T-Splitter Suits Industrial Applications
March 22, 2010 11:00 am | Product Releases | CommentsBinder-USA has announced the release of a T-shaped splitter for the Series 870 7/8” connectors. The T-splitter is used to connect several devices for a power supply or a bus connection. Designed for DeviceNet applications, the 7/8” connectors are
Energy 102 - Heat Engines
March 18, 2010 5:38 am | Blogs | CommentsThere is no question the overwhelming majority of ‘mechanical’ energy utilized in this country has as its source the output of Heat Engines, i.e. devices that convert stored solar energy in fossil fuels to ‘mechanical work’.
New York State Funds new Battery Research at Cornell
March 16, 2010 10:03 am | by Anne Ju, Cornell Chronicle Online | News | CommentsThe New York State Energy Research and Development Authority recently announced a total of $8 million in research grants to help develop or commercialize energy-storage projects.
Brainstorm: Batteries
March 11, 2010 4:34 am | by Edited by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsWhat is the next breakthrough in battery technology?
Enhancement-Mode Power Transistors use GaN Technology
March 9, 2010 5:50 am | Product Releases | CommentsEfficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) today introduced a family of enhancement mode power transistors based on Gallium Nitride on Silicon technology.
Five-Watt DC-DC Converters Provide Wide 2:1 Input Range
March 5, 2010 9:26 am | Product Releases | CommentsMicroPower Direct’s LF500RW Series of SMT 5 W DC/DC converters provides a wide 2:1 input range, tight line/load regulation, output power/overload protection and low noise operation. Twenty-one models operate from wide 2:1 inputs of
Simplify Power Designs with an Innovative MOSFET Package
March 4, 2010 10:32 am | by Hawk Lee, Jingen Qian & Kim Norton, Vishay | Articles | CommentsA major challenge facing power engineers today is how to overcome a reduction in board space for the power circuitry in commercial electronic products. A quick walk through any electronics retail store will reveal that personal computers have become smaller and even miniaturized which is a trend for many other types of electronic devices.
MOSFETs Provide Efficient Operation for Battery-powered “Green” Products
March 4, 2010 9:33 am | by Kevin Turchin, FAE Manager, ROHM Semiconductor | Articles | CommentsPortable products increasingly rely on a single 3.7V Li-Ion battery for the energy source. For these and other low-voltage applications, lower gate voltage power MOSFETs improve the efficiency for extended battery life and reduce the heat dissipation involved in switching the loads. In addition, they simplify the design of numerous control functions by allowing direct control / drive.
Coping with the Smart Grid
March 4, 2010 7:39 am | Articles | CommentsThis year at APEC I moderated a rap session on dealing with the Smart Grid. It had a standing-room-only crowd, and demonstrated how much interest exists on both the technical and political issues involved.
Power Resistors Deliver 20 W to 600 W with Low Inductance
March 4, 2010 6:26 am | Product Releases | CommentsTT electronics IRC’s MHP Series power resistors feature power ratings from 20 W to 600 W in industry standard TO-220, TO-247 and SOT-227 transistor-style packages. The resistors provide
Green Phase-shifted Full-bridge IC Controls Synchronous Rectifier Output
March 4, 2010 6:18 am | Product Releases | CommentsTexas Instruments Incorporated (TI) introduced a phase-shifted full-bridge PWM controller with synchronous MOSFET control outputs and light load power management. According to the company, the UCC28950 can achieve efficiencies above 90 percent from light load to full load, enabling it to
Power MOSFETs for DC-DC Conversion Tout Reduced Gate Switch Charge
March 4, 2010 6:06 am | Product Releases | CommentsToshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. has launched its latest generation of power MOSFETs for synchronous DC-DC conversion. The seventh generation trench process in the Toshiba fast switching series, UMOS VII-H, is asserted to
DC-DC Converter Features Built-in Power Functionality
March 4, 2010 5:31 am | Microsemi Corporation | Product Releases | CommentsMicrosemi Corporation, a manufacturer of high performance analog/mixed signal integrated circuits and high reliability semiconductors, today extended its family of DC-to-DC controllers and switching regulators with the introduction of a synchronous buck switching regulator in a compact multi-chip module
Power politics
March 3, 2010 12:26 pm | Articles | CommentsI recently had the great honor of moderating the Smart Grid Rap Session at this year’s Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC). It brought home to me that in addition to the technical challenges facing the power industry, there are also political issues that must be addressed as we move forward. The old political arguments around power revolved around NIMBY issues about the location of power plants...
Companies Improve Power Conversion for Electric and Hybrid Cars
March 3, 2010 8:17 am | News | CommentsMitra Energy & Infrastructure SA, provider of high reliability managed energy solutions and Cissoid SA, leader in high-temperature semiconductor solutions, have entered an agreement to cooperate on the design of high-efficiency, high-temperature, turnkey energy conversion solutions for the electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (EV & P-HEV).
Splitter Delivers 10W PoE Out and 12 V Over a DC Cable
March 3, 2010 7:17 am | Phihong | Product Releases | CommentsPhihong has developed a 21 W splitter that has outputs of 10W over PoE to a powered device such as an IP camera, and 12 W DC to an accessory device including heaters and illuminators. Designated the POE21-120H, this device takes
TI Demonstrates their DualCool Packaging Technology at APEC 2010
March 3, 2010 5:30 am | Videos | CommentsJeff Sherman of TI demonstrated their latest packaging tech - DualCool, which incorporates extra heat-transfer structures in a power MOSFET to improve performance.
1200 W, 12 V Front End Supply Suits 48 VDC Computers, Office Equipment
March 2, 2010 6:37 am | Product Releases | CommentsPower-One, Inc. announced the availability of its SFD1200-12BG 1200 W front-end DC/DC power supply. This product provides a 12 VDC, 99.2 A maximum rated output and features efficiencies up to 91 percent from a -48 VDC input. The supply can be used in
WCDMA-HSPA-Plus Power Amplifiers Suit Smart Phones, 3G Devices
March 2, 2010 5:27 am | Product Releases | CommentsRF Micro Devices announced high volume production of its RF720x WCDMA/HSPA+ power amplifiers (PAs). The product family is comprised of seven PAs designed for smart phones and 3G devices implementing mode-specific, band-specific front end architectures. The RF720x
AC-DC power supply achieves Climate Savers 80+ Gold efficiency rating
March 1, 2010 4:41 am | News | CommentsMurata Power Solutions has introduced a new AC/DC front-end power supply for hot-swapping redundant systems that meets Climate Savers' 80+ Gold efficiency rating. The 2200W (220VAC), 1100W (110VAC), power-factor corrected D1U4CS-W-2200-12-HA4C has a main output of 12V and a standby output of 5V.
International Rectifier Showcases GaN Power Technology
March 1, 2010 4:36 am | Videos | CommentsJohn Lambert of International Rectifier demonstrates the company's new GaN-based power IC technology at APEC 2010. The flip-chip IP2010 and IP2011 combine driver and a GaN switch in a single device.
Fairchild DrMOS demo at APEC 2010
March 1, 2010 4:29 am | Videos | CommentsHere is a demonstration of a DrMOS integrated FET plus Driver multi-chip power stage module from Fairchild. The device is designed for multiple synchronous Buck converter applications.
Vicor Factorized Power Demo
February 26, 2010 12:02 pm | Videos | CommentsHere is a demo of the Vicor Factorized Power Architecture at APEC 2010 .
SMT Current Sense Resistors Deliver Desirable Thermal Performance
February 25, 2010 7:21 am | Product Releases | CommentsFor power electronics design engineers looking for high current devices capable of providing current-sense and surge protection functions in high temperature environments, TT electronics IRC offers a series of open-air current sense resistors. The OARS-3 Series surface mount metal alloy strip resistors feature
National Semiconductor APEC demo
February 25, 2010 5:17 am | Videos | CommentsJim McDonald of National Semiconductor shows off what they present as the first PM-Bus power control and managment IC for server blades.


