July 24, 2008[Engineering Essentials] Designing Multichannel HBLED Systems
High-brightness LEDs (HBLEDs) are increasingly becoming the light source of choice in both general and specialty lighting applications. Advances in LED technology have led to higher lumens per watt. Improvements are also being made in package size, color options, color rendering index (CRI) ratings, binning, and temperature stability. LEDs bring flexibility, efficiency, and intelligence to any lighting application. A typical application of such...
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Ben Kropf
, et al.
July 24, 2008[Engineering Essentials] Beyond The $10 Million Light Bulb
Signed into law in January, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to establish the “Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prizes” (L Prize) competition. This contest is designed to spur the development of ultra-efficient, solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb. Specifically, the DOE hopes to replace the 60-W incandescent lamp and the PAR 38 halogen lamp. It also calls for a...
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Don Tuite
July 24, 2008[Pease Porridge] Bob's Mailbox
HI BOB, I am trying to build a test circuit that will produce a pulse current from a capacitor. My target is around 200 A at 100 ms. Is this possible? We have an instrument called a PVI that does the same only at lower current and at shorter duration, but I don’t know how it is being controlled. I hope you can give me advice or a basic control circuit that I can start working on. –ROMMEL C. VILLON HELLO, MR. VILLON, You...
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Bob Pease
July 24, 2008[Ideas For Design] Use A Boost Converter To Create An Auto-Dimmable LED Flashlight
Due to their light output and long life, high-brightness LEDs are well-suited for use in flashlights. Typically, the LEDs are driven with a constant current. So when the battery voltage drops, the flashlight just stops working. In some situations, this could be dangerous. It would be nice to have a flashlight that would automatically dim when the battery voltage drops. Just like a traditional flashlight, it would indicate a low-battery condition and...
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Jianwen Shao
July 24, 2008[Ideas For Design] Nanophosphate Batteries Create High-Energy, Rechargeable Source
This design shows how we combined four 36-V DeWalt DC9360 nanophosphate battery packs in a series-parallel configuration to create a robust, high-energy power source. Originally intended for the prototype Neodymics Cyclemotor electric bicycle kit, this power source may be used in other applications. Output power was at least 1.6 kW at 66 V, energy capacity was about 300 W-hr, and recharge time was one hour. Also, the claimed cycle life exceeds 2000. The...
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Jeff L. Radtke
July 24, 2008[Ideas For Design] Add On-Board Power Measurement Capability To Telecom Equipment
This idea shows how to monitor input voltage and current consumption for telecommunications equipment powered by two independent feeds: -48 V (A) and -48 V (B). Each feed supplies at least -42.5 V to -56.5 V, and for redundancy the feeds are ORed on the module. For maintenance and support purposes, it’s important to monitor input voltage, the feeds’ presence, and the module’s power consumption. ...
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Samuel Kerem
July 24, 2008[Engineering Essentials] Secret Sauce And Sandpaper
Continually improving white LEDs depends to a great extent on proprietary improvements in the chemistry and art of phosphor deposition. Cree considers that part of its intellectual property very secret. However, McClear was willing to talk about a recent breakthrough in backend processing, one that he figures the competition will catch onto fairly quickly. In fact, the development has to do with the LED diodes themselves. In normal practice, when the diodes on a wafer are...
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Don Tuite
July 24, 2008[Leapfrog: First Look] Smart As A Brick—A New Approach Rejuvenates IBA
By moving digital feedback and PMBus control upstream from point-of-load (POL) dc-dc converters in intermediate-bus-architecture (IBA) power-distribution schemes, Ericsson Power Modules may have sidestepped a patent problem that has all but dried up new IBA developments. The brains are now in the formerly “dumb” bricks that step down 48 V dc to whatever the POLs need. In addition to jumpstarting a stalled digital IBA, Ericsson’s engineers have improved system...
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Don Tuite
July 24, 2008[TechView: Communications] Cut Cost, Power While Delivering 10-Gbit/s Ethernet Over 30 m Of Copper
Designers can deliver up to 10 Gbits/s of Ethernet over 30 m of copper cable thanks to a pair of developments from Phyworks Ltd. The 24 AWG twin-ax cable is terminated in SFP+ connector assemblies that employ the company’s PHY2060 active equalizer, CDR, and retimer IC (see the figure). The PHY2060 was originally developed for optical-fiber applications, but it adapts well to the copper...
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Louis E. Frenzel
July 24, 2008[TechView: Communications] Powerline Modem Uses OFDM To Overpower Noise And Transmit Data Reliably
Powerline communications (PLC) has been available for many years, but it hasn’t always lived up to its expectations. Electrical utilities regularly use the technology to monitor and control ac power lines. Some companies have even tried offering broadband Internet services. But the high-speed limitations of the ac lines as well as noise and interference issues have impeded its progress. Still, designers can use PLC for monitoring and control...
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Louis E. Frenzel
July 21, 2008
[Web Exclusive] Still Working On My Solar-Panel ROI
“The meter’s running backwards!” I wrote that line in August 2006, quoting my wife Vicky, who was entranced by the most visible manifestation of what our just completed rooftop grid-connected solar system was achieving (“A Solar Story,” ED Online 13242). While that column covered the technical details of its installation, this story is about the economic advantages we’ve seen since then.
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Don Tuite
July 21, 2008
[Technology In The News] Infineon Power Electronics Run Chinese Hybrids
Chinese automobile manufacturer ChangAn Inc. has equipped a number of its vehicles in the Jiexun series with a mild-hybrid engine, using Infineon Technologies’ power electronics. The hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) will be used as taxis for athletes and spectators during the Olympic Games in Beijing.
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ED News Staff
July 17, 2008
[Technology In The News] iPhone Adds 3G Functionality, Drops Cost
iSuppli – After a teardown of the iPhone 3G, iSuppli Corp. confirmed a significant drop in bill of material (BOM) costs, indicating a cheaper end product than last year’s 2G iPhone. At $174.33, the BOM and manufacturing cost of the new iPhone is markedly less than the $227 that iSuppli estimated for the first-generation, 8 Gbyte 2G version in June 2007. This strip down results in about $100 less for consumers, totaling $499 for the iPhone 3G, whereas last year’s model called for $599.
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ED News Staff
July 16, 2008
[Technology In The News] Energy Harvesting Products, Micro Fuel Cells Poised For Success
At the Semicon West convention held earlier this month, several representatives from Darnell Group held a panel discussion on the energy harvesting and its forthcoming mass appeal. Speakers included Jeff Shepard, president of Darnell, Jerry ruddle, executive vice president with Advanced Cerametrics and Solicore’s vice president, Jarreth Solomon.
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ED News Staff
July 15, 2008
[TechScope] Tesla Roadster Gets Ready To Hit The Road In California
Next time you’re behind the wheel, don’t be surprised if the 100% electric Tesla Roadster pulls up next to you. According to Tesla Motors president and CEO Ze’ev Drori, 12 production Roadsters have arrived in California, and 27 more are in various stages of assembly. Drori also expects four more to arrive each week through August.
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Richard Gawel
July 10, 2008[Power Design] Protect Yourself From The Dangers Of Knockoff Battery Packs
In recent years, the news of individual battery incidents such as cell-phone and laptop fires has been eclipsed by factory fires and large recalls of lithium-ion (Liion) cells. Several large, well-known Li-ion cell suppliers have been affected. The most notable event was the recall of Sony batteries in 2005. Panasonic and, more recently, LG Chemical have had fires affecting their Li-ion manufacturing volume as well. While these factors present challenges for...
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Robin Tichy
July 10, 2008[Editorial] Show Videos Take Center Stage On ElectronicDesign.com
Most of you have probably noticed the influx of videos to electronicdesign.com over the past year or so. For the most part, these videos were shot at trade shows. Typically, a staff member at the show who knows something about video cameras hooks up with an editor to do video interviews. We shoot with a handheld, harddisk- based camera. When we get back to the office, a member...
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Joseph Desposito
July 1, 2008
[Technology In The News] National’s Technology Hikes Solar Array Efficiency
Jumping into the photovoltaic market, National Semiconductor Corp. has created a new technology designed to increase the overall energy output of solar power systems under adverse conditions. The SolarMagic technology extracts the maximum power efficiency from each photovoltaic panel, even when some panels in the array are compromised by shading, debris, or inherent panel-to-panel mismatching.
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ED News Staff
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