Thermal management is a critical element in all types of electronic equipment. There are three general aspects to thermal management; heat transfer, temperature measurements, and managing the coefficients of thermal expansion of the various materials and components used in an electronic assembly. At the most basic level, thermal management involves applying the science of heat […]
mmWave antennas and antenna management for 5G
Antennas, antennas, and more antennas are one of the keys to successfully developing 5G new radio (NR) devices employing millimeter wave (mmWave) bandwidths. 5G NR handsets are highly complex devices. They have to handle the new 5G mmWave bands, including 4×4 multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) antennas, 3GPP specified Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access […]
What is the 5G RF/mmWave signal chain?
The 5G RF/mmWave signal chain is expected to be the same as, and different from, the RF signal chain for today’s LTE Advanced devices. 5G consists of two separate frequency bands, FR1 is mostly repurposed LTE bands and FR2 bands are in the mmWave region. As a result, 5G in the FR1 frequencies can use […]
Basics of mmWave and its applications
The millimeter band spans from 30 to 300 gigahertz (GHz) and lies between the super high frequency band, and the far infrared band, the lower part of which is the terahertz band. Radio waves in this band have wavelengths from ten to one millimeter; thus, radiation in this band is called millimeter waves, sometimes abbreviated […]
What are RF inductors?
Radio frequency (RF) inductors have several uses and are available in various construction types to suit the performance needs of specific applications. Matching, resonators, and chokes are common uses for inductors in RF circuits. Matching involves eliminating impedance mismatches and minimizing reflection and losses in the lines between circuit blocks such as the antenna and […]
The basics of AC motor drives and controllers
AC drives are used to bring about the process and quality improvements in industrial and commercial applications’ acceleration, flow, monitoring, pressure, speed, temperature, tension, and torque. Most basic AC drives include a rectifier section, a DC link, an inverter, and a control section, usually based on a microcontroller or microprocessor. There are several drive topologies […]
The basics of AC motors and their applications
The two main types of AC motors are induction motors and synchronous motors. The induction motor (or asynchronous motor) always relies on a small difference in speed between the stator rotating magnetic field. The rotor shaft speed is called slip to induce rotor current in the rotor AC winding. As a result, the induction motor […]
Driving brushed and brushless DC motors
DC motors are available in various electrical configurations and, except for brushless DC (BLDC) motors, are relatively simple devices. As a result, driving brushed DC motors is a relatively simple process. As shown below, BLDC motors require a more sophisticated approach. A “motor drive” is not even necessary with brushed dc (BDC) motors in some […]
Testing power consumption and batteries for wireless IoT nodes and wearables – Virtual Roundtable (part 2)
In this second part of EEWorld’s virtual round table on testing power consumption and batteries for wireless IoT nodes and wearables, our panelists delve into the nuances of complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) testing and predicting actual battery performance. Our panelists include: Janet Ooi (JO), IoT Industry Solutions Lead at Keysight Technologies, Shah Hassan (SH), […]
Motor fundamentals and DC motors
Motors use the principles of electromagnetism to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. There are a wide variety of electrical configurations and mechanical constructions used to produce electric motors. A fundamental difference between various types of motors is whether the input voltage is AC or DC. However, that differentiation immediately becomes a little fuzzy since […]