EDN articles from May 2005

EDN archives from May 2005

Single-chip, flexible power management unit for portable devices.(Featured products)(LP3970 of National Semiconductor Corp.)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
May 12, 2005... The LP3970 is a multi-function, programmable Flexible Power Management Unit (FlexPMU) designed especially for advanced applications and communication processors based on ARM[R] technology, including the Intel XScale[R] Processor family. The...

Highly integrated, high-efficiency 2A buck regulator.(DESIGN / idea: Powering Applications [micro]Ps)(LM2852 of National Semiconductor Corp.)(Advertisement)
May 12, 2005... The LM2852 SIMPLE SYNCHRONOUS[TM] buck regulator is a high-frequency step-down switching regulator capable of delivering a 2A load with excellent line and load regulation. The LM2852 can accept an input voltage between 2.85V and 5.5V and...

Powering applications processors with a multifunction integrated power solution.(DESIGN / idea: Powering Applications [micro]Ps)(Advertisement)
May 12, 2005... Power consumption and battery life are major obstacles that system designers have to consider when designing for portable battery-operated systems. One system that requires sophisticated power management to achieve maximum battery life is one...

2 MHz, 600 mA DC-DC converter with 95% efficiency.(Featured products)(LM3671 of National Semiconductor Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... The LM3671 is a step-down BC-DC converter optimized for powering ultra-low voltage circuits from a single Li-Ion cell or 3-cell NiMH/NiCd batteries. The LM3671 offers up to 95% efficiency and is ideal for powering digital processors in portable...

Inductive-boost series LED driver with programmable oscillator frequency.(Featured products)(LM2707 of National Semiconductor Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... The LM2707 magnetic boost regulator is specifically designed for white LED drive applications. Tightly regulated LED currents, exceptional LED brightness uniformity, and very high LED-drive power efficiency (>80%) can all be achieved by...

Active mixer integrates baluns and enhances port isolation for base-station receivers.(leading edge)(LT5527 of Linear Technology Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... LINEAR TECHNOLOGY'S LT5527 active down-converting RF mixer integrates RF and local-oscillator baluns that operate on single-ended inputs. The mixer operates at 400 MHz to 3.7 GHz and provides on-chip 50 [ohm] termination over a wide frequency...

Ultrabright LEDs offer low current, tight package.(leading edge)(Vishay Intertechnology Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... A SERIES OF SMT LEDs from Vishay Intertechnology features extreme brightness in a 1.6-mm-long x 0.8-mm-wide x 0.6-mm-high package, which the vendor claims is the smallest available for this type of device. Targeting use in keypad backlighting,...

Over and out.(leading edge)
May 12, 2005... "Marconi's first transmission is still out there, about 10% of the way to the closest visible star. Granted it's pretty attenuated by now." --Bob Lucky, technology consultant, formerly of Bell Labs and Telcordia

Revamped T&M software simplifies use of its vendor's and a competitor's products.(leading edge)
May 12, 2005... AGILENT IS NOT CEDING the market for test-and-measurement application-development software to National Instruments' (www.ni.com) dominant LabView. However, Agilent's latest T&M-software announcements suggest that the company is embracing NI...

Dilbert.(leading edge)(Cartoon)
May 12, 2005... I MUST MARK MY TERRITORY BY INSISTING ON A CHANGE TO THE PROTOTYPE. GIVE IT A WIRELESS INTERNET OPTION. IT ALREADY HAS ONE. WHAT DOESN'T IT HAVE? AN IDIOT DESIGNING IT. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED]

Ethernet device gets small.(leading edge)(ENC28J60)
May 12, 2005... MICROCHIP'S IEEE 802.3-compliant ENC28J60 delivers Ethernet capability in a 28-pin, 6x6-mm QFN package that enables designers to add Ethernet capability to space-constrained applications. The Ethernet controller needs only four lines to...

Processor blade chops Advanced-TCA schedules.(leading edge)(Adlink Technology America Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Adlink Technology recently unveiled the ATCA-6890 AdvancedTCA processor blade for telecommunications and network-communication applications. Featuring Intel's low-voltage Xeon processors, the ATCA-6890 is available in dual-2.8-GHz- and...

WiMax SOC supports TDD and FDD flavors, channel agility.(leading edge)(system on chip)(time-division-duplex)(Frequency Division Duplex )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... FUJITSU MICROELECTRONICS formally announced its WiMax SOC (system on chip) at the Broadband Wireless World show in Las Vegas last month. The announcement came after a year or so of preliminary presentations on WiMax technology and the company's...

Serial-data-analyzer family adds enhancements, 11-GHz-bandwidth model.(leading edge)
May 12, 2005... LECROY IS THE LAST of the three major high-performance-digital-scope manufacturers to introduce a real-time-sampling scope with a bandwidth greater than 10 GHz. However, LeCroy's announced bandwidth is somewhat less than the values its...

Quadrature counter simplifies encoder feedback.(leading edge)
May 12, 2005... Using the LS7366 counter from LSI Computer Systems, designers of feedback systems for encoders, "which typically find use on shafts and machinery," can offload their system processors, according to Jeffrey Sarment, company president. The...

Processor increases low-voltage-application performance.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... DOUBLING the performance of its low-voltage processors, Microchip has announced the PIC18F87J10 flash processors, which can operate to 40 MHz at 3V. The 8-bit microcontroller architecture can operate as low as 2V and integrates as much as 128...

Free service offers access to parts.(leading edge)(Beganto Inc )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Designers and the rest of the supply chain often struggle to quickly get the components they need, ranging from key processors to less glamorous passives. Beganto Inc offers a sophisticated, Web-based approach that allows individuals to find...

New transistors and diodes? Is this a joke?(leading edge)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... IN THESE DAYS OF ICs with millions of transistors, the discrete transistor or diode may seem like a throwback to the early days of the semiconductor industry more than 50 years ago. But a large and critical demand still exists for these basic,...

Applying instrumentation amplifiers effectively--the importance of an input ground return.(LEADING inside: A series of engineering insights by Analog Devices.)(Advertisement)
May 12, 2005... One of the most common application problems that arises when using in-amp circuits is failure to provide a dc return path for the in-amp's input bias currents. This usually happens when the in-amp's inputs are capacitively coupled. The input...

Turning Nyquist upside down by undersampling.(baker's best)
May 12, 2005... BRAVO TO HARRY NYQUIST AND CLAUDE SHANNON! In the 1920s, these gentlemen created the now-well-known Nyquist theorem, which states that when sampling a signal at discrete intervals, the sampling must be greater than twice the highest frequency...

Society's top honors freeze out electronics.(edn.comment)
May 12, 2005... IT'S NEVER TOO LATE to achieve recognition for invention or innovation. Just look at the 2005 inductees to the National Inventors Hall of Fame (Link 1). They include Clarence Birdseye of frozen-food fame and Matthias Baldwin, who was the first...

Black boxes capture car-crash data, controversy: capable of recording mechanical and human performance before and during a crash, motor-vehicle event-data recorders have attracted the attention of safety and privacy advocates.(design feature)
May 12, 2005... WITH LITTLE FANFARE or customer notification, some automobile manufacturers have for years been recording your driving habits. Initially for optimizing subsystem performance, event-data recorders have now evolved into devices that can store...

Cosmic radiation comes to ASIC and SOC design: as IC-process geometries shrink, single-event effects, such as soft errors and latch-ups, will soon become primary concerns for designers of ASICs AND SOCs.(Single-event effects)
May 12, 2005... SEEs (SINGLE-EVENT EFFECTS), such as soft errors, have since the early 1980s appeared in commercial electronics, but they are now becoming the dominant reliability-failure mechanism in modern CMOS technologies. These types of errors forced Sun...

Sine construction: DDSs form precision oscillators: DDSs provide rapid, phase-coherent, linear tuning for applications from subsonic to RF.(tech trends)(direct digital synthesizer)
May 12, 2005... DIGITAL-BASED SIGNAL-PROCESSING BLOCKS are often architecturally reminiscent of their analog forebears, as their underlying mathematics demonstrate. For example, the parallel manipulations of Fourier and Z transforms, which continuous- and...

Reliable sign-off at smaller nodes: nanometer timing sign-off requires power and signal-integrity analysis.(design feature)
May 12, 2005... THE DEMAND FOR MORE FUNCTIONS and better performance continues to fuel the drive to more advanced process technologies. With each new technology generation, however, designers must deal with an increasing array of electrical and physical...

Silicon oscillators: high performance analog solutions from Linear Technology.(Advertisement)
May 12, 2005... When was the last time you considered replacing a crystal oscillator with another clock device? In all likelihood, the answer is "never," and for good reason. After all, what performs like a crystal? The answer may surprise you. At the...

Suppressing interference in adaptive-cable-equalizer designs: effective use of equalizer ICs requires proper layout.(design feature)
May 12, 2005... ADAPTIVE CABLE EQUALIZERS have seen wide use for many years in SDV (serial-digital-video) broadcasting equipment and serial telecommunications systems. Today, these same equalizers are finding increased use in other types of wired...

Precision LVDT signal conditioning using direct RMS to DC conversion--Design Note 362.(Linear variable differential transformers)(Advertisement)
May 12, 2005... Introduction Linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) are theoretically infinite-resolution displacement measurement devices. An LVDT operates by comparing the magnetic flux coupled into two transformer secondary windings to...

Versatile digital speedometer uses few components.(design ideas)
May 12, 2005... A SPEEDOMETER measures a wheel's rotational speed. Unlike conventional mechanical and moving-magnet designs that use analog moving-pointer displays, the electronic speedometer in this Design Idea features a digital readout and a power-saving...

Microprocessor, linear potentiometer deliver echo pulses.(design ideas)(Armatron International Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... FOR DESIGNERS of radar or sonar echo-ranging systems, an echo imitator can ease development and adjustment chores by generating a controllable pulse that's similar to an incoming echo signal. A decade ago, you'd probably use several 555 timers...

Passive-detector receiver keeps you informed, entertained during flights.(design ideas)
May 12, 2005... FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) regulations generally forbid the use of receivers onboard commercial aircraft because a superheterodyne receiver's local oscillator can radiate signals that could interfere with aircraft communication and...

Quickly estimate an electronic system's cooling requirements.(design ideas)
May 12, 2005... DURING NORMAL OPERATION, an electronic system generates wasted heat that can cause malfunctions and damage components unless you remove it. In an ideal world, you would have the time and resources to perform a rigorous evaluation of an...

Spreadsheet converts sound levels.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... AS EVERYONE who attempts to get someone's attention from a distance intuitively knows, sound level decreases as the distance between the source and the detector increases. For distances less than 50 ft, the rule of thumb states that sound level...

Diode-type thermistor has high-temperature capabilities in D035 package.(Sensors and Transducers)(D035 of Selco Products Co.)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Sealed in a glass body, the DT (diode-type) thermistor series comes in a D035 industry-standard package for pc-board mounting. The devices feature an operating temperature range of -50 to +250[degrees]C; a tolerance range of [+ or -] 1, [+ or...

OEM pressure transducer suits use in tight spaces.(Sensors and Transducers)(AST4100 of American Sensor Technologies Inc)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Suited for refrigeration systems, test stands, and data loggers, the AST4100 pressure sensor has a stainless-steel header and housing measuring 0.875 in. in diameter, as well as a one-piece diaphragm, free of internal O-rings, welds, and fill...

Glass NTC thermistors have fast response.(Sensors and Transducers)(BetaTherm)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... These hermetic glass-encapsulated NTC thermistors allow for improved resistance to humid environments, with an operating range of -55 to +250[degrees]C The device is available in 0.59- or 0.98-in. size and has a resistance range of 2 to 500 k...

Tool suite features UML-based development for Eclipse Platform.(Embedded Systems)(Nucleus BridgePoint UML suite Version 7.0)(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... The Nucleus BridgePoint UML suite Version 7.0 uses xtUML, allowing developers to write and translate into embedded C or C+ + code without round-trip engineering. The suite features a model comparison, integrated CVS version-control and...

Software features graphical analysis of embedded-system applications.(Embedded Systems)(Nucleus Profiler software )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... Nucleus Profiler software captures and stores kernel and application-specific data, allowing developers to analyze timing issues, logic flaws, and memory problems. The software also features graphical presentation of events over time, CPU usage...

PMC suits military applications.(Embedded Systems)( TS-Video PMC )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... The TS-Video PMC suits military and high-performance commercial applications. It includes a dual-input RS-170 video-capture and--compression feature. The device uses the Altera Stratix EP1S30 FPGA computing processor and integrated MPEG-4...

Virtual platform allows control of power-management hardware.(Embedded Systems)(VPOM-2420 Virtual Platform 2.0 )(Brief Article)
May 12, 2005... The VPOM-2420 Virtual Platform 2.0 works with Texas Instruments OMAP2420 development platform. The product emulates the onboard TWL92230 system-power manager and allows developers to visualize power usage over time through...

Tool offers enhanced schematic-capture functions.(Electronic Design Automation)
May 12, 2005... The Multicap 8 schematic-capture tool features a graphical feedback to ensure that all connections are valid. The vendor based the product on tool-tip-style circuit annotations as a method of capturing and sharing design notes. The EDA tool...

Letter from the editor.(PART TWO: ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE)(Editorial)
May 12, 2005... With all the attention given to new portable devices, it is easy to overlook the strides being made in the power sources that run these devices. Lithium-ion and Lithium-polymer currently hold over 69% of the total worldwide rechargeable battery...

Advances in battery: chemistries push the portable market forward.(PART TWO: ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE)
May 12, 2005... With all the attention and exposure given to the introduction of the latest portable electronic devices, it is easy to overlook the strides and advances being made in the power sources that run these devices. The latest in technological...

Alternative energy storage: ready to power portable devices.(PART TWO: ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE)
May 12, 2005... The so-called "limitations" of rechargeable batteries have given rise to industries hoping to either replace batteries altogether, or augment them to increase their energy or power density. Portable devices and motive applications, such as...

Playing it safe with output overload protection.(POWER puzzler #2)
May 12, 2005... Take a break from your daily routine and test your power supply design knowledge by trying your hand at answering the three questions below regarding output overload, a stressful condition that can jeopardize the safety of your system. Then...

Ultracapacitors as a secondary power source for HEV systems.(CASE Study)(hybrid electric vehicle)
May 12, 2005... the challenge ISE Corporation provides hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology solutions combining the best characteristics of fuel-driven engines, electric motor drives and energy storage components. The system solution utilizes a...

Using smart battery integration to enhance the features of portable devices.(PART TWO: ADVANCE ENERGY STORAGE)
May 12, 2005... Designers of portable electronic devices can choose from a wonderful array of rechargeable cells and from a myriad of electronic chips, passive safety devices and case materials. Wading through this sea of alternatives is tricky and smart...

Implementing power factor correction in high power laptop adaptors.(PART TWO: ADVANCED ENERGY STORAGE)
May 12, 2005... Over the last 5 years, mass production laptop adaptor power density--measured in terms of power per unit volume (W/[in.sup.3])--has increased by more than 60%. The introduction of the 'China Compulsory Certificate' (known as the "3C's")...

Optimizing multi-output designs.(POWER puzzler #3)
May 26, 2005... Take a break from your daily routine and test your power supply design knowledge by answering the three questions below regarding continuous conduction mode operation in multiple output supplies. Then check your answers at...

Kit eases high-voltage-design woes: go tell it on the mountain "OK, I have brought tablets from the mountain here. I have given out the word. Just do it. And why should I add to this, when people haven't finished learning what I told them the first time?".(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... GOAL SEMICONDUCTOR recently announced a plug-and-play development and evaluation system for its HVDAC200-4 quad, high-voltage, 9-bit, serially configurable voltage/current D/A converter with outputs as high as 200V. The HVDAC200 finds use in...

Receiver shoots fiber to TTL at 5 Mbps.(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... Targeting use in data-communication and control applications, the 5Mbps HFD3023 optical detector from Honeywell provides a TTL-compatible interface for short-distance, 850-nm fiber links and standard-diameter optical fibers. According to...

Bluetooth/UWB merger will take time.(leading edge)(Ultrawideband Forum)(Bluetooth Special Interest Group)
May 26, 2005... THE ORGANIZATIONS SHEPHERDING Bluetooth and UWB (ultrawideband) have announced that they plan to merge their respective wireless-communication technologies, but they released few technical details and allowed that end-user products sporting the...

Sense resistor's low TCR ensures consistency.(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... A COMMON WAY to sense current in motors and power supplies is to use a low-value resistor in series with the load, but any drift in this resistor affects reading accuracy. The lead-free TLR-75ppm from KOA Speer Electronics features TCR...

Dilbert.(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... I DID A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND FOUND NO CORRELATION BETWEEN MY EFFORTS AND MY REWARDS. I FELT ADRIFT IN A SEA OF RANDOMNESS, DESPERATE AND ABSURD, DEVOID OF PURPOSE, LOST. AND THEN I GOT PAID AND I PURCHASED SOME UNNECESSARY...

Silicon and quartz combine for advanced crystal entity.(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... CRYSTALS ARE THE HEARTBEATS of today's synchronous circuits, but they face the challenge of reliably hitting and sustaining higher clock rates. According to Pericom/Saronix, its S1614XP and S1613XP series of oscillators promises to improve that...

SOC-hardware-debugging techniques extend to the system level.(leading edge)(System on chip)
May 26, 2005... FOR SOC (SYSTEM-ON-CHIP) designs that are based on an embedded-processor platform, Novas Software is extending the reach of its debugging tools to cover a complete project originated in a system-level-design style. The company has a strong...

Sign-off power network and electromigration-analysis tool decrease delay from voltage drop.(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... SYNOPSYS HAS COMBINED static- and dynamic-timing-analysis technologies to create PrimeRail, a tool it bets will become the sign-off tool for gate-level power-network analysis and transistor-level EM (electromigration) analysis. Rajiv...

Processor and tools support dynamic reconfiguration.(leading edge)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2005... DYNAMICALLY RECONFIGURABLE silicon-sharing enables designers to implement a design with a smaller processor and possibly with lower power consumption than a fixed-function processor device. Atmel's FPSLIC (field-programmable system-level IC) II...

SMT device painlessly performs 1-GHz splits.(leading edge)
May 26, 2005... Set-top boxes driving multiple tuners need to split the input signal; the Anadigics APS3604 active splitter simplifies the task. This device, with a 75[ohm] balanced RF input, accepts 50-MHz to 1-GHz signals and yields three balanced RF...

Best electronics gigs deep in the heart of Texas (and California).(edn.comment)
May 26, 2005... IS WORKING IN TEXAS better than working anywhere else in the nation? For electronics designers, Fortune magazine's 2005 survey of the best companies to work for suggests that that scenario might be the case both now and historically (Link 1)....

There's no shortage of engineering-shortage talk.(edn.comment)
May 26, 2005... YOU CAN'T PICK UP a magazine or paper or look at a few news-and-commentary Web sites without seeing knowledgeable voices bemoaning the engineering shortage. The presumed causes usually fall into a few categories, such as the idea that too few...

Ground fill.(signal integrity)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2005... READER STEVE PURCELL WRITES: I've been using power and ground copper pours on every board I've done since taking a signal-integrity course years ago from another individual. I wonder whether they are helping me. I have a PMC card design that is...

Verify your ac Spice model.(analog angle)
May 26, 2005... A FEW YEARS AGO, the ac parameters of Spice models were almost worthless; they had little correlation with reality. Time changes many things, and now, many ac Spice models are excellent representations of data sheets and, consequently, ICs. The...

PCI express and ASI: avoiding chaos at 2 Gbps: at data rates as high as 2 Gbps per lane, little things can make big differences in signal integrity. Experts disagree on whether thinking about what's really going on can improve performance or only make it worse.(tech trends)(Peripheral component interconnect)(Advanced Switching Interconnect)
May 26, 2005... PCIEXPRESS (PCIe) is rapidly becoming the dominant standard for high-speed data transmission in PCs, notwithstanding the existence of myriad other high-speed point-to-point serial protocols, most of which predate PCIe. What's more, elements of...

Fast future for flash.(NAND FLASH MEMORY: A Special Series Sponsored by Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.)(Advertisement)
May 26, 2005... DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING IMPROVEMENTS ARE bringing NAND Flash memory to the next level of performance. Process shrinks are providing Flash memory devices with multi-gigabit storage densities as well as faster read access. In addition,...

Run for your life: ultralow-power systems designed for the long haul: systems can achieve an average current drain on the order of 1 [micro]A by relying on a low duty cycle and by minimizing the power needs of their processor, software, and analog interface.(Cover Story)(Cover Story)
May 26, 2005... THE NEEDS OF PORTABLE consumer devices have until recently driven low-power design methods for electronic systems. In these devices, the power source is usually a lightweight battery, and the need to fit into a pocket or briefcase dictates...

Mixing the real with the virtual: the benefit of real-time hardware-in-the-loop simulation and its falling costs are encouraging a wider audience to adopt the technique.(design feature)
May 26, 2005... HIL (HARDWARE-IN-THE-LOOP) simulation is a technique that combines and interfaces real and virtual components into an operational configuration to simulate and test the dynamic behavior of complex systems. Since the 1950s, mission- and...

What does a window do?(THE DATA DETECTIVE)(Advertisement)
May 26, 2005... Instead of a pure Fourier transform, engineers and researchers must settle for the discrete Fourier transform (DFT), which operates on sampled data. That data may come from a digital oscilloscope, a data-acquisition system, or another...

Power-system communications support digital-power growth: power-bus standard enables digitally controlled power management.(design feature)(System Management Bus)(Power Management Bus)
May 26, 2005... POWER SUBSYSTEMS TODAY are becoming more integrated into total systems, evolving from stand-alone "necessary evils to monitored subsystems that function as controlled peripherals. These system-controlled power subsystems bring many benefits,...

Dithering increases dynamic range in digital-radio system: the drive for high-rate, multistage-converter applications, such as digital radio, increases the need for dithering. Techniques are available to help you accomplish your dithering goal.(design feature)
May 26, 2005... APPLICATIONS SUCH AS test equipment and digital radio for electronic intelligence are pushing the limits for both dynamic range and data rates. This drive is increasing the need for high-rate, multistage-converter implementations, so these...

Motion ICs make their move: integration is the key with the motion-control IC.(design feature)
May 26, 2005... DESIGNERS INTEGRATING motion-control functions on their system designs have always had to make tough decisions, such as what motor to use and how to gear it. But now, with the emergence of the motion-control-IC market, designers have the choice...

Replace ORing diodes with MOSFETs to reduce heat and save space--design note 363.(Advertisement)
May 26, 2005... Introduction High availability telecom systems employ redundant power supplies or battery feeds to enhance system reliability. Discrete diodes are commonly used to combine these power sources at the point of load. The disadvantage of this...

Embedded-system programmers must learn the fundamentals: embedded-system programmers can no longer rely on Moore's law. Its diminishing effect on processor performance doesn't conceal inefficient and disorganized code.(design feature)
May 26, 2005... CPU POWER HAS FOR THE PAST three decades dictated the way software engineers design and implement embedded-software options. During the early days of the microprocessor revolution, programmers had to use every trick in the book to shoehorn...

Interrupt-driven keyboard for MCS-51 uses few components.(design ideas)(Micro Controller Subsystem )
May 26, 2005... DESIGNERS of microcontroller-based products that require a keypad for user data entry can select from dedicating an input line for each key, continuously polling the keypad's x and y lines, or generating an interrupt whenever a user presses a...

Simplified white-LED flasher operates from one cell.(design ideas)(Light emitting diodes)
May 26, 2005... THE WHITE-LED FLASHER in Figure 1 offers an alternative approach to a previously published idea (Reference 1). Targeting use in portable appliances and products powered by a single cell, this circuit flashes an LED to provide a highly visible...

Low power voltage-to-frequency converter makes a wireless probe for testing an inductive power supply.(design ideas)
May 26, 2005... POWERING PORTABLE telemetry systems for long-term monitoring presents interesting design challenges. Batteries are unsuitable for certain critical applications, and, in these circumstances, designers typically use wireless inductive links to...

Simple circuit converts 5V to -10V.(design ideas)(Brief Article)
May 26, 2005... A TYPICAL switched-capacitor charge pump requires no inductors, is easy to design, and can double a positive voltage or convert a positive voltage to an equivalent negative voltage. However, in some applications, only a positive supply is...

Three-output dc/ac inverter suits miniature CCFL lamps.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... The low-profile, three-output inverter can power three CCFLs (cold-cathode fluorescent lamps) and operates at 12V-dc input with a 1350V-ac output. The device supplies three lamps with 6-mA input at 45 kHz and has a 30x90-mm footprint and a...

125W half bricks have 2800V-dc I/O isolation.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... The open-frame, 125W, half-brick SC125A Portsmouth series has 2800V-dc I/O isolation. Its peripherals include a 36 to 76V-dc input, a 3.3 to 5V-dc single output, overvoltage protection, and remote on/off; through-hole mounting ensures an...

IBCs suit narrow-input point-of-load converters.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... These eighth-brick, IBC (intermediate-bus-converter), fixed-ratio dc transformer has an input range of 42 to 53V dc and generates an isolated 12V/25A output with a load efficiency of 96%. The IBCs also come in semiregulated eighth bricks with...

Front-end power supplies incorporate power-factor-correction circuitry.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... The front-end LD Series of power supplies has an output voltage rating of 12, 24, 28, and 48V and has input voltages of 90 to 264V ac to produce output power as high as 2 kW with no derating up to 50[degrees]C. The devices incorporate...

Low-noise power supply generates as much as 1.2 kW.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... The high-power, low-noise Model VSP2050 dc power supply provides an output of 0 to 20V dc and 0 to 50A. The power supply features output control by using manual tuning incorporating front-panel-mounted, 10-turn potentiometers and three-digit...

Fully regulated bus converter has high efficiencies.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... The 12V-de output, half-brick 32A HKS48T30120ICA bus converter has efficiency as high as 94.5%. The device suits use in IBA (Intermediate Bus Architecture) point-of-load converters, providing 21.5A at 70[degrees]C (200 lfm). The product...

1000W, single-output power supplies come in various voltages.(powersources showcase)
May 26, 2005... With efficiencies nearing 90%, the power-factor-corrected LC Series power supplies are available for hot-pluggable N+1 redundant operations. The devices provide 1000W of power at output voltages of 24, 28, and 48V for the input range of 180 to...