Consumer

December 2014
Defining consumer electronics

Kevin Parmenter, Excelsys

Once upon a time electronics went into neat precise product categories, making marketing people at electronics component companies happy. However the situation has become far more complex. Consumer electronics products are now finding their way into other applications, because frankly they are better, faster, an
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Date:
12/30/2014
From products such as Google Glass, advanced fitness activity trackers, heads-up imaging displays, and blood pressure monitors, it is obvious that wearable devices have entered the military, industrial and high-end consumer markets. These devices are rapidly improving and becoming even “smarter”. A “wearable” de
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Date:
12/30/2014
Touch control is about more than just providing an interface to a display-oriented device such as a smartphone, tablet or computer. Certainly we have become very familiar with these applications in recent years and improvements in touch technology have ensured widespread adoption to the point where mobile phones wi
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Date:
12/30/2014
As the overall size of communications, medical, and other cloud-enabled equipment continues to decrease, power management becomes an increasingly important design consideration. The latest highly-integrated power management solutions provide advantages in powering RF systems, FPGAs, and processors, and powerful de
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Date:
12/30/2014
The battle raging to raise power supply density with ever more efficiency  By The battle raging to raise power supply density with ever more efficiency   Considering practical design limitations, some smart developments are shifting the focus over the next few years from ‘just’ power c
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Date:
12/30/2014
The counterfeiting of well-known brands and products is a growing problem, estimated to be five to seven percent of world trade. Among those well-known brands are consumer safety and critical electrical products, which can have threatening implications for workers and facilities. The cost of counterfeiting
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Date:
12/30/2014
There is no Moore’s Law for passive components like capacitors, but relentless development is delivering the kinds of devices engineers need to deliver cutting-edge new products for modern living. Capacitors have for many years enabled electronic designers to manage energy within circuits and fulfill basic fu
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Date:
12/30/2014
Here are the results of an output capacitor benchmark study used in a step-down DC/DC converter design, based on a well-used control IC (Maxim’s MAX 1537 [1]) with a 6-24V input voltage range and two separate voltage outputs of 3.3 and 5V. “Some 99 percent of so-called ‘design’ problems associated with linea
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Date:
12/30/2014
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) announced that the 2015 International CES will feature the largest ever showcase of products, services and technologies that make up the “Internet of Things” (IoT), with more than 900 exhibitors planning to share innovations that harness the power of the network to
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Date:
12/29/2014
Energy-harvesting NFC/RFID tag authenticator securely protects sensitive data transfer between master and slave devices

MAX66242 DeepCover Secure Authenticator

Designers can now perform secure wireless data communication on their embedded systems without needing the host microcontroller, but by simply using a single MAX66242 DeepCover Secure Authenticator from Maxim Integrated Products. The MAX66242 secure authenticator is an advanced tag that combines a wireless NFC/RFID int
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Date:
12/29/2014
Coupling quantum dot light emitters with nanofibers for quantum internet applications

Research is ongoing to develop fiber in-line technology to integrate atomic sources of light into optical nanofibers

Professor Hakuta and his group at the Center for Photonic Innovations are addressing the following issues to develop fiber in-line technology to integrate atomic sources of light into optical nanofibers. Fabrication of high efficiency tapered glass nanofibers; development of reproducible methods for integrating si
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Date:
12/24/2014
AVX claims smallest and thinnest fused undertab high CV tantalum SMD chip capacitors available

F98-AS1 Series fused undertab high CV tantalum SMD chip capacitors

AVX, a leading manufacturer of passive components and interconnect solutions, has released a new series of fused high CV tantalum SMD chip capacitors with undertab terminations. The new F98-AS1 Series capacitors feature a proprietary lead-frame-less structure with precise dimensions and low stress packaging, an
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Date:
12/23/2014
Anderson Power Products offers 3 & 5 position Mini PL SPEC Pak connector

Mini PL SPEC Pak is a series of compact, environmentally sealed connectors

Anderson Power Products (APP) Mini PL SPEC Pak is a series of compact, environmentally sealed connectors. Mini PL SPEC Pak connectors are touch safe on both sides and feature a latching shell. Power handling capabilities up to 23 amps and 600 volts AC/DC per pole allow more power in a smaller waterproof (IP68) she
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Date:
12/22/2014
2014 trends lay groundwork for IoT

The Intel Edison is part of a Wearables campaign by Intel.

The Internet of Things (IoT) promises to construct a digital shadow of the physical world, and this presents opportunities that are tremendous in scope and profound in their implications. At the same time, realizing this vision of a massively interconnected life requires both the push of a critical mass of smart de
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Date:
12/19/2014
ON Semi unveils latest ultra-low power precision op-amps

NCS325 and NCS333 op amps

ON Semiconductor, driving energy efficiency innovations, has introduced a family of affordable, precision CMOS operational amplifiers (op amps) that deliver zero drift operation and industry leading quiescent current for front-end amplifier circuits and power management designs. Targeted at industrial, white go
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Date:
12/18/2014
O2Micro, a global leader in the design, development and marketing of high-performance integrated circuits and solutions, was granted a U.S. patent for its Battery Management Systems (BMS) with Vertical Bus Circuits. A BMS monitors battery modules to ensure safe operation and to maximize capacity and
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Date:
12/17/2014
Stackpole Improves Resistor Voltage Ratings

RSF / RSMF Series 3W and 5W resistors

Stackpole announces upgrades in the working voltage ratings for the RSF / RSMF Series 3W and 5W resistors. The RSF3 working voltage is improved from 400V to 800V, the RSMF3 working voltage is improved from 500V to 600V, and the RSF5 and RSMF5 working voltage is upgraded from 750V to 1000V. This enhances the series
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Date:
12/16/2014
Yokogawa tests Heinzmann’s electric bikes

Test instruments supplied by Yokogawa are playing a key role in the final testing of motors for electric bikes manufactured by Heinzmann

Test instruments supplied by Yokogawa are playing a key role in the final testing of motors for electric bikes manufactured by Heinzmann in the village of Schönau in Germany’s Black Forest region. Heinzmann has been developing and manufacturing electric drives for over 30 years. The company’s drives are us
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Date:
12/16/2014
ON Semiconductor offers updated PFC AC/DC drivers for LED lighting

NCL3008x family of products

ON Semiconductor, driving energy efficient innovations, announced two new series of power factor corrected (PFC) offline AC/DC drivers for high-performance LED lighting applications. Extending the NCL3008x family of products, the NCL30085, NCL30086 and NCL30088 address single stage design implementations up to
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Date:
12/16/2014
ams, a leading provider of high performance sensors and analog ICs, added to its family of power management ICs (PMICs) for mobile multi-core ARM processors with the AS3722, which provides a complete power-control solution for Nvidia’s Tegra K1 mobile system-on-chip (SoC). ams is also releasing the AS372
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Date:
12/15/2014
Lattice Semiconductor, a leader in ultra-low power, small form-factor, customizable solutions, announced the availability of human voice detection and command recognition IP for smartphones and other handhelds for the growing Internet of Things (IoT) category of devices. These IPs are implemented in the iCE40 fa
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Date:
12/15/2014
Tiny voice-coil actuator packs a punch

LAH04-10-000A Linear Voice Coil Actuator

BEI Kimco Magnetics announces the small, yet powerful model LAH04-10-000A Linear Voice Coil Actuator (VCA) as the latest addition to their extensive line of housed moving magnet actuators. With this newest model in the line-up, BEI Kimco's housed moving magnet actuator offering covers the size range from 0.375" to
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Date:
12/12/2014
Silego's high-accuracy programmable current-sensing load switch Rich touts ultra-low RDSON

Silego Technology’s CurrentPAK

Silego Technology introduced the CurrentPAK family of configurable mixed-signal ICs, or CMICs. A high-performance load switch with efficient, high-accuracy current measurement, CurrentPAK is also the world’s first load switch to have advanced programmable features. Using Non-Volatile Memory (NVM), designers ca
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Date:
12/11/2014
Renesas Electronics, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, introduced 5 new product versions in the RMLV0816B and RMLV0808B series of Advanced Low-Power SRAM (Advanced LP SRAM), the company’s flagship SRAM (static random access memory) devices. The new memory devices have a density of 8 megabits (M
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Date:
12/11/2014
Smart lighting for Christmas trees

The Lightify light chain and smartphone app drives the Christmas tree to around 16 million different colors

Osram is now offering ”smart“ lighting for Christmas trees. The Lightify light chain enables the festive trees to radiate in around 16 million different colours, controlled by a smartphone app. Thanks to modern LED technology, Christmas budgets are also better – the German Energy Agency calculates that up
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Date:
12/11/2014
GreenPeak Technologies, an industry-leading Smart Home semi-conductor/system company, announced that they will be demonstrating an exciting array of impressive Real Life Smart Home applications at the January 2015 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Sands Expo, “The Heart of the Smart Home”, in booth 702
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Date:
12/10/2014
Delta-Q Technologies, a leader in battery charging solutions for electric drive vehicles and industrial machines, today revealed new insights into its tailored approach to charging lead acid batteries in machines such as golf cars, lift trucks, aerial work platforms and floor cleaning machines. The company's new
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Date:
12/10/2014
Heard of structural electronics?

Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx

Structural electronics is one of the most important developments this century yet most people have never heard of it. Strange - there are over 37 million items on Google. Two years ago, IEEE published,"3D Printing for Rapid Prototyping of Structural Electronics". Drayson revealed the "structural ba
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Date:
12/10/2014
Registration for the

Race to Zero competition

Registration closes December 15, 2014, for the 2015 DOE Race to Zero Student Design Competition! Don’t miss the chance to showcase your university team’s skill and commitment to designing market-ready zero energy homes. New this year, Carl Franklin Homes in Dallas, Texas, will build one or more of the wi
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Date:
12/10/2014
Anton Roth von Isabellenhütte über das elektronische Design industry

Anton Roth von Isabellenhütte

In diesem PSDcast Anton Roth von Isabellenhütte spricht mit Alix Paultre der Power Systems Design auf der electronica 2014 zu den Electronic Design Industrie. Positive Indikatoren sind u.a. die Automobilindustrie, industrielle anwendungen, und dem Internet der Dinge. Isabellenhütte
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Date:
12/10/2014
In this episode of PSDtv Maxim Integrated shows several of their core technologies for home automation for Power Systems Design. One of the demonstrations involves Belkin'g WEMO-compatible smart-home proiducts, and the other demonstration involves a grid-level distribution automation solution that enables dynamic fau
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Date:
12/09/2014
Bringing customers one step closer to the wireless Internet of Tomorrow, Freescale Semiconductor today extended its wireless charging portfolio by introducing the industry’s first 15W Qi-compliant wireless charging solution. The solution paves the way for ultra-fast wireless recharging for a variety of larger mo
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Date:
12/09/2014
Power Integrations launching InnoSwitch family of advanced switcher ICs

InnoSwitch family of highly-integrated switcher ICs

Power Integrations, a leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, announced a new class of power-supply ICs. The InnoSwitch family of highly-integrated switcher ICs combines primary, secondary and feedback circuits into a single, worldwide safety-rated, surface-mount package. Wi
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Date:
12/05/2014
In this episode of PSDtv Infineon demonstrates their latest tech for motion and presence capture for Power Systems Design at electronica 2014. Infineon
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Date:
12/04/2014
In this episode of PSDtv Linear Technology demonstrates their latest wireless charging solution for Power Systems Design at electronica 2014. Linear Technology
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Date:
12/04/2014
PFC (power-factor correction) circuit designers have used average current-mode control for decades (figure 1). Various analog PFC-control chips based on this control algorithm are available in the commercial market. Clcik image to enlarge Figure 1:     Average-current-mode control for PFC The
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Date:
12/03/2014
Kingbright ultra flat SMD LEDs now available at TTI

SMD-LEDs from Kingbright

The latest SMD-LEDs from Kingbright designed to meet the demand for LEDs in small packages with ultra-low profiles are now available at TTI, Inc., the world’s leading specialist distributor of passive, connector, electromechanical and discrete components. Kingbright’s KPG-1005, KPG-1608 and KPGA-1602 SMD-LED se
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Date:
12/03/2014
Push-pin heat sinks enable over 100,000 configurations

ATS push pin heat sinks

With 108,000 possible configurations, Advanced Thermal Solutions now provides the widest choice of push pin-mounted heat sinks for cooling BGAs and other hot components. More than 200 ATS heat sinks are available with convenient push pin mounting. The lightweight aluminum heat sinks include straight fin, cross-cut, an
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Date:
12/03/2014
NXP Semiconductors introduced their line of multi-gate, multifunction, dual PCB configurable logic devices with Schmitt-trigger inputs. By offering more flexibility in the combinations of logic functions that can be achieved, NXP Logic allows design flexibility, reduced inventory cost and faster qualification in
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Date:
12/03/2014
TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity, today announced the official opening of its TE Wearables Lab in Menlo Park, California. Exclusively focused on wearable technologies across consumer, medical, industrial and defense businesses, the lab serves as a collaboration center for TE's team of engineers, sci
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Date:
12/02/2014
Molex SlimRay pre-wired LED COB array holders tout electrical and thermal performance

SlimRay Pre-Wired LED Chip-On-Board (COB) Array Holder

Molex announced that its first SlimRay Pre-Wired LED Chip-On-Board (COB) Array Holders reduce assembly time while increasing reliability, with compression contacts that eliminate hand soldering and simplify the LED installation process. The holder for 13.35 by 13.35mm COBs comes as a single piece in a 25.0mm di
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Date:
12/02/2014
Wind River, a leader in delivering software for intelligent connected systems, announced its achievement as the continued real-time operating system (RTOS) and embedded Linux market leader according to the latest findings from VDC Research. VDC’s study of the Embedded/Real-Time Operating Systems segment covers the
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Date:
12/02/2014
Eaton announced its latest dual-purpose arc fault/ground fault (AF/GF) circuit breaker for contractors, specifying engineers and home owners working on new construction and renovation projects in the residential and light commercial markets. As part of Eaton’s expanding line of arc fault and ground fault solutions, the
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Date:
12/02/2014
Mouser empowers ‘Next Great Thing’ with development tools center

Engineering Development Tools Center on Mouser.com

Mouser Electronics announced the launch of its new Engineering Development Tools Center on Mouser.com. This time-saving microsite allows developers to select from a variety of development tools for products such as microcontrollers, analog and digital ICs, LED lighting, optoelectronics, wireless, and more. The new Engin
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Date:
12/02/2014
High-current OEM charger from Ideal Power addresses demand for extended load times

31FC2512-BHF battery charger

Power conversion specialists Ideal Power announce the availability of their latest 25 amp 31FC2512-BHF High Current OEM Battery Charger developed for applications which require longer autonomy times from battery packs. Colin Marchington, Director of Ideal Power, comments, “The majority of commonly available ba
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Date:
12/02/2014
The Qt Company has announced that six leading designers and suppliers of embedded chipsets have joined the Qt Partner Program. The program aims to create value for the whole Qt ecosystem with members integrating technologies with Qt so that users benefit from a seamless, integrated experience. The new partn
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Date:
12/02/2014
In this episode of PSDtv Freescale Semiconductor describes Farnell's latest evaluation board at electronica 2014 for Power Systems Design. The board has a wealth of I/O connectivity to enable the latest design evaluation with the latest devices. www.nxp.com
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Date:
12/01/2014
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