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Design FAQs - Analog & Mixed Signal

  • Clocking Data Converters

    Clocking Data Converters

    By Don Tuite, November 05, 2009

    Sponsored FAQ on selecting clock chips for optimum data converter performance

  • Chopper-Stabilized Op Amps

    Chopper-Stabilized Op Amps

    By Don Tuite, July 23, 2009

    Chopper-stabilized op amps constantly correct low-frequency errors across the inputs of the amplifier, making them attractive alternatives to conventional op amps in many industrial, medical, energy, and automotive applications.

  • Driver Amplifiers For Analog-To-Digital Converters

    Driver Amplifiers For Analog-To-Digital Converters

    By Don Tuite, March 24, 2009

    What amplifiers are used to drive analog- to-digital converters (ADCs)? Possibilities include single-ended and differential inputs and outputs, plus voltage feedback (VFB) or current feedback (CFB) in the control loop. Specialized amplif


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Design FAQs - Communications

  • Short-Range Radios Enable Wireless Everything

    Short-Range Radios Enable Wireless Everything

    By Louis E. Frenzel, September 25, 2008

    Download the full article as a .PDF, sponsored by Analog What is a short-range radio? A short-range radio or short-range device (SRD) is a highly integrated transceiver usually on a single chip that’s used to implement a wide range of

  • RF Detectors For Wireless Devices

    RF Detectors For Wireless Devices

    By Louis E. Frenzel, October 19, 2007

    What is an RF detector? An RF detector monitors or samples the output of an RF circuit and develops a dc output voltage proportional to the power at that point. What do you do with an RF detector? RF detectors are used primarily to

  • WiMAX Products And Services Roll Out

    WiMAX Products And Services Roll Out

    By Louis E. Frenzel, September 13, 2007

    What is WiMAX? WiMAX means Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access. Also known as 802.16, it is an IEEE broadband wireless standard designed for high-speed wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable TV and DSL or 3G cell-phon


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Design FAQs - Components

  • The World’s Biggest Fuzz Box? Mama Mia!!!

    By Mat Dirjish, February 17, 2012

    Back in December 2011, I gave my Godson, for his 21st birthday, my 1968 Gibson Les Paul gold-top guitar. Yes, I included the original case with its chips, scratches, and stickers from every place it travelled. My reasoning is, first, he’s my Godson, second he plays professionally (studio sessions, Broadway plays, backup bands, etc.), and third and most importantly, he ain’t gonna’ stick that axe in a glass case and go “Hey lookee what I got” – he’s gonna’ play it. Fourth, and not so important, I also have a 1962 model I’m keeping for myself; it has a lot of “tender memories” attached to it.After his jaw finally loosened enough to say “thanks”, he took it out on a number gigs and, though more than ecstatic with the instrument’s playability and range of timbres, found that there’s a sonic mismarriage between the guitar’s single-coil P90 soap-bar pickups and a few of his many modern effects pedal boards. In other words, there’s some noise and hum issues with hooking the guitar into certain effect chains, most noticeable being his multitude of distortion devices. Okay, before you offer this as a solution, I shielded the instrument’s cavities long ago. In fact, it is so well shielded that, if need be, you can stick the headstock in the ground and use the guitar as a very expensive lightening rod. And, without more than knowing eye contact, my Godson and I concur that if anyone were to so much as think about routing out this instrument for humbucking pickups they should have a date with a chainsaw, a Wendy O’Williams-approved M’Cullock BoneGrinder 90 to be exact. Installing a buffer/noise-gate combo between the guitar and pedals helps quite a bit, however it acts as an effect in itself, making the Les Paul sound like a cross between a 1975 Stratocaster and Bulgarian bagpipes, with just a lilt of a slightly-torn 10-inch, 30W Celestion orange speaker. Unfortunately, when he plays Broadway shows, space is quite limited and placing distance between the guitar and speakers i

  • Apps Replace Engineers, Possible?

    By Mat Dirjish, February 09, 2012

    It’s no big news to point out there’s an app for just about everything from how to fix your Windows 7 registry to how to safely run blindfolded with scissors in hand. And most of these instructional, and sometimes destructional, tools are either free or cost a paltry sum by today’s standards; starting at $0.99. There are what one might call applications for electronics engineers out there on the web, usually a basic design tool for a specific component or circuit and a part selector. These are  offered by semiconductor and component companies and the part selector chooses, you got it, from the company’s parts. No criticism intended, these are viable, valuable, and time-saving tools. One fine example is XP Power’s power-supply app and web interactive product selectors that promise to ease the process of choosing a power supply. Available from XP Power’s web site, users can search by component type (AC/DC or DC/DC) or by application like medical, industrial, LED lighting, military, etc. And using power rating, input voltage, output voltage, and mechanical format in the search parameters provides one with a choice of over 2,000 models in the company’s catalog. Of note, it is also possible to search for supplies specifically classified as “green power” components. When search results are final, the user selects the appropriate model number, downloads the datasheet, and/or checks if it’s in stock at the company’s authorized distributors: element14 and/or Newark. Complimenting the selector, XP Power offers a free app for use on Apple iOS or Android-based smartphones and devices. In function it is essentially the same as the web-based tool.Of course there’s a somewhat narrow yet reasonably diverse range of EE apps available on the web. Some examples include the latest version of Thomas Gruber’s Electronics Engineering ToolKit Pro, iPhone apps for electrical engineers from MEP Construction World, an Electrical Engineering Pack for Android OS, and Cool iPhone Apps for En

  • Neon Lighting Is Efficient And Turtle Friendly!?!?!?

    By Mat Dirjish, January 30, 2012

    Just when you were sick and weary of solid-state lighting versus incandescent versus CCFL and you just want to turn on a light, any old light, just to find your way to the bathroom, another contender enters the alternative lighting arena: NEON. That’s right, you read right, neon. But it’s really not for you folks, it’s for, now get this, turtles.Just last month, Florida based TBSS International, Inc. bought Velella International Lighting Inc. and now owns that company’s patents, inventory, and molds for what it deems a highly efficient and environmentally-friendly neon lighting system. Dubbed Velella Lighting Systems, these neon components were not created for the windows of bars and pubs or the marquis of movie theaters and other playhouses. They were made for the benefit of nesting sea turtles. For those of you, myself included, who are not sea-turtle savvy, these creatures normally nest in the darkness of night. They do this to protect themselves from overheating and predators. Essentially, it’s a survival instinct and if anyone has the right to nest in the dark it would be the sea turtles. I would just pull my head into my shell for a bit of darkness, but what do I know.So in a place like Florida with miles of beachfront, you end up with turtles all over the place at night. And as a result of the never-ending heap of laws, mandates, rules, regulations, and other well-meaning harassments, beach resorts and waterfront homes are prohibited from using flood lights, which would impede nesting. So in essence, if you are a beachfront-home owner, you won’t be able to see home invaders but your sea turtles will be safe in the dark. In response to this dire situation, the TBSS company believes that the market for turtle-compliant lighting on beachfront properties, marinas, hotels, and residences will be humongous. Enter the neon-based Velella Lighting System.TBSS is launching a pilot program to see how effectively its energy-efficient neon lighting system performs. The s


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Design FAQs - Digital

  • FPGA Improves Basestation Design

    FPGA Improves Basestation Design

    By Louis E. Frenzel, November 25, 2008

    What are some of the challenges facing basestation designers today? The five biggest are the numerous wireless standards that must be accommodated, increased and complex frequency assignments, increased operating efficiency, capital

  • Digital Potentiometers

    Digital Potentiometers

    By Don Tuite, July 24, 2008

    Download the full article as a .PDF, sponsored by Analog What are digital potentiometers, and how are they used? Digital potentiometers are integrated circuits that implement a resistive ladder and a digital means of addressing a parti

  • Reducing FPGA Power Consumption

    Reducing FPGA Power Consumption

    By Daniel Harris, February 13, 2008

    Why do FPGAs consume so much power? Historically, FPGAs have had a more passive “glue logic” role hardly worth mentioning in the overall power budget. But now they have taken over most of the system control, and today’s FPGAs can be a syst


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Design FAQs - Electronic Design Automation

  • PC-Board Design

    PC-Board Design

    By David Maliniak, January 13, 2005

    How do I combine Spice, IBIS, S-parameter, package, and pc-board models? With many board designs incorporating multigigahertz interconnect speeds, vendors often supply encrypted transistor-level Spice models rather than IBIS models. Designers must wo


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Design FAQs - Embedded Hardware/Software

  • FPGA Improves Basestation Design

    FPGA Improves Basestation Design

    By Louis E. Frenzel, November 25, 2008

    What are some of the challenges facing basestation designers today? The five biggest are the numerous wireless standards that must be accommodated, increased and complex frequency assignments, increased operating efficiency, capital

  • Digital Potentiometers

    Digital Potentiometers

    By Don Tuite, July 24, 2008

    Download the full article as a .PDF, sponsored by Analog What are digital potentiometers, and how are they used? Digital potentiometers are integrated circuits that implement a resistive ladder and a digital means of addressing a parti

  • Offloading CPU Boosts Microcontroller Performance And Cuts Power

    Offloading CPU Boosts Microcontroller Performance And Cuts Power

    By William Wong, April 10, 2008

    Download the full article as a .PDF, sponsored by Atmel Why should designers offload a microcontroller’s CPU? Performance and power consumption are the typical reasons for adding offload capability to a microcontroller. Traditionally, any


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Design FAQs - Power

  • Apps Replace Engineers, Possible?

    By Mat Dirjish, February 09, 2012

    It’s no big news to point out there’s an app for just about everything from how to fix your Windows 7 registry to how to safely run blindfolded with scissors in hand. And most of these instructional, and sometimes destructional, tools are either free or cost a paltry sum by today’s standards; starting at $0.99. There are what one might call applications for electronics engineers out there on the web, usually a basic design tool for a specific component or circuit and a part selector. These are  offered by semiconductor and component companies and the part selector chooses, you got it, from the company’s parts. No criticism intended, these are viable, valuable, and time-saving tools. One fine example is XP Power’s power-supply app and web interactive product selectors that promise to ease the process of choosing a power supply. Available from XP Power’s web site, users can search by component type (AC/DC or DC/DC) or by application like medical, industrial, LED lighting, military, etc. And using power rating, input voltage, output voltage, and mechanical format in the search parameters provides one with a choice of over 2,000 models in the company’s catalog. Of note, it is also possible to search for supplies specifically classified as “green power” components. When search results are final, the user selects the appropriate model number, downloads the datasheet, and/or checks if it’s in stock at the company’s authorized distributors: element14 and/or Newark. Complimenting the selector, XP Power offers a free app for use on Apple iOS or Android-based smartphones and devices. In function it is essentially the same as the web-based tool.Of course there’s a somewhat narrow yet reasonably diverse range of EE apps available on the web. Some examples include the latest version of Thomas Gruber’s Electronics Engineering ToolKit Pro, iPhone apps for electrical engineers from MEP Construction World, an Electrical Engineering Pack for Android OS, and Cool iPhone Apps for En

  • APEC 2012 Update: 2/9/12

    By Don Tuite, February 09, 2012

    Video'ed an interview with the last of the GaN FET spokespersons this morning Michael Briere speaking for International Rectifier. Video should be up some time Thursday. Alex Lidow, Carl Blake, and Michael have been the visible face of GaN for several years. In different ways, they all say the same thing: lower voltages are here, higher (600-V) breakdown parts are out there, but they're still just being evaluated by early-adopter companies. Meanwhile, CREE continues to pursue Silicon Carbide (SiC), with its 1200-V Z-FET SiC MOSFETS and IGBTs. At the show, CREE had a brochure (not up on their site as of tonight) with some interesting performance curves comparing efficiency versus load and leakage current versus temperature for two of their parts versus equivalent Si MOSFETs and IGBTs. The CREE parts are the CMF20120D and the CMF10120, rated at 1200 V Vds. The "20" part has an Rdson of 80 mOhms and a maximum current capacity of 33 A. For the "10" part, those specs are 160 mOhms and 24 A. Later, Curtis and I stopped at Vicor, where we talked about active EMI filters, Programmable hot-swap controllers, and a small point-of-load in the same packaging that Vicor uses for its V-I chips. That video should be up Thursday. Moderating a Webinar on future directions for Lithium-Ion batteries, presented by Micro Power, took a bite out of my afternoon. That should be viewable via the Electronic Design site on Thursday, too. I Wrapped up the day sipping a few beers with Jay Cormier from Maxim. (Jay came with the Teridian acquisition.) We talked a little about metering in the household smart-meter sense, and a lot about metering in the industrial context. I wrapped up the day with Akros Silicon. I used to talk to Akros about Power over Ethernet, but the company has morphed in the direction of Energy Management, which is not quite the same as Power Management. Look for an article explaining why the difference is important in a future issue of the magazine.

  • APEC 2012 Update: 2/8/12

    By Don Tuite, February 08, 2012

    Spent much of the day on the show floor, but started off with an outdoor briefing from Mark Cieri of Enperion, the Lucent spinoff with the tiny, fast-switching dc-dc modules that incorporate the magnetics in the package. We talked about the growing demand for point of load regulation for DDR, something that I hadn't thought about. The dominant technology today is still LDOs, but for new blade designs, once you've maximized efficiency in powering the processors, memory is the next obvious target. Curtis and I did a short video of the interview, and it will probably be up by the time this blog entry is posted. Speaking of videos, there is a neat vid that we shot at the Intersil booth, where you can watch a self-calibrating point-of-load calibrate itself. Well, you can watch the process in the time domain on a screen. The point of self-compensation is that in manufacturing, every board is just a little different, and one size doesn't fit all. The point of being able to watch it happen on a GUI is that while you're setting up the production line, you can watch verify what's going on inside the package: http://www.engineeringtv.com/video/Intersils-Digital-DCDC-Synchron I also got a video interview with Carl Blake at the Transphorm booth. The company's not exactly announcing pricing. Carl explains what the process of engaging with Transphorm is. There's also a demo on the video. http://www.engineeringtv.com/playlist/APEC-2012 I had a briefing with TI that is not on video. Got some advanced information and an explanation of how TI's new driver for GaN FETs works. There are some particular requirements for turning GaN FETs on and off. That's something I'll be writing about in Electronic Design in print and on-line. After checking out the tradeshow, the news is that there is not some new power paradigm stalking the aisles. On the other hand, this is a very well attended show, at a venue that it is not cheap to send employees to. I'm taking that as a


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Design FAQs - Test & Measurement

  • Automated Test Summit 2008

    Automated Test Summit 2008

    By Louis E. Frenzel, August 14, 2008

    What is the Automated Test Summit? The Automated Test Summit is an annual virtual industry event for test and design engineers hosted by National Instruments. It includes a virtual trade show floor with exhibits, interactive Q&A, live

  • RF Detectors For Wireless Devices

    RF Detectors For Wireless Devices

    By Louis E. Frenzel, October 19, 2007

    What is an RF detector? An RF detector monitors or samples the output of an RF circuit and develops a dc output voltage proportional to the power at that point. What do you do with an RF detector? RF detectors are used primarily to

  • LAN eXtensions For Instrumentation (LXI)

    LAN eXtensions For Instrumentation (LXI)

    By Roger Allan, March 16, 2006

    What is LXI? LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI) is the architecture for test systems. It's based on proven, widely used standards such as Ethernet. What are these widely used standards? Ethernet standards include Transmission Control Protocol/


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