Isolation has been considered a necessary burden by designers. It is necessary because it makes electronics safe for anyone to use. It is a burden because it limits communication speed and consumes a lot of power and board space. Old-technology optocouplers and even many, newer digital isolators co
Stackpole Electronics' ASR / SPR Series of anti-surge metal film resistors has expanded to include a mini ¼ watt body size. The ASRM14 has a max working voltage of 500 volts, overload voltage of 1000 volts, and capacitor discharge surge withstanding up to 2000 volts 10 times. In addition, the ASR / ASRM Series have
ARM announced an enhanced suite of higher performance and more energy-efficient products specifically designed for the rapidly growing mid-range mobile and consumer electronics markets. The suite, comprised of processor, graphics processor and physical IP, is an update to ARM’s mid-range IP offering targeting de
Investing in product areas where a company has distinct competitive technological advantages only makes sense in markets where there are also large, sustainable opportunities. Power management has evolved from simple regulation and power control to increasingly sophisticated power management devices providing mo
Miniaturization and a low profile are demanded of the semiconductors and electronic components used in portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. Accompanying the lower voltages and larger currents used in semiconductors in devices, DC/DC converters, which have a higher conversion efficiency than linear reg
Printoo is an Arduino™-compatible platform that brings previously unavailable printed, low power, and flexible electronics technologies directly to anyone interested in developing interactive objects and projects. The goal is to make printed electronics more accessible to a wider group of product designers an
In this third article about power supply failures, the magnetics are examined for their contribution to the failure rate. These are usually the least understood of all components, and poor magnetics design can lead to many different failure mechanisms in power supplies.
Power Supply Failure Survey
The LinkedIn sit
The portable power application space is both broad and diverse. Products range from wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) that consume average power measured in microwatts to cart-based medical or data acquisition systems with multi-hundred Watt-hour battery packs. However, despite this variety, a few trends emerge – de
Operating rooms and clinical settings are crowded with instruments that pack in more functions and features every year, such as surgical tools with lights, lasers and video microscopes. The pressure for them to be smaller, lighter and easy to move around continues to grow. Since the AC-DC converter is of
The flyback is the simplest and most commonly used isolated power-converter topology, able to step voltage up or down while providing galvanic isolation from the ac mains in off-line applications. It is the most cost-effective topology for powering many kinds of electronic equipment, having acceptable ef
MTU Onsite Energy’s state-of-the-art generators power the Tower of Rush University Medical Center’s new 14-story hospital (see Figure 1), the cornerstone of the Rush Transformation, an ongoing effort to build new facilities, renovate existing buildings and adopt new technology. The Tower houses acute and cr
The Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy offers free webinars on subjects from adopting the latest energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to training for the clean energy workforce. Advanced registration is typically required, but you can also watch archived webinars and browse previously ai
A novel IGBT structure was developed with reverse-blocking capabilities comparable to the forward voltage rating of the IGBT. This new device, known as the RB-IGBT, was used to create a 3 level advanced neutral point clamping power converter that shows better loss characteristics than standard 3 level converters.
The results o
Typical switched-mode power converters today include circuitry for monitoring the current flowing through a switching power MOSFET or IGBT for regulating or limiting peak current levels. This is necessary to protect the switch against high peak currents that can damage components or saturate inductors. A low-ohmic re
