The new Tektronix AFG 31000 Arbitrary Function Generator is noteworthy in that the Home screen, accessed by pressing the Home button on the front panel, permits the user to choose a Basic or Advanced mode. The Basic mode resembles a traditional AFG, with a library of internal waveforms and menus that permit the user to […]
FAQ
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Part 1: How it works
The modern MRI system is an amazing blend of diverse technologies, based on the realization that a small but critical aspect of the spin of hydrogen nuclei could be leveraged to provide a safe, non-invasive way to see inside a human body. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an extraordinarily valuable and vital tool for non-invasive […]
How to create and run reusable register-test models
by Matthew Ballance, Mentor, a Siemens Business Register tests are a very useful smoke test at all design levels — from IP to subsystem to SoC. While the built-in register-test sequences in the UVM library are useful at the IP level, capturing register-test intent in a PSS model makes register-test functionality portable from the IP […]
Retargeting existing tests in an integrated SoC verification flow
by Matthew Ballance, Mentor, a Siemens Business The raison d’etre for portable stimulus is reuse. The Accellera Portable Stimulus Standard (PSS) promotes test intent reuse throughout the verification process and across the multiple engines on which those verification runs are performed. Test intent captured as portable stimulus models enables test reuse from the IP to […]
When asked the impossible, ask questions before proceeding
Sometimes a client will ask for the impossible and expect it at low cost. Or worse yet, the sales engineer in your company will win a project on a low bid because he/she thought it could be accomplished in a “creative” (but impossible) way. What if you were tasked with a wirelessly communicating embedded project […]
Powering graphics processors from a 48-V bus
New converter topologies and power transistors promise to reduce the size and boost the efficiency of supplies that will run next-generation AI platforms. Alex Lidow | Efficient Power Conversion Artificial Intelligence (AI), gaming, cloud computing, and autonomous vehicles all employ the latest generation of graphics processors (GPUs) in lieu of CPUs. The reasoning is that […]
Key factors in power supply selection
It pays to understand a few important electrical parameters that can dictate the kind of applications specific power supplies can handle. Florian Haas | Traco Power Group A few basic factors go into the selection of low-voltage dc/dc and ac/dc power supplies for OEM use. At the risk of stating the obvious, the key objective […]
Understanding single-ended and differential communication systems
Do you know the difference between single-ended and differential communication schemes? And when should you use them, which one you should use, and why? Single-ended communications set ups are meant to be used only for short runs or to provide communication between devices on the same Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Single-ended communications will reference the […]
Power operating limits: How to choose the right power supply
Not all power supplies react to over and under-voltages and currents in the same way. It pays to know the tradeoffs of different approaches to protection. Ron Stull | CUI Inc. Power supplies can experience operating conditions outside normal specified limits, such as input under- or over-voltage, or variations in load and ambient temperature. These […]
Why wide bandgap HEMPTs excel at efficient power conversion
High electron mobility transistors reduce power supply size thanks to a special make-up that eliminates sources of energy loss. Andrea Bricconi | Wei Deng, Infineon Technologies AG It is an exciting time for power supply designers. We are learning how devices based on wide bandgap (WBG) materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride-on-silicon […]