Application Solutions
PCI Express Claims Another Market Segment: Wireless LANs
June 30, 2011 11:39 am | by Krishna Mallampati, PLX Technology | Articles | CommentsPCI Express (PCIe) has become wildly successful throughout virtually all market segments – from servers, storage, and graphics to embedded systems, communications, and consumer products.
Wireless LAN: The Missing Piece for Building Automation
June 30, 2011 11:07 am | by Cory Vanderpool, Business Development Director for North America, EnOcean Aliance | Articles | CommentsBuilding automation uses a control system to monitor and command the mechanical, lighting, security control, or fire alarm systems in a commercial building. The intelligent network functions to keep building temperature within a specified range...
Picochip and InterDigital Demonstrate Converged Gateway With Integrated 3G Femtocell and Wi-Fi at Femtocells World Summit 2011
June 27, 2011 7:28 am | News | CommentsPicochip and InterDigital are collaborating on delivering advanced broadband traffic management solutions across cellular femtocells with embedded Wi-Fi access.
LPRS Wireless Modules Used to Protect Art and Museum Collections from Environmental Damage
June 23, 2011 6:24 am | News | CommentsLPRS has established itself as a major supplier of wireless modules used in environmental monitoring systems manufactured by Meaco Measurement and Control.
Prototyping with Frequency-Flexible Crystal Oscillators
June 22, 2011 6:28 am | by Phil Callahan, Sr. Marketing Manager, Timing Products, Silicon Labs | Articles | CommentsDevelopers of new systems ideally should make decisions regarding clocking requirements early in the design process. Although clocking rates are critical parameters that should be known in advance, determining these rates sometimes requires experimentation and re-evaluation.
It’s all about system integration for military systems
June 13, 2011 12:03 pm | by Hector Rivera, Marketing Manager, Mission Critical (communications infrastructure), Texas Instruments | Articles | CommentsThe network-centric battlefield approach, in which all systems (platforms) are interconnected nodes to deliver mission critical information to the military personnel, is driving the need for innovative integrated systems. New military systems are relying on system integration...
Using Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation to Create Better Cars
June 9, 2011 11:22 am | by Nick Keel, Product Marketing Engineer--HIL & Real Time Test, National Instruments | Articles | CommentsEvery year consumers demand more from the products they use and the services provided to them. For the auto industry this means smarter, more fuel efficient cars to compensate for rising fuel costs.
Driving a Brushed DC or Bipolar Stepper Motor Just Got Easier!
May 23, 2011 8:44 am | by Jose Quinones, Texas Instruments, www.ti.com | Articles | CommentsFamous for their ability to accurately control speed and position, while commutating under open loop conditions, the stepper motor simply is unequalled when it comes to the simplicity of the electronics drive. It also has an inherent ability to maintain a commanded position...
New Generation of Hexapods Deliver Sub-Micron Resolution for Ultra-Precision Applications
May 23, 2011 8:25 am | by Jim McMahon, Physik Instrumente | Articles | CommentsHexapods were initially introduced to public attention in the late 1800s and first employed in an industrial application in the late 1940s, used on a tire testing machine. Six-axes parallel kinematic positioning systems (hexapods) used in robotics assembly cells debuted in 1954.
Designing for Low-Power, High-Performance Industrial Applications
May 23, 2011 7:24 am | by David Otten and Joel Mach, Microchip Technology Inc., www.microchip.com | Articles | CommentsPortable applications in the industrial market segment require low power, reliability and high performance. Example industrial applications include barcode readers, shipment data loggers, highway tracking, noise-cancelling headphones...
Designing more efficient white goods
May 23, 2011 5:21 am | by Pushek Madaan and Prakhar Goyal, Cypress Semiconductor, www.cypress.com | Articles | CommentsWhite goods have become an integral part of our lives, from controlling ambient temperature and lighting to cooking our food and a host of other day-to-day activities. Although white goods may be used for a variety of applications...
Creative Use of TV Whitespace Addresses Community Broadband Needs
May 20, 2011 6:28 am | Articles | CommentsMany have asked the question, “How can we fill the need for rural broadband Internet access in our rural community?” But few have actually ventured beyond the question to attempt to make it happen.
AC-DC Power Supply Considerations for Home Appliances
May 13, 2011 10:44 am | by Zahid Rahim, Vice President and General Manager of the AC/DC Business Unit at iWatt, Inc. | Articles | CommentsMost modern-day home appliances include electronic circuits such as micro-controllers, LCD displays, et al, which need an AC/DC power supply to provide clean and regulated DC power. The challenges when designing a power supply are to provide safe and reliable power...
RF-IF Amplifiers and VGAs Cover The Entire Signal Chain
May 12, 2011 5:16 am | by Ashraf Elghamrawi, Analog Devices (www.analog.com) | Articles | CommentsThe amplifier is one of the most versatile building blocks used in RF/IF signal chains today. They are commonly used throughout designs to overcome signal losses incurred from passive mixers, filters, baluns, and other passive elements.
Energy Savings in Intelligent Management Systems for Solar farms
May 10, 2011 7:04 am | by Jordi Torrebadell, Director of engineering –Americas, RECOM Power, Inc. | Articles | CommentsThe formerly “green” energy efficiency topics are now a main stream issue – and not just post Fukushima. Solar and wind power continue to gain ground as alternatives to fossil fuel energy. New technologies in both control systems and power modules allow these new methods of energy harvesting to be more efficient...
Energy Harvesting for Automotive Applications
May 9, 2011 10:51 am | by Dr. Harry Zervos, Technical Analyst, IDTechEx | Articles | CommentsEnergy harvesters do not necessarily make sense in all potential applications where a battery is replaced. Battery technology is continuously advancing and due to volumes achieved, the price points reached are at levels where harvesters cannot compete.
Enhancing Smart Grid Awareness with Mobile Technologies
May 9, 2011 6:31 am | by Eugene Fodor, Software Engineering Manager, Digi International | Articles | CommentsSmart phones have completely altered the way we access information and communicate with each other through mobile applications. The majority of the population now has the answers to almost every question – ranging from how much traffic exists...
Trusting the Battery in Critical Situations
May 9, 2011 5:51 am | by Isidor Buchmann, Founder and CEO, Cadex Electronics | Articles | CommentsA battery is a corrosive device that begins to fade the moment it comes off the assembly line. The stubborn and unpredictable behavior of a battery has left many users in awkward situations. Battery failure is common; some are simply a nuisance but others can have serious consequences.
Enabling ZigBee’s Smart Energy 2.0 with Advanced Wireless Modules
May 5, 2011 11:05 am | by Dennis McCain, Director of Marketing for Murata Wireless Solutions | Articles | CommentsSmart Meters, a key part of the modernization of the electric grid system coined “Smart Grid”, are now smarter with the deployment of the ZigBee Alliance’s Smart Energy (SE) version 2.0 application profile. Nearly all Smart Meters are mandated...
The Smart Grid and Beyond
April 29, 2011 11:54 am | by Robert Wilkins, President, Danfoss | Articles | CommentsThe United States today faces basic questions on its energy and electricity infrastructure – how to meet the growing thirst for electrical power; whether and how to move from fossil fuels; how much to rely on renewables, nuclear or other options...
PCAP touch panels and optical bonding – A crystal clear solution
April 14, 2011 5:28 am | by Larry Mozdzyn, Chief Technology Officer, Ocular | Articles | CommentsOptical bonding has been around in different capacities for many years and has recently gained new notoriety for the many benefits it brings to projective capacitive (PCAP) touch panel displays. Optically bonded displays, touch and otherwise, have increased in demand...
Ensuring Optimal High Power LED Performance with Thermal Management
April 11, 2011 5:40 am | by Jon Domingo, Product Development Engineer, Lumex | Articles | CommentsDistinguishing quality high power LEDs from inferior technologies most frequently centers on identifying products designed with superior thermal management to avoid loss in efficacy, decreased life hours, and color degradation.
Universal LED driver for industrial control applications
April 7, 2011 10:36 am | by Alex Mednik, Applications Engineering Director, Supertex, Inc. | Articles | CommentsUsing light emitting diodes (LED) for automation equipment as indicator lights (lighted buttons and switches) often requires multiple modifications of the same control device depending on the available supply voltage. This approach severely complicates the logistics...
“SMT Lamps”: Merging Through-Hole and Surface-Mount LED Technology
April 6, 2011 6:09 am | by Andreas Pohl, Field Application Engineer, Avago Technologies | Articles | CommentsOver the last 15 years, through-hole LEDs have dominated the market of high-brightness LEDs for outdoor video wall applications. Because of their highly reflective design with primary optics, it was difficult to replace them with SMT LEDs...
Designing an Automotive Instrument Cluster for Increased Sound Pressure Level
March 28, 2011 12:53 pm | by Jon Levin, Star Micronics America, Inc. & Krunal Patel, Jaguar Land Rover | Articles | CommentsNearly all vehicles have a chime or speaker on the dashboard instrument cluster for various alert functions. Increasingly, instrument cluster manufacturers are turning to speakers that produce multiple chime, alert and turn signal indicator sounds with higher Sound Pressure Level (SPL).
