Volume 4
February 15, 2006

By Judy Miller
Associate Publisher

249 W. 17th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10011-5300
212.204.4246
Fax 913.514.9245
jmiller2@prismb2b.com

Prism Business Media
9800 Metcalf Avenue
Overland Park, KS 66212
PH: 913-341-1300

Dear Electronics Marketer,

The current issue of B to B magazine features an article "How To Market To Engineers." As a marketer to the electronics industry (estimated to generate $1.5 trillion dollars in 06), you are in an exciting place. Though the design engineer is truly a different breed, this article reinforced the notion that when all else is equal, design engineers will buy the relationship. For marketers, the key to building that ever important relationship is to diversify your program to both print and online.

The article cites a recent study done by CMP's Electronics Group, conducted across 4,000 design engineers. It shows that engineers use online far differently than print. According to the study, design engineers use information in print for "heads up" information about news on technology advances, and to learn about the competitive environment. They use online for "heads down" information, seeking product performance specifications or highly technical information on how to solve a specific problem. Furthermore, print ads drive readers to take action whereas online ads are all about customization and building the relationship. 

A common misconception is that adding online to a print campaign is costly. In fact, it is actually less expensive when targeted specifically to meet your marketing objectives. For example, suppose your product offers a solution for thermal management. Our newly revised Web site, powerelectronics.com, is divided into categories: Power Management, Discreet Semiconductors, Passives and Thermal Management and Power Systems . For less than the cost of a 1/2-page ad, you can buy every creative unit in this category and shut out the competition. You will not only be leading the market in thermal management, you will own it!

Another example is our Educational Webinar. There is no area of electronics that is not affected by POWER. Lead by our editor David Morrison, we will brainstorm with you to come up with a "hot topic." Not only will this  generate quality leads, but you will be participating in real time with potential customers in an education environment that puts them at ease. Power Electronics Technology's Educational Webinars offer you a venue that will enable you to position your company not only as a leader in the market, but actually set the standard!

In your quest to market to the engineer and create imaginative custom solutions, I welcome the opportunity to work with you. Please give a me call soon.

Best regards,

Judy Miller
Associate Publisher
212-204-4246

Cover Story: CAD/CAE: Single-Stage Isolated PFC Topologies
Traditional power factor correction (PFC) designs utilize a boost topology to fulfill the input power factor correction requirement. This topology results in a non-isolated high-voltage dc output, which is then converted to the required output voltage using a second-stage, isolated dc-dc converter. It would be preferable to perform the PFC and the isolation within a single converter stage. Steve Sandler and Charles Hymowitz consider four PFC topologies using Spice modeling to evaluate circuit performance.

Power Semiconductors:
Intelligent control of the Secondary Synchronous MOSFETs in DC-DC Converters
Half-bridge converters are well suited for applications in isolated dc-dc converters, such as eighth brick and sixteenth brick converters. These converters are used in applications requiring fully regulated outputs as well as those with unregulated outputs. Jess Brown, Vishay Siliconix, explains the requirements for implementing pre-bias start up, soft start up, and soft shutdown in half-bridge converters.

Power Management: Topology Selection by the Numbers — Part One
A critical choice in any power supply design is the selection of a topology, and designers often wonder whether they have selected the best topology available for a given design. In this three-part article, Ernest Wittenbreder, Technical Witts, introduces a new method called Component Stress Factor, which allows for direct numerical comparison of different power converter topologies. Part one defines this method and applies it to two simple converter topologies.

Power Systems: Design of Power Systems for Patient-Connected Medical Systems
IEC60601 is the specification that defines safety and EMC requirements for medical systems. It specifies where equipment comes into physical contact with the patient to function; it is classified as body floating (BF) applied part. The challenge for the designer is to ensure that the connection between the patient and the equipment minimizes leakage current under normal operation and also protects the patient from main voltages under fault conditions by isolating the patient from earth. In applications where an electrical connection is needed, the power system becomes the critical factor in achieving these requirements. Peter Blyth, XP Power, discusses techniques for satisfying isolation requirements, while still achieving good EMC performance.

Test Equipment: Making Low-level AC Power Measurements
Measuring the off line power consumption of a product placed in “standby” mode can be a complex task. Without the use of proper test equipment and techniques, the measurement will be suspect and possibly invalid. Kevin Parmenter, Fairchild Semiconductor, discusses methods and equipment that can be applied to take accurate and precise, low-level ac power measurements with an eye toward satisfying global energy efficiency standards. It presents test examples from the lab to demonstrate the right and wrong ways to obtain these power measurements and discusses requirements for test equipment by quantifying key test equipment parameters.

Power Design: Managing Power-Supply System Noise for EMC Compliance
Applying spread-spectrum modulation to switch-mode power supply design can help designers deal with switching noise and meet electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements. Specifically, a technique called dithering, whereby the power supply’s switching frequency is varied over time, provides a means of reducing the switching noise at any single frequency by spreading it out over a range of frequencies. Keith Curtis and Justin Milks, Microchip Technology, describe how to implement dithering using a small, low-cost microcontroller with a tunable oscillator.

Embedded Systems: April 3-7, San Jose, CA

SAE: April 3-6, Detroit, MI

Portable Power Developers Conf: April 3-5, Richardson, TX

Imagine having 30 years of Power Electronics Technology magazine at your fingertips!

Now you can in one DVD with the History of Power Electronics!

Presenting the first-ever, historical look back at the last thirty years in the power electronics industry. This ground breaking DVD is a searchable database of articles and issue covers dating back to the launch of our magazine in 1975, then called Solid-State Power Conversion. Designed as a research tool for electronics engineers, the DVD offers you the evolution of the industry at your fingertips!

To order online, click here and fill out the online order form, or click here for a pdf.

Call Judy Miller to discuss exclusive sponsorship of the Historical DVD.

Using the power of our print content, we’ve redesigned PowerElectronics.com to offer electronics professionals a quick and easy-to-use resource for the latest information on the topics they need to know about. Our new Web site features a database of searchable articles on Discrete Semis, Power Management, Motor Power Management, Passives/Packaging, Thermal Management and Power Systems.

As an advertiser, PowerElectronics.com offers you new sponsorship opportunities to increase your company’s exposure, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your company’s Web site. The new platform offers users and advertisers a superior site experience – greater search capabilities, detailed reporting of site usage and more flexible branding opportunities.

Click here for more online marketing opportunities or call your Sales Representative today for details.

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