The first two FAQs in this series considered the potential for metamaterials to have significant impacts on advanced optics, audio systems, thermal management, and various aspects of mmWave communications and radar. This final FAQ will consider the impact metamaterials are expected to have on energy harvesting (both solar electric and solar thermal) high-power long-distance power […]
FAQ
Metamaterials, mmWave antennas, 3D radar and holographic beamforming
Wireless communication, 5G mmWave devices, space communications, GPS, satellites, space vehicle navigation, automobiles, and airplanes are just some applications for metamaterial antennas. Metamaterials are engineered/manmade materials with properties not found in nature. Antenna designs based on metamaterials can significantly increase the radiated power. The latest metamaterial antenna designs can radiate up to 95% of the […]
Trends in photovoltaic energy conversion
Photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion (solar cells) is a rapidly growing and changing market. This article will dig into various trends that propel the increasing use of solar cells in applications of all sizes, from small portable devices to MW-sized utility-scale installations. These trends include the continued improvement in cost and efficiency for a variety of […]
Metamaterials’ potential for transforming electronics
Metamaterials are engineered/manmade materials with properties not found in nature. The emergence of metamaterials is expected to have a significant impact on a variety of electronics applications. These unnatural materials could have an impact similar to “MEMS” (micro-electromechanical system) technology, with the potential to bring transformational changes. This initial FAQ will briefly look into possible […]
Don’t get zapped — Using test instruments safely
Most engineers think they’ve minimized the chance of nasty surprises around the test bench when they’ve grounded their instruments and perhaps kept one hand in their pocket when working around high voltages. That said, there remain electrical hazards that are less obvious. They involve the electrical wiring and the environment around the lab. To begin, […]
A tradeoff case study: Sizing the current-sense resistor, Part 2
The conceptually simple idea to determine current by measuring voltage across a known resistor shows the subtle nature of design tradeoffs. Part 1 of this article looked at one important aspect of the choice of resistor value in current-sensing applications, but it was only the electrical impact. However, the thermal impact related to resistor I2R […]
A tradeoff case study: Sizing the current-sense resistor, Part 1
The conceptually simple idea to determine current by measuring voltage across a known resistor shows the subtle nature of design tradeoffs. There’s probably no phrase that misrepresents the realities of engineering design other than “hey, that should be no big deal.” Even simple-looking design decisions are often not so simple. The reality is that a […]
Basics of board-mounted dc-dc converter reliability
The reliability of board-mounted dc/dc converters is important to understand and quantify. It’s a measure of the frequency of system or device failures as a function of time. Reliability is the observed failure rate and is defined as either the time between two failures (in hours), called the Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), or the […]
EMC/EMI design and the use of board-mount dc/dc converters
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) are system-level considerations that have implications for power system design, especially when multiple board-mounted dc/dc converters are used in a distributed power architecture (DPA). EMC/EMI is a multidimensional consideration and includes differential- and common-mode noise on both the input and output of the converter radiated and conducted noise […]
Thermal management considerations for board-mounted dc-dc converters
System-level thermal design is equally important to the electrical specifications of board-mounted dc/dc converters. And the growing use of variations on a distributed power architecture (DPA) increases the complexity of thermal design. A single multiple-output ac/dc power supply is used to power the various loads in a conventional power architecture. The use of a centralized […]