Convection cooling is used in various devices, from mobile phone handsets to various consumer, communications, and industrial systems where the thermal loading is not too demanding. Devices such as heatsinks, heat spreaders, and heat pipes are used to implement convection cooling. Convection cooling systems are often classified as either passive or active. Active cooling systems […]
FAQ
Envelope tracking improves power amplifier efficiency
RF power amplifiers consume lots of energy, which is a concern associated with 5G. Envelope tracking helps reduce power consumption but has tradeoffs.
Basic principles of thermal management
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 […]
What are the AMBA protocols?
As electronic miniaturization has been an all-time goal of chip manufacturers, motherboard-based computer/electronic systems have been eventually replaced by System-on-Chip (SoC) and Package-on-Package (PoP) ICs. Complex computer systems are now condensed to smartphones and other handheld devices. These sophisticated electronic devices and gadgets have an SoC at their heart which manages complete computing and control. […]
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 […]
Transistor circuit configurations and Spice
In a recent post, we reviewed the basics of Spice circuit simulators. Most circuit simulations involve transistors, either as discrete components or within an integrated circuit. So it is useful to understand a few basics about how Spice models transistors. Transistors may have multiple states, typically saturation, cutoff, active and reverse. And transistors have an […]
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 […]
Understanding stop/start automobile-engine design, Part 6: Responses and work-arounds
Stop/start operation is both complicated and controversial. Despite the sophisticated algorithms it employs, no algorithm is perfect under all conditions. In addition, there are some “human factors” issues with respect to driver expectations and even nearby pedestrians, which stop/start brings. Q: What are some “issues” with stop/start? A: First, there’s the issue of added vehicle […]
Understanding stop/start automobile-engine design, Part 5: Additional considerations
Thus far, we have looked at mostly non-electronic and mechanical implications of stop/start, such as requirements on the battery technology, the crankshaft, and the starter motor itself. There is also an impact on the vehicle’s power electronics and battery management system (BMS). Q: How does stop/start begin to affect the “electronics”? A: It begins with […]