Technical Features

July 2012

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Figure 1: MOSFET channel punch-through showing outputs from previous SPICE simulators vs. QSPICE

QSPICE: A Mission to Get SPICE Right

Siddharth Mohan, design engineer, Qorvo

Qorvo’s QSPICE™ simulator for analog and mixed-signal simulation provides power designers with the tools to confidently evaluate their designs. Free to use, QSPICE improves SPICE basics, supports large amounts of digital logic without performance penalties, and delivers the speed and accuracy needed for rel

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Date:

11/29/2024

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Figure 1: A typical AES design includes power sources sharing a common high-voltage DC Link, an inverter for generating AC, and a system controller ensuring coordinated operation.

Safety and reliability in home alternative-energy systems

Chun Keong Tee, Technical Marketing Engineer, Avago Technologies

Solar- and wind-power-based home AESs (alternative energy systems) are becoming more popular among consumers. To achieve the product lifetime that consumers demand and ensure user safety,

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Date:

07/25/2012

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Figure 1: Step-down converter efficiency used to power the main processor in a set top box

Consumer-Friendly Power Design

Masoud Beheshti, Director of Product and Marketing Strategy, Texas Instruments, Power Supply Solutions

The intricacies of power design are not conversation pieces for electronic-product consumers. Nor should they be. Consumers care about visible signs of power design in the product, including the

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Date:

07/24/2012

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Figure 1: The principle of fuel gauging based on coulomb counting: The stored energy represents state of charge. A circuit measures the in- and out-flowing current.

Improving battery-fuel-gauge accuracy

Isidor Buchmann, CEO & founder, Cadex Electronics Inc.

For simplicity, you can imagine the battery as an energy storage device analogous to a fuel tank. However, measuring stored energy from an electrochemical device is far more complex than that comparison

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Date:

07/20/2012

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Figure 1: Converter input power vs. line current with a symmetric conduction angle, constant current peak and resistive load.

Input-line-current synthesis in PFC control

Maurizio Salato, Director of Systems Engineering, Vicor

Traditionally, PFC (power-factor-correction) controls present a purely resistive behavior with respect to the power line. By means of multiplier or equivalent blocks, front-end converters draw

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Date:

07/13/2012

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Figure 1: The activation steps of the MHP device

Smart Activation circuit protection in li-ion battery applications

Ty Bowman, Global Battery Market Manager, TE Connectivity

Li-ion technology with smaller, lighter-weight, and higher-power batteries is now replacing nickel-cadmium or lead-acid batteries in high-discharge-rate battery applications. Meanwhile,

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Date:

07/09/2012

Reduce stand-by power loss in AC—DC supplies

Scott Brown, Senior VP of Marketing, iWatt

Over the past decade, controller-IC manufacturers have worked to reduce so-called vampire or stand-by power consumption. Organizations such as Energy Star in the US, Blue Angel in Germany, and CNIS

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Date:

07/01/2012