Tech Articles

LeCroy Corporation’s popular WaveAceTM oscilloscope line now includes 4 channel models from 60 to 300MHz and adds a new 2 channel, 40MHz unit. The 4 channel scope provides 10kpts/ch memory and up to 2GS/s sample rate; the 40 MHz version provides 4kpts/ch and a sample rate of up to 500MS/s. All models offer long memory, colour displays, extensive measurement capabilities, and advanced triggering to improve troubleshooting and shorten debug time. With USB host and device ports, plus a LAN connection, the WaveAce oscilloscopes easily connect to a memory stick, PC or printer for saving data or remote control. Combined with the streamlined, time-saving user interface, these features make the WaveAce oscilloscopes the ideal tools for affordable design, debug and troubleshooting from 40 to 300MHz.

HARTING MicroTCA(TM) connectors are extremely robust and therefore suitable for use in rugged environmental conditions. In these applications, connectors have to guarantee secure connections despite being subjected to shocks, impacts and vibrations. HARTING uses con:card+ and plug connectors also for telecommunications and other applications.

No comment on the lessons of 2009 could avoid discussing the downturn and the way businesses have dealt with it. Many of us are experienced enough now to have worked through a number of these cycles, and have seen the ways in which businesses adapt to survive and grow. Each recession forces leaders to find smarter ways of operating, and the improvements found typically enable the business to operate better especially after the recession has passed.

Careful precautions must be taken to ensure that transient surges do not destroy sensitive CMOS circuitry. Typically, designers must harden circuitry against transient surges that range from sub nanosecond ESD pulses to slow speed, higher power transients such as automotive alternator load dump or power line transients. Multilayer Varistors (MLVs) are an effective solution to suppress transient voltages, offering electrical and physical advantages over other means of transient protection – such as zener diodes. Devices are available in a wide range of voltages - from 3.3 to 385V. Energy ratings vary by case size but typically range from ESD-only protection levels (50mJ) to load dump values up to 50J.

With a rapidly aging population, the home health care equipment is set to become a high growth market. Climbing costs in health care will further add to the increased demand for home health care in ways to monitor health in the home where total spending on health care will rise significantly over the next 10 years! Increases in age and health spending is expected to help push spending on semiconductors used in the portable health care market to grow from $171 million in 2005 to $250 million by year 2013. Such products will be needed to monitor health in the home, such as tracking blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, and blood glucose levels for self-diagnostics and treatment.

After one of the toughest years that any of us can remember, most suppliers and distributors have weathered the storm, but none have been immune to its effects. With confidence at a low ebb, there has been remarkably little consolidation. The acquisition of Abacus by Avnet stands as the most significant event in distribution. There is no evidence that the structure of the supply chain has changed, but all have streamlined their businesses. As a result the approach we will see in future is likely to be different.

All notebook Commercial-grade computers are relatively inexpensive, but high failure rates when used outside the office can undermine the business case for mobile working; one of the most powerful trends affecting modern organisations. For a higher initial purchase price, a rugged handheld, tablet or notebook computer can offer a higher return on investment.

The home is generally considered a benign environment for electronic systems, but the kitchen is an area of the domestic scene that can be particularly challenging. Cooking not only involves heating, but often releases steam and condensing water vapor. A power supply for the electronic controls in a cook-top must perform reliably at an ambient temperature of up to 105°C and under high-humidity conditions. In addition to meeting international standards for EMI and safety, the power supply must contribute to increasingly tough energy-saving goals.

This article will explain some Real Time Operating Systems (RTOS) basics. The material presented here is not intended as a complete coverage of different RTOS and their features. For the purposes of simplification, I will briefly cover the most important features of a representative RTOS. After we explore what constitutes an RTOS and why we might want to use one, I’ll explain each of the basic components of a typical RTOS and show how these building blocks are integrated into the system.

MEMS release processing has historically been performed using wet chemistry. However, just as CMOS technology evolved from wet chemistry to dry etching, MEMS technology must also now adopt dry etch processing in order to become the ubiquitous technology it promises to be.

Power supply design is advancing rapidly. Growing environmental and economic pressure has spurred manufacturers to rapid innovation. As a result, the efficiency bar has been raised from 75-80% a decade or so back to 90-94% today. New concepts like digital power promise further improvements on even this very high level of efficiency. The days are gone when a non-specialist engineer can get away with a ‘good enough’ power supply developed as an afterthought, often by reusing the design from a previous generation of product. Only designers who live and breathe the technology have the time and expertise to build an optimised solution that delivers the required performance.

Switching power supplies (SMPS) are commonly found in many electronic systems. Important SMPS requirements are a stable output voltage with load current, good temperature stability, low ripple voltage and high overall efficiency. If the electronic system in question is to be portable, small size and light weight are also important considerations. One key component in switching power systems is the capacitor – used to store the charge and for smoothing - and therefore their careful selection plays a vital role in determining the overall parameters of the power supply. Different capacitor technologies – tantalum, ceramic (MLCC), niobium oxide (NbO) and aluminium - are suitable to meet different electrical requirements.

Demands on power inductors for today's products include lower profile and better energy efficiency (lower DC resistance). In this article, Tadashi Tanaka describes recent technology improvements made by Murata in response to these demands.

There are applications in industries such as drilling for oil, aerospace and automotive, that require components to work continuously at temperatures above 200degC. Solid tantalum capacitors are well-known for their excellent reliability, robustness and stable parameters. Also they have been available for 125degC continuous operaton since commercial capacitors were first developed, with 150degC surface mount devices introduced in 1998 followed by 175degC products in 2003. Therefore they are an obvious choice for even higher temperature use. This article discusses the move to 200degC operation.

If Napoleon’s armies marched on their stomachs, 21st century infantry marches on batteries. No less than 30% of the 70kg kit carried by today’s soldiers can be power related, and a platoon can be burdened with 25-40kgs of communications equipment. There is high level realisation that the benefits of new communications standards need to be realised while reducing, rather than adding to this burden. Western armed forces are giving focus to the power density of their systems, defined as watt hours per kilogram.

The Batteries Directive places the burden of taking back and recycling batteries on the shoulders of the ‘producer’ which is defined as the first person in the supply chain that physically receives and takes ownership of the product in the UK. Most of the battery product in the UK is imported and first received by either a battery distributor or a direct account of the battery manufacturer and both are now defined as a ‘producer’ under the new regulations.

The retail industry is renowned for its use of technology that streamlines its operations, and at the same time provides greater understanding of, and intimacy with, its customers. Cutting edge logistics systems deliver exactly the right products when and where customers demand them, with clockwork efficiency. On the other side of the coin, retail systems must build deep insight into consumers who make decisions subjectively and often emotionally.

Today’s technologies and ever-greater consumer expectation levels result in high-end mobile handsets that contain an arsenal of computing power. To minimize development risk, time-to-market demands, and cost pressures, handset designers are driven to employ proven platforms for the major elements of their designs. As a result, semiconductor vendors offer application processor platforms that include ICs, software stacks, reference designs, and design tools to produce complete but proprietary ecosystems. These different environments require intelligent power management for as many as thirty or more individual power domains, posing product designers a complex set of requirements that ideally require a uniform solution.

Distribution catalogues and websites have their uses but are a dangerous basis for design. A catalogue is published (or posted online) to sell the stock that is in the warehouse today – it does not provide any form of guidance on what might be available tomorrow.

The new ‘smart grid’ concept is rapidly gaining favor with electricity suppliers worldwide. Faced with a growing need to utilize infrastructure more efficiently while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, utilities are using the smart grid to intelligently control and monitor the distribution and consumption of electricity. Suppliers expect this implementation to result in a dramatic savings in energy consumption and more efficient use of generating capacity.