Technical Features

    September 2012
    Transformer Design Comparisons for Mitigating EMI in Gate Driver Circuits

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    Figure 1: Gate driver circuit diagram with a Bourns transformer

    While gate driver-based converters deliver improved efficiency, speed and signal integrity, their high frequency switching features can produce elevated levels of conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI), posing challenges to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and overall system reliability. To solve this
    Date:
    03/29/2026
    Integrated Current Sensing
    Competitive markets put pressure on OEMs to improve energy efficiency in their product designs. Accordingly, it is important to be able to monitor accurately currents through critical paths
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    Date:
    09/21/2012
    Performance vs power in off-chip DDR SDRAM

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    Figure 1: Relative active power

    To deliver new features and higher performance in consumer-electronic products, SoC developers constantly look to integrate more functionality into their designs. SoCs with more features
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    Date:
    09/12/2012
    How high-TJ TRIACs benefit your applications

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    Figure 1a: Two TRIACs operating near their Tj(max): The BTB16-600CW standard TRIAC (a) and the T1635H-6T high-temperature TRIAC (b).

    High-temperature TRIACs present several benefits particularly useful in applications demanding high current density or imposing high-temperature environments. These applications include
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    Date:
    09/12/2012
    IEC 61850 increases grid reliability

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    Figure 1: Redundant 8.46 kV lines power an industrial customer's facility.

    A power industry consultant recently asked for assistance solving a reliability problem for a municipal utility. The utility had recently experienced disturbances on its system, negatively
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    Date:
    09/10/2012
    Test today your PV inverter for tomorrow

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    Figure 1: Micro-inverters convert direct current from individual solar panels into alternating current for the electric grid.

    An increasing number of DERs (distributed energy resources), which include storage systems, are connecting to the grid by means of inverters. This is already evident in countries with dedicated
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    Date:
    09/10/2012
    Securing the life cycle in the smart grid

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    Figure 1: A conscientious life-cycle design will consider threats at every step of product development and manufacturing.

    Investment in smart meters and smart-grid end equipment continues to grow worldwide as countries try to make their electric delivery systems more efficient. As critical as the electric delivery
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    Date:
    09/07/2012
    Improving electric-motor testing techniques

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    Figure 1: Each stage of embedded-software validation for electric-motor simulation introduces new challenges for test engineers such as high-speed processing and high-power signals.

    The growing adoption of electric motors in the automotive industry creates new challenges for embedded-control-system developers and test engineers. Control algorithms for electric-drive
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    Date:
    09/05/2012
    New power electronics based on GaN MISHEMPTs

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    Figure 1: EpiGaN deposits a unique in-situ SiN capping layer, grown by MOCVD on top of HEMT epi wafers.

    GaN appears to be a highly suitable material for power switching devices operating at high frequencies without suffering major losses. The Promise of GaN This is due to the drastically
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    Date:
    09/04/2012

    Power Systems Design

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    Power Systems Design

    Published by Power Systems (PSD) serves all aspects of the Power Electronics market including but not limited to Power Conversion, Power Management, Intelligent and Embedded Motion, Automotive, Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Lighting. PSD is published 10x per year in English with separate print editions for Europe and North America and is published 6x per year in China. PSD Apps are available for Android & iOS. Additionally qualified power engineering professionals may subscribe and receive PSD daily PowerSurge newsletters.