by Hadi Ebrahimi-Darkhaneh, Texas Instruments For applications that employ temperature monitoring systems, measurement accuracy is a prime concern. Temperature sensors are affected by a variety of factors, including environmental conditions, manufacturing process variations, poor assembly, and nonideal biasing components. External components connected to temperature sensors (such as the power supply, an analog-to-digital converter [ADC] and […]
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Error analysis in temperature sensing with NTC and silicon-based PTC thermistors: Comparing the Ratiometric and Absolute methods
by Hadi Ebrahimi-Darkhaneh, Texas Instruments A thermistor is a resistive device specifically designed to vary resistance with thermal change, and therefore follows Ohm’s law. According to Ohm’s law, a current passing through a resistive component will produce a voltage drop across that component. This voltage is proportional to the magnitude of the component resistance and […]
Charging electric vehicles, Part 1: The numbers
It’s nice to envision that recharging an electric vehicle is as straightforward as filling up an internal combustion vehicle, but it’s not: there are multiple charging, power, and connector options as well as limitations. You’re driving your internal-combustion (IC) car, and the gauge indicates it’s time to get “gas” (of course, it’s actually gasoline). So […]
GaN power devices, Part 1: Principles
Power devices based on gallium nitride (GaN) are rapidly becoming a viable, higher-performance alternative to silicon MOSFETs due to their higher efficiency and other favorable attributes. In recent years, discrete power-switching and power-handling devices based on gallium nitride (GaN) material have become practical and available, and these devices are now found in many power supplies […]
Flyback power converters, Part 2: Enhancements and ICs
Power supplies and converters tend to be simple in principle, yet their actual design – including overcoming the subtle issues which degrade and impede their performance – is the real challenge. In Part 1, we looked at the flyback design and some distinct advantages along with unique idiosyncrasies. This FAQ looks at some of these […]
Flyback power converters, Part 1: Basic principles
Among the many available topologies used for power-supply converters, the flyback design offers some distinct advantages along with unique idiosyncrasies. There’s a wide and diverse array of power-supply converter topologies among which to choose, each with tradeoffs in their various performance attributes and cost. The flyback design is a converter approach which has been used […]
Working with higher voltages, Part 1: Voltage boosters
Whether for efficiency or due to the device physics, many applications require voltages ranging in the tens, hundreds, or even thousands of volts; the circuits which produce these voltages start with basic charge pumps and extend to voltage multipliers with simple schematics but many subtleties. Lower-voltage circuitry is the trend, with ICs and designs operating […]
Motor field-oriented control, Part 1: Principles
Field-oriented control, also known as vector control, is a calculation-intensive algorithm for motor control which is now practical due to advances in ICs; it offers improved efficiency along with superior control of torque and other performance parameters. Motor control—and doing so accurately and efficiently—is a topic of great interest. Field-oriented control (FOC), sometimes called vector […]
Power management ICs, part 1: PMIC functions
The power management IC (PMIC) is often a vital part of the lower-voltage DC subsystem, as circuits have multiple power rails with tight individual specifications as well as mandated relationships among them. It’s one thing to develop needed low-voltage DC rails via DC/DC converters or regulators, but there’s also a need to manage these power […]
Optimizing the energy efficiency of converters and controllers
Here’s how to evaluate energy efficiency associated with components that make up widely used power conversion circuitry. FRANK DE STASI, MATHEW JACOB, TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC. IN SOME WAYS, selecting a module, converter or controller for power conversion resembles deciding whether to take a flight, board a train, or drive from point A to B. Once […]
