Digital power lures system architects, power-supply vendors By Margery Conner, Technical Editor
Digital power promises to lower overall system-power costs by improving maintenance costs and reliability, lowering power-component costs, and simplifying BOMs. To achieve these goals, designers must add smarts to the traditionally dumb power subsystem. Digital-power-control and -management ICs offer help.
Design Features
Displays invade embedded-system space By Warren Webb, Technical Editor
Full-color graphics displays in high-volume consumer products, such as mobile phones and music players, have captured the attention of the public and set new standards for embedded-device design.
Maintain thermal stability for power-MOS devices By Stephen Meek, On Semiconductor
Power MOSFETs can experience destructive thermal effects at relatively low drain voltages and currents that are well within traditional, safe boundaries. However, designers can use basic Spice-model parameters to prevent thermal instability in these devices.
Don't pay for level translators in systems using multiple power-supply voltages By Gaurang Kavaiya, Microchip Technology
Because lower-power-supply-voltage versions of ICs become available at different times, many of today's systems must use several voltages. Even so, you can often avoid the expense of level translators.
