In battery operated devices which have removable batteries, you usually need to prevent the batteries from being connected the wrong way round to prevent damage to the electronics. If that is not possible by physical means you need to include some electronic protection. Physical protection can simply mean a polarized connector or a battery with […]
Going smaller & more portable with PCB embedded components
I recently came across the TDK SESUB-PAN-T2541 Bluetooth module. It is a complete bluetooth module consisting of a Texas Instruments CC2541 Bluetooth “System-on-Chip” (SoC) and the peripheral components required to use it – crystal, balun, and 15 other passive components. While it initially doesn’t sound that remarkable, when you look at the size (4.6mm x […]
Generating reference voltages
A “voltage reference” can mean anything from a simple resistive power supply rail splitter as a virtual ground for an opamp, to a high precision, low drift, low noise reference voltage for an analog to digital converter (ADC). For an opamp virtual ground, a couple of resistors and a capacitor can work and you may […]
By variation or from scratch: Electronics System Design
I frequently design new electronics systems. Sometimes these are variations of something I have done before and at other times they are completely new. If you are new to a particular product area and there is something similar in the marketplace then it is always a good idea to have a look at how other […]
Power supply noise
Power supply noise can come in more than one form. It could be switching noise from a switching regulator or switched mode power supply or noise from a linear regulator. While switching noise is to be expected, linear regulators are often assumed to be “quiet” but they may not be as quiet as you think. […]
Effects of intermodulation distortion in analog circuits
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 […]
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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