Consumer

    February 2017
    TDK's PiezoHapt thin actuator touts low driving voltage

    PiezoHapt actuator

    TDK has expanded its portfolio of haptic components with the new ultra-thin PiezoHapt actuator featuring a very short response time of just 4 ms. PiezoHapt has a unimorph design consisting of a multilayer piezo element bonded to one side of a vibration plate. With a thickness of a mere 0.35 mm the new haptic ac
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    Date:
    02/28/2017
    Rosenberger's magnetic connectors serve multiple apps

    Rosenberger magnetic connectors

    Rosenberger has developed a product family which offers an intelligent alternative to mechanical connecting. Our magnetic connectors support all standard functions, including a high number of mating cycles and vibration resistance. They are also suitable for power and signal transmission. Furthermore, they come co
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    Date:
    02/28/2017
    Toshiba launches IoT dev kit for Bluetooth wearables

    EBTZ1041-SK-A1 ‘starter kit’ supports the prototyping of highly integrated IoT wearable applications

    Toshiba Electronics has announced a comprehensive development kit that provides the hardware and software needed to create wearable devices that handle multiple sensor inputs. The EBTZ1041-SK-A1 ‘starter kit’ supports the prototyping of highly integrated IoT wearable applications featuring the Toshiba TZ1000 Ap
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    Date:
    02/28/2017
    Current market requirements are trending towards further downsizing and increased efficiency of power conversion systems. For this reason, enhanced power density of the power modules will be critical in order to respond to the evolving needs of the market. In order to increase the power density, All-SiC modules wi
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    Date:
    02/28/2017
    AT&S advances PCB, module and packaging tech

    11 key European actors are collaborating on the GaNonCMOS project

     For years, AT&S has worked at the forefront of process and technology development to meet the challenges of continued miniaturization and the demand for better energy efficiency. In this context, the company is involved in various research and development programmes. One current example is the Horizon 2020 EU
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    Date:
    02/28/2017
    Igor and Ellipz to create novel PoE and LED intelligent lighting solution

    The integrated technology provides a complete PoE and LED package solution

    Incorporating Igor technology, Ellipz will provide an intelligent light management solution for the commercial lighting industry. The integrated technology provides a complete PoE and LED package solution to the marketplace. By combining both company’s unique technologies, the Ellipz smart lighting solution ca
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    Date:
    02/24/2017
    Microsemi, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, and Arrow Electronics announced Arrow’s upcoming training sessions for the new Everest Evaluation Board designed specifically for Microsemi’s recently launched PolarFire mid-range field pr
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    Date:
    02/21/2017
    Qualcomm Technologies announced two new System-on-chips (SoCs), the QCA4020 and QCA4024. Qualcomm Technologies is the first to announce a tri-mode SoC QCA4020, integrating Bluetooth Low Energy 5, Dual-band Wi-Fi, and 802.15.4-based technologies, including ZigBee and Thread, while QCA4024 integrates Bluetooth Lo
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    Date:
    02/21/2017
    STMicro's STM32 LoRaWAN discovery board now at Mouser

    STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board

    Mouser Electronics, with the newest semiconductors and electronic components, is the first to stock the STM32 LoRaWAN Discovery Board from STMicroelectronics (ST). The new Discovery Kit and I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1 STM32 LoRa Arduino-compatible extension board — available to order from Mouser — provide a development pl
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    Date:
    02/20/2017
    New chip may thwart battery charger counterfeiting

    Counterfeit chargers for portable electronics are a major problem

    Counterfeit chargers for portable electronics are a major problem. At the end of 2016, Apple claimed that of 100 Apple-branded charging accessories it bought on Amazon, 90 were counterfeits. Around the same time, Britain’s Chartered Trading Standards Institute reported that of 400 counterfeit chargers it bought fr
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    Date:
    02/17/2017
    STM32 proto boards from STMicro support long-range low-power IoT

    B-L072Z-LRWAN1 Discovery kit and I-NUCLEO-LRWAN1

    Two new ready-to-use prototype boards available from STMicroelectronics slash the cost for developers to start evaluating LoRaWAN and other Low-Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) technologies including WM-Bus and 6LoWPAN. The boards are based on the smallest and lowest-power LoRaWAN modules that exist on the market to
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    Date:
    02/17/2017
    At embedded world 2017, we will have working demos on A2B automotive audio, advanced personal healthcare monitoring, TSN, ultralow power ARM microprocessor unit, and 24 GHz radar for automotive and industrial applications, just to name a few. Meet with our analog experts, who can answer your specific design qu
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    Date:
    02/16/2017
    Microsemi claims lowest-power cost-optimized FPGA product family

    PolarFire FPGA

    Microsemi, a leading provider of semiconductor solutions differentiated by power, security, reliability and performance, today announced the availability of its new cost-optimized PolarFire field programmable gate array (FPGA) product family, delivering the industry’s lowest power at mid-range densities with 12
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    Date:
    02/14/2017
    German flex+ Project ends on positive note for flexible devices

    Demonstration objects from the Insect Project

    The flex+ Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), has successfully come to the end of ist planned two-year duration and will leave its mark on the future as well: flexible electronics as a comprehensive approach. Fraunhofer FEP is one of the leading research and devel
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    Date:
    02/14/2017
    Intersil claims smallest isolated RS-485 transceiver for industrial IoT

    ISL32704E isolated RS-485 transceiver

    Intersil, a leading provider of innovative power management and precision analog solutions, announced the industry’s smallest isolated RS-485 differential bus transceiver designed to provide 4Mbps bidirectional data transmission for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) networks. The high-speed ISL32704E delivers in
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    Date:
    02/13/2017
    ITO challenged as a transparent conductor by novel technologies

    (Left): An example of the hybrid process for manufacturing metal mesh. (Right) examples of O-Film metal mesh TCFs.

    The transparent conductive film (TCF) industry has witnessed upheaval in recent years. On the one hand, multiple technologies have been developed as alternatives to the incumbent solution, whilst the incumbent suppliers slashed their prices to protect their share in sluggish markets. Our report Transparent Conductiv
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    Date:
    02/13/2017
    TE Connectivity (TE), a leader in connectivity and sensor solutions, will showcase technologies designed to mitigate medical device design challenges at MD&M West this month, Booth #3149. Product experts from TE will be on site to discuss how TE’s customized sensing, connectivity and minimally invasive de
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    Date:
    02/13/2017
    At APEC 2017, the PSMA's (Power Sources Manufacturers Association’s) Energy Harvesting Committee will host an Industry Session featuring five industry experts who will cover such topics as real-world applications, conditional monitoring, energy harvesting systems, PMICs (Power Management ICs) and low-power IoT
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    Date:
    02/09/2017
    Given the growing demands placed on the electrical, optical and thermal functionality of LEDs, engineers are paying more and more attention to the advancement of new material properties. To this end, the FLINGO project (Functional Inorganic Layers for Next Generation Optical Devices) was established to develop ne
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    Date:
    02/09/2017
    At Strategies in Light 2017 (Anaheim, February 28 – March 2, 2017), EnOcean, a leader in energy harvesting wireless technology, will present self powered wireless LED control for multiple wireless protocols. At booth #107, the company will be exhibiting their extensive Dolphin portfolio, including self-powered sw
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    Date:
    02/08/2017
    Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) and TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) today announced the completion of the previously announced joint venture under the name RF360 Holdings Singapore PTE. Ltd. (RF360 Holdings). The joint venture will enable Qualcomm’s RFFE Business Unit to deliver RF front-end (RFFE) modules an
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    Date:
    02/06/2017
    Octavo Systems’ OSD3358 SiP of BeagleBone Black wireless, now at Mouser

    OSD3358 SiP device

    Mouser Electronics, a product introducton leader that empowers innovation, is now stocking the OSD3358 system-in-package (SiP) from Octavo Systems. The OSD3358 SiP device makes it easier for designers to quickly create production-ready systems based on the Texas Instruments (TI) Sitara AM3358 processor with an
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    Date:
    02/06/2017
    Qualcomm announced that Qualcomm River Holdings, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, has extended the offering period of its previously announced cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares of NXP Semiconductors. The tender offer is being made pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, da
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    Date:
    02/03/2017
    element14, a leading electronic design community, has launched a new Design Challenge for designers and engineers called ‘Upcycle it’. Sponsored by Intel, element14 will challenge 15 community members to Upcycle an unwanted or waste product to give it a new or enhanced lease of life. Upcycling is a conc
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    Date:
    02/02/2017
    Qorvo claims smallest and most power-efficient family of Wi-Fi front-end modules

    Qorvo Wi-Fi FEM family

    Qorvo, a leading provider of innovative RF solutions to connect the world, has introduced a new family of 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi Front-End Modules (FEMs) that pave the way for smaller, more energy-efficient wireless routers, gateways and other networked devices in the home. The seven new FEMs support high-bandwidth th
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    Date:
    02/01/2017
    Analog Devices announces changes to Board of Directors

    Mark M. Little

    Analog Devices, a leader in high-performance semiconductors for signal processing applications, announced that Mark M. Little, former Senior Vice President, GE Global Research and Chief Technology Officer of General Electric Company, has been elected as a Director of the Company, and that the Board of Directors of
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    Date:
    02/01/2017
    The use of batteries in everyday devices is getting more ubiquitous.  In many of these products, a charging connector is difficult or impossible to use. For example, some products require sealed enclosures to protect sensitive electronics from harsh environments and to enable for convenient cleaning or st
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    Date:
    02/01/2017
    Let’s continue the thought we began with at the front of the issue, as simply saying that it’s good to have a lot of product development, even if some of it is on stuff that is a little crazy, leaves a lot to be said. How does a laundry-folding robot help humanity? Will having a toothbrush that sends me em
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    Date:
    02/01/2017
    Archive

    Power Systems Design

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    Power Systems Design

    Power Systems Design is a leading global media platform serving the power electronics design engineering community. It delivers in-depth technical content, industry news, and product insights to engineers and decision-makers developing advanced power systems and technologies.

    Published 12× per year across North America and Europe, Power Systems Design is distributed through online and fully digital editions, complemented by eNewsletters, webinars, and multimedia content. The platform covers key areas including power conversion, semiconductors, renewable energy, automotive electrification, AI power systems, and industrial applications—supporting innovation across the global electronics industry.