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 […]
Tools
How to reduce noise in an electrical circuit
“Noise” can mean different things to different people. In general it is associated with something unwanted. It could be acoustic noise – background noise. In electronic terms it will generally be an unwanted electrical signal. That may be random or systematic. Either way, it would be a nuisance if the level is high enough to […]
Free web tool compares RF inductors
Coilcraft has launched an all-new RF Inductor Finder web tool that allows users to search and compare inductors based on their exact operating frequency, rather than just datasheet test frequencies. The new tool also lets users optimize search results for Q factor, footprint, SRF, impedance, price or inductance. Users of Coilcraft’s RF Inductor Finder can […]
How not to design analog filters
I thought I would share some of the crimes against filters that I have seen people commit over the years. 2+2=4? So, you have designed a 2 pole Butterworth filter for example and want a 4 pole one so you put two of them together. You have a four pole filter? Yes, but not a […]
Analog filters
Filters are an important part of analog design. Even circuits that you don’t think of as filters are actually filters. For example, a simple amplifier will have a bandwidth and so above its upper 3dB point it is a low pass filter. Whole books have been written on filters and filter design, both analog and […]
Transimpedance amplifier signal-to-noise
The use of opamps as a transimpedance amplifier is well known and a good analysis of the noise behavior of them is in the old Burr Brown Application Bulletin AB-076 from 1994. This is still available from Texas Instruments’ web site as sboa060 – simply search for that on their website. Improving the signal to […]
2kVAC isolated 1.5W low noise module converters in 9mm x 11.25mm x 4.92mm BGA package are UL60950 recognized
LTC6990/1/2/3/4/5 TimerBlox
By Chris Francis I have used various programmable clock generator chips, such as the PLL based devices from IDT for generating high frequency clocks in mixed signal systems, such as pixel clocks for analog to digital converters in video systems. In those applications precision frequencies can be important and speed can be more than 100MHz. […]
MEMS Wireless Vibration Sensing System
The wireless vibration sensing system allows industrial systems operators to remotely monitor production equipment health, improve system performance, and reduce maintenance costs. The new networked system includes the ADIS16229 iSensor wireless vibration sensor node, which combines dual-axis digital MEMs (micro-electro mechanical systems) acceleration sensing with advanced frequency-domain and time-domain signal processing. The sensing system […]