Power House

  • It seems that big numbers carry with them big confusion. Big numbers from the age of the universe to the national debt can lead to interesting conversations at the lunch table. The magnitude of such numbers draws our attention, and the engineer in us...
  • I'm pleased to welcome Bosheng Sun to the Power House blog. Bosheng is the mind behind the article " Digital current balancing for an interleaved boost PFC " featured in TI's Analog Applications Journal newsletter. Welcome Bosheng...
  • I remember when I first started working with power management devices over 15 years ago. Quite frankly, I didn't even know what an ‘ LDO ’ was, or even a switching regulator for that matter, since those terms weren't covered in the...
  • Until recently, the majority of the battery packs used to power tablets were configured with several cells in parallel. If we take the example of three cells in parallel, the output currents become significant. With the new approach of connecting the...
  • Intel Labs held their “Trendspotting Summit 2013” on April 2 nd this year. They invited World Bank Managing Director Caroline Anstey to speak. 1 Her speech content was something that is generally removed from what we discuss during our work...
  • Anyone who works in power conversion and battery management electronics knows that efficiency is important. Engineers measure efficiency on the lab bench, but an end user of a portable product experiences battery life and the surface temperature of the...
  • Previously, I posted part 1 and 2 of a 3 part series on how to test your power supply design: measuring efficiency (part 1) and measuring noise (part 2) . I covered various noise sources and how to properly measure them with an oscilloscope. I also discussed...
  • Last week, I posted part 1 of a 3 part series on how to test your power supply design: Testing power supply: measuring efficiency . I covered the fundamentals about testing, including the necessary equipment and how to prepare a circuit for testing. I...
  • Have you finished your PCB design but still need to power it? Are you confident your design features the best mix of performance and cost? If you've been in this situation, I've got a free class for you! Texas Instruments will host a special...
  • During my normal activity as an Analog Field Applications Engineer, I am called to help a customer solve system problems. These system problems sometimes relate back to the power supply. Last year, over a period of 3 months, I had 3 different situations...