared to regular COT control, Torex’s HiSAT-COT control enables greater suppression of frequency flu
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Date:
05/22/2015
Bernd Neuner von ZES Zimmer über advanced energy Messung

Bernd Neuner von ZES Zimmer

In diesem PSDcast Bernd Neuner von ZES Zimmer spricht mit Alix Paultre von Power Systems Design über advanced energy management und die Notwendigkeit von besseren Energie Messung Tools und Prozesse. Die Messgeräte der LMG600-Familie verfügen als erste Leistungsmessgeräte in jedem Strom- und Spannungskanal ü
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Date:
05/22/2015
GaN Systems, a leading developer of gallium nitride power switching semiconductors, launched the latest addition to its range of E-mode GaN-on-Silicon high power transistors based on its three core proprietary technologies. The new GaN high-power enhancement-mode device, designated the GS65516T, boasts the highest cu
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Date:
05/19/2015
 SiTime offer µPower MEMS oscillator family for wearables, IoT and mobile

SiT8021 µPower MEMS Oscillator

SiTime, a MEMS and analog semiconductor company and a wholly owned subsidiary of MegaChips, announced a new family of µPower MEMS Oscillators for the wearable, IoT and mobile markets. The SiT8021 oscillator, the first device in this family, shatters the limitations of quartz technology by setting new benchmarks in
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Date:
05/19/2015
Power Integrations' 1200V dual-channel gate-criver core eliminates optocouplers

2SC0115T2A0-12 dual-channel gate-driver core

Power Integrations, a leader in IGBT-driver technology, launched its 2SC0115T2A0-12 dual-channel gate-driver core for 90 kW to 500 kW inverters and converters. Leveraging SCALE™-2+ integrated circuit and isolated transformer technology for DC/DC power and switching signal transmission, the new driver core imp
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Date:
05/19/2015
Infineon's intelligent power modules add secure authentication for inverter apps

MIPAQ Pro IPM

At this year's PCIM 2015 trade show Infineon Technologies launched a new Intelligent Power Module (IPM). The MIPAQ Pro provides an all-in-one solution for a wide spectrum of scalable and compact inverter designs to be implemented in wind, solar, and industrial drives applications. MIPAQ Pro is a fully qualified and
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Date:
05/19/2015
Samsung SDI, a leader in energy solutions and electronic materials, has agreed to acquire the battery pack business of Magna International, a leading global automotive supplier. 'The acquisition is a key strategic step for Samsung SDI to strengthen the competitiveness of our automotive battery business” The acquisitio
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Date:
05/15/2015
Microchip' latest high-speed ADCs tout high integration, low-power operation

MCP37DX0-200 and MCP372X0-200

Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, today announced two families of new high-speed A/D converters in the MCP37DX0-200 and MCP372X0-200 families. These families feature 12- and 14- bit pipelined A/D converters with a maximum sampling rate of 2
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Date:
05/15/2015
In this episode of PSDtv Tom Spohrer of Microchip talks to Alix Paultre of Power Systems Design about updating high-availability power systems. In this world of high-demand, high-reliability power systems, the ability to update on the fly can enhance any system. Their latest 14-member dsPIC33EP “GS” fam
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Date:
05/13/2015
Microchip’s dsPIC33EP “GS” family is optimized for digital power apps

dsPIC33EP “GS” family of Digital Signal Controllers

Microchip Technology, a leading provider of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, announced the 14-member dsPIC33EP “GS” family of Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs). The dsPIC33EP “GS” family delivers the performance needed to implement more sophisticated non-linear, predictive an
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Date:
05/13/2015
Samsung Electronics announced the Samsung ARTIK platform to allow faster, simpler development of new enterprise, industrial and consumer applications for the Internet of Things (IoT). ARTIK is an open platform that includes a best-in-class family of integrated production-ready modules, advanced software, development bo
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Date:
05/13/2015
Molex, a manufacturer of complete interconnect solutions, announced the acquisition of certain assets of Soligie, a specialist in printed and flexible electronic solutions for applications in medical, military, industrial, lighting and consumer goods. Products range from sensor systems, medical wearables, LED li
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Date:
05/12/2015
Imahara and Mouser start interview series on space exploration with Astrobotic

Empowering Innovation Together

Mouser Electronics, an authorized distributor with the latest semiconductors and electronic components, is partnering with celebrity engineer Grant Imahara and Astrobotic, the solar system’s first lunar logistics company and Google Lunar XPRIZE Milestone winner, to reveal the first of several Innovation Spotlight in
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Date:
05/12/2015
The Energy Institute (EI)'s annual awards competition is now open and the EI is calling for entries from all sectors of the global energy industry. These awards, run by the EI for over 15 years, celebrate the best of the energy sector, highlighting the invaluable contribution that the industry makes to society. Ian Marchant F
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Date:
05/11/2015
STMicro's debuts smart, high-power-density motor driver for advanced industrial automation

STMicroelectronics’ powerSTEP driver

Premiering at PCIM Europe 2015, STMicroelectronics’ powerSTEP driver delivers the advantages of compact motor-control design for applications at high power ratings. The fully integrated stepper-motor driver system-in-package offers an unprecedented power density of up to 500W/cm2, enabling cost-effective systems tha
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Date:
05/11/2015
Intersil's PowerNavigator GUI speeds digital power system design, validation, and monitoring

PowerNavigator version 5.2

Intersil, a leading provider of innovative power management and precision analog solutions today unveiled PowerNavigator version 5.2, a free, downloadable graphical user interface (GUI) that helps system designers quickly configure, validate and monitor their power supply architectures. The new features included in
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Date:
05/11/2015
Tesla throws down energy gauntlet with Powerwall

Tesla Powerwall

Power Systems Design has long predicted that energy storage would be the next major development in power electronics, from portable devices to grid-level infrastructures. From American Vanadium's CellCube energy storage system to Princeton Power's energy management technology, most approaches PSD has seen targeted
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Date:
05/04/2015
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