You don't have to be a power engineer to benefit from attending the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), Feb. 15-19 in Washington, D.C. Analog engineers will find plenty of information available that will make their next design easier, too.

According to the company, the Analog Devices ADV7510 is the first Deep Color HDMI transmitter in the industry to integrate a consumer electronic control (CEC) controller and buffer for high-definition audio/video devices.

Analog designers may find new opportunities in security and health applications, which will use alternative sources of power like Power-over-Ethernet and energy harvesting.

The Contactron solid-state reversing contactor from Phoenix Contact combines four functions in a module that’s just 22.5 mm wide. Designed for three-phase ac motors up to 4 kW/5 HP in size, the contactor provides forward, reverse, overload protection, and redundant emergency stop contactor functionality.

The ITXPlus configurable loop-powered signal isolator from Weidmuller can measure, filter, and isolate different input parameters and then convert them into an industry-standard 4- to 20-mA output. With this unique capability and 12-mm profile, it saves both I/O wiring and panel space.

It’s curious how a nascent trend can unleash a breakthrough technology with far-reaching effects. The case at hand involves an evolving movement toward the commoditization of basestations that tends to favor direct-conversion receivers, according to Nitin Sharma, product marketing manager for high-speed converters at Analog Devices. This trend led ADI to look at the continuous-time (CT) sigma-delta architecture for a standalone analog-to-digital...

When I report on new products, I usually avoid claims that chips are “so many percent” better in some way than their competitors. That’s because specsmanship is a constant game of leapfrog. Sometimes a focus on specs can lead to an awkward situation. For example, Texas Instruments and National Semiconductor demonstrated the perils of dueling specifications last January by announcing new analog-todigital converters (ADCs) for the same application...

The other day, a guy wrote in requesting help. “How can I make an amplifier with adjustable positive and negative slew rates?” he asked. I instantly replied, “Easily,” and I drew this up. As soon as I got to work, I scanned and sent him the basic circuit (Fig. 1). You turn the P1 pot until the available current through R1 is adequate to give the desired maximum negative slew rate. Likewise, turn...

Representing this year’s best in the industrial category are an eight-channel, digital-input serializer from Texas Instruments and a six-degree-of-freedom (DoF) inertial sensor from Analog Devices. Both devices bring advanced functionality to industrial designs while saving significant space compared to similar solutions on the market. EIGHT-CHANNEL CONVERSION Designing high-density industrial automation systems that fit in...

When Analog Devices introduced its ADIS16209 dual-axis MEMS inclinometer and accelerometer as part of its iMEMS family late last year for industrial applications (â??Tiny Dual-Axis MEMS Inclinometer Simplifies Industrial Measurements,â?? Nov. 15, 2007, p. 34; ED Online 17442), it became an instant hit. In fact, our readers called it the Best Leapfrog of the year....

Today’s micro- and nano-structured sensors boast excellent linearity, resolution, and wide measurement ranges. As a result, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are playing an increasing role in many more applications. This design describes a novel use of such a sensor—a non-contact differential variable-reluctance transducer (NCDVRT)—in the pressure port of a system. The application involves the selection of a stainless-steel membrane and...

The data sheet for the LT3080 linear voltage regulator suggests using printed-circuit-board (PCB) traces for ballast resistors. Although the LT3080’s low offset voltage suits it well for this technique, it can be used for other ballast applications— for instance, for a set of bipolar transistors. For example, in the figure, ballast resistors R1 and R2 can be short lengths of copper trace. In a practical case,...

The prescaler described here connects to the front end of a 100-MHz frequency counter to extend its coverage range to 10 GHz. The circuit is a far less expensive way to measure frequencies above 100 MHz than buying a 1- or 10-GHz frequency counter. The divider was built inexpensively. Creating this low-cost prescaler required some tradeoffs, and some rules were not followed (discussed later in the article). When you use this or any similar ...

I needed a simple LED indicator showing that a particular voltage level had been reached—specifically, that a capacitor had charged to a particular potential. I was convinced that there must be a way that a programmable zener diode, such as the TL431, could be used but I found no simple circuits. My first thought was just to connect a series current limiting resistor and LED to the cathode so that the LED would light when the reference potential was reached...

After Electronic Design asked me to contribute something to this special issue, all kinds of possibilities ran through my mind. After all, it had been 40 years since my first ED article, which was itself an Idea for Design (IFD), “Gated Amplifier Uses FET in Feedback Loop,” in the Jan. 4, 1968 issue. So, what’s an IFD? The snappy answer is that it’s one of Electronic Design’s most popular editorial features. But more germane...