Custom hardware helps deliver safety and security for electric traction
Electric traction has become a critical part of a growing number of systems that need efficient motion and position control. Motors do not just provide the driving force for vehicles, from e-bikes to cars to industrial and agricultural machinery.…
GNSSDO modules ensure reliable PNT performance
Microchip’s GNSS-disciplined oscillator (GNSSDO) modules integrate positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) for mission-critical aerospace and defense applications. Built with the company’s chip-scale atomic clock, miniature atomic clock,…
Software verifies HDMI 2.2 electrical compliance
Keysight physical-layer test software provides compliance and performance validation for HDMI 2.2 transmitters and Cat 4 cables. The D9021HDMC electrical performance and compliance software and the N5992HPCD cable eye test software help engineers…
TOLL-packaged SiC MOSFETs cut size, losses
Three 650-V SiC MOSFETs from Toshiba come in compact surface-mount TOLL packages, boosting both power density and efficiency. The 9.9×11.68×2.3-mm package shrinks volume by more than 80% compared to through-hole TO-247 and TO-247-4L(X) types.
TOLL…
WM-Bus modules enable flexible sub-GHz metering
Quectel has announced the KCMCA6S series of Wireless M‑Bus (WM‑Bus) modules, capable of sub-1 GHz operation for smart metering. Based on Silicon Labs’ EFR32FG23 wireless SoC, featuring a 73‑MHz Arm Cortex‑M33 processor, the modules…
HV reed relays are customizable to 20 kV
Series 600 high-voltage reed relays from Pickering Electronics offer over 2500 combinations of rating and connection options. They are customizable from 3.5 kV to 12.5 kV, with standoff voltages from 5 kV to 20 kV and switching power up to 200…
The Smart Ring: Passing fad, or the next big health-monitoring thing?
The battery in my two-year-old first-gen Pixel Watch generally—unless I use GPS and/or LTE data services heavily—lasts 24 hours-plus until it hits the 15%-left Battery Saver threshold. And because sleep quality tracking is particularly important…
A design guide for respiratory belt transducers
Curious about how respiratory belt transducers work—or how to design one yourself? This quick guide walks you through the essentials, from sensing principles to circuit basics. Whether you are a hobbyist, student, or engineer exploring wearable…
A temperature-compensated, calibration-free anti-log amplifier
The typical anti-log circuit
The basic anti-log amplifier looks like the familiar circuit of Figure 1.
Figure 1 The typical anti-log circuit has uncertainties related to the reverse current, Is, and is sensitive to temperature.
Wow the engineering…
Positive analog feedback linearizes 4 to 20 mA PRTD transmitter
I recently published a simple design for a platinum resistance detector (PRTD) 4 to 20mA transmitter circuit, illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1 The PRTD 4 to 20 mA loop transmitter with constant current PRTD excitation that relies on 2nd order…
EMI fundamentals for spacecraft avionics & satellite applications
OEMs must ensure their avionics are electromagnetically clean and do not pollute other sub-systems with unwelcome radiative, conducted, or coupled emissions. Similarly, integrators must ensure their space electronics are not susceptible to RFI…
Tearing apart a multi-battery charger
As regular readers may recall, I’m fond of acquiring gear from the “Warehouse” (now renamed as “Resale”) area of Amazon’s website, particularly when it’s temporary-promotion marked down even lower than the normal discounted-vs-new…
