Unless you are an RF designer you probably haven’t thought much about intermodulation distortion. Harmonic distortion is more likely to have been of concern with low frequency circuits such as video and audio. Harmonic distortion, as the name suggests, creates unwanted components which are harmonically related to the signal. So, if you are amplifying 1kHz […]
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Level Shifting Digital Logic Signals Part 2
I discussed the problem of level shifting logic signals a while ago but I noticed the recently introduced NXP AXP level shifters so thought it was worth revisiting the subject to see if these new devices will really help solving the problem of interfacing the increasingly varied power supply voltages in digital and mixed-signal circuits. […]
Understanding accelerometers
Accelerometers used to be expensive devices used in aircraft and missiles but now they are very cheap devices found everywhere – for example in your mobile phone. Their use in a mobile phone is not as critical as part of an aircraft navigation system and the accuracy and cost reflect that, with 3 axis devices […]
Choosing inductors or ferrite beads for power supply filtering
I recently came across an interesting article by Analog Devices in their February “Analog Dialogue” called “Ferrite Beads Demystified”. It was interesting beyond its analysis of ferrite beads because it covered one of the issues I have seen in the past with regards to power supply filtering — that of resonance between a power supply […]
Basics of battery banks for wind and solar installations
More and more wind and solar installations are incorporating battery banks as a means of letting the wind or solar generators maintain a level output to the grid…
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Using online design tools
While a lot of manufacturers have “design” tools to help you choose their parts, there are also other useful tools out there. Some, like Appcad, were just tools without trying too hard to sell you anything. Appcad is still available www.hp.woodshot.com and the current version 4.0.0 is really version 3.0.2 with the branding changed. I […]
Basics of induction
Building on the work of others, particularly Humphry Davy, Hans Christian Ørsted and Alessandro Volta, English researcher Michael Faraday formulated his Law of Electromagnetic Induction. This most basic…
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Understanding charge storage in semiconductors
While we are all probably familiar with the concept of capacitors storing charge, remember that semiconductors do so as well. This may not be an issue for your design or it could be a major headache, depending on the application. With bipolar transistors, charge storage in the base when the transistor is saturated will slow […]
Temperature sensors: IoT tilts balance from traditional devices to chips
by Majeed Ahmad Temperature sensors come in a number of mechanical, electrical and solid-state electronics forms and are widely used in industrial, consumer, medical, automotive and computing segments. Take the case of an engineer who is using an analog temperature sensor—a thermistor—to monitor a fish aquarium – a mature application with a predictable temperature range. […]
How to choose an operational amplifier: what you need to know
Choosing an opamp for a particular task can sometimes be simple but at other times, you will have a lot of conflicting requirements which makes choosing more of a challenge. Also, the number of opamps available now is huge so it can take a while to work your way through the options from different manufacturers. […]
