Clik here to view.
Add one resistor to allow DAC control of switching regulator output
Whether its buck, boost, or buck/boost, internal or external switch, milliamps or tens of amps, a literal cornucopia of programmable output switching regulator/converter chips are commercially...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EDA tool tackles 3D IC design challenges
GENIO EVO, an integrated chiplet/package EDA tool from MZ Technologies, addresses thermal and mechanical stress in the pre-layout stage of 3D IC design. Set to be demonstrated at this month’s Chiplet...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Murata introduces ultra-small chip inductor
At this month’s CES 2025 show, Murata unveiled what is claimed to be the world’s smallest 006003-inch (0.16×0.08 mm) chip inductor. This development offers a 75% volume reduction compared to the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GaN RF switch delivers 20 W
Built on a wide-bandgap GaN HEMT process, Teledyne’s TDSW84230EP reflective SPDT switch covers 30 MHz to 5 GHz, handling 20 W of continuous power. It is intended to replace PIN diode-based RF switches...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Reference design highlights GaN for motor drives
EPC offers a GaN-based motor drive inverter reference design for industrial and battery-powered applications. The EPC91200 demonstration board, built for 3-phase brushless DC motors, integrates the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
100-V MOSFETs cut on-resistance
Renesas 100-V N-channel MOSFETs leverage an improved wafer manufacturing process with split gate technology, reducing on-resistance (RDS(on)) by 30%. The REXFET-1 process also cuts total gate charge...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Multi-solar panel interconnections: Mind the electrons’ directions
The concluding post in a series; here’s part 1 (covering the Energizer PowerSource Pro Battery Generator) and part 2 (discussing its companion 200W portable solar panel)… Eagle-eyed readers may have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The rise of MCU-enabled sensor designs
New MCUs are addressing fundamental challenges in sensor technology by offering ample memory, a rich set of interfaces, and most importantly, the ability to run intelligent software algorithms. The key...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Microvolts to kilovolts in milliseconds with one I/O pin
Figure 1’s silly-simple voltage-to-time ADC is an exercise in dynamic range. Assuming that it is used with a 10-MHz counter/timer, its resolution is roughly 10 µV per count for inputs around 0 V and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A closer look at LLM’s hyper growth and AI parameter explosion
The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has been marked by the rise of large language models (LLMs) with ever-growing numbers of parameters. From early iterations with millions of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Calories, power dissipation, and environmental chambers
I was having a bottle of iced tea one day when I noticed something. Please see this excerpt from the bottle’s label referring to a 2,000 calories per day of personal intake (Figure 1). I confirmed that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
TCXO enhances synchronization for 800G networks
The SiT5977 Super-TCXO from SiTime is a single-chip timing device that achieves 3X better synchronization than its predecessor and enables 800G network connectivity. Part of the Elite RF family, this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Scope option enables wideband modulated load pull
R&S offers a load pull test setup with wideband modulated signals using the RTP oscilloscope for non-linear device characterization. Compared to conventional vector network analyzers, this setup...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GaN die power custom MMICs
Guerrilla RF’s GRF0020D and GRF0030D GaN-on-SiC HEMT power amplifiers deliver up to 50 W of saturated power. Available as bare die, these discrete transistors are intended for wireless infrastructure,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keysight elevates chiplet design environment
Chiplet PHY Designer 2025 from Keysight offers simulation capabilities for UCIe 2.0 and support for the Open Compute Project Bunch of Wires (BoW) standard. Tailored to AI and data center applications,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MCUs target motor control and power conversion
Infineon’s first PSOC Control MCUs, based on Arm Cortex-M33 processor, enable secured motor control and power conversion. Supported by Modus Toolbox design tools and software, the entry and mainline...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The SoC design: What’s next for NoCs?
Today’s high-end system-on-chips (SoCs) rely heavily on sophisticated network-on-chip (NoC) technology to achieve performance and scalability. As the demands of artificial intelligence (AI),...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Arm’s Chiplet System Architecture eyes ecosystem sweet spot
Arm has announced the availability of the first public specification drafted around its Chiplet System Architecture (CSA), a set of system partitioning and chiplet connectivity standards harnessed in a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Error assessment and mitigation of an innovative data acquisition front end
The recent design idea (DI) “Negative time-constant and PWM program a versatile ADC front end” disclosed an inventive programmable gain amplifier with integral samples-and-holds. The circuit schematic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Power Tips #137: Implementing LLC current-mode control on the secondary side...
Current-mode control LLC considerations Inductor-inductor-capacitor (LLC) serial resonant circuits, as shown in Figure 1, can achieve both zero voltage switching on the primary side and zero current...
View Article