Technical Features
May 2011
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Figure 1: Gate driver circuit diagram with a Bourns transformer
While gate driver-based converters deliver improved efficiency, speed and signal integrity, their high frequency switching features can produce elevated levels of conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI), posing challenges to electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and overall system reliability. To solve this
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Date:
03/29/2026
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Digital power conversion has moved on from being a novelty to widespread acceptance. Ericsson launched its BMR453 quarter-brick intermediate-bus converter in 2008 and followed with an eighth-brick
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Date:
05/26/2011
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Figure 1: Estimated junction temperature rise for a given power pulse assuming an inductive load
There is a pressing need within the automotive industry for realizing greater degrees of fuel economy. This is being driven by rising oil prices through ongoing political uncertainty in many oil
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Date:
05/26/2011
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Figure 1: Al Bondwire
Power module development is striving for higher power densities, not only in new but also in already established packages. Two main challenges for such kinds of upgrades are to meet the increased
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Date:
05/26/2011
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With their ability to drastically simplify provision of low-power isolated power rails that are commonly required in applications such as process control and industrial communications interfaces,
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Date:
05/26/2011
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Figure 1: Benefit of In-Design Technology in IC Design
Power has always been an integral part of consumer electronics, but increasingly we can do more things with a single device. That trend, above all others, has moved power consumption from an afterthought
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Date:
05/26/2011
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The Intelligent Power Module, IPM, has been a mainstay in motor speed control designs. And with good reason: Such designs are relatively easy and cheap to implement. With onboard gate drivers,
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Date:
05/26/2011
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Figure 1: RX210 Block diagram
The demands being placed on designers for the next generation of domestic appliances are increasing drastically. Today we see many conflicting demands to use less power, less water and to create
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Date:
05/11/2011
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Figure 1 - Supplies are margined by changing the resistor connected to the Trim/FB node
Modern appliances and equipment which utilize microprocessors, FPGAs and other complex ICs require accurate power supply voltages, often more accurate, in fact, than the tolerances provided by
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Date:
05/11/2011
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Figures 1 &2: Forward conduction characteristics comparison
Silicon carbide (SiC) is a compound semiconductor that is superior to silicon (Si) in several respects. These advantages stem from SiC's ~10x higher critical breakdown field, ~2.8x higher thermal
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Date:
05/11/2011
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Figure 1: Thermostat with resistive- and capacitive-touch technologies
HMI designs in embedded systems are evolving fast as the cost of manufacturing fashionable and more elegant interfaces continues to decrease. Some appliances are already combining touch-sensitive
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Date:
05/11/2011
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Figure 1: Typical circuit protection design for switch-mode power supplies
The power supplies, relays and other electronic components found in household and professional-grade appliances can benefit from the application of resettable overcurrent protection.
Polymeric
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Date:
05/11/2011
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Figure 1: Simplified Block Diagram of Washing Machine
The rising cost of electricity will increase the consumer demand for home appliances that offer energy savings. However, this is only one consideration that consumers must consider when purchasing
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Date:
05/11/2011
Photo by Solarion AG
Thin-film solar cells are developing into a rapidly growing market segment. If their commercial potential is to be fully exploited, the solar modules must be produced in a roll-to-roll manufacturing
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Date:
03/24/2011
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Figure 1 - Typical wind farm configuration
The grounding transformer is an often neglected component of the wind farm - shunted off to a sidebar issue. However, those who neglect to adequately plan for grounding transformers do so at their
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Date:
03/24/2011
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Figure 1: I-V characteristics of 10ms half sine pulses at different peak currents. Curve (c) is slightly above, curve (d) is far above the destruction threshold.
The ability of silicon power diodes to withstand a rapid forward current load, described by its i2t-value, is an important criterion that has to be regarded in the selection of the proper devices
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Date:
03/24/2011
ITT Interconnect Solutions' EVC series connectors
This advanced charging in electric vehicles (EV) requires highly efficient power contacts to provide flexible functionality, with minimal modifications, across a power range from a low of 15 amps/120
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Date:
03/24/2011
An engineer designing with FPGAs or Processors often has to provide some serious amount of power at high efficiency over load. Not only must the rails be regulated correctly and not overheat, but additional functionality may be required.
Recent evaluation boards from Xilinx (ML605 and SP605) for Virtex-6 and Spart
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Date:
03/15/2011
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Figure 1: 65W demo board of the TEA1733
The current market of Switch Mode Power Supply IC's shows increasing demand on efficient and cost effective solutions that enable slim and compact design. The industry standard Energy Star Version
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Date:
01/19/2011
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Figure 1: Noise Rejection Utilities
Modern power systems feature high speed serial communication between load and voltage regulators (VR) to enable sophisticated power management operations. This communication is susceptible to
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Date:
01/17/2011
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Figure 1: 347W universal input PFC
Power supplies of up to1kW output power account for the majority of power supplies used in high-volume electronics applications. One obvious application that we use every day is the personal computer,
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Date:
01/15/2011
The growing demand for electronics that can operate in harsh environments such as under-hood automotive systems and rugged industrial applications is fueling a trend toward new materials and more
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Date:
01/15/2011
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Figure 1: Effect on efficiency of reducing component size by increasing switching frequency
Reducing the size and improving the efficiency of AC-DC power supplies are constant pressures. In addition, the requirement for portability in some equipment means that not only the size but also
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Date:
01/15/2011
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Figure 1a: The effects of parallel connecting two power supplies without share control
Flexibility is one of the major advantages of power supplies using digital power conversion, where customer specific optimisations can be achieved without the expense of changing the hardware.
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Date:
01/15/2011
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Optimizing a power converter means making the right inductor choice. Choosing an inductor is a fairly simple proposition, with relatively few parameters to consider. Yet a solid understanding of
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Date:
01/15/2011
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Figure 1a: Application reference design for air-conditioning systems
The demand for energy in our world is increasing dramatically. A large portion of this demand comes from air-conditioning systems that are running over all the different climate zones. Energy saving
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Date:
01/15/2011
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With a recent survey reporting power outages as a common experience, and most users expecting the situation to worsen, UPS systems are now essential for business critical ICT equipment.
The
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Date:
01/15/2011
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Figure 2: Measured data for the Ericsson BMR450 20-Amp power module when varying input voltage from 4.5 to 14 volts and with load from zero to 20 Amps.
This case study presents the results of Ericsson's findings of using a novel algorithm to optimize intermediate bus voltage. This approach saves significant energy and cost, while increasing reliability.
The
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Date:
01/14/2011
Figure 1: Schematic of an op amp
High Speed ADCs are integral to low power applications such as wireless communication, medical instrumentation and data acquisition systems. Speed requirements of the ADCs vary from a few kHz to
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Date:
12/22/2010
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Figure 1: LTC4070 application circuit operational modes
Shunt voltage references are simple to use; they have been around for many years and are in a myriad of products. However, they cannot effectively charge a battery, and to configure one to do such
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Date:
12/22/2010
Medicine and computers converge
TRaC is a test and certification company, providing comprehensive services with global reach through its worldwide partnerships. The organisation provides a streamlined approval process to meet
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Date:
12/22/2010
Figure 1: Voltage split forecast for the entry of compound semiconductor devices in PV inverters (Source: Yole Développement - November 2010)
Yole Développement announces its comprehensive analysis on the first standardization steps in the PV inverter industry. Yole Développement's analysts evaluate the market forecasts and positioning
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Date:
12/22/2010
PV installation and control system at the University
A 3.3kWpk photovoltaic installation consisting of 64 amorphous silicon modules was connected to the power grid of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV).
The plant is located on
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Date:
12/22/2010
Figure 1: Sixpack Used as a Half Bridge
The increasing requirement in renewable energy systems and motor drive applications for ever-higher power levels is, as a consequence, driving the demand for power modules to provide higher levels
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Date:
12/22/2010
Figure 1: VCE(on) comparison of FS (Red), and NPT (Green) IGBTs
The global economic recession of the last two years has had a profound impact on world energy demand, at least in the near term. As manufacturing and consumer demand for goods and services declined
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Date:
12/22/2010
This article describes a dual input two stage grid-tied PV inverter by using Mitsubishi Photovoltaic Intelligent Power Modules (PV-IPM) of type number PM50B6LA060. Dual circuit branches have independent
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Date:
12/22/2010
Figure 1: Crack in Ceramic (for clarity a MLCC is shown)
The accuracy of the wafer coupled with assembly processes already commonly found in the manufacturing plants of IGBT modules, makes the chip form of NTC the ideal component for embedding into power
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Date:
12/22/2010
Technological advances in lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have enabled high-power Li-ion cells with higher energy density and lighter weight to replace Nickel-Cadmium (NiCd) batteries - and even
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Date:
12/22/2010
Solar electricity generation is becoming a viable alternative energy source, due to burgeoning energy costs. Up until 2007, the German solar market was the world’s largest solar market driven by a law encouraging the use of renewable energy through incentives (the “Energieeinspeisungsgesetz”).
Generating electrici
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Date:
12/15/2010
Figure 1: The design and optimization of a thermoelectric energy harvesting system is highly dependent on the relationships of these elements
Advances in distributed sensors and sensor networks have led to an increased interest in renewable and autonomous power sources. The use of waste heat is an attractive source of energy for many
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Date:
11/24/2010
Figure 1: Circuit diagram of flowNPC 0 module FZ06NPA070FP with parallel switch (combination of MOSFET and IGBT) as outer switch
In a world where energy efficiency is king, engineers, managers and purchasing departments alike need to examine carefully the route their company takes in the development of new products. It is
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Date:
11/24/2010
Wafer storage facility in Santa Clara CA
It is estimated that 3% of the global pool of electronic components is made obsolete each month, and on a long term defence project, typically 50-70% of the semiconductor products incorporated
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Date:
11/23/2010
Source: Ericsson
Since the origin of mobile communication, various techniques based on software and hardware have been implemented to optimize energy efficiency. In every telecommunication system there are DC/DC
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Date:
11/23/2010
The universal drive to reduce power consumption that Energy Star and similar initiatives have so successfully promoted within consumer-level equipment is starting to take a real hold within industrial
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Date:
11/23/2010
Figure 1: Topology of a high-efficiency AC-DC power supply
With demand for high efficiency becoming part of product specification across the whole load range, design engineers are reviewing AC-DC power supply topologies with the specific aim of reducing power
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Date:
11/23/2010
Figure 1: Talk time analysis of a 3G PA with and without FAN5902 under WCDMA signal modulation and 1000mAh Li-Ion battery. The power distribution function is DG09 and can be found in GSMA's white paper "Battery Life Measurement Technique, v4.7".
What is more annoying? Running out of battery or constantly needing to recharge it? With the proliferation of cellular mobile handsets, especially smartphones in the world today where people are
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Date:
11/22/2010
Figure 1: Traditional approach
The explosion in data traffic and the introduction of "Smart Phones" such as the Apple iPhone are fuelling the need for the rapid expansion of communications networks, not only at the Edge but
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Date:
11/21/2010
Figure1: Block schematic of the IBA
To reduce significant distribution losses due to high currents circulating on the Intermediate Bus in the Telecom/ Datacom distributed architecture, the value of this voltage (IBV) has been recently
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Date:
11/20/2010
Figure 1: Test data shows the capacitance effects of various overvoltage protection configurations
Telecommunications equipment must be able to survive surges and power faults as defined in the relevant standards. Survivability can be achieved by providing protection either remotely or at the
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Date:
11/20/2010
Figure 1: End-to-end efficiency in the traditional, 480V AC power distribution system
Data center energy costs as a percent of total revenue are at an all-time high - emerging as the second largest operating cost in the IT organization, behind labor.
The five-year cost for
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Date:
11/20/2010
On my recent trip to California, I had the opportunity to visit Sigma Designs Inc., a leading provider of system-on-chip (SoC) solutions used to deliver entertainment and control throughout the
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Date:
11/17/2010
Figure 1: PI3101 complete power system
System designers have struggled to determine the type of distributed power system to best meet the needs of the system while still retaining high efficiency, reliability, low cost and most of all,
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Date:
11/17/2010
At the company's press launch in Munich, Germany, Gordon Hands, Director of Strategic Marketing for Lattice's Low Density and Mixed Signal Solutions, presented Lattice's next-generation programmable
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Date:
10/27/2010
A Quality Management System for the Delivery of Products or Services (Source: International Organization for Standardization)
When companies are certified by international standards or qualified by a regulatory body, it signals to customers that these companies are dedicated to producing a quality product consistently
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Date:
10/22/2010
Safety is paramount wherever power supplies are used, but nowhere more so than in medical applications where even small parasitic leakage currents may compromise safety. First published in 1977,
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Date:
10/01/2010
Technology advancements over the past few years have generated many new developments that have specifically benefitted the portable medical device market. The focus of such efforts has centered
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Date:
10/01/2010
Analog Devices products and technologies have made a significant contribution in healthcare designs - helping shape the future of diagnostics and monitoring equipment, as well as health and wellness
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Date:
10/01/2010
I had the great pleasure to talk with Suresh Ram, Director, Medical Key Market Segment at National Semiconductor Corporation. Suresh is responsible for driving the strategy and development of innovative
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Date:
10/01/2010
Whether it is automotive entertainment or home theater systems, consumers have been asking for more channels and speakers with the ability to handle higher audio power levels per channel. In addition
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Date:
10/01/2010
A stethoscope, whether acoustic or digital, is used mainly to listen to heart and lung sounds in the body as an aid to diagnosis. Listening, or auscultation, has been done with acoustic stethoscopes
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Date:
10/01/2010
Most isolated low-power AC/DC power supplies tend to use the flyback topology due to its simplicity and decent efficiency. Removing the isolation requirement allows other topologies to be used, such
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Date:
09/28/2010
In the next few years, the term "3G" will become the substandard mobile broadband connection as "4G" debuts across major US cellular network carriers. At a nominal data transfer rate of 100Mb/s,
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Date:
09/28/2010
The need to protect IT equipment from the effects of power transients, as well as to provide assured operation during power outages is evidenced by the steady growth in sales of uninterruptible
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Date:
09/27/2010
Companies often install uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to provide backup power if the main supply is lost. But power outage is relatively rare. Are we missing a trick by not looking at
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Date:
09/25/2010
For developers in a broad range of applications using the Intel Atom processor, particularly in portable designs such as found in the new wave of medical equipment, Dialog's companion chip is the
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Date:
09/22/2010
Advances in global long-haul, high-powered transmission technologies and capacity create an imperative for renewable generation in the U.S. and beyond.
It certainly is an interesting time in history to be involved with electricity. The power industry is on the verge of the biggest breakthroughs in genera
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Date:
09/10/2010
Increasingly, with the development and refurbishment of Power Grid systems, more efficient street and public lighting systems are becoming ever higher on a government's agenda. Over the last years,
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Date:
09/01/2010
Many advanced industrial applications use high-performance multichannel data acquisition systems (DASs) to manage real-time information from precision industrial sensors. These complex systems
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Date:
09/01/2010
With the International Energy Agency's first ever global survey of energy consumption for lighting estimating that around 19% of all electricity generated is used to keep mankind from the darkness—that's
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Date:
09/01/2010
In order to achieve higher efficiency in a grid tie inverter, the correct choice of power semiconductor devices becomes very important. For grid tie inverters, the bus voltage is in the order of
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Date:
09/01/2010
Pickering Interfaces is a UK-based company manufacturing advanced switching and instrumentation equipment for the electronics industry. The company's products are used worldwide in applications
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Date:
09/01/2010
AC-DC power supplies up to approximately 100W commonly utilize the flyback topology. Its low cost and ability to provide multiple tracking outputs with a single controller have made it a favorite
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Date:
09/01/2010
Power amplifier (PA) efficiency is a key factor in wireless system design. Due to the inherent nonlinearity of the PA, a large signal would be distorted and its spectrum would be broadened to disturb
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Date:
09/01/2010
The evolution from the traditional electrical grid to the new smart grid introduces many challenges. One of these main challenges is the need for a good communication network to receive information
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Date:
09/01/2010
Every day we can read and see on news statements like: "A series of agreements to collaborate on four smart grid projects signed.", "International Smart Grid Action Network launched.", "Beyond the
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Date:
09/01/2010
All applications, which support the comfort in our daily life, are supposed to be invisible - or at least small, light weight, and silent. These applications are home appliances, such as vacuum cleaners,
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Date:
09/01/2010
Engineers and designers on product deadlines need all the time they can get to focus on what matters most - the core architecture of a system design. Designing with an FPGA, DSP, or microprocessor
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Date:
09/01/2010
Control of switch mode power supplies (SMPSs) has traditionally been carried out with purely analog circuitry. The advent of low-cost, high-performance digital signal controllers (DSCs) provides a
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Date:
09/01/2010
With the ever increasing number of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles on the roads, the demand for fossil-fuels is rising steeply leading to increased CO2 emissions that are harmful to the
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Date:
09/01/2010
Project managers within industries such as bio med, alternative energy, smart appliances, communications, consumer electronics and defense now increasingly look to custom designed and manufactured
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Date:
09/01/2010
Charge pumps are often the best choice for powering a CAN-bus application that requires a combination of low-power, low-voltage operation and low cost. This article explains how to supply a high-speed CAN transceiver, via a charge pump, to achieve a 5V rail that is required for most transceivers to deliver ISO 11
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Date:
08/16/2010
For more than four decades, optocouplers have been the "default" signal isolation device, but CMOS-based digital isolation technology has made available smaller, faster and more reliable solutions
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Date:
08/01/2010
Its more than 10 years since the market introduction of Avago technologies first smart gate driver. At that time it was the world's first integrated IGBT gate driver optocoupler with inbuilt fault
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Date:
08/01/2010
Consumers are embracing environmentally friendly "green cars" as a result of the rising cost of fossil fuels and a growing concern for the health of the environment. Sales forecasts have predicted
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Date:
08/01/2010
In order to fulfil increasingly stringent requirements to improve fuel economy and to reduce emissions, the automotive industry is looking for innovative solutions. In the future, e-Mobility is expected
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Date:
08/01/2010
With the recent upsurge in hybrid vehicle adoption and almost all major car OEMs now working on full electric vehicle projects, people often point out that this is old news. In many respects they
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Date:
08/01/2010
Rechargeable battery packs prematurely deteriorate in performance if any cells are allowed to over-discharge, for example, in hybrid automobiles or lower-cost products like portable tools and backup
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Date:
08/01/2010
According to IMS Research the number of video capable automotive head units will grow from 8.5 Mu in 2006 to 26.6 Mu in 2015. In order to present the information to the driver with less distraction
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Date:
08/01/2010
In most automotive HVAC systems, a continuous inflow of fresh air is conditioned and brought into the cabin. Typically the driver can select whether the fresh air supply needs to be interrupted (recirculation)
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Date:
08/01/2010
In many high-power lighting applications such as street lights, high-bay stadium lighting and others, the trend is moving towards solid state lighting that uses LEDs as the lighting source. The reason
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Date:
08/01/2010
Here follows a paper submitted by Yole Développement, a market research and strategy consulting company, specialised in the MEMS fields as well as compound semiconductors, power electronics and photovoltaic.
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Date:
08/01/2010
It has been forecast that by 2020 there will be upwards of 10 million passenger and light truck vehicles sold annually that are powered entirely or in part by electric motors. Starting with the leadership
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Date:
08/01/2010
Taming the heat is one of the biggest design challenges facing system architects and power supply manufactures today. Free air flow through the power supply is critical for improving performance
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Date:
06/01/2010
RS485 networks provide the backbone for communications in applications ranging from industrial control systems to roadside traffic message boards. In environments where high voltages are present,
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Date:
06/01/2010
Customers of power electronics increasingly require new, easy connection and mounting technologies. PressFIT technology creates the possibility of solderless mounting combined with an improved
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Date:
06/01/2010
Despite the best intentions at the outset of an electronic product's design, it is commonplace for the power supply specification to evolve during the process and to only be finalized late on.
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Date:
06/01/2010
Over the past few years, several manufacturers have developed high-power handling general purpose chip resistors covering a wide resistance range. Most of these high-power chip resistors are extensions
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Date:
06/01/2010
A power-saving, environmentally friendly, long-life, compact and (above all) cost-effective light source - LEDs have created an entirely new generation of lamps.
According to the International
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Date:
05/01/2010
A wide variety of driver circuits is needed to support new LED applications and the demands for high performance are challenging designers to be as creative as possible with new circuit techniques.
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Date:
05/01/2010
Most modern power supplies are required to contain the harmonic content of the current they absorb from the line. Practically, regulations request the line current to be nearly sinusoidal and in
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Date:
05/01/2010
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