Wireless
Why dual-mode Bluetooth makes sense
January 4, 2013 10:23 am | by Dana Myers, channel marketing manager, Wireless Connectivity Solutions, Texas Instruments | Texas Instruments | Articles | CommentsTraditionally, Bluetooth has been associated with hands-free calling and peripheral applications requiring short-range wireless connectivity. After the introduction of the Bluetooth v4.0specification in 2010, which standardized Bluetooth low energy operation, a large amount of the industry buzz has been on Bluetooth low energy applications....
Top 10 must-see posts for December
December 21, 2012 12:34 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsHere’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments. Keep checking out the Lead at www.ecnmag.com and follow us on Twitter @ecnonline for our most up-to-date articles.
Signal generator targets analog / digital narrowband radio apps
December 19, 2012 6:07 pm | Anritsu Company | Product Releases | CommentsAnritsu Company introduced the MG3740A analog signal generator that outputs AM/FM/ΦM test signals for evaluation of narrowband analog radio equipment used in public safety networks and private commercial networks. Featuring exceptional single side band
Top 10 must-see posts of 2012
December 19, 2012 3:00 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | Articles | CommentsHere’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web from 2012. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments. Keep checking out the Lead at www.ecnmag.com and follow us on Twitter @ecnonline for our most up-to-date articles.
Avoid cracked screens: An airbag for your smartphone
December 19, 2012 9:34 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsAs the proud new owner of an iPhone 5, I have but one concern: Can this phone survive my clumsy self? For the past three years, I’ve been the increasingly less proud owner of a Blackberry Bold. It was slow, bulky, people mocked me for having it, and viewing a website was as much fun as going to the DMV, but, man, could that thing take a hit like Floyd Mayweather.
Modules designed to aid in development of products in compliance with ZigBee standards
December 11, 2012 9:34 am | Anaren Microwave Inc | Product Releases | CommentsAnaren, Inc. announced today that it has introduced a family of four Anaren Integrated Radio (AIR™) modules designed specifically to help OEMs develop products that wirelessly communicate in compliance with the ZigBee® standard. Based on the Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) CC2530 low-power RF SoC (which operates using TI's Z-Stack™ firmware),
Ultra-miniature chip capacitor series designed for the RF and microwave communications market
December 7, 2012 1:51 pm | Product Releases | CommentsAVX Corporation has introduced a new series of ultra-miniature chip capacitors for the RF and microwave communications market. Featuring copper electrodes in place of standard precious metal electrodes, the new CU Series chip capacitors provide extremely low ESR, high Q, and tight tolerances.
Top 10 must-see posts for November
December 6, 2012 3:38 pm | by The ECN Editors | Articles | CommentsHere’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments. Keep checking out the Lead at www.ecnmag.com and follow us on Twitter @ecnonline for our most up-to-date articles.
Should schools use RFID chips to track students?
December 6, 2012 2:53 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsA few weeks ago, I came across an article on Slate talking about a school in Texas that had put RFID tags in the student ID cards that everyone has to wear. The article—available at the link--was a discussion on whether the tags were an invasion of privacy.
450-watt, baseplate-cooled half-brick DC-DC converter achieves 93.5% efficiency
November 30, 2012 10:42 am | Murata Power Solutions Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsThe Murata Power Solutions PAH series of high efficiency, medium-power DC DC converters are capable of delivering up to 450 Watt output. These compact modules, measuring just 58 x 61 x 12.7 mm, comply with the DOSA half-brick footprint. Ideally suited for power amplifiers, wireless networks, and other telecom applications....
New energy technologies promise brighter future
November 20, 2012 9:47 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsIn three studies published in the current issue of Technology and Innovation – Proceedings of the National Academy of Inventors®, innovators unveil creative technologies that could change our sources of energy, change our use of energy, and change our lives.
Discovery kit offers turn-key development for battery-free electronic applications
November 19, 2012 3:26 pm | Stmicroelectronics | Product Releases | CommentsSTMicroelectronics has released an easy-access development platform for its innovative contactless memories with unique energy-harvesting capabilities. The M24LR Discovery Kit contains everything engineers need to start designing battery-free electronic applications that can exchange data with
GaN transistor offers 30W P3dB at 6GHz
November 19, 2012 1:12 pm | Product Releases | CommentsRFMW announces design and sales support for TriQuint Semiconductor’s T1G6003028-FL, DC – 6GHz GaN transistor offering 30W P3dB at 6GHz and up to 40W P3dB midband. Gain at P3dB is >11dB requiring half the power from a driver stage compared to some competitors. Linear gain is >14dB.
Stacked MLC capacitor series accommodates a broad range of applications
November 16, 2012 11:45 am | Avx Corporation | Product Releases | CommentsAVX Corporation has expanded its range of surface mount switch mode power supply (SMPS) capacitors to include the new SMM Series (switch mode max capacitance) stacked MLC capacitors, which incorporate the “High K” Super X7R dielectric. Featuring high dielectric constant (K), the capacitors provide
Fundamentals of battery fuel-gauging
November 16, 2012 10:49 am | by Karthik Kadirvel, Texas Instruments, www.ti.com | Articles | CommentsThe battery fuel gauging system is the component responsible for determining the energy remaining in the battery. In this article, a battery fuel gauging system used in single-cell applications is described. This is followed by a discussion of the various algorithms used by the fuel-gauging system to determine battery capacity along with the pros and cons of the algorithms.
Greatest advertising technique of all time (Hint: Involves urinals)
November 15, 2012 4:18 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsHere at ECN, we often talk about alternative energy options. Sometimes it’s solar power, other times wind power, and occasionally we dabble in the world of electric cars. But there is one energy option we’ve been sorely remiss in covering: pee-power.
This “smart” traffic light could cut commutes by 60 percent
November 14, 2012 11:08 am | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | Articles | CommentsWere you aware of the fact that you waste one week per year sitting in traffic? One week per year. That is 7 days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes, stuck in traffic. Not only is it a huge waste of time, breathing in the exhaust fumes while you sit and mentally-fume can actually be dangerous to your health
Technology enables mobile-friendly 3D gesture interfaces
November 13, 2012 10:23 am | Microchip Technology Inc. | Product Releases | CommentsMicrochip Technology Inc. announced its patented GestIC technology, which enables the next dimension in intuitive, gesture-based, non-contact user interfaces for a broad range of end products. The MGC3130 is presented as the world’s first electrical-field (E-field)-based, configurable 3D gesture controller, offering
Bi-directional control device offers one-way wireless links
November 8, 2012 3:49 pm | Product Releases | CommentsLeading wireless solutions specialist Radiometrix, has released the BL118 bi-directional control device, the latest addition to the company’s exciting new easy-to-install Control product range. Unlike the existing CTA88 family of control products which offer one-way wireless links, the new BL118
Do you have what it takes to be a Roundtable expert?
November 8, 2012 11:11 am | Articles | CommentsIn October, we asked you for your words of wisdom for a brand-new design engineer and boy, did you guys have advice in spades. The responses we received were so good in fact, we’ve decided to open up our December Roundtable to our faithful readers in hopes that you can offer more words of wisdom.
Active spread spectrum clock generator ICs manage EMI reduction in portables, consumer apps
November 7, 2012 12:05 pm | 3M Electronics Solutions Division | Product Releases | CommentsON Semiconductor has introduced a new series of active spread spectrum clock generator integrated circuits (ICs) that manage EMI and RFI at the clock source, delivering system-wide EMI reduction of all clock dependent signals. The P3P8203A LVCMOS peak EMI reduction clock generator targets
Single-chip wireless power receiver integrates battery charger
November 7, 2012 10:00 am | Product Releases | CommentsTexas Instruments Incorporated introduced a single-chip wireless power receiver with integrated battery charger and a new “free-position” transmitter integrated circuit. The two bqTESLA circuits are positioned to give smart phone users a simpler, stress-free charging experience and help designers
Wireless network processor first to offer ZigBee Smart Energy, ZigBee Home Automation and ZigBee Light Link standards for a single end-device
November 6, 2012 11:10 am | Product Releases | CommentsTexas Instruments announced that the CC2538 is the industry’s first ZigBee wireless network processor to offer the three most popular ZigBee standards for one end-device (ZigBee Smart Energy, ZigBee Home Automation and ZigBee Light Link). Now a single end-equipment can support these three standards...
Interface chip drives down the cost of adding high data-rate NFC capability to microcontroller designs
November 5, 2012 2:27 pm | Product Releases | CommentsImplementing instant, high-speed Near Field Communication (NFC) between two independent devices has been made easier and cheaper with the introduction of the AS3953 interface chip from ams. The AS3953 offers a high data rate interface between an NFC device such as a smartphone and any host microcontroller with a standard Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI).
ACE processor targets two-way radios, walkie-talkies
November 1, 2012 7:24 pm | Product Releases | CommentsCML Microcircuits has launched a new ACE (Analogue Communications Enhancements) Processor, the CMX188. The processor is specifically targeted at providing the digital advantage to analogue two-way radios and walkie-talkies, serving both licence-free and licensed two-way radio market sectors.
