White Goods

April 2014

High-speed isolation in ultra-low-power applications

Mark Cantrell, Analog Devices

Isolation has been considered a necessary burden by designers. It is necessary because it makes electronics safe for anyone to use. It is a burden because it limits communication speed and consumes a lot of power and board space. Old-technology optocouplers and even many, newer digital isolators co

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Date:

04/30/2014

Digital power providers must play to their strengths

Mark Downing, Intersil

Investing in product areas where a company has distinct competitive technological advantages only makes sense in markets where there are also large, sustainable opportunities. Power management has evolved from simple regulation and power control to increasingly sophisticated power management devices providing mo

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Date:

04/30/2014

Power Supply Failure Survey – Part III

Dr. Ray Ridley, Ridley Engineering

In this third article about power supply failures, the magnetics are examined for their contribution to the failure rate. These are usually the least understood of all components, and poor magnetics design can lead to many different failure mechanisms in power supplies. Power Supply Failure Survey The LinkedIn sit

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Date:

04/06/2014

Low power design – how low is enough?

Tony Armstrong, Linear Technology

The portable power application space is both broad and diverse. Products range from wireless sensor nodes (WSNs) that consume average power measured in microwatts to cart-based medical or data acquisition systems with multi-hundred Watt-hour battery packs. However, despite this variety, a few trends emerge – de

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Date:

04/05/2014

Understanding ErP II compliance for external PSUs

Craig Eaton, Ideal Power

There have been numerous changes to the EU’s directives and regulations concerning the efficiency of electronic devices in recent years, particularly concerning standby power. The Eco Design directive, 2009/125/EC, is the all-embracing directive intended to improve the energy efficiency of all energy related prod

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Date:

04/04/2014

Advanced T-type NPC- 3 level modules: A novel possibility with RB-IGBT’s

Nitesh Satheesh and Terry Takaku, Fuji Electric

A novel IGBT structure was developed with reverse-blocking capabilities comparable to the forward voltage rating of the IGBT. This new device, known as the RB-IGBT, was used to create a 3 level advanced neutral point clamping power converter that shows better loss characteristics than standard 3 level converters. The results o

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Date:

04/03/2014

Enhancing switch-mode power performance with RDS(on) current sensing

Tom Ribarich, International Rectifier

Typical switched-mode power converters today include circuitry for monitoring the current flowing through a switching power MOSFET or IGBT for regulating or limiting peak current levels. This is necessary to protect the switch against high peak currents that can damage components or saturate inductors. A low-ohmic re

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Date:

04/01/2014