Design tips from Richtek when sourcing/selecting parts for power supply. Link here The COVID pandemic has made it clear that the semiconductor supply chain is very sensitive to sudden changes in supply and demand, resulting in worldwide shortage of semiconductors in all fields, from consumer to automotive applications. Many company production lines had to reduce […]
Author Archives: DP
App note: Low cost 8W off-line LED driver using RT8487
App note from Richtek on their RT8487 compact buck-boost LED driver. Link here RT8487 is a boundary mode constant current controller with internal high side driver, which can be used in buck and buck-boost configuration, to provide a constant output current to the (LED) load. It contains special circuitry for achieving high power factor and […]
App note: Integrated power supply solution for vehicle tracking system
This evaluation board from Analog Devices features reliable and uninterruptible power supply for vehicle tracking system. Link here (PDF) A vehicle tracking system (VTS) is typically installed in cars and trucks. A VTS provides real-time information about the speed, location, and direction of the vehicle using technology, such as a global positioning system (GPS). For […]
App note: Using an accelerometer for inclination sensing
Application note from Analog Devices to calculate for inclination angle from a single, dual or triple-axis accelerometers. Link here (PDF) One common method for determining the tilt or inclination of a system is to integrate the output of a gyroscope. Although this method is straightforward, error associated with null bias stability can quickly compound as […]
App note: Vibration motor best practices from mobile/cell phones
App note from Precision Microdrives on how to design drivers for vibration motors on battery powered mobile devices. Link here The mobile phone industry is a huge market in which vibration motors are an established component. Now almost every device has the ability to produce vibration alerts and the field of haptic feedback is rapidly […]
App note: Implementing secure boot with the Atmel ATSHA204
Securing systems with cryptographic authentication device on boot discussed in this app note from Microchip/Atmel. Link here (PDF) Most systems that use programmable nonvolatile memory for their operating program whether it’s large or small can take advantage of a secure boot process. Secure boot is a method of ensuring that the operating program for a […]
App note: CryptoAuthentication product uses
App note from Microchip/Atmel on securing products with hardware level authentication chip. Link here (PDF) Companies are continuously searching for ways to protect property using various implementations of security; however the cost of implementation can drive companies away from effective hardware solutions to less secure software solutions. With the introduction of the AT88SA10HS/102S devices, affordable […]
App note: Custom instrumentation amplifier design
A detailed design of an instrumentation amplifier found in this app note from Renesas. Link here (PDF) This application note describes some of the fine points of designing an instrumentation amplifier with op-amps. We will cover how to maintain good common-mode rejection and output signal linearity. In addition, we will explain various filters that can […]
App note: Battery powered overdrive pedal for guitar effects
App note from Renesas about building a guitar pedal overdrive effect using only 2 x AA instead of 9V battery, this app note demonstrate the low rail to rail voltage OpAmp SLG88104V in use. Link here (PDF) Amplified guitars appeared in the early 1930’s. However, at that time early recording artists strove for clean orchestra […]
App note: General digitally controlled potentiometers
App note from Renesas on what are digitally controlled potentiometers and their operations. Link here (PDF) Digitally Controlled Potentiometers (DCPs) brought about a new way to adjust resistance in analog circuitry. Mechanical Potentiometers were replaced by DCPs because of their ability to control resistance digitally using interfaces such as I2C, SPI, Pushbutton, 2-wire, and 3-wire […]
App note: Transformerless power supplies – resistive and capacitive
An app note from Microchip about two basic ways of getting power from AC outlet to power small circuits and microcontrollers, these involves hazard too due to non-isolation from mains but rewards cost effectivity. Link here (PDF) There are several ways to convert an AC voltage at a wall receptacle into the DC voltage required […]
App note: Bluetooth® multi-speaker audio application
App note from Microchip about wireless multi-speaker connectivity solution. Link here (PDF) Microchip’s Multi-Speaker Bluetooth Audio solution utilizes Microchip proprietary technology to connect a master speaker to one or multiple slave speakers through a modified Bluetooth protocol. Multi-speaker functionality is implemented using Microchip’s BM6x family of modules. One (master) speaker can either be connected to […]
App note: Add authentication security to automotive endpoints
App note about end device security from Maxim Integrated, by adding DS28E40 Deep Cover 1-Wire authenticator to keep the system devices in-check. Link here The increasing electronic content in vehicles presents new attack surfaces to hackers. Digital authentication can reduce the risk of theft and counterfeiting of genuine and approved components. In mission-critical automotive applications, […]
App note: High-impedance and low-noise op amps enable dry electrodes in medical systems
App note from Maxim Integrated which introduces their buffer op-amp designed for wearable sensors on medical monitoring. Link here The use of wearable sensors for fitness and health monitoring is growing tremendously. Over the past decade, wearable technology has gained significant attention from the tech industry for commercial reasons and has generated interest from physicians […]
App note: Low temperature soldering
A study and actual test using LTS (Low Temperature Soldering) on SMT devices from Nexperia. Link here (PDF) New generation Low Temperature Solder (LTS) pastes for Surface Mount Technology (SMT) is proposed for low temperature applications such as computing. LTS pastes are commonly build on near-eutectic SnBi alloying system and therefore show reduced melting temperatures […]
App note: Resistor Equipped Transistors (RETs)
Introduction and application of resistor equipped transistors from Nexperia. Link here (PDF) Bipolar transistors are controlled via the base current applied. Because of high temperature dependency of the voltage drop across the base-emitter path, it is required to add at least a series resistors at the base for stable and safe operation of a transistor […]
App note: Protecting charger interfaces and typical battery charging topologies
Nexperia’s app note presenting ideas to protect USB port on devices. Link here (PDF) This application note describes a complete solution for battery charging in mobile devices. This includes how to charge a Li-Ion battery with typical battery charger topologies, particularly with external bypass transistors and ways to effectively protect against overvoltage and overcurrent from […]
App note: Discrete LED driver
Simple discrete LED driver application from Nexperia. Link here (PDF) This application note describes a 300 mA discrete LED driver, based on a buck-converter principle, with a cycle-by-cycle current control. It includes a proposal for a BOM and layout of a low cost, low component count solution. Key applications for the driver are lighting applications, […]
App note: Power MOSFETs in linear mode
App note from Nexperia about MOSFET characteristics in linear mode within their SOA. Link here (PDF) Power MOSFETs are extensively used as switches due to the very low RDSon and thus low conduction losses. However, in many applications MOSFETs are used in their saturated state, with certain cases requiring both these modes to be robust […]
App note: How Litz wire maximizes offline multi-output flyback transformer efficiency for battery charger applications
This app note from Bourns presents improvement in efficiency and reduce thermal rise using Litz wire for multi-output flyback transformers. Link here (PDF) Flyback transformers are a robust, highly efficient and versatile option for AC-DC and DC-DC power supplies. Their wide input voltage range makes them an optimal choice for multiple designs while their use […]