Investment in voltage references pays big
system dividends
Unglamorous yet critical components, voltage references are increasingly showing up in
high-volume applications. By choosing the right reference IC and applying it with care,
you'll achieve superior system performance.
--Bill Schweber, Technical Editor
Debugging embedded systems: Using hardware
tricks to trace program flow
If your embedded system is too small to provide even a trace buffer or a serial port
as debugging aids, you can use a variety of hardware tricks to observe your program's
activity.
--Stuart R Ball
Critical-mode control stabilizes switch-mode
power supplies
Discontinuous-conduction-mode operation eases switch-mode power-supply design and
allows for better response to step-load changes. Operating at the critical-conduction
point--beginning a new cycle at the exact point the inductor current falls to
zero--ensures that the converter stays in discontinuous-conduction mode.
--Christophe Basso, Motorola Semiconductor
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