EDN - January 19, 2012

Analog-circuit-design engineers overcome new challenges with advanced tools and ICs.

• Departments and Columns
• Bakers Best
• Designing with temperature sensors, part five: IC temperature sensors
• Mechatronics In Design
• Theory and practice
• Prying Eyes
• Vizio VTAB1008 tablet: symbiosis of man and machine
• Tales From The Cube
• The silence of the circuit
• edn.comment
• CES is over; it's time to start designing

• Design Ideas
• Wireless temperature monitor has data-logging capabilities
• Make an asynchronous clock for VPX-based PCIe systems
• Use a photoelectric-FET optocoupler as a linear voltage-controlled potentiometer
• Simple circuit tests twisted-pair cables

• Features
• Design Feature
• Noise wars: Projected capacitance strikes back against internal noise
• Use a switching regulator to power a high-speed ADC

• Pulse
• BLDC-fan motor driver employs sensorless sinusoidal architecture
• SLI eliminates the need for touch in MEMS applications
• Tiny dc/dc-power modules target rugged industrial and avionics environments
• Small MEMS modules boost consumer-device sensitivity
• Differential op amp tackles common-mode voltage as high as ±275V
• Microcontrollers target smart metering
• CAN transceiver isolates signals to 5 kV rms, handles temperatures to 125°C
• Raspberry Pi foundation readies $25 PC for launch
• Intel rolls 32-nm Atom, preps 22-nm Ivy Bridge
• Voices
• Mark Mitchell: An early interest in computers leads to lifelong ambition