Siemens EDA acquires SoC toolmaker Precision Innovations

Siemens EDA has snapped up a San Diego startup to complement its digital design and implementation capabilities with AI-powered exploration for advanced system-on-a-chip (SoC) architectures. Precision Innovations, a privately held EDA company,…

Precision in motion: The engineering value of LVDTs

Linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) stand out as one of the most reliable displacement sensors in modern engineering. By converting linear movement into proportional electrical signals, they deliver unmatched accuracy and repeatability…

Adapter makes CarPlay connectivity wireless

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi combine to untether smartphone-to-car connections…at least until the former’s battery drains, that is. At this year’s beginning, EDN published my overview and hands-on impressions of Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s…

A ferroelectric-fluid motor may challenge magnetic-motor designs

It took 100 years to come to fruition, but this recently created fluid enables non-magnetic electrostatic-based motors. Say the word “motor” to most engineers and they almost always associate it with magnetics of some type, whether the term…

USB-C’s lingering incompatibilities and other complexities, part 1: Direct-connect complications

USB-C will be 22 years old next month, from a published-specification standpoint. Yet it’s still rife with implementation imperfections. Why? Start with the words “published specification”. One of the many upsides to my now-dual roles…

Rad-hard gate driver enables GaN adoption

Infineon’s RIC70115 GaN HEMT gate driver provides the radiation hardness and long-term reliability required for satellite and space applications. Supporting both silicon FETs and GaN HEMTs in low-side and high-side configurations, the device…

Holotomography system analyzes glass defects

Tomocube’s HT-T1D is a desktop holotomography system for high-resolution, non-destructive 3D defect analysis of glass substrates used in semiconductor packaging. It images internal defects and other fine features with a lateral resolution…

TVS diodes clamp automotive transients

Two TVS diode series from Littelfuse, the TP5.0SMD-FL and TP1KSMB-FL, protect 48-V automotive electronics from voltage transients. Based on the FlatSuppressX TVS architecture, the devices exhibit a flatter clamping characteristic with a significantly…

Microchip offers free MPLAB compilers, AI tools

MPLAB XC Pro Compilers and the MPLAB Machine Learning Development Suite from Microchip are now available at no cost. Unlimited installations give users free access to advanced optimization capabilities and integrated embedded machine learning…

RDIMM chipset boosts server memory bandwidth

The Rambus DDR5 9600 server RDIMM chipset supports DDR5 RDIMMs operating at up to 9600 MT/s in CPU-based server platforms. The chipset is built around the RCD06 sixth-generation registering clock driver, which increases bandwidth by 20% over…

Deep physics, materials science enhance dielectrics, varactors

When doing analog design, especially at higher frequencies ranging into the microwave region, it’s normal to focus on devices and the performance they enable in the specific topology. But there’s another aspect of microwave design that’s…

Painlessly convert Hz to 4-20mA current loop

The iconic LM2917 tackles frequency-to-current conversion with (very) few externals. Almost exactly 50 years ago—in June 1976, to be precise—National Semiconductor introduced the LM29x7 series, offering deceptively simple monolithic solutions…