Note: Carolina Gomez collected the data for this article.

In my previous articles, I walked through optimizing an operational amplifier (op amp) circuit for power savings and talked about some of the applications that can take advantage of amplifiers with low-voltage-supply capabilities. In this installment of the "Designing with low-power op amps" series, I will show you…

In part 1 of this series, I reviewed power metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) data sheets and explained what’s in the data sheet and more importantly, what’s not, while specifically looking at the temperature dependence of some key MOSFET parameters. In part 2, I’ll focus on voltage-dependent leakage currents – the drain-to-source leakage (I…

Have you ever been in a crowded hallway with people talking at the same time? Only those talking loudest can be heard. However, if each person talks one at a time, everyone’s communication can be heard clearly even in the same crowded space. This scenario is similar to the wireless spectrum and the increasing number of connected devices. 

The 2.4 GHz band is widely used in building automation and medical applications…

With smartwatches and fitness bands widely used as personal health monitoring devices, the accurate acquisition of electrocardiogram (ECG) signals on these wearable devices has become a field of great interest. An ECG records activity in the heart through the acquisition of electrical signals. Conventional ECG systems such as patient monitors involve the connection of multiple electrodes…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: DLP300S, DLP301SUsed for decades in large, industrial and high-end specialty applications, 3D printers with DLP® technology are becoming a reality in homes, offices or labs, with compact and affordable versions able...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the capabilities of machine vision and imaging applications. Edge Al, a subset of artificial intelligence that enables localized decision making at the edge, plays a key role among other elements such as 5G network and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the development of New Infrastructure. Through focusing on…

Advances in automated factories and smart vehicles require advanced networking capabilities, real-time processing, analytics at the edge and more advanced motor-control topologies. These examples illustrate the rapidly growing need for a high-performance microcontroller (MCU) that can outpace traditional MCUs and deliver processor-like capabilities. In this article, I’ll cover five…

One of the top worldwide trends in metering is to add connectivity to the meter.  This allows for efficient readouts, over the air updates, and quick connectivity to your phone.  In large buildings with various tenants, you have multiple meters that need to be read monthly.  If all these meters are connected, pulling data from them is as simple as walking up to a data collector…

The features of a modern buck converter are simply tools to get a job done – and much like the utility belt of a certain Gotham City resident, the configuration and layout of these features were designed with space and flexibility in mind. Whether you wear a cape or not, having quick and easy access to these features means more than just solving design…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: OPA2206, OPA2205While no one can argue about the progress made on complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) and junction field-effect transistor (JFET) designs for operational amplifiers (op amps), bipolar op amps ...

Relative humidity (RH) sensors are specialized sensors with an open cavity to measure water vapor present in the air. Relative humidity is a critical measurement, as humidity in the air can have a direct effect on system reliability (corrosion) or product longevity since humidity in a storage environment can have a direct impact on perishables.

One of the challenges with RH sensors…

Within the last decade, manufacturers of wearable technologies such as smartwatches have made significant advancements in enabling users to track their personal health and fitness in real time. It’s now possible to leverage a wealth of statistics, such as step count, heart rate, oxygen saturation, workout duration and more, and track progress toward fitness goals in a variety of ways…

The proliferation of 48-V battery systems in vehicles has created a need for high-precision, multidecade current measurement to maximize the efficiency of the battery management system (BMS). In this article, I will discuss the challenge when measuring up to five decades of current and analyze methods to solve this challenge. I will also discuss how additional diagnostic…

The constant push for more component integration and greater power density, on top of demanding project schedules, can leave engineers in difficult situations when designing a system power architecture. Looking specifically at test and measurement or optical module applications, the problem statement is no longer limited to the area (x-axis and y-axis) of the design; rather, it…

(This is a guest technical article from Cadence^® Design Systems.)

Part 1 of this series discussed optimizing your simulation profile in PSpice^® for TI. After creating a schematic and a simulation profile, you are ready to simulate your circuit design and view the results.

The results must be accurate, of course. However, the effectiveness of a simulation is only half as good as the flexibility and ease of viewing…

Other Parts Discussed in Post: CC1352P7, CC2652P, CC1352P, MIOTYOmdia expects low-power wireless microcontroller (MCU) shipments to double over the next four years to more than 4 billion units. This massive influx of MCUs will result in more opportun...

There are many approaches to designing low-voltage systems in motor-driven building automation and grid infrastructure applications such as smart meters, smart locks, Internet Protocol (IP) network cameras and video doorbells, as shown in Figure 1.

 

Figure 1: Battery-powered systems: a video doorbell, smart utility meter and electronic smart lock

Common challenges when designing…

A high-voltage circuit design requires isolation in order to protect human operators, enable communication to lower-voltage circuitry and eliminate unwanted noise within the system. Digital isolators provide a simple and reliable way to achieve high-voltage isolated communication in industrial and automotive applications.

Maintaining the integrity of a signal across an…

As embedded application developers, the last thing you want is for customers to run across latent bugs in your application code – especially when those bugs occur in portions that were not covered by your testing. Measuring code cove...

Other Parts Discussed in Post: AWR1843AOPMillimeter-wave (mmWave) radar is a highly accurate sensing modality for automotive and industrial applications that provides insightful object information such as distance, angle and velocity, enabling smarte...

Automotive emissions standards are becoming more stringent every year, making it challenging for internal combustion engine (ICE) car manufacturers to keep up. One of their efforts to reduce emissions involves electrifying the drivetrain, either partially or fully, to improve the effective efficiency of the engine, partially disable the engine or eliminate the engine completely (see Figure 1).

Of course, this electrification…

If you’re designing with controllers for industrial equipment, you’ve likely asked yourself such questions as:

• “What voltage levels do I need?”
• “Do I care about the current level?”
• “What frequency does the controller need to run at?"
• “Will this device need to withstand high temperatures and magnetic immunity?”

Some of…

What do you think of when you hear the word “gateway”? The literal definition, “an opening that can be closed by a gate” or “a means of access or entry to a place,” makes sense in the context of electronics and our connected world, where a gateway provides a local network with access to another network or to the internet. In this article, I’ll explain some…

A Hall-effect sensor, also known as a Hall sensor, monitors magnetic fields with high accuracy, consistency and reliability. Why is that important? Because it enables you to sense the position and movement of objects in a system. In this article, I’ll explain what a Hall-effect sensor is, its basic building blocks and functionality, and common use cases for Hall-effect sensing products.

Matter, formerly known as Project Connected Home over IP (CHIP), is a royalty-free connectivity standard developed within the Connectivity Standards Alliance, formerly the Zigbee Alliance. Matter runs on Thread and Wi-Fi® network layers and uses&...