Author Archives: DP

App note: USB hardware and PCB guidelines using STM32 MCUs

Peripheral USB on STM32 MCUs app note from STMicroelectronics. Link here (PDF) STM32 microcontrollers include a group of products embedding a USB (Universal Serial Bus) peripheral. Full-speed and high-speed operations are provided through embedded and/or external PHYs (physical layers of the open system interconnection model). This application note gives an overview of the USB peripherals […]

App note: USB Type-C™ power delivery using STM32xx series MCUs and STM32xxx series MPUs

Guideline from STMicroelectronics on the basics of the two new USB Type-C™ and USB Power-Delivery standards. Link here (PDF) This new reversible USB Type-C™ connector makes plug insertion more user friendly. The technology offers a single platform connector carrying all the necessary data. Using the power delivery protocol, it allows negotiation of up to 100 […]

Tutorial: Maximum clock Frequency for Kinetis using MCUXpresso clock tools

Erich Styger writes, “This tutorial is about how to use the NXP MCUXpresso Clock configuration and configure the board to the maximum clock frequency of 120 MHz. The same steps apply to many other boards, including the FRDM-K22F one. The tinyK22 has the K22FN512 ARM Cortex-M4F on it which runs up to 120 MHz. It […]

Full Arduino code for poultry egg incubator with humidity sensor

A DIY Arduino-based poultry egg incubator with humidity sensor @ reuk.co.uk. Neil writes: This device makes use of an always on motor which turns the eggs six full turns every 24 hours. Many of our other incubators have motors which have to be set up to run for a certain length of time a certain […]

Building a better bit-bang UART – picoUART

Ralph Doncaster writes, ” The screen shot above is from picoUART running on an ATtiny13, at a baud rate of 230.4kbps. The new UART has several improvements over my old code. To understand the improvements, it helps to understand how an asynchronous serial TTL UART works first. Most embedded systems use 81N communication, which means […]

App note: Low ESR tantalum capacitors make a difference in circuit designs

App note from Vishay about how ESR in tatalum capacitors affect circuit performance. Link here (PDF) When choosing a capacitor for any application, there are a few key characteristics that must be understood in order to analyze its suitability for the circuit. In a simple capacitor equivalent circuit model, there are three key characteristics that […]

App note: The benefit of using a three sense pin design on battery

App note from Vishay about correcting error when reading current on small valued shunt resistor using third pin. Link here (PDF) The low values of battery shunts being produced today necessitate the use of precision analog to digital converters (ADCs) to interpret the voltage drop across the shunt’s element. Many of these precision ADCs require […]

App note: Bad block information introduction

App note from Macronix all about NAND flash bad blocks management. Link here (PDF) Today, NAND flash is used in many fields, such as consumer, industrial, and automotive. Compared with NOR flash, NAND flash has the advantage of availability at higher densities and lower cost per bit. However, NAND flash has the disadvantage of requiring […]

App note: Enhancing system security with Macronix(TM) flash

Technical note from Macronix about built-in and hardware security strategies on their flash memories. Link here (PDF) Attacks on a system typically alter or copy the content of the Flash image for three primary reasons, which are to: operate the system in an unauthorized manner with the purpose of committing fraud against the user or […]

App note: A sensible 30A energy meter

Technical paper from Analog Devices about wide range energy meter LTC2947 that eliminates the need for unique and expensive sense resistor values. Link here (PDF) Monitoring energy has similar benefits in many applications, not just solar. Handheld, rack-mounted and in-line energy meters are widely available and can be used by people such as facility managers […]

App note: Achieving a stable power supply with fast transient response through digital control

Technical white paper from Renesas on using digital control loop to achieve more stable power supply. Link here (PDF) New trends and changing requirements in the power management industry influence how we design power supplies. Some, like the need for telemetry and system information, are more recent due to advancements in technology. Others, like the […]

An experimental HF 6-band SSB transceiver

Peter (DK7IH) has been working on HF 6-band SSB transceiver: Part 1: Project Basic Outline Presentation Part 2: The Oscillators (VFO, LO and Testtone Osc.) Part 3: The Microcontroller (ATMega128) Part 4: Bandswitching Logical Circuits Part 5: Measuring Transceiver Data Part 6: The Receiver Part 7: The Transmitter Part 8: Transmit/Receive Switch Unit Part 9: […]

U-AMP – open source versatile audio amp

An open source universal audio amplifier called ‘U-AMP‘ @ GmanModz, that is available on GitHub: Using what I learned getting digital audio working on each systems, I set out on a new project I would call “U-AMP” (Universal-Amp). This would be ONE pcb which has the features of seamlessly integrated speakers and headphones with a […]