Energy Metering May Link Grids and Chips
Jan 1, 2005
Spurred on by deregulation and new technology, utility companies have increasingly turned to electronic designs for their energy meters. There are many compelling economic reasons for doing so....
Circuit Analysis Accounts For Magnetic Fields
Nov 1, 2004
Ohm's law and Kirchhoff's voltage law (KVL) provide powerful tools for conventional circuit analysis (mesh analysis), but if time-varying magnetic fields...
Testing High di/dt Converters
Sep 1, 2004
There is an increasing demand for point-of-load (POL) converters that maintain good regulation in the presence of fast load transients (di/dt). For example,...
POL Measurement Functions Aid Power Systems Design
Jun 1, 2004
Typically, point-of-load converters (POLs) aren't viewed as diagnostic tools. However, that may change as power supply vendors begin to incorporate new...
Powering the Next Generation of ATE
Mar 1, 2004
Power instruments are unique because of their large size and power requirements, which restrict them from being plugged into a VXI or PXI chassis. Consequently,...
Are Trench FETs Too Fragile for Linear Applications?
Jan 1, 2004
A comparison of the forward-biased safe-operating-area
(FB-SOA) performance of one trench and one planar device
of similar die size is presented. The results educate designers
on issues concerning trench and planar MOSFETs in the
linear region of the device operating characteristics....
Testing Open- and Closed-Loop Current Sensors
Aug 1, 2003
Simple construction allows an open-loop Hall effect sensor to beat its closed-loop counterparts in terms of price, weight, and size; yet it may be susceptible to temperature variation and saturation....
Exploring Current Transformer Applications
Jun 1, 2002
For a variety of applications, using current transformers is an efficient way to sense current with minimum insertion loss....
FRA Measures Closed-Loop Response
May 1, 2002
Injecting a signal from a frequency response analyzer determines the gain and phase margin of a switching power supply....
H-Field Probes Spot Switchmode Supply EMI
Sep 1, 2001
A set of H-field probes and an oscilloscope locate and identify troublesome magnetic field sources of EMI in switchmode supplies....
High Slew Rate Electronic Load Checks New Generation Voltage Regulator Modules
May 1, 2001
Power consumption of modern microprocessors has been increasing as clock frequency and the number of transistors have grown. The general trend has increased maximum processor power consumption by a factor of a little more than two times every four years....
