Battery Emulation Circuit Speeds Charger Testing

A simulated load circuit verifies the dc response and dynamic stability of a Li-ion battery charger in a faster, more convenient manner...

Don't Be Misled by Power Device Specs

Understanding that maximum device power is situation dependent can go a long way in explaining why semiconductor data-sheet specifications for power can be misleading...

Interleaving is Good for Boost Converters, Too

Long used to improve efficiency, reduce ripple, and shrink capacitor and inductor size in buck converters, the multiphase approach can provide the same benefits for boost converters...

Boosting Efficiency in Off-Line Power Converters

Innovative control techniques enable designers to minimize the losses so they meet 80 PLUS guidelines for power factor and efficiency...

Revamped Planar MOSFETs Are Ready for PFC

In DCM PFC circuits, the faster switching of new planar MOSFETs enables them to achieve higher efficiency than superjunction devices at power levels below 500 W...

Are Fuel Cells Ready for Takeoff?

Once again we're hearing rumblings that fuel cells are poised for widespread adoption in portable electronic products and other applications...

Data Points

U.S. Commercial Fuel Cell Demand to Grow Nearly Sixfold through 2012 U.S. commercial fuel cell demand, which accounted for less than 10% of total spending...

Isolated Gate Driver Outperforms Optocouplers

Silicon Laboratories's Si823x ISOdriver family combines a two-channel isolator and dual gate driver within a single 16-pin wide-body SOIC...

New Products

Wire-Wound Inductors Taiyo Yuden's BRC1608 family of wire-wound power inductors now come in the EIA 0603 case size...

Are Open Standards Redefining Telecom Power?

Released in December 2002, the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) standard was the first to specifically target telecommunications...

Driver ICs Boost Prospects for LED Flash

As handheld devices continue to upgrade built-in camera performance, companies look to improve white LEDs...

Extend Range of Current-Sense Amplifiers

One of several limits found is the maximum allowed voltage difference between the current-sense resistor and ground for the data-acquisition circuits...