TI E2E Community

Blog Post: How to determine the power at output of modulator from DAC back-off level

Habeeb Ur Rahman Mohammed

Customers often ask how they can determine the power at the output of modulator from digital analog converter (DAC) back-off level. Sometimes this can be confusing as modulator gain is specified in terms of voltage gain, but the answer is very straight forward and we’ll discuss it in this post...

on Jun 19, 2013
Blog Post: Engineering the world through Analog

Hagop Kozanian

Our lives are surrounded by analog everywhere we go. That’s not news to the Analog Wire audience, but it may surprise some that in this age of digital electronics, analog technology is more pervasive and impactful than ever. In everything from power tools to a runner’s heart-rate monitor...

on Jun 7, 2013
Blog Post: Addressing those pesky European power consumption rulings

Dafydd Roche

This January, the European Commission implemented legislation to limit the power consumption in line-powered products when they are deemed in "standby" and "Off" mode. Traditionally, home audio products were guilty of wasting a lot of power. My teen years were spent hearing my...

on May 3, 2013
Blog Post: DAC Essentials: String theory

Kevin Duke

No, I'm not actually going to talk about particle physics today - though that would be cool...instead we'll be discussing the theory of the string DAC architecture. String theory! The string DAC, sometimes referred to as the Kelvin divider or Kelvin-Varley divider after its inventors, is one...

on May 1, 2013
Blog Post: Current feedback amplifier...how do I make it work for me?

Xavier Ramus

Current feedback (CFB) amplifiers mostly belong in the realm of high speed amplifiers . There are lot of good application notes developed over the years that describe the operation and the main issues encountered when applying current feedback amplifiers to a problem. Here we’ll try to summarize...

on Apr 26, 2013
Blog Post: Turn up the heat

Mont Taylor

More and more electronics are needed for very harsh environments, which then results in the need for multiple electronic components. For instance, oil and gas drilling, where temperatures reach up to 200°C require complete solutions for intelligent down hole tools to find and recover resources for...

on Apr 24, 2013
Blog Post: Supercapacitors to the rescue

AmyLe

Monitoring the charging current of a supercapacitor application is very important. Without a precision current limiter, the charging current can overshoot when the voltage of the supercapacitor charges quickly, thus damaging the system. To prevent this, try this method to precisely limit the charging...

on Apr 8, 2013
Blog Post: Analog basics: Beginner knowledge and veteran refresher

Pete Semig

As a former college instructor who regularly lulled his students to sleep with a traditional lecture format, I’m excited to announce that TI is offering a “Hands-On Analog Basics” workshop at Design West 2013 (April 22-25 in San Jose, Calif.) with our very own amplifier expert, Art...

on Apr 8, 2013
Blog Post: How to improve the startup and stop behavior of ERM and LRA actuators

Brian Burk

Eccentric rotating mass motors (ERM) and linear resonant actuators (LRA) are commonly used in smartphone and tablet applications to provide tactile feedback through haptic effects . While there are many characteristics to consider when designing for haptic feel, one of the most noticeable traits to users...

on Apr 2, 2013
Blog Post: Reducing amplifier power consumption for SAR ADC drivers

Xavier Ramus

As power consumption in SAR ADCs gets smaller with every new device generation, the limitation in power sensitive applications becomes the amplifier. So how do we reduce power consumption further? Before looking at possible solutions, let’s consider the reason behind the reduction in power consumption...

on Mar 29, 2013
Blog Post: Versatile tools to simplify your designs

Hooman Hashemi

In a world where electronics are moving to lower supply voltages, it is comforting to know there are still components around that can tolerate higher supply voltages specifically when it comes to operational amplifiers (op amps). Op amps are essential building blocks and the option to select a high...

on Mar 26, 2013
Blog Post: The ADS1247: Boosting performance for a cycling power meter

Victoria Smithee

Here at Analog Wire, we want to bring you some of the most useful resources and advice to apply to your next design. Whether engineers by profession or hobbyists, we all love hearing about new projects, conquered challenges or shared frustrations. That’s why we thought you might enjoy this peak...

on Mar 6, 2013
Blog Post: Introduction to the programmable differential amplifier

Victoria Smithee

Facing more complex systems and shorter design cycles than ever, designers need high performance components that are also flexible. Finding products that provide the best of both has always been a challenge. But, TI recently introduced the industry’s first programmable differential amplifier (PDA...

on Mar 5, 2013
Blog Post: Do I integrate the synthesizer, or keep it waaaaaaaaay over there?

Pete Hanish

"What blocks can you integrate? If you cannot integrate a block, explain why." This is a common customer question. Integration generally makes system design easier all around. Less cost, less board space, and lower power. All good qualities! But in the analog world, integration offers a...

on Mar 1, 2013
Blog Post: Understanding ripples in RF performance measurements

Victoria Smithee

Ripples during RF device characterization can cause measurement errors in performance parameters, like gain, output power and return loss. The good news is this can be prevented if designers take certain measures when designing systems at RF and microwave frequencies. The measurement set-up must be...

on Feb 19, 2013
Blog Post: High-gain, high-bandwidth....putting it all together

Xavier Ramus

Over the last couple weeks we’ve covered how to achieve high-gain and high-bandwidth simultaneously as well as the implementation and what can go wrong. Here we will review how to put it all together. As simulations are only proof of concepts and should be considered with caution, I decided...

on Feb 18, 2013
Blog Post: Engineer it: How to avoid electrical overstress of analog integrated circuits

Victoria Smithee

Have you had a chance to check out any videos from Engineer It ? We launched this series in 2012 as one more way to deliver in-depth advice on designs―directly from our experts. Scroll through the list on ti.com/engineerit to see what topics could be most helpful to you. We have everything from suggestions...

on Feb 5, 2013
Blog Post: High-gain, high-bandwidth…why is this circuit oscillating?

Xavier Ramus

Last week we looked at achieving both high gain and wide bandwidth while maintaining sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in “high-gain, high-bandwidth…how can I get it all?” In this post, we will look more closely at the implementation and what can go wrong. Since the target...

on Feb 1, 2013
Blog Post: How to use WEBENCH Sensor AFE Designer

Victoria Smithee

Designing a sensing application involves circuitry for amplification of a sensor signal, its conditioning and usually conversion into digital form. Traditionally, systems engineers use discrete operational amplifiers, analog to digital converters and passive components to compete designs, but this can...

on Jan 22, 2013
Blog Post: Using delta-sigma ADCs in your design

Victoria Smithee

The delta-sigma analog-to-digital converter (ADC) tackles the application demands of a slow analog signal that requires a high signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) and wide dynamic range. But, the delta-sigma converter isn’t the only device that can tackle these application requirements. In Bonnie Baker’s...

on Jan 4, 2013
Blog Post: How to properly terminate an unused op amp

Victoria Smithee

We are often tasked by customers to select the best products to complete a design, including how to configure unused operational amplifiers in quad or dual op amp devices. While this may seem like a simple question to some, there are subtle aspects of operational amplifier behavior that must be understood...

on Nov 16, 2012
Blog Post: SAR and delta-sigma ADC signal path

Victoria Smithee

In August, senior applications engineer Bonnie Baker published her first article in a 12-part series on data converters. In the first installment on EETimes.com, she begged the question, “ Does your ADC fit into the real-world ?” Now she’s back with a follow-up article, delving into...

on Nov 7, 2012
Blog Post: It's time to vote!

Laurene Richards

Design Ideas, EDN’s popular, community-driven site for circuit-design contributions, has collected the most clicked-on articles published since January 2011 and is asking readers to vote for the “best of the best.” Chenan “Hawk” Tong, field applications engineer for Texas...

on Sep 5, 2012
Blog Post: Does your ADC fit into the real-world?

Victoria Smithee

Senior applications engineer Bonnie Baker has just kicked off a 12-part series with EE Times. In her inaugural article, she begs the question: “ Does your ADC fit into the real-world ?” Real-world environmental occurrences such as temperature, pressure, flow or light usually require...

on Aug 31, 2012
Blog Post: Monthly Roundup: June

Mark Alden

Here are the top TI signal chain links in media coverage, awards and technical articles for the month of June. There is a nice mix of technical information spanning the signal chain to help you with your project – enjoy! Analog “ Analog: back to the future, part one ,” EDN...

on Jul 27, 2012