The Microsoft Surface Pro 5 succession: Selections, motivations, and initial impressions
As I’ve already alluded to both in recent coverage of Microsoft’s late-September product launch event, of power-vs-energy exemplified by SSDs and of hardware obsolescence forced by software-based usage lock-outs, the Microsoft Surface Pro…
The importance of phase-coherent RF signals
As the number of higher-throughput applications grows, so does the need for a wider bandwidth and network coverage in wireless systems. Given limited spectrum allocation, wireless communication engineers must look for ways to improve spectral…
Will 1.4-nm help Samsung catch up with TSMC, IFS?
Samsung, playing a distant second to TSMC for quite some time, has vowed to launch the 1.4-nm chip manufacturing node by 2027, leapfrogging both TSMC and Intel Foundry Services (IFS) by a wide margin. The South Korean electronics conglomerate…
The first MCU with an Arm Cortex-M85 processor finally arrives
More than a year after Arm unveiled Cortex-M85, its fastest core for standalone microcontrollers (MCUs) and MCU-like subsystems, Renesas has become the first supplier to incorporate this superscalar Cortex-M processor in its RA8 MCUs. Renesas…
Toshiba optimizes intelligent power devices
Two 600-V intelligent power devices (IPDs), the TPD4163K and TPD4164K from Toshiba, provide output current (DC) ratings of 1 A and 2 A, respectively. Both parts are offered in a through-hole HDIP30 package that decreases mounting area by approximately…
GaN FET package improves thermal performance
Transphorm continues to expand its GaN device packaging options with a TO-leaded topside-cooled (TOLT) housing for its 650-V SuperGaN FET. According to the company, the TP65H070G4RS is the first topside-cooled surface-mount GaN device in the…
GaN switcher IC handles 1250 V
Joining Power Integrations’ InnoSwitch3-EP family is a GaN power supply IC that integrates a 1250-V PowiGaN primary-side switch. The InnoSwitch3-EP series of off-line CV/CC QR flyback switcher ICs offers a variety of switch options, including…
AI SoC targets advanced UCC terminals
The DVF120 SoC from Synaptics integrates all of the major features required for Unified Communication and Collaboration (UCC) terminals and devices. Along with a quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor and AI-based audio/voice processing, the chip…
MCUs harness the power of Arm Cortex-M85 core
Renesas reports its RA8 series of MCUs is the first to employ a 480-MHz Arm Cortex-M85 processor boasting a performance rating of 6.39 CoreMark/MHz. In addition to achieving over 3000 CoreMark points, the RA8 provides fully deterministic, low-latency,…
The DAC buddy
Frequent design idea contributor, Peter Demchenko, recently published “Extending the resolution of a peripheral DAC”. In it, Peter describes an inverting dual-supply amplifier circuit that he says is intended “…to improve the resolution…
Apple’s “October Surprise”: the M3 SoC Family and the A17 Bionic Reprise
The meaning of the term “October Surprise” may not be immediately familiar to some of you, especially those outside the United States. Here’s how Wikipedia describes it:
In the politics of the United States, an October surprise is a news…
