Design Talk
Dawn of neutral white LEDs in street lighting
April 20, 2012 10:29 am | by Andreas Pohl, Field Application Engineer Solid-State Lighting, Avago Technologies Germany | Articles | CommentsLED-based streetlights first appeared on streets about four years ago, mainly as design concepts or test lamps at universities. Yellow phosphor was one of the only available and stable phosphor at that time with the ability to create white light in conjunction with a blue chip.
Renewable energy and smart grids rely on optical electronics technology
April 18, 2012 10:02 am | by Chun Keong Tee, Avago | Articles | CommentsRenewable power generation technologies based on solar and wind are usually discussed in terms of photovoltaic arrays and very large land- and sea-based turbines. Behind these very visible physical structures that can encompass many acres sit the optoelectronic components that provide the galvanic isolation...
Barrier films in e-readers: Their form and function
April 13, 2012 10:27 am | by Eric Barker, Application Development Engineer with FLEXcon’s Flexible Electronics Division | Articles | CommentsThere is no question that among the most popular and more affordable hand-held electronic devices to hit the market in recent years are e-readers based on e-paper. They go by various names and several brands (Nook, Kindle, Sony, etc) but they all function in the same manner.
Robust hardware security devices made possible by laser direct structuring
April 12, 2012 9:57 am | by James Liddle, SelectConnect Technologies, Palatine, Illinois | Articles | CommentsA wide range of devices are designed to handle, convey and store sensitive information that require varying degrees of security from protecting low level administrative to classified and top secret information. In addition, the information and data can reside in an equally wide range of locations and environments...
Does the battery fuel gauge lie?
April 5, 2012 5:53 am | by Isidor Buchmann, CEO & founder of Cadex Electronics Inc. www.BatteryUniversity.com; answers@cadex.com | Articles | CommentsMeasuring stored energy in an electrochemical device, such as a battery, is complex and state-of-charge (SoC) readings on a fuel gauge provide only a rough estimate.Users often compare battery SoC with the fuel gauge of a vehicle.
RC analog-to-digital converters simplify design of temperature, humidity, & CO instrumentation
March 22, 2012 8:27 am | by Alec Melnick, Sr. Applications Engineer, Lapis Semiconductor | Articles | CommentsTemperature, humidity and other physical measurements in digital instrumentation typically utilize successive approximation (SA) analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) techniques to acquire data.
Getting the silent treatment from your TV? You don’t have to take it anymore
March 21, 2012 5:29 am | by Les Tyler, President, dbx-tv | Articles | CommentsToday's flat-panel TV sets have bright, detailed pictures. They look great even when not operating, as a result of thin profiles and disappearing bezels. And, they connect so easily to the Internet, Skype, and BluRay players...
High-tech risk management: Sophisticated inspection procedures & equipment for counterfeit detection
March 14, 2012 5:34 am | by Robert W. Chesla, Senior Project Engineer, Rockwell Automation & Nora Gibbs, Account Executive, Smith & Associates | Articles | CommentsA successful and effective anti-counterfeiting strategy must be implemented when an end-product manufacturer purchases components from an independent distributor.
Fundamentals of ambient energy transducers in energy harvesting systems
March 13, 2012 9:22 am | by John Carpenter and Yogesh Ramadass, Texas Instruments | Articles | CommentsSophisticated battery-operated electronic systems and self-powered devices recently have found diverse applications in existing autonomous and handheld objects. Significant advancements in CMOS process technologies and circuit techniques...
Simplifying appliance design with capacitive touch sensing using SoC architectures
March 6, 2012 5:21 am | by Robert Jania, Cypress Semiconductor Corp. | Articles | CommentsIn small home appliances such as microwave ovens, coffer brewing systems, rice cookers and induction cookers, there has been a growing demand for capacitive sensing interfaces. These interfaces, typically buttons and sliders, can help differentiate a product...
Battery recycling as a business
February 21, 2012 7:03 am | by Isidor Buchmann, CEO & founder of Cadex Electronics www.BatteryUniversity.com; answers@cadex.com | Articles | CommentsLithium-ion batteries are expensive to manufacture and this is mainly due tothe high raw material cost and complex preparation processes. The most costly metal of most Li-ion is cobalt, a hard lustrous gray material that’s also used to manufacture magnets and high-strength alloys.
Flow Processing Dominates Latest Embedded Communications Designs
February 2, 2012 5:17 am | by Jarrod Siket, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Marketing at Netronome | Articles | CommentsDesigners of networking and communications equipment can feel the Earth moving beneath their feet. These dramatic changes have been caused by the increasing need to process traffic as stateful flows instead of individual packets.
Antenna Integration and Selection
February 1, 2012 12:00 pm | by Chris Anderson, Chief Solutions Technologist, Spectrum Design Solutions, a subsidiary of Digi International | Articles | CommentsThe single most important factor in designing a radio-based product – be it GPS, cellular or an ISM-band device – is the antenna plan. Not just the antenna itself, but the whole plan. What kinds of antennas make sense for the product based on size...
Firewalls for Embedded Applications
January 31, 2012 4:45 am | by Alan Grau, President of Icon Labs | Articles | CommentsIn the past few years embedded devices, including industrial controls and monitoring systems, have taken a huge leap forward in connectivity. Over half of the embedded devices released this year will be connected to the Internet, exposing them to a wide array of cyber-threats.
Remote wireless test with LXI
January 27, 2012 9:42 am | by Neil Forcier, Agilent Technologies, www.agilent.com | Articles | CommentsImagine if all of your instruments had the ability to connect to a WiFi network or act as a WiFi router instead of a wired IO interface. Considering this, here are some ways it could make your testing life easier.
Application-Specific MOSFETs
January 18, 2012 11:16 am | by Sampat Shekhawat, Bob Brockway, and BongJoo Choi, Fairchild Semiconductor | Articles | CommentsThyristor and Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) were the only power switches until the MOSFET was introduced in the late 1970s. The BJT is a current-controlled device; whereas the MOSFET is a voltage-controlled device. In the 1980s, the IGBT was introduced...
Simplify AISG Control Systems by Integrating the Hardware Discrete Transceiver
January 18, 2012 7:48 am | by Maurizio Gavardoni, Applications Manager, Maxim Integrated Products | Articles | CommentsThe latest generations of wireless networks have been developed to provide the high-speed data services required by data-intensive smartphone applications. Yet, deployment of this infrastructure has been costly, and coverage has been notably inadequate in some areas.
Charging without Wires
January 18, 2012 6:31 am | by Isidor Buchmann, CEO & founder of Cadex Electronics Inc., www.BatteryUniversity.com; answers@cadex.com | Articles | CommentsWireless charging may one day replace plugs and wires similar to how Wi-Fi and Bluetooth have modernized personal communication. Wireless charging with inductive coupling uses an electromagnetic field that transfers energy from the transmitter to the receiver.
Portable Power at the Heart of Defibrillators
January 16, 2012 9:15 am | by Joe Carcone, VP Sales & Marketing, Contour Energy Systems | Articles | CommentsImplantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) save thousands of lives annually for patients with weak or damaged hearts who are at heightened risk of sudden cardiac arrest. The ICD is battery-powered, and when the battery’s charge depletes, it must be replaced.
Deadline for 3rd Edition of EN 60601-1 Looms
December 14, 2011 6:32 am | by Jeffrey VanZwol, Micro Power Electronics, jvanzwol@micro-power.com, www.micro-power.com | Articles | CommentsIEC 60601-1 applies to all electrical and electronic medical devices and its accessories. The 3rd edition is in the process of being adopted by global regulatory authorities. But on a national level, regulatory affectivity dates are not harmonized across global jurisdictions.
Power Efficiency Is Key Factor in Device Miniaturization
December 9, 2011 7:52 am | by Stephen J. Swift, Sr. Vice President/General Manager, Microsemi Corporation, Communications and Medical Products Group | Articles | CommentsReducing the size of electronic products has become an increasingly important system design objective, especially in applications such as medical implantable devices that are used for a variety of new and emerging therapies and diagnostics.
UPS technologies enhance efficiency
December 6, 2011 5:28 am | by David Sonner, Senior Director Product Marketing, Liebert AC Power, Emerson Network Power | Articles | CommentsToday’s data centers are expected to deliver more computing capacity while operating more efficiently, eliminating downtime and adapting to constant change. Infrastructure technologies are rising to the challenge by evolving to support higher density equipment...
What type of LED driver or power supply do I need?
December 5, 2011 5:16 am | by Mel Berman, TDK-Lambda Americas | Articles | CommentsConventional AC-DC power supplies and DC-DC converters provide an output that is regulated to provide a “constant-voltage.” However, LEDs work most efficiently and safest with a “constant-current” drive. As a result, many new devices have been developed to provide this type of LED drive.
Accelerating PCB Power Delivery Network Design and Analysis
December 1, 2011 8:54 am | by Dennis Nagle, Staff Product Engineer & Dingru Xiao, Staff Product Engineer, Cadence Design Systems | Articles | CommentsCurrent design trends have made the power delivery network (PDN) of a printed circuit board (PCB) as critical as multi-gigabit data channels. Continuous increases in clock frequencies have coupled with large increases in power, while voltage levels have trended lower and lower.
Resistors Answer Design Challenges for Harsh Environments
November 14, 2011 6:18 am | by Kory Schroeder, Stackpole Electronics Inc., www.seielect.com | Articles | CommentsMany engineers are surprised to learn that commodity thick film chips, the most commonly specified resistor today, perform well in high moisture environments, but have some long-term reliability concerns in high-sulfur environments. In addition, certain SMD and thru-hole metal film resistors are susceptible to corrosion due to moisture. Fortunately, there are answers to both of these design challenges.
