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Power Management

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Steve Taranovich
Editor
In-depth technical information, product advancements, and industry news for engineers responsible for designing, specifying, or selecting power sources for electronics applications. Topics include power supplies, power management and regulation components, batteries, digital power, and alternative energy technology.
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DC/DC converter family for space constrained designs

Addressing the issue of space, the answer, in theory, is simple: increase efficiency while, at the same time, increasing switching frequency. In practice for 12V systems, this is a very difficult problem to solve as higher efficiency and higher switching frequency can be considered mutually exclusive. Read More...

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How are you measuring that power consumption?

Everyone talks about power consumption, but measuring it can be a challenge. Read More...

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Ideal diode bridge controller efficiently powers MOSFETs

Linear Technology Corporation is claiming a major breakthrough with the introduction of the LT4320, an ideal diode bridge controller for 9V to 72V systems that replaces each of the four diodes in a full-wave bridge rectifier with a low loss N-channel MOSFET to significantly reduce the power dissipation and increase available voltage. Read More...

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Power Forward

CUI's advanced power specialist, Mark Adams presents forward looking thoughts on today's cutting edge power technologies from across the industry. Read More...

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Chipheads unite: DesignCon 2014 calls for papers

If you are ready to share your expertise with the chip, board & systems design community, then it’s time to submit your proposals for the DesignCon 2014 Technical Program. Read More...

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Verification and qualification considerations for digital power modules

Digitally-controlled power supplies introduce elements that can be unfamiliar to many power-system designers, threatening to complicate the qualification and verification processes that assure end-product quality. Yet analysis shows that the change from analog to digital inner-loop control is a well-proven evolution that provides rock-solid foundations for today’s Quality Assurance processes. Read More...

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Why bypass caps make a difference - Part 5: Supply impedance and op amp interaction

Part 5 of this series on power-supply decoupling and bypass capacitors examines the interaction between supply impedance resonances and the high-frequency behaviour of an amplifier. Read More...

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Slideshow: The top 5 fastest supercomputers and their power management challenges

It’s tough to keep up with who has the fastest supercomputer nowadays. The Fujitsu K was the fastest in late 2011 but as of November 2012 Cray’s Titan took the top spot. More speed means more power demanded from the power supply, not to mention redundancy back-up power, and the need to deal with all the heat dissipation from such a beast. Read More...

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Misconception revealed: Can a heat sink be too big?

I was certain a substantial heat sink similar to this one would solve our thermal problem, but my colleague disagreed for reasons which surprised me. Read More...

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Optoisolation for intelligent power modules

For many years, insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) have combined the advantages of bipolar transistors with the ease of control of MOSFETs. Read More...

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What's your battery shelf-life experience?

I found some alkaline batteries which worked fine 10 years after their "best use by" date, and I was definitely impressed. Read More...

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Why bypass caps make a difference - Part 4: Op amp macromodels: A cautionary tale

Part 4 of this series on power-supply decoupling and bypass capacitors offers a cautionary tale on using op amp macromodels - what you see in your simulation is definitely not always what you get. Read More...

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Some thoughts on DC/DC converters, part five

The following is Chapter 4, part five of a five part series "Some thoughts on DC/DC converters" by the late Jim Williams and Brian Huffman from Linear Technology's Volume II book entitled, "Analog Circuit Design-- Immersion in the Black Art of analog design" by Bob Dobkin and the late-Jim Williams published by Elsevier/Newnes. Read More...

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Power control, cheap and good

What you can get in a power controller for $20 (retail) is pretty impressive, as a look at a basic heating pad shows. Read More...

>> SEE ALL
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Recover the leakage energy of a flyback transformer

This design can recover the leakage energy of a flyback transformer and minimize over-voltage stress to the switching device. Read More...

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Gate-drive transformer eases multi-output, isolated dc/dc-converter designs

Use this small transformer to produce four isolated outputs of about 1W each. Read More...

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Three-channel white-LED driver uses simple step-down dc/dc converter

Drive multiple LEDs with current mirrors from a single step-down converter. Read More...

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Inverting level-shift circuit has negative potential

Shift clock logic levels to match the requirements of the driven device. Read More...

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Use a transistor and an ammeter to measure inductance

Bipolar junction transistors transfer a current from a lower-resistance emitter to a higher-resistance collector. You can use this property to measure inductance. Read More...

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Use an op amp as a set/reset flip-flop

Eliminate a flip-flop package by using a spare op amp for an SR latch function. Read More...

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Perform the XOR/XNOR function with a diode bridge and a transistor

Remember DTL? These discrete DTL-like circuits let you implement the XOR and XNOR operations with a minimum of components. Read More...

Dual regulator handles two input voltages

Use a pair of MOSFETs to switch between 3.3 and 5V regulated voltage. Read More...

Use a boost regulator beyond its rated voltage

Use an external FET in a common-gate cascode configuration. Read More...

A few added components make a self-contained controller for 100A load

Add a few components and you have a stand-alone piece of test gear. Read More...

>> SEE ALL
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Active surge protection filter module for 28v military applications

Here is a part of ultra-reliable, mission critical power systems that is often understated, but is nonetheless a key component to a robust design----the surge protection filter. Read More...

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Convection-cooled power supply at 250W by TDK

TDK Corporation announced the CUS250LD series low profile AC-DC power supplies. These single-output supplies provide 250-watts of output power with convection cooling (no fans required). Read More...

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Ideal diode bridge controller efficiently powers MOSFETs

Linear Technology Corporation is claiming a major breakthrough with the introduction of the LT4320, an ideal diode bridge controller for 9V to 72V systems that replaces each of the four diodes in a full-wave bridge rectifier with a low loss N-channel MOSFET to significantly reduce the power dissipation and increase available voltage. Read More...

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Industry's first all SiC three-phase power module offers lower cost power conversion

Cree, Inc. has introduced the industry’s first commercially available silicon carbide (SiC) six-pack power module in an industry standard 45 mm package. Read More...

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100mA Synchronous Buck with 150V Input , 12µA Iq

Here is a pretty nice little synchronous switching buck converter that Linear Technology announced. The LTC3639, a 150V input-capable device that delivers up to 100mA of continuous output current. Read More...

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PMIC from ams reduces thermal stress on processors in phones and tablets

ams AG introduced the AS3721, a power management IC (PMIC) with a remote-feedback circuit that helps reduce the thermal stress of applications processors in smartphones and tablets. The interesting news is that it is essentially an analog-based PMIC with digital assistance. Read More...

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Analog Devices 5-Channel Integrated Power Solution

Femtocell infrastructure power is a prime area in telecom for this integrated power solution. The ADP5050 combines four high performance buck regulators and one 200 mA low dropout (LDO) regulator in a 48-lead LFCSP package. Read More...

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CUI’s next generation 500 mA DC switching regulator series

CUI Inc implemented improvements in its non-isolated switching regulator series with the 2nd generation that is rated at 500 mA. Read More...

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Touchstone Semiconductor TS3300 ultra low-power, load independent, high-efficiency boost

A switching regulator coupled with an LDO in the same package is a very versatile component. Touchstone has enhanced such a function with the capability to use supply voltages down to 0.6V while still being able to deliver a 75 mA output current. Read More...

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LED power supply features programmable LED dimming

A compact, high-efficiency DC/DC converter for hand-held LED devices by Bear Power Supplies incorporates a microprocessor for programming LED dimming. Read More...

>> SEE ALL
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Teardown: Cell-phone charger: nice idea done right

The Mophie juice pack powerstation mini smartphone and USB-device battery charger demonstrates the ability to provide more than twice the battery life to your smartphone while still keeping a low-profile shape that slips right into your pocket. Read More...

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Teardown: Samsung Galaxy S4

TechInsights examines the innards of Samsung's latest and greatest smartphone. Read More...

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Cell-phone charger: nice idea, bad implementation

Now and again you come across a device that’s so simple, useful, and functional that you’re glad to add it to your already-overladen workbag; that is, until it breaks, for the dumbest of design reasons. Read More...

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Teardown: The power inverter - from sunlight to power grid

This teardown of a solar inverter card traces the path of harvested DC power from the photovoltaic panel, through boost conversion, power inverter and massive filtering of the created AC power signal required by the power grid. Surrounded by monitoring and microcontroller magic along with safety standard adherence, we uncover the mysteries of solar energy harvesting electronics. Read More...

Evaluate your application's energy-harvesting vibrational profile with a Slam Stick

To know whether your application is suitable for vibrational energy harvesting, you must determine its vibrational profile. Mide Technology's Slam Stick data logger and open-source software can ease your profiling task. Read More...

What's inside a smart meter? iFixit tears it down

When iFixit's Kyle Wiens had the opportunity to tear down an Elster smart meter, he jumped at it—not to come up with a repair manual but to evaluate the health and safety issues that seem to surround the utilities’ installation of smart meters. Read More...

Simple battery technology packs in more features with complex chemistries

The basic components are the same across all rechargeable lithium-ion cells, the workhorses of portable energy storage. Read More...

Way, way off the grid: Powering the Phoenix Mars lander

Prying Eyes: An inside look at the power-generation, -regulation, and -delivery system for the Phoenix Mars lander. Read More...

Microfuel cell enables ubiquitous computing

Prying Eyes examines a fuel-cell-based power pack for handheld devices, such as cell phones and MP3 players. Read More...

Hybrids mark the end of the stinky city bus

Prying Eyes looks inside a hybrid gas-electric bus powered by 288 ultracapacitors. Read More...

>> SEE ALL
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DC/DC converter family for space constrained designs

Addressing the issue of space, the answer, in theory, is simple: increase efficiency while, at the same time, increasing switching frequency. In practice for 12V systems, this is a very difficult problem to solve as higher efficiency and higher switching frequency can be considered mutually exclusive. Read More...

image

Verification and qualification considerations for digital power modules

Digitally-controlled power supplies introduce elements that can be unfamiliar to many power-system designers, threatening to complicate the qualification and verification processes that assure end-product quality. Yet analysis shows that the change from analog to digital inner-loop control is a well-proven evolution that provides rock-solid foundations for today’s Quality Assurance processes. Read More...

image

Why bypass caps make a difference - Part 5: Supply impedance and op amp interaction

Part 5 of this series on power-supply decoupling and bypass capacitors examines the interaction between supply impedance resonances and the high-frequency behaviour of an amplifier. Read More...

image

Slideshow: The top 5 fastest supercomputers and their power management challenges

It’s tough to keep up with who has the fastest supercomputer nowadays. The Fujitsu K was the fastest in late 2011 but as of November 2012 Cray’s Titan took the top spot. More speed means more power demanded from the power supply, not to mention redundancy back-up power, and the need to deal with all the heat dissipation from such a beast. Read More...

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A middleware link to an energy harvesting wireless world

Middleware that transforms telegrams into ready-to-use data and eases the integration of energy harvesting wireless technology into a wide range of applications and networks is now a reality. The result—deeply connected systems. Read More...

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How a standard is born: IEEE P1901.2 for narrowband OFDM PLC

This article gives a brief history of how the IEEE Communications Society sponsored the IEEE P1901.21 work group and developed a complete narrowband powerline communication standard. The article summaries the structure of an LF NB OFDM PLC spec and provides specific real-life test data. Read More...

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Sub-microsecond interconnects for processor connectivity—The opportunity

This article focuses, not on the raw bandwidths of the interconnect technologies, but rather on the inherent protocol capabilities, supported topologies and latency design targets for each of these interconnects. Read More...

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Optoisolation for intelligent power modules

For many years, insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) have combined the advantages of bipolar transistors with the ease of control of MOSFETs. Read More...

image

Why bypass caps make a difference - Part 4: Op amp macromodels: A cautionary tale

Part 4 of this series on power-supply decoupling and bypass capacitors offers a cautionary tale on using op amp macromodels - what you see in your simulation is definitely not always what you get. Read More...

image

Some thoughts on DC/DC converters, part five

The following is Chapter 4, part five of a five part series "Some thoughts on DC/DC converters" by the late Jim Williams and Brian Huffman from Linear Technology's Volume II book entitled, "Analog Circuit Design-- Immersion in the Black Art of analog design" by Bob Dobkin and the late-Jim Williams published by Elsevier/Newnes. Read More...

>> SEE ALL
ASK & ANSWER

Use AVR MCU to design battery fuel gauge

How to design a battery monitor or battery indicator All kinds of rechargeable batteries are more and more popular in our life. Eve Read more...

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Should embedded batteries be replacable at the...
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Lowest Power MCU discussion
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Momentis EMS Product?
12.20.2012

Regulate a 0 to 500V, 10-mA power supply in a different way

Optically bridge a high-voltage barrier to set the output of a voltage regulator. Read more...

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05.08.2013
Connect a 4×3 matrix keyboard to a microcontroller ...
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12.20.2012
Regulate a 0 to 500V, 10-mA power supply in a...
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