New ways of routing power around circuit boards bring more efficiency and fewer thermal problems. Phil Davies | Vicor Corp. Power distribution networks (PDNs) are the backbone of any power system. As system power demands rise, traditional PDNs are under tremendous pressure to deliver enough performance. There are two main ways to improve PDN impact […]
FAQ
How to make dc/dc converters rugged
Design standards for rail transportation equipment are so severe that they are used as qualifications for products targeting other areas where ruggedness comes in handy. Here’s a quick overview of what these standards entail. Martin Tenhumberg | Traco Power In transportation, there is an emphasis on electronic systems in rail because of expanding safety, telemetry […]
Checking power line quality with test instruments
The average homeowner probably doesn’t think about the quality of the electrical power coming out of household wall sockets. But that’s not the case for large industrial facilities where capacitive, inductive, and non-linear electrical loads can be large enough to distort the ac waveform. In those cases, electrical power quality becomes an important measurement. Electric […]
Error analysis in temperature sensing with NTC and silicon-based PTC thermistors: Comparing the Ratiometric and Absolute methods
by Hadi Ebrahimi-Darkhaneh, Texas Instruments A thermistor is a resistive device specifically designed to vary resistance with thermal change, and therefore follows Ohm’s law. According to Ohm’s law, a current passing through a resistive component will produce a voltage drop across that component. This voltage is proportional to the magnitude of the component resistance and […]
The Hubble Space Telescope: Part 4
Part 1 looked at the difficult, costly, and lengthy journey from concept to a successful launch. Part 2 looked at the severe problems of the HST discovered after launch, and Part 3 looked at what has been learned from the Hubble “experience.” The final installment of this story looks at the plans for a post-Hubble […]
The Hubble Space Telescope: Part 3
Part 1 looked at the difficult, costly, and lengthy journey from concept to a successful launch. Part 2 looked at the severe problems of the HST discovered after launch. Part 3 of this story looks at what has been learned from the Hubble “experience.” There are many lessons from this expensive disaster turned into spectacular […]
The Hubble Space Telescope: concept, delay, embarrassment, despair, and finally – jubilation, Part 2
Part 1 looked at the difficult, costly, and lengthy journey from concept to a successful launch. Part 2 looks at the severe problems of the HST discovered after launch. Out of Focus: only the most-obvious problem When Hubble’s lens cover was first pulled back, and the imager saw its “first light,” no one expected picture-perfect […]
The Hubble Space Telescope: concept, delay, embarrassment, despair, and finally – jubilation, Part 1
The stunning images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) (Figure 1) over the past two decades, using a variety of optical instruments and sensors, have transformed our view, literally and figuratively, of the cosmos. But the Hubble’s story is also one of project conception, engineering persistence, joy, misery, embarrassment, improvisation, rehearsal, and eventual redemption. […]
Morse code, the first serial communication protocol
Today we tend to take for granted the fact that even PC-based oscilloscopes can automatically record and decode packets or frames sent via serial protocols such as 1-Wire, RS-232, and Ethernet. But back in olden times, the decoding of serial protocols was a job for humans. We are speaking, of course, of what was probably […]
Printed Circuit Boards, Part 4: Beyond FR-4
Part 4 concludes this FAQ with some fabrication issues and at substrates with performance which is multi-GHz-compatible and goes beyond that available using FR-4 material. Q: What’s the set-up situation for PC board fabrication? A: The production-level fabrication process is optimized for runs of tens, hundreds, and thousands of boards, as there is a set-up […]