by Michael Harper, Coil Experts, LLC It pays RF designers to know a few things about the way coil-winding houses fabricate coils. Inductive coils are ubiquitous in any kind of RF or wireless circuit. But some of the tiny coils that characterize RF work can be challenging to produce. Custom coil designs often get sent […]
Wireless charging for your coffee maker
by Leland Teschler, Executive Editor, @DW_LeeTeschler Today’s average teenager has never seen a dial telephone. It looks as though cords that plug into ac outlets will soon look just as strange to high schoolers. That’s because wireless charging may become ubiquitous enough to make ac power cords obsolete for most kinds of electrical equipment rather […]
PADS PCB design software targets independent engineers
New software that aids in the design of printed circuit boards (PCBs) is said to be optimized for independent engineers, those typically part of a small to mid-sized company, or members of an isolated team within a large enterprise. Called the PADS family of PCB design software by its creator, Mentor Graphics Corp., the software […]
CAD package handles IC, package, and PCB design
A new software package enables what is called the co-design of ICs, packages, and the printed circuit boards on which they reside. Called the Xpedition Package Integrator, the software is said to facilitate the planning, assembly and optimization of today’s complex multi-die packages. It incorporates a special virtual die model concept for optimizing IC-to-package connections. […]
Podcast: Tips and tricks for printed circuit board design
It can be easy to create a printed circuit board that doesn’t work well, even when using PCB automation software. Mentor Graphics’ Dave Wiens talks about board features and design practices he’s seen that habitually cause problems. He also explains what to expect and not expect from PCB layout software and other automation tools.
One chip, any temperature sensor — IC digitizes all temp. sensors
A chip called the LTC2983 directly digitizes RTDs, thermocouples, thermistors and external diodes with 0.1°C accuracy and 0.001°C resolution. The device combines low-noise and low-offset-buffered ADCs with excitation and control circuits for each type of sensor. The chip precisely measures absolute microvolt-level signals from thermocouples and ratiometric resistance measurements from RTDs and thermistors, linearizes the results […]
Top analog threads this week from EDAboard.com
Buck-boost converters – I am designing a buck-boost circuit but the values of the L, R, and C are hard to get. Anybody have an equation for this? My project has a variable input from 6 to 20 V and a 12-V output. Read more. Need help with circuit design – I need a relay […]
Terminal block and header target LED designs
New additions to Phoenix Contact’s PTSM family give LED designers more options. The new single-pole PTSM terminal block and the vertical header are ideal for space-critical applications, and a new through-board header expands connection options. Like the original PTSM terminal blocks, the single-pole PTSM features push-in termination technology for quick wire connection. The 2.5 centerline […]
16-bit DAC has super-pure output
Linear Technology Corporation announces the LTC2000, a 16-bit 2.5Gsps digital-to-analog converter (DAC) with exceptional spectral purity of 74dBc SFDR at 200MHz output, and better than 68dBc SFDR for output frequencies from DC to 1GHz, a 12dB improvement over alternative 14-bit DACs. The LTC2000 features low phase noise and a wide 2.1GHz -3dB output bandwidth, enabling […]
Camera flash LED driver delivers 1.2A
Micrel, Inc. introduced the MIC2873/MIC2874, an ultra-compact, camera flash LED driver that integrates a 1.2A boost converter and LED driver circuit into a small 9 pin, 1.3mm by 1.3mm chip scale package. Operating from 2.7V to 5.5V and featuring up to 92 percent efficiency, these solutions are ideally suited for Li-Ion battery operated portable applications […]
