Bridging the gap: Being an AI developer in a firmware world

AI model developers—those who create neural networks to power AI features—are a different breed. They think in terms of latent spaces, embeddings, and loss functions. Their tools of the trade are Python, Numpy, and AI frameworks, and the…

A hard-life Tile Mate goes under the knife

This engineer was curious to figure out why the Bluetooth tracker for his keys had abruptly gone deceased. Then he remembered a few-year-back mishap… My various Tile trackers—a Mate attached to my keychain (along with several others hidden…

Understanding remote sense in today’s power supplies

In today’s power-supply designs, even small wiring and connector resistances can distort the voltage that actually reaches the load. As systems push tighter tolerances and higher currents, these drops become harder to ignore. Remote sense…

1200-V SiC modules enable direct upgrades

Five 1200-V SiC power modules in SOT-227 packages from Vishay serve as drop-in replacements for competing solutions. Based on the company’s latest generation of SiC MOSFETs, the modules deliver higher efficiency in medium- to high-frequency…

Keysight automates complex coexistence testing

Keysight’s Wireless Coexistence Test Solution (WCTS) is a scalable platform for validating wireless device performance in crowded RF environments. This automated, standards-aligned approach reduces manual setup, improves test repeatability,…

600-V MOSFET enables efficient, reliable power conversion

The first device in AOS’ αMOS E2 high-voltage Super Junction MOSFET platform is the AOTL037V60DE2, a 600-V N-channel MOSFET. It offers high efficiency and power density for mid- to high-power applications such as servers and workstations,…

Stable LDOs use small-output caps

Based on Rohm’s Nano Cap ultra-stable control technology, the BD9xxN5 series of LDO regulator ICs delivers 500 mA of output current. The series is intended for 12-V and 24-V primary power supply applications in automotive, industrial, and…

Touch ICs scale across automotive display sizes

Two touchscreen controllers join Microchip’s maXTouch M1 family, expanding support for automotive displays over a wider range of form factors. The ATMXT3072M1-HC and ATMXT288M1 cover free-form widescreen displays up to 42 in., as well as compact…

Chandra X-Ray Mirror

There is a Neil deGrasse Tyson video covering the topic of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This essay is in part derived from that video. I suggest that you view the discussion. It will be sixty-five minutes well spent. This device doesn’t…

Is this low-inductance power-device package the real deal?

While semiconductor die get so much of the attention due to their ever-shrinking feature size and ever-increasing substrate size, the ability to effectively package them and thus use them in a circuit is also critical. For this reason, considerable…

Top 10 edge AI chips

As edge devices become increasingly AI-enabled, more and more chips are emerging to fill every application niche. At the extremes, applications such as speech recognition can be done in always-on power envelopes, while tens of watts will be…

Successive approximation

Analog-to-digital conversion methods abound, but we are going to take a look at a particular approach as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 An analog-to-digital converter where an analog input signal is compared to a voltage reference that has been…