Many of us have experienced the wave of innovation inside our homes. Lights, thermostats, appliances and locks are wirelessly connected. We have sensors for motion, temperature, light, water leaks, and air quality – even for keeping track of ou...

Automotive on-board chargers and server power supplies are highly constrained system environments where power density is a primary metric. It’s important to reduce the volume of the electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter components so that the solution can fit into demanding form factors.

Common-mode (CM) filters for these and other high-density applications…

With the trendiness of the term “edge AI” or talk of “having more intelligence at the network edge,” it’s easy to lose sight of the benefits of having more local, real-time processing that doesn’t rely on cloud-based resources to run artificial intelligence (AI) models. By enabling the electronics we interact with daily to make decisions in the real world…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: ADS127L11, AM2434, DP83TD510EFactory production lines, manufacturing robots (see Figure 1) and wind turbines can unexpectedly break down due to hardware failures that are very expensive to repair. Some of these failures...

For more than a decade, TI’s Power Stage Designer  tool has been a great design aid for electrical engineers when calculating the currents and voltages of different power-supply topologies. I believe it is an easy tool to start a new power-supply design, because it executes all calculations in real time, and you get direct feedback.

Our latest version of Power Stage Designer includes a new topology and two new design…

Microcontrollers (MCUs) in embedded systems are the equivalent of air traffic control in a busy airport. MCUs sense their operating environment, take actions based on those observations, and communicate with related systems. They manage and control signals in an almost endless list of electronics, from digital thermometers to smoke detectors to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning…

When riding in an elevator, I’m sure you expect a smooth and safe ride from one floor to the next. In an elevator drive, precise motion control enables the elevator to stop at specified positions and to slow down to a full stop smoothly. A lack...

With energy storage systems prices becoming more affordable and electricity prices going up, the demand for renewable energy sources is increasing. Many residences now use a combined solar energy generation and battery energy storage system to make energy available when solar power is not sufficient to support demand. Figure 1 illustrates a residential use case and…

Among all of the buzzwords to describe the increased electrification of our world, one term should stand out more: current sensing. Few of the innovations you hear about in solar power arrays, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations or robotics would be possible if current-sensing technology wasn’t reliable, accurate and easy to design with…

Size and power consumption are two of the key design aspects for circuits used in low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. These systems require components that are:

• Radiation tolerant, to ensure proper operation in orbit. The operation of LEO satellites in an environment without the protection of the earth’s atmosphere subjects electronics to radiation and possible damage. Radiation…

Co-authored by Kevin Stauder. 

With the continued worldwide growth of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs), now more than ever, automotive developers are innovating to stay ahead of the game. While differentiating HEV/EV powertrain systems has traditionally been a key focus area, market leaders now cannot afford to neglect differentiating their HEV…

Previously published on Electronic Products. Co-authored by Kishore Ramaiah.

When shopping for new cars, safety-minded consumers can review New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) ratings to see how cars compare NCAP ratings vary by region, but Euro NCAP has been driving the initiative for child presence detection inside cars as part of its roadmap.

Going into 2025 and beyond, only direct…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: DP83826EImagine a robot arm bending and turning, each of its axes equipped with beautifully precise motor drives, sensors and perhaps machine vision – a symphony of movement. But if the conductor wasn’t ther...

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, the challenge for automakers is to reflect true range while making the vehicle more affordable. This translates into making the battery packs lower cost with higher energy densities. Every single watt-hour stored and retrieved from the cells is critical to extend the driving range.

The main function of a battery…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: DLP4620S-Q1 Originally authored by Mike Firth The future of head-up displays (HUD) has been rapidly changing as vehicles become more electrified and connected. Specifically, augmented reality (AR) HUDs have become a ce...

Ultrasonic lens cleaning: A solid-state technology you didn’t know you needed

If you’re old enough to have owned a portable CD player, you might remember how the music would skip if the CD got scratched or dirty. Or maybe you remember how VHS tapes had winding issues, tape deterioration and poor image quality. Flash memory made these complicated mechanical storage methods obsolete…

This article originally published in Electronic Products.

Electric-vehicle designers can increase the safety and reliability of traction inverter systems by monitoring the gate voltage threshold.

When a consumer purchases a vehicle, they assume that the design engineers did their due diligence to create a safe product. In order to achieve a necessary level of safety, especially in regard to International Organization…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: AWRL6432, IWRL6432Radar-based sensor ICs are becoming a popular sensing technology due to their long-range capabilities, high-motion sensitivity, and privacy capabilities. With their high accuracy, radar sensors are wid...

Satellite power design has a complex set of trade-offs given that the design has more variables, and the number of semiconductor options are significantly smaller than those in commercial applications. A satellite’s primary power supply is especially important, since if it fails…

Almost all modern-day industrial systems involve an AC/DC power supply, which takes energy from the AC grid and delivers it to electrical equipment as a well-regulated DC voltage. With power consumption increasing around the globe, the associated energy loss in the AC/DC power-conversion process becomes a significant component of the overall energy cost equation for power-supply designers, especially those working on…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: TMS320F2800137Increasingly, businesses and individuals are looking for ways to reduce their energy footprint and increase the use of renewable sources. Where should we focus to make the biggest impact? Over 65% of globa...

Many consumers now have several smart home products, including smart locks, cameras, sensors, smart home hubs, lighting, appliances and thermostats. Unfortunately, a lack of interoperability between various manufacturers makes it more difficult to control smart devices from a single terminal or application.

While the promise of an interconnected and controllable home feels within our grasp, ecosystem fragmentation is…

The previous installment in the real-time control series dove into the functional block of processing. In this installment, I will discuss the actuation stage (updating the system) of real-time control, and why this stage is important for reliable system output operation.

For example, in motor-drive applications, you might be monitoring and measuring speed, position, torque…

For nearly two decades, the Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) specification has been the interconnect standard for both consumer and industrial applications, enabling high-speed interface between processors, solid-state drives, and various technologies or end points. You can attribute its widespread adoption to several factors:

• The PCIe ecosystem is a nonproprietary specification, with open resources that…

Electronics intended for space missions face unique conditions and challenges – specialized integrated circuit (IC) packaging can help mitigate some of those challenges. We at TI have historically developed devices for commercial (non-space) use first; only after verification in a plastic package did the engineering team start on the ceramic…