Gustav Kirchhoff (1824-1887) was an accomplished Prussian physicist and instrument maker, and best known for his current and voltage circuit laws. Kirchhoff’s first circuit law, known as his current law, states that the algebraic sum of currents in a network of conductors meeting at a point is zero. Kirchhoff’s second circuit law, known as his […]
FAQ
System integration and debug: Go incremental or go “all up”?
There are two somewhat conflicting approaches for integrating and debugging a system, and you never know which would have been better – until the project is done. Bringing up and debugging a complex system with multiple functions and ICs is a challenge, no news there. You’ve got to make sure all the components play with […]
Battery Management Systems: Effective ways to measure state-of-charge and state-of-health
By Denis Larkin, Integra Sources Ltd. One of the purposes of battery management systems is to monitor the state-of-charge and state-of-health of rechargeable batteries. This article will tell you about these two metrics and the methods used to measure them. Rechargeable batteries are used in many solutions, but industries use battery management systems (BMSs) to […]
How RedCap fits into 5G and IoT
Targeted at IoT applications, the reduced-capability in 5G will support a wide range of devices and applications that don’t need high speed, but do need low latency and high-reliability. 5G’s real promise comes not from mobile phones, but from industrial and business applications where network operators hope to recover the huge investments they’ve made in…
How an integrated PMIC can optimize your data concentrator design
By Shashank Sharma, Texas Instruments For years, countries have been reforming their advanced metering infrastructure with smart meters, which measure not only electrical energy consumption and transfer that data to utility companies, but also enable two-way communication between the consumer and utility companies. This data includes consumption behavior, system monitoring, tamper detection, and customer billing. […]
What are reflectionless filters? Part 4: Implementations
Standard filters reflect unwanted stopband energy, but reflectionless filters present a seamless impedance across both stopband and passband which greatly improves performance of the RF signal chain. Filters are an area of intense interest, analysis, simulation, and often physical fabrication along with tests and academic papers. Yet, for hands-on design engineers, it’s important to be […]
What are reflectionless filters, Part 3: Basic principles
Standard filters reflect unwanted stopband energy, but reflectionless filters present a seamless impedance across both stopband and passband, which greatly improves performance of the RF signal chain. Beginning in 2011, Dr. Matthew A. Morgan of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Charlottesville, West Virginia, working with Tod A. Boyd and later with Wavley M. […]
What is Fourier transform IR spectroscopy?
Most EEs probably think of a Fourier transform in terms of an operation that converts time-based waveforms on a scope into their component frequencies. But Fourier transforms also play a role in infrared spectroscopy. It might be easiest to explain Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy by contrasting it with conventional spectroscopy. Also called “dispersive spectroscopy,” the […]
What are reflectionless filters? Part 2: The need
Standard filters reflect unwanted stop-band energy, but reflectionless filters present a seamless impedance across both stop band and pass band which greatly improves performance of the RF signal chain. The higher frequency world of hundreds of megahertz and into gigahertz is very different than the low-frequency world. It is a world where design tools […]
What are reflectionless filters? Part 1: Context
Standard filters reflect unwanted stopband energy, but reflectionless filters present a seamless impedance across both stopband and passband which greatly improves performance of the RF signal chain. Filters are an inherent, inescapable, necessary component in electrical and electronic circuits. Modern systems would be impractical and likely impossible without filters, whether at low frequencies down to […]