Today’s power supplies require flexible power solutions and more digital control than a decade ago, especially in the server cloud computing market. The days of de-soldering resistors and capacitors to tweak a voltage control loop are long gone. Historically, digital power control started with a single-phase, point-of-load (POL) regulator with PMBus interface. Today, it has […]
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Power Electronics Top Talks in September on EDABoard.com forums
Peer-to-peer, engineer-to-engineer questions and answers from the EDABoard.com engineering community around power electronics. Click the “Read more” link and follow the entire conversation and maybe add your two cents by logging in to EDAboard.com MOSFET switchover for E-Bike controller – I’m working on a prototype of an Electric Bike. I am trying to use regenerative energy […]
FAQ: Piezoelectric motors, Part 2: drive circuits
Unlike better-known electromagnetic motors, the widely used piezoelectric-based motor/actuator provides precise, repeatable linear motion over short distances, and requires a voltage drive rather than a current drive. Part 1 of this FAQ looked at the moving piezoelectric element of the actuator. Part 2 looks at their drive requirements, which are very different than those of […]
FAQ: Piezoelectric motors, Part 1: actuators
Unlike better-known electromagnetic motors, the widely used piezoelectric-based motor/actuator provides precise, repeatable linear motion over short distances, and requires a voltage drive rather than a current drive. When we think “motor”, we usually think of rotating motion or perhaps a special “linear motor” which is a rotary motor which has been rolled out flat. To […]
Image gallery: Structural batteries, hub motors, do-it-yourself Li-ion pouches mark Detroit-area Battery Show
A tri-show event that included the Battery Show North America, Electric & Hybrid vehicle technology Expo, and the Critical Power expo concluded last week in Novi, Mich. and hosted numerous technical presentations and displays of interesting technology. Here are some of the more noteworthy developments we noticed on the exhibition floor. NEXT PAGE: All hail […]
SiC MOSFET structure reduces resistance and boosts energy efficiency in power devices
Hitachi Ltd. says it has developed a new kind of silicon-carbide-based MOSFET that has dramatically lower on resistance than comparable devices. The new MOSFET uses what Hitachi calls a TED-MOS structure, for Trench-etched DMOS-FET. Compared to conventional DMOS-FET (Double-diffused MOSFET) devices, the new structure is said to reduce electric field strength, an index of durability […]
Power Electronics Top Talks in August on EDABoard.com forums
Peer-to-peer, engineer-to-engineer questions and answers from the EDABoard.com engineering community around power electronics. Click the “Read more” link and follow the entire conversation and maybe add your two cents by logging in to EDAboard.com SPWM converter MOSFET failure – I am currently working in this circuit of an SPWM inverter and I keep having my MOSFETsburningg […]
Now that’s a wide bandgap: Could gallium oxide be the next power transistor technology?
Researchers at the University of Buffalo have come up with a MOSFET made from the unusual material gallium oxide. The point of the work is that gallium oxide has a bandgap of about 4.8 eV, better than that of SiC’s 3.4 eV or GaN at 3.3 eV or silicon at 1.1 eV. Bandgap measures the […]
Optocouplers, Part 2: Parameters and applications
Part 1 of this FAQ explored the basics of the optocoupler. This part looks at key parameters and some application examples. Q: What are the primary factors used when assessing an optocoupler? A: While there are many important factors, there are several which are noteworthy: isolation, current-transfer ratio (CTR), linearity (for analog use), and speed. […]
Optocouplers, Part 1: Principles and usefulness
The optocoupler — also called an optoisolator — is among the most useful, versatile, problem-solving components available to the design engineer. This small non-monolithic device does one thing and does it well, with minimal complications in most cases and no software. This FAQ will look at the operation principles, key parameters, and applications of this […]