Technical Features

December 2016
Future-Proof Automotive High-Voltage-to-SELV Conversion

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Figure 1 A single Vicor module is a complete DC-DC converter consisting of hundreds of tiny, integrated and optimized components

­The legacy 12V architecture that has supported vehicles for decades is no longer capable of sustaining the rising electronic load in automotive systems. Current-generation vehicles rely on high-performance ADAS computers, multi-sensor perception stacks, electric chassis systems, zonal controllers and high-p
Date:
12/30/2025
In today’s data acquisition systems (DAQs), performance boundaries are continually being pushed.  System designers require higher speed, lower noise, and better total harmonic distortion (THD) performance; all of which are possible but none of which are free.  These performance improvements typically co
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Date:
12/07/2016
Music to my ears

The EPCOS PQSine active harmonic filter

To a non-engineer, the word “harmonics” has a beautiful sound – one that to many conjures up an image of a concert with instruments playing beautiful music. The harmony is what combines with the melody to turn the composition into something complex and beautiful rather than being just a simple tune. However, when most
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Date:
12/07/2016
Safety vs. performance

The creepage distance is the shortest path between two conductors along the surface of an isolator (typically a PCB)

When designing a switch-mode power supply (SMPS) operating losses and the ability to dissipate heat are critical selection criteria for MOSFETs. The standard TO-220 package is generally good at dissipating heat and the wide range of heatsinks and forced-air cooling options available can easily improve this. Le
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Date:
12/04/2016
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