Figure 1: Replacing conventional, discrete power conversion with power modules throughout the vehicle provides significant cost and weight savings in EVs
Greg Green, Director of Automotive Marketing, Vicor
The electrification of the automobile is presenting new challenges for power system designers in achieving the highest power density at the lowest weight possible, eliminating compromises in vehicle range and overall performance. Designers of power delivery networks (PDNs) are also tasked with designing safe, effici
Mitsuhiro Yoshimura & Engkiong Tan, ON Semiconductor
The rapid advances being made in handheld consumer products, such as smartphones, netbooks, and tablet PCs are placing increasingly stringent demands on the Li-ion batteries that act as their power source. Engineering teams need to contend with users’ desires for prolonged run times, as well as the increasing po
The digital universe—a measure of all digital data created, replicated, and consumed in a year—will reach 40 zettabytes (40 x 1024 bytes) by the end of 2020—a 50-fold increase from 2010 [1]. According to projections from Cisco Systems, annual Internet traffic alone will cross the 1 zettabyte mark by the e
“Globally, legislation continues to drive the development of next generation vehicle technology, offering further enhancements to emissions control and safety. Industry competition and consumer expectations are leading to higher levels of vehicle connectivity to the cloud and personal portable devices. As a
In robotized production lines, where overall efficiency control is absolutely crucial in ensuring that right product is produced not only in great quantities but also with tip-top quality at a fast rate, it is very important to have optimal control of running complex plant systems, where raw materials straight fr
What do you get when you cross tougher emissions and fuel economy standards, 48V lithium-ion battery technology, energy harvesting and high-power applications such as Electric Power Steering (EPS), Brake-by-wire (BBW) and Heating, Ventilation & Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems? You get the perfect environment fo
The demand for sophisticated automotive body electronics continues to increase at a record pace, driven by consumer expectations and OEMs striving for differentiation and governmental compliance. The system design to production time has dropped dramatically over the past five years, and these body electronics sy
Nitesh Satheesh, Akio Kitamura, and Akira Nishiura, Fuji Electric
Thomas Parker built the first production electric car in London in the late 1800’s. Electric cars were very popular in the early 1900’s but this did not last very long thanks to infrastructure and technological developments (Due to better roads, cars were now required to go longer distances and gasoline en
Concerns over climate changes due to carbon emissions have resulted in the increasing application of power electronic inverters in both renewable energy applications and in energy efficient motor drives. Safe and reliable operation of these systems requires that the power electronic circuits connected di
Configuring high volume test systems for power semiconductors requires balancing the need for high throughput with the need to ensure high measurement integrity. This article addresses some specific challenges of these types of testing applications and how the features and characteristics of modern source measure un
Digital-to-analog converters are widely used in many different applications and an amplifier often accompanies them to signal-condition the output. The amplifier functions to increase output current drive, to convert differential to single ended output, to isolate the downstream signal path, or to provide a co
Driving consumer devices cleanly and efficiently is more important now than ever before, because of the growing amount of functionality being put into products today. From our telecommunications infrastructure to power recliners, people are getting used to an increased level of functionality and interoperability in
For more than a decade, energy consumption in low-power and standby modes has been recognized as an important issue. Standby power measurement is a challenge because most power meters on the market today do not have the accuracy to measure low power values accurately - especially at high crest factors and low po
Some portable applications need to be powered up from an external +5V wall adapter supply and still require a +5V system voltage when in battery-backup mode. This design provides a simple method of switching between the external +5V supply and a rechargeable single-cell Lithium-ion (Li+) battery. The design wi
In recent years the development of information technology, artificial intelligence, sensor techniques and mobile-robot technology has led to intelligent systems being applied to smaller household appliances. One of the most representative products of this trend is the robot vacuum. Since the launch of the very fi
As with many other applications, low power precision components have enabled rapid growth of mobile devices. However, unlike many other applications, portable products targeted at industrial, medical and military applications typically have much higher standards for reliability, run time and robustness. Mu
Not all resistors are the same, and growth in new markets like high-power LED lighting (see Figure 1) is serving to highlight the importance of understanding all aspects of an application in order to correctly and safely specify the right type of resistor.
Click image to enlarge
Figure 1: The growth in new markets like high-power LED l
