The demand for better and more efficient power sources in the automotive industry has been a driving force behind research in battery technology, capacitor technology, and electronic power supply design. In order to utilize energy as efficiently as possible, automotive engineers began by reducing the gross weight of an automobile by replacing metal trim […]
Applications
Designing an EMC-Compliant Automotive Switching Buck Regulator
The automobile is changing and so, too, are the electronics that make them run. The most radical example is the plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) where a 300-400V Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery replaces the gas tank, and a three-phase propulsion motor replaces the combustion engine. Sophisticated battery pack monitoring, regenerative braking systems, and complex transmission control […]
Honda and Nissan Consider Plug-in Hybrids
Editor’s Note: The history of development and deployment of alternate-energy vehicles underscores the problems facing the American Auto industry. Where and what are the big three’s plans for next-generation vehicle development? Do you feel that Hybrid technology is a “bridge” tech, or one with a viable future? IMHO, Hybrid tech provides the refuel capability (and operating […]
Sensor Zone: April 2009
Hall-effect Sensors Measure Up For the last half-century, sensors based on the Hall effect have provided a low-cost, solid-state option for sensing any object that incorporates a magnetic field. Hall effect sensors are based on the discovery by Dr. Edwin H. Hall in 1879. He found that a thin conductive material, placed in a magnetic […]
Low Power RF Transceiver
Semtech announced the SX1211, a UHF radio frequency (RF) transceiver with a low receiver (RX) current consumption >3mA) for increased battery life in wireless sensor network applications. The SX1211 is optimized for asynchronous sensor network designs in the unlicensed industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) frequency bands (868 MHz to 870 MHz and 902 MHz to […]
Single-Axis Actuators in 208 Styles
Misumi USA, Inc. introduces its single-axis actuators which are available in 208 configured styles and a standard manufacturing time of 11 working days from receipt of order. These actuators provide precision linear motion in a variety of general industrial assembly, as well as automotive, packaging and medical manufacturing applications. Each unit is a ball-screw driven […]
Sampling A/D Converter
C&D Technologies announces its ADS-939 sampling A/D converter which is a fully integrated data acquisition system that gives true 16-bit resolution performance at a 10 MHz sampling rate over the entire operating temperature range up to full military. The functionally complete design requires no external components, and it is housed in a small, high reliability, […]
Edgecard Connectors to Accommodate 0.031” to 0.125” Thick Daughtercards
Sullins Electronics announced standard edgecard connectors engineered to accept daughtercards ranging in thickness of from 0.031” (0.79 mm) to 0.125” (3.18 mm). These connectors are designed to address OEM’s and assembliers’ requirements for fast delivery of competitively priced connectors used to interconnect non-standard thickness boards often employed in custom, and next-generation applications. Supplied with contact centers of […]
Remote and Local Temperature Sensor
Texas Instruments, Inc. announces an integrated ±1C maximum remote junction temperature sensor and local temperature sensor that are designed to monitor thermal diodes found in CPUs, microprocessors, graphics processing units and FPGAs. The TMP411 features programmable series resistance cancellation and diode non-ideality correction which simplify and remove the process of individual processor resistance calibration commonly associated […]
SpectrumCo aims for national wireless footprint
SpectrumCo, a joint venture of Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Advance/Newhouse and Sprint Nextel, put up a combined $2.37 billion to win 137 wireless spectrum licenses via the FCC’s Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) auction. Among the cable MSOs, Comcast contributed the lion’s share ($1.29 billion), followed by Time Warner’s $632.2 million and Cox’s […]
