Technical Features

February 2021
CoolSiC™ MOSFET 750 V G1 from Infineon Make Onboard Chargers Smaller, Lighter and More Efficient

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Figure 1: Electric vehicle stock by mode in the Announced Pledges Scenario, 2022-2030 IEA Global EV Outlook 2023

­The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2030, 60 percent of the automobile market will consist of electric vehicles (EV), resulting in over 200 million electric powertrains on the road (Figure 1). In addition to this rapid growth, the automotive industry must integrate various other trends, su
Date:
02/29/2024
Variations to Perform: Introducing 65 W USB-PD Designs

Figure 1 Block diagram of a secondary-side controlled power adapter using PAG1S and PAG1P

The continuous demand for charging devices in the shortest time is driving the charger market toward fast charging. On the one hand, the power delivered by these charges increases; on the other hand, their size is getting smaller and smaller, so it is necessary to design a higher power density. To meet the growing de
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Date:
02/28/2021
Simple ADC Current Sensing

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Figure 1: External circuit schematic

Dialog Semiconductor’s SLG46855V is able to sense load current and then interface with an MCU through an I2C connection. This ADC design provides current data to an MCU or SoC via I2C and can be customized to integrate other functions with available logic, all within a small 1.6 x 2.0 mm package. It can be us
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Date:
02/01/2021
Switch Node Layout Considerations for EMC

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Figure 1: MPQ4430 Buck Converter Example

The circuit node is where one or more power semiconductor switches (such as a MOSFET or diode) connect to a magnetic energy-storing device (such as an inductor or transformer winding). The switching signals of this circuit node contain fast-switching dV/dt voltages and dI/dt currents that can easily couple onto surr
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Date:
02/01/2021
Enabling the Transition to Advanced Motor Control

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Figure 1: A three-phase sensor-less PMSM control system that uses a three-phase voltage source inverter

There are two main driving factors behind the adoption of advanced motor control systems based on Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors (PMSMs) with sensor-less Field Oriented Control (FOC):  improving energy efficiency and strengthening product differentiation. While a PMSM with sensor-less FOC has been pr
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Date:
02/01/2021
iCoupler Technology Benefits GaN Transistors in AC/DC Designs

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Figure 1. Typical AC/DC power supply for telecom and server applications

Highly efficient AC/DC power supplies are key to the evolution of the telecom and datacom infrastructure, as power consumption grows rapidly due to hyperscale data centers, enterprise servers, or telecom switching stations. However, the power electronics industry has reached the theoretical limit of silicon MOS
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Date:
02/01/2021
Protecting Automotive Ethernet from ESD

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Figure 1: Arrangement of ESD suppression device within the 100BASE-T1 MDI interface, OPEN Alliance SIG (2019)

New trends in the automotive industry such as increased connectivity, electrification or autonomous driving are increasing the amount of data that must be transmitted around vehicles. This causes a corresponding increase in bandwidth requirements and existing protocols such as LIN, CAN-FD and FlexRay are no lo
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Date:
02/01/2021
Enhancing Efficiency by Reducing Converter Stages and RON

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Figure 1: RON is a product of the cumulative resistances from the drain to the source of a MOSFET device

The latest ICs sport faster processors, denser memories/storage, and a wealth of features while increasing reliability and proving lower power usage. Moving to lower processor nodes and relying on lower operating voltages enable these enhancements without dramatically increasing die area, cost, and the need for
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Date:
02/01/2021
Fixed Ratio Converters Boost Battery Powered Systems

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Figure 1: To make EVs and charging stations compatible, independent of whether they use the same voltage, the power delivery network uses a Vicor non-isolated fixed-ratio bus converter module (NBM) to convert either 800V to 400V or 400V to 800V at 6kW. This high-efficiency, high-density, scalable solution enables EVs of different battery voltages to utilize the same charging stations

Fixed-ratio convertershave power density, efficiency and flexibility attributes that can enable higher-performing power delivery networks (PDNs). This is true even when faced with wide-output-voltage-range power sources, such as batteries or renewable energy sources. Unlike more popular, mainstream regulated DC
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Date:
02/01/2021
The Speed at Which Power is Changing for Industry 4.0

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Figure 1. The key technologies driving the 4th industrial revolution are impacting the power supply industry in more ways than ever before. How will power designers respond?

Industry 4.0’s impact will dramatically change the world in the same way the preceding industrial revolutions did, only this time automation, artificial intelligence and process power will lead the way. We have already witnessed sci-fi-like innovation in a wide range of industries, from healthcare and telecom to
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Date:
02/01/2021
A Push-Pull Topology for DC-DC Converter 12 V EV Applications

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Figure 1. A push-pull converter helps to streamline an isolated power supply design in 12V EV applications.

DC-DC converters are employed in many high voltage applications such as ultra-capacitor energy banks, motor drives, high voltage battery systems and solar inverters. They’re one of the fundamental blocks of a power electronic design and are used to ‘condition’ voltage from one level to another – either to
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Date:
02/01/2021
When to Use Single vs. Dual DC/DC Buck Regulators

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Figure 1: Input current and ripple with in phase switching (red) and out-of-phase switching (blue)

There are trade-offs to make when choosing between a single output regulator and a dual output regulator. In this article, I will discuss the advantages of both and highlight when to use one or the other, using the single 6-A TPS543620 output DC/DC regulator and dual 6-A TPS541620 output DC/DC regulator from Texa
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Date:
02/01/2021
Accelerate Your USB Power Delivery Battery Charger Designs

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Figure 1. USB Type-C and USB Power Delivery are bringing the conveniences of fast data transfer and charging to portable devices

In devices operated by high-capacity 2S batteries, USB Power Delivery (PD) is a boon as it enables fast charging that gets these products back in operation with little downtime (Figure 1). Also, many applications that previously used AC-DC barrel adapters are migrating to USB PD for convenience and standardization
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Date:
02/01/2021
Selecting Power Inductors

Table 1

When the power supply voltage is decreased, voltage fluctuations can become more dangerous, requiring a high-performance DC-DC converter in order to operate within safe parameters. DC-DC converters can help to address these requirements, and power inductors are crucial components that affect DC-DC converters’ pe
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Date:
02/01/2021
New Converters Deserve (and get) Better Inductors

Coilcraft inductor schematic

New inductors are introduced all the time. In such an established industry as ours, it is quite natural that many new products represent small, evolutionary improvements or solve unique problems.  Occasionally, however, major generational breakthroughs do come along that challenge designers into new way
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Date:
02/01/2021
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