Power Hotspot

Need a custom ac-dc switching supply for small production runs? Look at XP Power's RCL175 (see the figure). Designers can specify any voltage level up to the maximum rating of each output while maintaining full agency approvals for industrial, IT, and medical applications. It also suits Class I and Class II use (i.e., with or without a ground connection). Supplies come with one to four outputs: 3 to 60 V on output one, 5 to 60 V on...

To download a PDF copy of the original Gordon Moore article from Electronics magazine, go to: ftp://download.intel.com/museum/Moores_Law/Articles-Press_Releases/Gordon_Moore_1965_Article.pdf For more information on the mentioned companies and associations: Amphenol ...

Welcome to One Powerful Issue, with a special focus on power—the unifying force in the designs you're working on, from the most compact in-ear Bluetooth headset to the fastest Global Hawk UAV. Power-integrity issues often are the most daunting challenge in staying on the roadmap for semiconductor scaling, the exponential downsizing anchored by Moore's Law. Indeed, the growing impact of power on system-on-a-chip design was one of the hot topics at last...

Eight new models in Valence Technology's U-Charge Power System lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery line perform well in applications with long run times. The RT and XP models are built with the company's proprietary Saphion technology, which eliminates many of the safety issues associated with traditional oxide-based Li-ion technologies to create safe, large-format rechargeable batteries. The four RT models feature built-in battery management for voltage, temperature,...

Dear Bob: I have a little microcontroller circuit powered from a 115-V ac to 24-V dc supply that is then further stepped down to 5 V with a buck converter. An RS-232 converter, whose switched capacitors give 8-V swing, is used to communicate to a PC. The problem I have is that connecting to a grounded PC has blown out the serial port on the PC. We grounded the common in the circuit and have had no problems since. I'm looking to understand what possibly could have happened....

The LM5071 pulse-width modulation (PWM) controller can accept power from a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) IEEE 802.3af Ethernet cable. This single-chip device from National Semiconductor also can accept power from external ac adapters. Designers can use it to create PoE powered devices (PDs) that can handle power from either source. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phones, Wi-Fi hotspots, and Ethernet security cameras that include the chip all can work anywhere in the Ethernet...

Power over Ethernet (IEEE 802.3af, or PoE) is expanding from mainframe Ethernet routers and midspans to smalloffice/home-office (SOHO) implementations. According to PowerDsine's marketing VP Madhu Rayabhari, a new market for "network-in-a-box" products that provide Ethernet solutions for small enterprises has emerged. To satisfy that market, PowerDesine has introduced the PD64004A. This four-port PoE driver enables the detection of PoE powered devices (PDs). It then permits PDs...

While it may not have gained the high profile of Donald Trump's or Martha Stewart's The Apprentice contests, Motorola's Motofwrd competition offers the electronics world's equivalent. Its grand prize is an internship with Motorola CTO Padmasree Warrior, plus a $10,000 cash scholarship, a Bluetooth-enhanced BMW, and a $1500 stash of Motorola goodies. The debut contest drew more than 500 entrants from 225 universities. Contestants shared their visions, via...

Artificial eyesight isn't science fiction anymore. Research institutions are developing electronic retinas that replace rods and cones damaged by diseases like age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. But achieving resolution that rivals healthy eyesight isn't the only challenge. These nano-devices require power as well. So, the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $6.5 million grant to a host of organizations to...

If the Core Duo is any indication, there's no slackening in what amounts to the power corollary of Moore's Law. Chips not only get denser and faster over time, despite the shrinking operating voltages that come with smaller process geometries, their peak power demands also continue to climb. Gene Sheridan, vice president of International Rectifier's computing and communication business unit, says that future mobile processors and chip sets will demand 30 to 50 A of...

All laptops that integrate Intel's Core Duo mobile technology use lithium batteries. However, we keep hearing that the day of the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) will soon arrive. In fact, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced last November that, starting in 2007, air passengers would be able to carry on two spare methanol containers for their microcell-powered laptops. The background behind that announcement is interesting. Fuel...

Last month, key players revealed their latest laptop developments at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Not to be outdone, Apple followed the show with some startling announcements of its own. What's the underlying trend developing from this flurry of activity? Simply, these laptops will boast performance far beyond their predecessors. For starters, Intel used CES to debut its Centrino Core Duo mobile technology platform for thin and light notebook PCs. You may have...

Four modules and two new mainframes extend the capability of the Agilent N6700 low-profile (1U) modular power system to 1200 W. The 600-W and 1200-W mainframes join the existing 400-W unit. Each can accept up to four modules. The four added basic programmable dc modules output up to 300 W each. The series already features 16 modules, starting at 50 W. The system's power-management feature lets users allocate mainframe power to the outputs where it is needed, permitting...

Larger portables need lots of power, and Maxim's MAX8730 is up to the job. This precision constant-current,-constant-voltage charger IC charges three or four lithium-ion cells in series at charge currents greater than 3.5 A. It also can charge nickel-metal-hydride and nickel-cadmium cells. The device can be hardwired or controlled by a microprocessor to set the charging current or voltage. Battery-voltage regulation is accurate to 0.5%, which increases battery...

The AAT3688 battery-charger IC for 4.2-V lithium-ion/polymer battery cells operates from a USB port. Its charge-reduction loop monitors the USB port voltage to determine how much power other functions in the portable device are drawing from the USB source. This lets the IC reduce charge time by dynamically adjusting the current while the battery is charging. Developed by Analogic Tech, the AAT3688 integrates a charging device, a reverse blocking diode, and a...

For many years, power supplies in electronic equipment (including ac-to-dc and dc-to-dc converters) have been designed primarily using switch-mode topologies. These topologies usually use power MOSFETs as the main switching element. Traditionally, they have employed various analog circuits to sense the input and output conditions of the supply and to adjust accordingly the operation of the pulse-width modulator (PWM) that drives the power MOSFETs. As one of...

Worldwide, electrical utility metering is undergoing dramatic changes. To deal this variety of applications, Microchip has introduced two chips and an online design center to help engineers create metering products. The company's standalone analog front-end/data-converter MCP3905 and MCP3906 energy-measurement ICs output average and instantaneous real power data. These devices can be paired with Microchip's PIC microcontroller in products for single-phase energy...

More than ever, power integrity is vital in the successful creation of today's system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs. That's because e xcessive rail voltage drop ( IR drop) and ground bounce can create timing problems. Also, excessive current can cause electromigration and related thermal effects, leading to chip failures. The first steps designers must take to prevent these problems are solid power-network planning and implementation. The next step is a good rail-signoff analysis flow to...

New laptop peak power demands will hit 150 W. This means PFC in the ac-dc converter and more sophisticated VRMs. Multifunction handhelds will have sophisticated power management and battery fuel gauges....

Big changes loom on the power horizon. For instance, the new PMBus power-management bus standard is going mainstream in 2006. Also, alternative power sources like direct-methanol fuel cells are on the way, though they may take a bit longer. In November, the International Civil Aviation Organization decided that air passengers would be able to carry on two spare methanol containers for their microcell-powered laptops starting in 2007. Meanwhile, laptop supplies need a boost....