Electronic Design Auto Electronics Microwaves & RF Power Electronics Technology Source ESB Mobile Dev & Design Engineering TV
View this week's entry ad Subscribe Contact Register Sign In
Search
Twitter Logo Facebook logo RSS Feed Logo Newsletter Logo
Part Inventory
Go
powered by:
 
powered by:

 

Author Articles

  • DC-DC Converters Aim For Efficiency

    By Sam Davis, January 27, 2012

    Today, dc-dc converter efficiency is becoming the keyword for new designs because of the desire to reduce power consumption both in battery-based and embedded systems. This article covers describes both types of dc-dc converters as well as use of GaN transistors and design support to improve dc-dc converter performance.

  • Factor PFC Into Your Power-Supply Design

    Factor PFC Into Your Power-Supply Design

    By Sam Davis, January 25, 2012

    Understand the impact of IEC61000-3-2 on power supply design.

  • Solar Power Warms To Distributed PV Systems

    Solar Power Warms To Distributed PV Systems

    By Sam Davis, January 06, 2011

    Tutorial on Distributed Photovoltaic Systems, which combine grid-tie and battery-backup features.

  • SEGIS Pushes Photovoltaics Into The Grid

    SEGIS Pushes Photovoltaics Into The Grid

    By Sam Davis, January 06, 2011

    The U.S. Department of Energy SEGIS (Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems) pogram aims to support industry in developing new technologies for distributed power.

  • New Devices Embrace Energy Efficiency

    By Sam Davis, March 10, 2010

    Power-industry veteran Sam Davis reviews a broad range of electrical efficiency issues from a design standpoint.

  • Rechargeable-Battery Power Management Demands Multiple ICs

    By Sam Davis, March 12, 2009

    Here's a summary of what's required to put together a complete battery-based power-management system, with a look at what's new in battery-charger ICs, gas-gauge ICs, and everything else concerned.

  • Batteries 101: From Nickel To Lithium And Beyond

    By Sam Davis, February 23, 2009

    Virtually all battery-based power-management designs depend on the associated battery, so design starts by picking the specific battery type. The battery may be the non-rechargeable primary type or the rechargeable secondary type. The most widely used rec

  • Li-Ion Battery Protection ICs

    By Sam Davis, February 23, 2009

    The simplest protection method for battery packs is a fuse that opens if the system draws excessively high current. A more complex protection circuit is found in some battery packs. The battery-protection ICs prevent excessive current, which could lead to

  • Ultra-Portables Bank On Power-Frugal Components

    By Sam Davis, January 15, 2009

    A new breed of components is emerging, significantly reducing power and in turn paving the way for ultra-portable—and ultra-low-power—systems. Needless to say, manufacturers will now look at other products in this vein.

  • MIT, TI Develop Energy-Efficient Microchip

    By Sam Davis, January 05, 2009

    Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Texas Instruments have developed a topology that shows promise for ultra-low-power systems with a chip design that can be up to 10 times more energy-efficient than present technology. The

  • Switch-Mode ICs Promote Efficient Power Management, Part 2: DC-DC Controllers And Converters

    By Sam Davis, December 08, 2008

    Switch-mode ICs play a dominant role in optimizing the efficiency and minimizing the size of power-conversion subsystems used in consumer, computer, and industrial equipment.

  • Low Stored Charge Separates Diode From The Pack

    By Sam Davis, December 01, 2008

    I n an idealized diode, no reverse current flows from cathode to anode when the device is reverse-biased. However, with real-world diodes, large amounts of stored charge can flow from the cathode—back through the anode— before the diode

  • Switch-Mode ICs Promote Efficient Power Management, Part 1: Switch-Mode Fundamentals

    By Sam Davis, December 01, 2008

    A switch-mode converter circuit uses a controlled power semiconductor switching technique along with an inductor, transformer, or capacitor as an energy-storage element to transfer dc power from its input to its output. In a basic switch-mode converter, a

  • Cooling Techniques Attack MPU Processing Heat

    By Sam Davis, October 23, 2008

    The continuing evolution toward higher-performance microprocessor units (MPUs) has revolutionized the design of computers large and small. This evolution has generally followed Moore’s law—the semiconductor industry doubles transistor density

  • High Efficiency Challenges Power-Management Design

    By Sam Davis, March 13, 2008

    The semiconductor industry has always forced the power-supply industry to follow its trendsetting lead. For the last decade, that trend has been to cram more transistors into a single package, particularly microprocessors. This led to micro

  • Patent Lawsuit Verdict Clouds Future For PMBus

    By Sam Davis, January 17, 2008

    The verdict is in on the digital power-control patent lawsuit between Power-One and Artesyn Technologies, and it doesn’t bode well for the PMBus. Maybe Power-One should change its name to “Power- Won” now that a Texas jury

  • Electric Vehicles Zero In On Improved Power Management

    By Sam Davis, January 17, 2008

    The desire to protect the environment is driving consumer demands for electric vehicles that use non-polluting propulsion systems. Nickel-metal hydride and several versions of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries have been used in the power

  • Shrewd Thermal Management Helps Defeat the Heat

    By Sam Davis, December 06, 2007

    Despite great strides made by electronic system designers in developing products that perform sophisticated tasks, engineers may encounter performance-limiting factors beyond electronic circuitry—like thermal management. Even if

  • Handheld Multimedia ICs Hold The Key To Energy-Efficient Video

    By Sam Davis, December 03, 2007

    Energy efficiency is a key design consideration in a National Semiconductor line of ICs intended for batterypowered phone and video systems. Minimizing power consumption is the common thread in these circuits, which convert digital da

  • Next-Generation Multifunction Power ICs Help Shrink Mobile Systems

    By Sam Davis, November 05, 2007

    With mobile equipment manufacturers demanding ever smaller and lighter handheld systems, the trend is to create smaller ICs that offer greater functionality. However, meeting those functionality, size, and weight requirements becomes