Impulse-Controlled Sequential Switch Without Active Electronics (.PDF Download)
I know, I know—discussing the subject of a relay-based sequence switch in the age of omnipresent microprocessors seems to be a waste of time. After all, relays have been in use for many years. Is it...
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Electronics Meets Textiles in an Array of Innovative Guises
Textiles and electronics are forming mutually beneficial relationships, with components and functions such as optical devices and flexible sensors embedded in fabric.Researchers are exploiting the many...
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As Semiconductor Sales Grow, So Do The Biggest Vendors
Semiconductors are booming. Global annual sales have surged from 1/3 of a trillion dollars in 2014 to nearly 1/2 trillion dollars in 2018. But the largest players in the industry are taking bigger and...
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Texas Instruments Slumps for the First Time in a Long Time
With the broadest range of products and longest list of customers in the semiconductor industry, Texas Instruments acts as a thermometer for the overall health of the sector. So when the company...
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What’s All This eFlea Stuff, Anyhow?
Silicon Valley’s electronics flea market, which is revving up soon once again, is a fun social destination for engineers seeking bargains. Paul Rako recounts his last visit to the eFlea.Several ham...
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Resonant Electro-optical Temperature Sensor is Immune to Interference
By sensing optical-parameter shifts in a microresonator stimulated by a laser, a research team devised and tested a way to measure small changes in temperature with an EMI-resistant arrangement....
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Maxim Integrated Introduces Chip That Safeguards Data by Erasing It
Maxim Integrated introduced a line of chips that act as security supervisors for embedded devices, encrypting data for the central processor while preventing physical tampering with the device. The...
View ArticleSpice Simulates Custom Random Distributions for Monte Carlo Analysis (.PDF...
Not all Spice versions perform Monte Carlo simulations. Even those that do may only have a small number of available distributions, much less custom ones. LTSpice, for example, has built-in random...
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Spice Simulates Custom Random Distributions for Monte Carlo Analysis
The Inverse Sampling Method can expand the capability of tools, such as Excel and Spice, into performing user-defined statistical simulations. Download this article in PDF format.Not all Spice versions...
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MEMS-Sprung Mirror Enables In-Path Laser-Power Measurement
Using a MEMS-based parallel-plate capacitor arrangement, NIST researchers devised a way to measure mid-range laser power via the radiation pressure exerted on the mirrored top plate and the resulting...
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Allegro Microsystems Adds Algorithms to Latest Motor Controllers
Allegro Microsystems introduced a line of motor controllers that integrate the company's own control algorithms, potentially curbing costs and time to market for customers. The chips contain...
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AMD Updates Wafer Supply Agreement with Globalfoundries
For decades, Advanced Micro Devices, the world's second largest maker of computer and graphics chips, manufactured all the chips it designed. But in 2008, AMD divested from its manufacturing...
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The Laser Pointer Teardown
“Repaired, then over-repaired, until I broke it for good.” How did this solution eventually lead to dissolution? According to Paul Rako, the laser pointer took too much of a “beading.”The batteries...
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Added Hysteresis Enhances DC-DC Converter Performance (.PDF Download)
Today’s dc-dc converters use an enable pin to control the design conditions at which the power supply turns on and off. However, your dc-dc converter may not have this “enable hysteresis” control, or...
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Added Hysteresis Enhances DC-DC Converter Performance
With an appropriately sized added resistor, you can add adjustable hysteresis to a dc-dc converter’s enable signal.Download this article in PDF format.Today’s dc-dc converters use an enable pin to...
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45-V “Zero-Drift” Op Amp Merges Extreme Precision, EMI Filtering
Developed by Microchip Technology, this “self-correcting” component features low initial offset voltage and drift, very low noise, and integral electromagnetic-interference filtering.In these days of...
View ArticleHigh-Speed Data Converters Make Direct-Sampling Receivers Practical (.PDF...
Communications receiver architecture has evolved slowly over the years. The most common and successful configuration is the superheterodyne architecture, which translates the incoming signal to a lower...
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High-Speed Data Converters Make Direct-Sampling Receivers Practical
Sponsored by Texas Instruments: Pushing beyond the superheterodyne, direct-sampling receivers can help meet the demands of today’s communications systems, but they need ultra-fast ADCs to make them...
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Can You Take the Connector Out of Connectors?
Keyssa, a startup headquartered in California's Silicon Valley and Oregon's Silicon Forest, has spent the last decade trying to create the connector of the future. The company offers an alternative to...
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Inertial Sensor Not Only Measures But Makes Sense of Movement
STMicroelectronics has started selling an inertial sensor that integrates a custom machine learning core to not only measure but also make sense of movement. The chip is designed to be dropped into...
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