Technical Features

August 2018

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Figure 1: The new Vicor BCM6135 enables the size and weight of an active suspension system to be reduced by half and provide symmetrical bidirectional power for highly efficiency energy recuperation.

Active Suspension Comes of Age Bolstered by High Density Power Modules

Chris Levasseur, Automotive Research Assistant, Vicor

Picture this. You are taking a trip to the city with some friends in your economy car, and you encounter an atrocious stretch of road. As you endure the bumpiest ride you have ever faced, you are passed by a sleek sedan, easily going twice your speed. ‘That can’t be comfortable’ you think to yourself, bu

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Date:

12/31/2024

Figure 1: Various Galvanic Isolation Technologies

Capacitive Isolation: The Future AC/DC Power Conversion

Zhihong Yu, AC/DC & Lighting Product Marketing Manager, Monolithic Power Systems

Capacitive isolation is a mature solution developed over the past decade to replace optocouplers in signal isolators, isolated gate drivers, isolated transceivers, and other applications. However, the potential to use capacitive isolation to replace optocouplers in offline adaptors is often neglected. This articles ex

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Date:

08/31/2018

Figure 1. Block Diagram

A Quick Guide to Automotive DC-DC Converter Test

Larry Sharp, Chroma Systems Solutions

An automotive DC-DC converter receives high-voltage battery output and converts it to a lower voltage to power on board devices such as the instrumentation panel, entertainment system, sensors, LED lighting, and any other on board devices requiring low voltage DC power. Manufacture’s strategies in DC-DC co

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Date:

08/31/2018

Novel robotics technologies rely on sufficient power semis

Pablo Yelamos Ruiz, Applications Engineer, Infineon Technologies AG

People have been infatuated with controllable machines for a very long time. Today robots are in our immediate surroundings, leaning away from industry-based usage and shifting the focus toward becoming our everyday helpers. With the commercialization of robots, modern engineering designs stress how important it

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Date:

08/31/2018

Figure 1. LT6658 Typical Application

Precision Meets Power, It's the Refulator

Michael B. Anderson, Sr. Design Engineer, Analog Devices, Inc.

Precision analog designers often rely on the quiet humble voltage reference to power their DAC and ADC converters. This is beyond the fundamental role of the reference, which is designed to solely provide a clean precise stable voltage to a converter’s reference input. With some caveats, this usually works, wh

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Date:

08/30/2018

Figure 1: Hardly larger than a conventional sensor, but with unparalleled dynamic range: the R&S NRQ6 frequency selective power sensor.

Squaring the Circle

Dr. Georg Schnattinger, Michael Kaltenbach, Marcel Thränhardt, Rohde & Schwarz

It may sound obvious, but for precise power measurements with RF signals the instrument of choice is an RF power meter. Two power detection technologies have become established: thermal measurements and diode measurements. Thermal power sensors determine power based on the heat generated by an input signal in a

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Date:

08/30/2018

Figure 1. Hipot is applied to both conductors and leakage is measured in return circuit through the ground connection

Picking the Right Hipot Tester for the Job

Kevin Clark, CEO, Vitrek Inc.

Hipot testers offer a range of capabilities starting with dielectric withstand and insulation resistance testing but also, in many instances, providing accurate low-resistance measurements and low-resistance/high-current outputs to test ground resistance and ground bond integrity. Selecting the right one for

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Date:

08/30/2018

Figure 1 – Battery Application mode on RIGOL’s DL3000 Series Electronic Load

Battery Testing with an Electronic Load

Daniel Monforte and Malcom Armstrong, Rigol Technologies

As the electronics industry continues to grow, so does the need for better batteries, and battery technology that reduces their size, improves their reliability, and increases their capacity. Engineers require an instrument that is capable of testing batteries to ensure they can meet the requirements of th

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Date:

08/30/2018

Figure 1 - PC Board

Microcontrollers Evolve to Support BLDC Automotive Needs

Spencer Manley, and Mathias Müller, Rutronik

As car manufacturers strive to find ways to increase energy efficiency, and therefore reduce CO2 emissions, the adoption of low-powered, low-weight electric motors for auxiliary units - which work separately from the main drive motor - is on the increase. The electrification of comfort and safety devices like fa

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Date:

08/01/2018

Figure 1. The use of one SMU channel on the input terminal and another on the output terminal replaces several instruments.

Simplifying Complex Measurements With a Source Measure Unit

Tom Ohlsen, Tektronix

In today’s fast paced world of electronics design, complexity represents evil and must be avoided at all cost while simplicity represents all that is right and good. Ok, maybe it’s not quite that extreme, but when it comes to test and measurement, simplicity is the engineer’s best friend because it saves ti

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Date:

08/01/2018

Figure 1 – Highest optimization potential exists at the system-level

Technology-Driven Optimization for Power and Thermal Tradeoffs

Frank Schirrmeister, Cadence Design Systems

Traditionally the key concerns and optimization targets in chip development have been summarized as “PPA”—performance, power and area. Depending on the application domain, the relative weighting of those three design objectives can vary greatly. In mobile devices, power has been key for quite some time. In

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Date:

08/01/2018