Aiding drone navigation with crystal sensing

Designers are looking to reduce the cost of drone systems for a wide range of applications but still need to provide accurate positioning data. This however is not as easy is it might appear. There are several satellite positioning systems,…

Tuneful track-tracing

Another day, another dodgy device. This time, it was the continuity beeper on my second-best DMM. Being bored with just open/short indications, I pondered making something a little more informative. Perhaps it could have an input stage to amplify…

Exploring ceramic resonators and filters

Ceramic resonators and filters occupy a practical middle ground in frequency control and signal conditioning, offering designers cost-effective alternatives to quartz crystals and LC networks. Built on piezoelectric ceramics, these devices provide…

Beats’ Studio Buds Plus: Tangible improvements, not just marketing fluff

“Plus” tacked onto a product name typically translates into a product-generation extension with little (if any) tangible enhancement. Beats has notably bucked that trend. I’ve decided that I really like transparent devices: Not only do…

Dev kit brings satellite connectivity to IoT

Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF9151 SMA Development Kit (DK) helps engineers build cellular IoT, DECT NR+, and non-terrestrial network (NTN) applications. The kit’s onboard nRF9152 SiP module now features updated modem firmware that enables direct-to-satellite…

FMCW LiDAR delivers 4D point clouds

Voyant has announced the Helium family of fully solid-state 4D FMCW LiDAR sensors and modules for simultaneous depth and velocity measurement. Based on a proprietary silicon photonic chip, the platform provides scalable sensing and high-resolution…

Bipolar transistors cut conduction voltage

Diodes has expanded its series of automotive-compliant bipolar transistors with 12 NPN and PNP devices designed to achieve ultra-low VCE(sat). With a saturation voltage of just 17 mV at 1 A and on-resistance as low as 12 mΩ, the DXTN/P 78Q…

MLCC powers efficient xEV resonant circuits

Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ CL32C333JIV1PN# high-voltage MLCC is designed for use in CLLC resonant converters targeting xEV applications such as BEVs and PHEVs. The capacitor provides 33 nF at 1000 V in a compact 1210 (3.2×2.5 mm) package,…

Tiny LCOS microdisplay drives next-gen smart glasses

Omnivision’s OP03021 liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panel integrates the display array, driver, and memory into a low-power, single-chip design. The full-color microdisplay delivers a resolution of 1632×1536 pixels at 90 Hz in a compact…

Electronic design with mechanical manufacturing in mind

Electronics design engineers spend substantial effort on schematics, simulation, and layout. Yet, a component’s long-term success also depends on how well its physical form aligns with downstream mechanical manufacturing processes. When mechanical…

The DiaBolical dB

Engineers and technicians who work with oscilloscopes are used to seeing waveforms that plot a voltage versus time. Almost all oscilloscopes these days include the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to view the acquired waveform in the frequency domain,…

Semiconductor technology trends and predictions for 2026

As we look ahead to 2026, we see intelligence increasingly being embedded within physical products and everyday interactions. This shift will be powered by rapid adoption of digital identity technologies such as near-field communication (NFC)…