By Tahmid, EDAboard.com forum member SMPS is the toughest section in power electronics. For this subject, you require additional knowledge for choosing the active and passive parts used in SMPS circuits. The special type of parts often required in power electronics (i.e. for low-frequency applications) may not be suitable in the case of SMPS. When […]
Industry Experts
Top power electronics threads on EDAboard.com – August
(editor’s note: Intrigued by these power electronics problems? Have a question or another solution? Then click the “Read more” link and follow the conversation on EDAboard.com or log in to EDAboard and participate in the power electronics forum threads.) Power MOSFET forensics – I need your help to investigate a recent MOSFET death. It was […]
Top microcontroller threads on EDAboard.com – August
(editor’s note: Intrigued by the problem? Have a similar challenge? Have a question or another solution? Then click the “Read more” link and follow the conversation on EDAboard.com or log in to EDAboard and participate in the microcontroller forums.) PWM using Controller – I working on one project which requires the following condition: Analog voltage and PWM […]
Impedance matching and the Smith chart, Part 2
Part 1 looked at impedance matching and the need for a complex conjugate impedance at the load, compared to the source impedance. Once the need for an impedance-matching network is determined – and it is very likely needed – the next challenge is defining and creating this network. It may seem that doing a few […]
Getting started in electronics: core components
By “Spec“, Electro-Tech-Online forum member Often newbies ask, ‘How can I get started in electronics?‘ This is a big question, but the very short answer is, ‘Learn the two fundamental electronics laws (Kirchoff, Ohm), get a good book about electronics theory and practical, build some circuits, and make some measurements.’ Follow-on questions are, ‘What electronic […]
Impedance matching and the Smith chart, Part 1
In circuit designs spanning low-frequency audio through high-frequency RF, there’s considerable discussion about impedance matching between components or subcircuits, with various tools such as the Smith chart with is used to facilitate the matching. Q: What is impedance matching? A: Impedance matching means that a signal source sees a load impedance which is the complex […]
Top 10 Electronics Inventions
I don’t mean the transistor radio or mobile phone, but electronic devices and circuits that have been significant and enduring. Some are not necessarily “inventions”, depending on how you define an invention, but significant designs, devices or techniques. It will depend on your area of interest (and age). You might think the GaAsFET was the […]
PCB Design: changing the focus
by Craig Armenti Those of us who have been in the PCB design business for more than a decade either have direct knowledge of, or have heard the stories about, how the profession has evolved since the late 70’s and early 80’s. The shift from drafting tables, Mylar, and hand taping, to light tables, digitizers […]
Mechanical vibration for electronics: the quartz crystal
It is now 100 years since Alexander Nicholson at Bell Telephone Laboratories built and patented the first crystal oscillator, and crystals are still the main source of accurate oscillations up to UHF frequencies using quartz instead of Rochelle Salt (see US patent 2212845). Quartz crystal oscillators use the piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric effect refers to […]
The importance of Fourier Transforms
I have mentioned Fourier transforms in other posts but it is probably worthwhile explaining more about Fourier transforms in order to show why I think they are so important to analog signal processing. You may come across several theorems containing the name “Fourier” such as the Fourier Series, Fourier Transform, Fourier Integral and Fourier Analysis. […]