Use of a negative gate drive can lead to a larger voltage drop during deadtime and severe losses. Andrea Gorgerino, EPC GaN devices have gone from initial R&D to mainstream designs over the last 15 years. Unfortunately, there are many misunderstandings left-over from those early-stage developments or dead-end technology branches. One of the most pernicious […]
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Improving battery power efficiency for IoT devices
Nanopower ship mode and sleep mode can be optimized to reduce power consumption. Suryash Rai • Analog Devices Inc. In the connected world of the internet, power management is an important way to boost the efficiency of IoT applications. In most situations, the sensor node (data acquisition element) sits in a remote area and is […]
How input high-Z technology keeps down ADC power and size
Muxed SAR ADCs equipped with high-impedance technology can substantially reduce circuit footprint and energy use without compromising performance and accuracy. Sanjay Rajasekhar, Arvind Shankar • Analog Devices Inc. Muxed successive approximation register analog-to-digital converters (SAR ADCs) find use in applications that must constantly monitor multiple critical variables. In optical communications, laser biasing could be monitored […]
Current sensing for energy efficient power delivery
It pays to know the limitations and strengths of widely used methods of measuring current. Sam Locke • Allegro Microsystems Recent technological developments such as fast dc charging for electric vehicles and high-power processing in data centers drive the quest for delivering more power in smaller spaces. Congruent with that quest is the need for […]
Advanced capacitors enable high-efficiency energy scavenging
Modern tantalum capacitors and supercapacitors make it possible for compact energy harvesting systems to power IoT MCU applications. Ron Demcko, Daniel West, Ashley Stanziola • Kyocera AVX Advanced tantalum capacitors and supercapacitors are enabling advanced ICs to be powered by compact and low-cost energy harvesting and scavenging sources. These developments make possible maintenance-free control systems […]
Selecting a gate driver for ASIL-certified systems
Several safety features now found in gate driver integrated circuits make it easier for automotive system designs to get ASIL certification. David Divins • Infineon Technologies The Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) is a risk classification system defined by the ISO 26262 standard for the functional safety of road vehicles. There are four ASIL safety […]
Vertical power delivery enables cutting-edge processing
New architectures deliver more efficient power for today’s unprecedented high-performance computing demands. Ajith Jain • Vicor Corp. High-performance artificial intelligence (AI) processor power levels continue to rise and core voltages are declining with advanced process nodes. These developments are challenging power system designers with managing ever-rising power delivery network (PDN) impedance voltage drops, voltage gradients […]
Industrial lithium batteries that power the IIoT
Industrial grade lithium batteries reduce the operating costs of remote wireless sensors. Sol Jacobs, Tadiran Batteries At the heart of the IIoT are lithium battery-operated remote wireless devices that bring digital connectivity to emerging and evolving technologies such as SCADA, process control, industrial robotics, asset tracking, safety systems, environmental monitoring, M2M, AI, and wireless mesh […]
Where depletion-mode power MOSFETs excel
Depletion-mode MOSFETs have qualities that let them work well in several kinds of power-handling circuits. Aalok Bhatt, José Padilla, Raymon Zhou • Littelfuse, Inc. Most MOSFETs are enhancement-mode (EM) devices: When their gate-source voltage is zero, they don’t conduct. When the need is for a switch that is normally on when there is no power […]
Calculations reveal the value of efficiency
A few back-of-the-envelope estimates show why it pays to maximize power supply efficiency. Chris Harman • Puls l.p. Engineers are becoming more sensitive to efficiency when selecting a power supply. Energy flows through the supply, and something less than 100% of that energy can be used because of inefficiencies of power supply components. The difference […]
