Rise of the $50 Smartphone: Impact on Analog
The analog chip industry is facing more commoditization in mobile device products thanks to the boom in $50 smartphones produced by companies like Spreadtrum and MediaTek for China and emerging...
View ArticleIranian Cyberattacks & Energy Security
Amid the recent flurry of what the US government says are Iranian cyberattacks on US power companies (announced in late May), it is becoming increasingly clear that the country’s power grid...
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iPhone 6 Chips & Components Revealed
Apple announced it broke a record with 4 million first-day pre-orders of its recently announced iPhone 6, which was double that of the iPhone 5 two years ago. Several industry forecasts projected 9...
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GaN Prospects Boosted in IBM Graphene Epitaxy Discovery
Gallium nitride (GaN) offers significant performance benefits for a wide range of analog microchips, from RF-ICs to numerous power control ICs such as high-power HEMTs used in communications, energy,...
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GaN-on-Diamond RF Device Milestones
Technology achievements with respect to gallium nitride (GaN) continue to propel this material toward new horizons in the realm of RF devices. Its relatively high electron mobility (440 cm2 /(V-s) at...
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Advanced Processor Chip Scaling Driven by Latest Electronics
Last month, one of the top global reverse engineering chip firms, Chipworks, verified the Core M version of Intel’s Broadwell processor, using 14nm node size logic processor semiconductor technology,...
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Input bias current matters in precision measurements
Input bias current is a usually overlooked amplifier parameter that can have a significant effect on an amplifier circuit’s output accuracy. Sometimes the effect is small enough to be ignored, but...
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Make Class-D amplifiers sound better
Due to their small physical size and high energy efficiency, Class D amplifiers have become fixtures in smartphones and battery-driven artificial intelligence (AI) speakers, where space and power are...
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How to achieve fast charging with USB PD in portable devices
Today’s consumers want to conveniently and quickly charge their portable devices anywhere, whether in a business center or shopping mall or waiting for a flight or train. However, there are many...
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Overview of power supply design using online tools
Power supply application design is a distinct part of any electronic system development. A separate team of experts works on the power management part in systems ranging from simple appliances such as...
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How MCUs with analog features save board space, BOM costs in battery-powered...
The development of applications like security systems and wireless medical monitoring devices depends on several factors to ensure a successful design. However, design complexity and power efficiency...
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The common silicon issues in analog IP integration
Despite the fears of the last decade that Moore’s Law had finally reached its end, the microelectronics sector has continued to adapt to new physical constraints and product requirements through...
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Achieving EMC compliance via either internal or external filtering methods
Even though, as discrete units, power sources will normally be able to comply with relevant regulations concerning electromagnetic interference (EMI), it is within the context of a complete system that...
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Common packaging and PCB issues for SoCs
The first article in this series titled “The common silicon issues in analog IP integration” focused on system-on-chip (SoC) design issues related to incorporating analog IP. Here we begin expanding...
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Chip design converges with packaging and PCB in SoC era
The previous articles in this series showed how the successful integration of IP—especially analog/RF, but digital as well—is essentially pre-determined by the practices of the chip development team...
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Should you operate your step-down converter in power-save or forced PWM mode?
When it comes to step-down converters, also known as buck converters, a designer has to make many design choices that affect the resulting performance of overall system, including the choice of which...
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Radar sensors in home, office, school, factory and more
When we think about radar, we picture rotating dishes scanning the skies from atop air-traffic control buildings, radomes peering across the sea from coastal hilltops, and roadside police checking the...
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RF interference and the role of filters in Wi-Fi 6E designs
Widespread availability of Wi-Fi functionality on smart devices, the potential for an overall improved quality of service (QoS), and the ability to stream video to smartphones in dense environments has...
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Non-contact temperature sensing speeds DNA analysis
Accurate temperature measurement is needed in laboratory applications such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, which is used to identify bacteria and viruses in biological samples. Although...
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Force sensing eliminates false triggers on touchscreens
If you are a fan of analog gauges in your car, you aren’t going to like this. Dashboards are going completely digital, and the new consoles—such as the artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled MBUX...
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