Consumer

May 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
Renesas simplifies sensor-less brushless DC motor control

RL78/G1F Microcontrollers

Renesas Electronics, a premier provider of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced the RL78/G1F Group of multi-function microcontrollers (MCUs), adding 20 new members to its low-power RL78 Family of MCUs. Featuring enhanced peripheral functions and compatibility across the RL78/G1x Series of MCUs, the new devi
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Date:
05/28/2015
Power Integrations' wide-range CAPZero-2 IC safely discharges X capacitors up to 6 µF

CAPZero-2 X capacitor discharge ICs

Power Integrations, a leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, announced CAPZero-2 ICs, the next generation of its CAPZero line of innovative, two-terminal, X capacitor discharge ICs. CAPZero-2 ICs increase design flexibility by covering a wide range of applications and ou
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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
The iPod of power?

Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

There has been a tremendous amount of buzz around the recent unveiling of Elon Musk’s Tesla Powerwall, and even if the product does not completely live up to the hype it has already changed the debate on power management in the grid. Once focused on grid-level solutions, the discussion of energy storage in a
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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
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
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
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
TE Connectivity’s PolyZen YC Series offers integrated protection for  consumer electronics

PolyZen YC devices

The PolyZen YC device series now available from TE Connectivity’s Circuit Protection business unit offers an integrated approach to help protect consumer electronics, such as tablets, set-top boxes, hard disk drives and DC power ports, from damage caused by ESD (electrostatic discharge) and other electrical ov
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Date:
05/19/2015
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
CAP-XX Launches 0.6mm Thinline supercaps for designing wearable, ultra-portable and IoT devices

Thinline series of single-cell supercapacitors

CAP-XX, developer of flat supercapacitors for burst and back-up power in space-constrained electronic devices, launched its Thinline series of single-cell supercapacitors. The world's thinnest at 0.6mm thick, and with prices starting at less than US$1 in large volumes, Thinline was developed to address the size, wei
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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
Laird CoolZorb thermal/EMI absorber now at Mouser

CoolZorb 400 Series Thermal and EMI Absorbent Material

Mouser Electronics, an authorized distributor with the latest semiconductors and electronic components, is now stocking the CoolZorb 400 Series Thermal and EMI Absorbent Material from Laird Technologies. The CoolZorb 400 is a sponge-like material applied to electronic components that is effective in both dissipating he
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Date:
05/14/2015
MicroPower Direct offers high-isolation 2W SMT DC/DC converters

ML200SEI series low-cost 2W DC/DC converters

Available immediately from MicroPower Direct, the ML200SEI series is a family of 2W DC/DC converters in a miniature SMT case. These converters provide a unique combination of power density, high performance features, long term reliability and economy for a wide variety of space critical, board level power distribution app
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Date:
05/14/2015
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
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
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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