In This Issue...

Connectors Data Security Discrete Semiconductors

Elect ronic
OCTOBER 2011
PRODUCTS
No-nonsense tools for the busy EE

page 39

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 CONTENTs Vol. 54, No. 5 OCTOBER 2011

77 84
11
ENERGY-SAVING PRODUCT
OUTLOOK INITIATIVE UPDATE
Chip implant monitors Lithium batteries: the Transformers
tumors future of smart grids & inductors

COVER STORY DEPARTMENTS

PASSIVE COMPONENTS SPECIAL 6 Viewpoint: Designing for the ‘lost decade’
Our annual look at passive components — capacitors,
39 resistors, and their kin — that are in every electronic
device imaginable.
8 Product of the Year Story Behind the Story:
The making of a single-chip power manager

41 Capacitor 101 11 OUTLOOK (Technology News)

◾ Chip implant promises tumor monitoring
44 Line input resistors for chargers and supplies ◾ Nanometer-scale ferroelectronics on plastic
target energy-harvesting arrays
48 Meeting shrinking design objectives ◾ The AdvancedTCA-MicroTCA Summit
in San Jose
50 silicon-based timing devices compete
with quartz ◾ MEMS Congress

54 Electronic current limiters offer

superior protection
69 Product Application:
Class D amps in today’s high-power audio apps

58 Choosing inductive components for

high-speed interconnects 77 Energy-Saving Initiative Series:
Lithium batteries: Powering future smart grids

63 Testing passive devices for thermals and noise

effects 80 Product Roundup:
Benchtop test equipment
FEATURES
84 Product Update:
16
Connectors – Connectors for automation,
communication applications
Transformers and inductors

22 Connectors – FireWire stars in the Navy’s X-47B NEW PRODUCTS

88 Components & Subassemblies
Safety – safety-critical MCUs for
26 embedded systems 95 Power Sources

30 Data Security – Mobile information

security needs to get smarter 100 Integrated Circuits

102 Test & Measurement

34 Discrete Semiconductors – Improving
efficiency across all loading conditions
105 Boards & Peripherals
72 Smart Grid – Why DsPs are important
for the smart grid 107 Packaging & Interconnections

what’s ONLINE...
Digital imagery by Don Wilber.

electronicproducts.com Atmel AVR Software Framework let’s you stand

on the shoulders of software giants
Silicon carbide MOSFETs: Superior switching Atmel
technology for power electronics applications
Cree Innovative power semiconductor packaging for
through-hole applications
Connection system targets the most rugged International Rectifier
environments
Amphenol and much more!
Want to see what the Editors are thinking? www2.electronicproducts.com/ElectronicProductsBlogs.aspx
Cover Photograph

Electronic Products Magazine (USPS 539490) (ISSN 0013-4953)—Published monthly by Hearst Business Communications Inc./UTP Division, 50 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Suite 100, Uniondale, NY 11553. Pe-
riodicals postage paid Uniondale, NY and additional mailing offices. Electronic Products is distributed at no charge to qualified persons actively engaged in the application, selection or procurement of elec-
tronic components, instruments, materials, systems and subsystems. The publisher reserves the right to reject any subscription on the basis of information submitted in order to comply with audit regulations.
Paid subscriptions available: U.S. subscriber rate $65 per year, 2 years $110. Single issue, $6.00. Information contained herein is subject to change without notice. No responsibility is assumed by the pub-
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©2011 by Hearst Business Communications Inc./UTP Division. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Publications Mail Agreement Number 40012807. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Station A PO Box 12, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5

4 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

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VIEWPOINT
Designing for the
‘lost decade’
This is the time when great electronic design is going
to be needed more than ever before
T
he report Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance
Coverage in the United States: 2010 (www.census.
gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/
cb11-157.html) issued last month by the United States
Census Bureau is extremely
sobering. It said that in
2010, 15.1% of the U.S.
population, or 46.2 mil-
lion people, had dropped
below the so-called
poverty level. (The Office of Management and Budget
defines the weighted average poverty threshold for a
family of four in 2010 as $22,314.)
This was the third consecutive yearly increase in
the percentage of households below the poverty
threshold and the highest number of people since
the bureau began publishing this information 52
years ago. Further, the bureau found that the real me-
dian household income declined 2.3% from 2009 to
$49,445, the lowest level since 1996 and also the third
consecutive year in which the median dropped.
Household income levels decreased in all percentiles,
from richest to poorest.
The New York Times, in reporting on the Bureau’s
findings, quoted Lawrence Katz, a Harvard econom-
ics professor, as saying, “This is truly a lost decade....
we’re looking at a period when the median family is
in worse shape than it was in the late 1990s.” And
when we consider the current level of employment
and the rate of job creation in the U.S. today, it is
6 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
hard to see how this situation is likely to change in
the next few years, no matter what happens in the
2012 elections.
So this is the time when great electronic design is
going to be needed more than ever before. When I first
started out in business, a mentor of mine was fond of
saying “An engineer is a man who can do for a dime
what any fool can do for a dollar.” Obviously, this was
in the era before men’s consciousness had been raised
to the point where they finally understood that engi-
neering ability was not a sex-linked attribute. But I be-
lieve the expression of the economics of
good engineering is still correct,
and we need to bring this aspect of
engineering to its highest levels
now.
We live in a society in which
technology is really no longer a luxu-
ry, but an intrinsic part of everyday
life. Our society truly cannot func-
tion without smartphones, the Inter-
net, fuel-efficient vehicles, and the
like. If we are going to work our way out
of our current mess, we need to start engineering in
a way that allows even those with limited economic
means to buy the electronics needed to participate in
daily life.
To a certain extent, this will mean eliminating
some features that, while they may seem really at-
tractive, can’t be justified in terms of practical neces-
sity. Or it may simply mean creating not only de-
vices with those features, but also models that are
stripped down to essentials so they can be brought
to market at very attractive prices.
And there’s another advantage to designing this
way: It can open up global markets that were hereto-
fore untouched because devices were too expensive
for them. Ultimately, the approach can lead to fur-
ther development of new technolgies, like printed
electronics, which can revolutionize and greatly ex-
pand the reach of electronics.
Richard Comerford
To comment on this Viewpoint, go to
www.eebeat.com/p=4076
OCTOBER 2011
 Image sampling magnified
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may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. EP102011
 PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Electronic
products
The STory Behind The STory
EDITORIAL STAFF
516-227-1300 FAX: 516-227-1901
Content Operations Director Bryan DeLuca

The making of a single-chip

516-227-1379 • bdeluca@hearst.com

Senior Editor Paul O’Shea

power manager
Power Sources, Power Management,
Discrete Semiconductors, Circuit Protection,
Cooling Devices

T
941-359-8684 • poshea@hearst.com

Editor Christina Nickolas

he Lattice Semiconductor provide an intuitive design environ-
Analog/Mixed-Signal ICs, Analog EDA Software, Product of the Year, Platform ment for analog engineers (who like-
Oscillators, Electromechanical Switches, Manager provides a single- ly are not familiar with digital de-
Prototyping Tools, Microwave Components
516-227-1459 • cnickolas@hearst.com
chip solution for digital and power sign) that would enable them to
management functions, and saves implement complex designs in the
Technical Editor Jim Harrison
Digital ICs, Boards & Peripherals, Development
up to 50% cost compared to discrete FPGA section of Platform Manager.
Tools, Motors & Controls designs. It also increases reliability Lattice developed the platform
415-456-1404 • jpharrison@hearst.com and significantly minimizes time to because the traditional approach of
Editor Richard Comerford market by reducing the risk of cir- using multiple, off-the-shelf single
Test & Measurement, Optoelectronics, Sensors & cuit board re-spin. The product im- function ICs from different vendors
Transducers, Enclosures, Cabinets, Chassis
516-227-1433 • rcomerford@hearst.com
plements board-specific power can no longer deal with the com-
Contributing Editors Carolyn Mathas
Michael Kawa
Steve Evanczuk

Chief Copy Editor Leonard Schiefer

Custom Media Editor Beth Croteau
Online Researcher and Editor Jeffrey Bausch
Directory Coordinator Fran Panzica
Art Director Don Wilber
Artist Estelle Zagaria
Group Production Manager Thomas Young
Client Services Coordinator Marisa Giordano
Audience Development Director Carolyn Giroux
The Lattice Semiconductor design team (from left to right
Alfonso Marquis – Program Manager, Trent Whitten – Staff
Subscriber Service 1-866-813-3752
Design Engineer, Buck Bartel – Principle Design Engineer,
Tiep Pham – Sr. Mfg Product Engineer, Jeff Davis –
Group Publisher Steve Cholas Applications Engineer II, Randy Skinner – Staff Product
Electronics Group
Marketing Engineer, Shyam Chandra – Sr. Marketing
Director of Online Sales Robert McIntosh Manager, Chris Dix – Applications Engineer Staff,
and Operations CJ Gwo – Sr. Software Development Engineer
Also part of the team but not pictured:
Published by Brian Caslis, Chris West, Cliff Mair, Dan Sides, Jim Krebs,
Jonathan Ley, Nancy Knowlton, Robert Alvarado, Joy Zheng,
Hearst Business Communications, Inc.
Gordon Hands, Nguyen Nguyen, Richard Sun, Roger Spinti,
UTP Division
John Baker, Ray Spurrier, Chris Brewster, Diansheng Tao, Jim
A Unit of The Hearst Corporation
Doubler, Frank Xie, Minhtri Pham, Micky Thutiyakul, Huy Vy,
50 Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Burdette Robb, Ruben Navarro, Eric Lee, Eric Ting, Brian Tai
Suite 100 Uniondale, NY 11553
TEL: (516) 227-1300 • FAX: (516) 227-1901
management and digital-board plexity of platform management.
Robert D. Wilbanks
Treasurer management functions through The company observed that the in-
Catherine Bostron
programmability. The software- dustry needed an integrated ap-
Secretary based design methodology is flexi- proach, one that includes all the in-
William Barron ble and can be verified for correct- dependent payload functions for
Vice President, Publishing Director,
Electronics Group
ness through simulation. both power and board management
The Platform Manager did, how- (reset distribution, memory mapped
Adriana Marzovilla
Business Manager ever, have some challenges for its 36- I/O, fault logging, power-on config-
member team including the silicon uration) into a single chip. The proof
THE HEARST CORPORATION design and software developement. is a product that provides a single in-
George R. Hearst, Jr. The primary silicon challenge was to tegrated design solution for manage-
Chairman
minimize the effect of digital noise ment of a board’s digital and power
Frank A. Bennack, Jr.
Vice Chairman & Chief Executive Officer on analog accuracy. On the software functions.
HEARST BUSINESS MEDIA side, the primary challenge was to Paul O’Shea
Richard P. Malloch
President & Group Head
Robert D. Wilbanks
Group Controller

 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

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 Plug in to our Power Tools
Make better, faster power inductor choices
with Coilcraft’s powerful web tools.
Start with an IC, a converter topology, or
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OUTLOOK News about Products... Product Technology... Product Applications

Chip implant promises

tumor monitoring
A sensor implant may help in monitoring tumors that can’t be
operated on or that grow slowly

A
team of medical engineers at Tech- debris is present. Another concern is
nische Universitaet Muenchen that it has to be invisible to the body
(TUM) has developed an electron- so that it is not identified as a foreign
ic sensor chip that can determine the object, attacked, and encapsulated in
oxygen content in a patient’s tissue fluid. tissue. The sensor chip, as well as the
This promises the future use of chip im- analysis electronics, transmitter, and
plants that would monitor tumors that batteries are enclosed in a biocom-
can’t be operated on or that grow slowly. patible housing.
The data retrieved by the sensor im- The researchers are also looking
plant can then be wirelessly transmitted into adding additional sensors that
to the patient’s doctor to support the would be used for measuring acidity
The sensor chip and electronics have a compact
choice of therapy. When a drop in oxy- footprint — less than twice the size of a and temperature. They are also look-
gen occurs in the tissue surrounding the thumbnail. However, the package must be made ing into adding a tiny medication
tumor the doctor will know that the tu- even smaller before it can be implanted in pump, to be implanted with the sensor
cancer patients using minimally invasive surgery.
mor might be growing faster and can ar- chip, that would be used to release che-
range for an operation or refer therapies, such as chemo- motherapeutic agents directly to the tumor.
therapy. The tumor can now be constantly monitored and The sensor chip has currently passed laboratory tests
this can reduce required check-up appointments. with cell and tissue cultures. Of course, before moving to
The main concern for the researchers when develop- the next phase, the sensor has to pass trials in animals. For
ing this chip was that they had to make sure that the sen- more info you can contact Sven Becker — the engineer and
sor would function entirely autonomously for long peri- project manager for this development — at sven.becker@
ods of time. It also must continue to monitor and deliver tum.de or at 49 (0)89 2000 110-54.
accurate values even when protein contamination or cell Christina Nickolas

Nanometer-scale ferroelectrics on
plastic target energy-harvesting arrays
U
sing a technique known as thermochemi-
cal nanolithography (TCNL), researchers
Georgia Institute of Technology can fabri-
cate nanometer-scale ferroelectric structures di-
rectly on flexible plastic substrates that would be
unable to withstand the processing temperatures
normally required to create such nanostructures.
The technique uses a heated atomic force mi-
croscope (AFM) tip to produce patterns and could
facilitate high-density, low-cost production of
complex ferroelectric structures for energy har-
vesting arrays, sensors and actuators in nano-
electromechanical systems (NEMS) and micro-electrome-
chanical systems (MEMS). The research was sponsored by
the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department
of Energy. In addition to the Georgia Tech researchers, the
work also involved scientists from the University of Illinois
Postdoctoral fellow Suenne Kim holds a sample of flexible
polyimide substrate used to produce ferroelectric
nanostructures. Assistant professor Nazanin Bassiri-Gharb
points to a feature on the material, while graduate research
assistant Yaser Bastani observes.
Urbana-Champaign and the University of Nebras-
ka Lincoln.
Researchers say they can directly create piezo-
electric materials on flexible substrates for use in
energy harvesting and other applications. The
structures are directly grown with a CMOS-com-
patible process and are patterned at very small
scales. The scientists produced wires approximately 30 nm
wide and spheres with diameters of approximately 10 nm
using the patterning technique. Spheres targeting ferroelec-
tric memory were fabricated at densities exceeding 200
Gbytes/in.2

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 11

OUTLOOK
The ferroelectric materials exhibit charge-generating
piezoelectric responses an order of magnitude larger than
those from materials such as aluminum nitride or zinc ox-
ide. The polarization of the materials can be easily and rap-
idly changed, giving them potential application as random
access memory elements. But the materials can be difficult
to fabricate, requiring temperatures greater than 600°C for
crystallization. Chemical etching techniques produce grain
sizes as large as the nanoscale features researchers would like
to produce, while physical etching processes damage the
structures and reduce their attractive properties. Until now,
these challenges required that ferroelectric structures be
grown on a single-crystal substrate compatible with high
temperatures and then transferred to a flexible substrate for
use in energy-harvesting.
The thermochemical nanolithography process uses ex-
tremely localized heating on the AFM tip to form structures
only where the resistively-heated AFM tip contacts a precur-
sor material. A computer controls the AFM writing, allowing
The AdvancedTCA-MicroTCA
Summit in San Jose
S
ales for AdvancedTCA and microTCA systems in 2011
are expected to top $1.5 billion. I know “platform” is
getting to be an overused term these days, but it fits
here better than anywhere else. These platforms form a great
basis for telcom, military, and industrial control systems
and everything you need to know about them will be dis-
cussed and demonstrated November 1st and 2nd in San
Jose. There will be four keynote speeches and 16 technical
sessions. Here are a few of the companies with items on the
exhibit floor you might want to check out.
CommAgility (www.commagility.com) in booth 307 will
show you the AMC-2C6678 card that combines 16 of the lat-
est C66x+ DSP cores from TI, run-
Conjugality’s
AMC-2C6678 ning at 1.25 GHz, with a power-
card ful Xilinx Virtex-6 LX240T
FPGA, for maximum signal
and image-processing perfor-
mance across a range of application
areas. Backplane I/O covers both Gigabit
Ethernet and the latest SRIO V2.1 standard at up
to 20 Gbits/s per port, and front-panel I/O is three SFP+ ports
to the FPGA, allowing a range of communication standards.
Diversified Technology (www.dtims.com/atca) in booth
409 can provide a VMware compatible virtualization solu-
tion for the embedded server space based on AdvancedTCA.
DTI has certified the ATC6239 PICMG 3.0–compliant pro-
cessor board with the latest version of VMware’s ESX and
ESXi hypervisors — allowing a shortened time to market.
ebm-papst (www.ebmpapst.us) in booth 308 will show
you the improved aerodynamics and motor technology of a
new diagonal fan. This new product, the DV6300, will ap-
peal to a broad spectrum of markets such as IT, telecommu-
nications, and other industries where improved efficiencies,
12 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011
the researchers to create patterns of crystallized material
where desired. To create energy-harvesting structures, for ex-
ample, lines corresponding to ferroelectric nanowires can be
drawn along the direction in which strain would be applied.
To begin the fabrication, a sol-gel precursor material is
applied to a substrate with a standard spin-coating method,
then briefly heated to approximately 250°C to drive off the
organic solvents. The researchers have used polyimide, glass
and silicon substrates, but in principle, any material able to
withstand the 250°C heating step could be used. Structures
have been made from Pb(ZrTi)O3—known as PZT, and Pb-
TiO3—known as PTO.
As a next step, the researchers plan to use arrays of AFM
tips to produce larger patterned areas, and improve the heat-
ed AFM tips to operate for longer periods of time. Ultimately,
arrays of AFM tips under computer control could produce
complete devices, providing an alternative to current fabri-
cation techniques. Find more information at http://www.
gatech.edu/newsroom/release.html?nid= 68848
Paul O’Shea
high pressure and flow, and reduction in acoustical noise is
desirable.
Elma Bustronic (www.bustronic.com) will be in booth
201 showing new backplanes with four 10 Gbit/s channels.
They feature a controlled-impedance stripline design of 18
layers in a dual-star routing configuration. The 40G ATCA
Backplane includes dual shelf manager connectors in slot 0
for redundant IPMB implementation and up to 400-W/slot
48-Vdc distributions to each slot. Shelf managers on the left
side of the backplane can be front-pluggable cards in slot 0,
allowing a full 14 slots.
Emerson Network Power (www.Emerson.com/Embed-
dedComputing) in booth 301 will have the ATCA-8310, a
state-of-the-art AdvancedTCA DSP/media-processing plat-
form for power-efficient high-density voice- and video-
transcoding functions. The blade features a flexible mix of
processing technologies to support “DSP farm” architectures
for scalable voice and video gateways, "gateway-on-a-blade"
architectures for small systems with just one or two blades,
and packet processing on Intel processors.
Freescale Semiconductor (www.freescale.com) in
booth 402 will demonstrate the P2020-MSC8156 Advanced-
MC reference design. This is a multi-standard baseband de-
velopment platform targets next generation wireless stan-
dards such as LTE, WiMAX, WCDMA, and TD-SCDMA. The
single-width full-height AMC platform, integrates the QorIQ
P2020 processor with a MSC8156 DSP, providing the system
building blocks for rapid prototyping.
GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms (www.ge-ip.com) in
booth 306 will have the ATH40G, providing next genera-
tion 40G ATCA backplane connectivity. The fully managed
ATCA HUB blade features two Fulcrum Alta switches. It sup-
ports 720 Gbit/s aggregate bandwidth, enabling non-block-
 800MHz, 31dB Analog VGA

LTC6412

20
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r Ga Fr e q
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O ve . O ve n g e
is te n t R a 10
, C ons Te m
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St a ble a n c e
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Pe r f o r
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Con
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OIP3 GMIN
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a n t Po –20
C ons t nce
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G a in s 1 10 100 1000 10000
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F la t ne Frequency (MHz)

®
High performance — no compromises. The LTC 6412 is exceptionally consistent across its frequency, gain, and operating
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OUTLOOK
ing backplane connectivity for up to 16 slots.
Nari Networks (www.narinetworks.com) in booth 203
will demonstrate the NTPM-8000 40 G ATCA blade for fine
granularity traffic management and flow based packet classi-
fication. It’s powered by dual EZChip NP-4 NPUs and a 480-
Gbit/s switch fabric to provide 12x 10-Gbit/s service ports for
wire speed packet processing with all features enabled.
N.A.T. GmbH (www.nateurope.
com) in booth 305 will be very
happy to show you the
The
NAMC-QorIQ-P40 single-
NAMC-
width AMC board that QorIQ-P40
combines the best of two single-width AMC
board from N.A.T.
worlds: Freescale’s octal PowerPC
cores (e500mc) and Xilinx’s Virtex-6 FPGA. The commu-
nications processor fits LTE equipment or VoIP applica-
tions requiring control and data plane processing.
PT (www.pt.com) will have, in booth 406, the powerful
10/40GbE MicroTCA.4 based Monterey system that bridg-
es the gap between ATCA and MicroTCA with its open-
standards architecture for aggregation layer applications
‘MEMS is mainstream’
says MEMS Congress
T
his year, the MEMS Industry Group’s annual MEMS
Congress makes it a key point to recognize that the
MEMS technology is no longer a technical oddity em-
ployed only in esoteric electronic systems, but a part of ev-
eryday life. Therefore it follows that the Wednesday, No-
vember 2, keynote speaker, Livingston Securities CEO Scott
Livingston, should choose as his topic “Financing innova-
tion in the public markets — How to Unleash the Great
American Innovation Machine” to look at the fiscal require-
ments for the new mainstream technology.
Livingston will then moderate a market analyst panel
composed of Forrester Research Vice President Julie Ask,
iSuppli Director Jeremie Bouchaud, Yole Développement
GM Jean-Christophe Eloy, and Semico Research Chief of
Technology Tony Massimini. The panel members will pres-
ent their outlook for future growth and trends in MEMS,
examining new opportunities for growth, new applications
for MEMS, as well as market leaders and losers.
Thursday’s keynote will be by IBM Rational Client Part-
nerships Program Director Per Asberg. His speech is entitled
“Accelerating Innovation Through Systems Engineering
Best Practices.” By examining IBM’s role in helping stream-
line the development design process for real-world systems
in automobiles, electronics, and medical devices verticals,
Asberg will provide best practices on how organizations can
help their engineering teams produce new, innovative prod-
ucts within stringent budgets and deadlines.
Micralyne President and CEO Nancy Fares will then chair
a panel called “MEMS Foundry Models — In-House, Fab-Lite,
Fabless” to look at how MEMS fabrication has evolved, creat-
ing fabless and fablite manufacturing; while some companies
make the choice to keep their fab in-house.
14 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011
ranging from mobile networks, gateways, IMS services,
and security systems, to content inspection, fault-tolerant
communications, business services, and military opera-
tions.
SANBlaze Technology (www.sanblaze.com) in booth
407 has the ATCA2000 ATCA storage blade that supports
up to 6 Tbytes of SAS storage or 4 Tbytes of SSD in a single
slot. Expansion via a JBOD blade doubles these capacities
for two ATCA slots. It supports both 10-Gbit/s iSCSI and
NAS protocols and adds offloaded FCoE target support.
V Rose Microsystems (www.vrosemicrosystems.com) in
booth 307 will have the VRM-AMC-MPX
full-size advanced mezzanine card car-
rier board for MPX modules (Mi-
croSys PPC EXtendable
modules). The card fits V Rose’s
VRM-AMC-
embedded markets such MPX carrier
as industrial controls, board fits many
automation, communications, de- embedded markets.
fense/aerospace, and medical.
Jim Harrison
A new event this year, the MEMS Technology Showcase,
will emphasize that MEMS devices are now found every-
where. Selected participants will give a five-minute presen-
tation and product demonstration, and attendees will select
the best product.
The first afternoon session will focus on the latest trend
in MEMS, “MEMS Sensor Fusion/Sensor Networks.” Spon-
sored by STMicroelectronics and moderated by Coventor
President and CEO Michael Jamiolkowski, the panel will
present examples of sensor fusion in healthcare, consumer,
automotive, and industrial applications.
The final panel will review the continued expansion of
MEMS in consumer products. Moderated by InvenSense
CEO Steve Nasiri, the panel will discuss consumer applica-
tions with great potential for MEMS and the role of software
and sensor integration.
The final presentation will be by Toffler Associates Busi-
ness Director Aaron Schulman, examining the drivers of
change that are shaping the future. He notes that “Over the
next 20 years, corporate executives and scientists in and
around the MEMS industry — and, indeed, in all industries
— will face unprecedented challenges brought on by accel-
erating change, both nationally and globally. .” Schulman
will describe how organizations must be ready to adjust
plans and risk management practices rapidly to succeed.
Richard Comerford
The MEMS Congress will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 2 and
Thursday, Nov. 3, at the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa in Mon-
terey, CA, followed by a golf outing on Friday, Nov. 4. For in-
formation on attending, visit www.memsindustrygroup.org/i4a/
pages/index.cfm?pageid=3915.
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Connectors for automation,
communication applications
Seriously consider metric and industrial Ethernet and
USB ruggedized circular connectors for your designs
BY FRED KOZLOF
Tech Support, CONEC
www.conec.com
and BRAD SWANLUND
Product Manager
B&B Electronics Manufacturing
www.bb-elec.com
W
ireless connectivity has gen-
erated significant attention
in the last several years as se-
curity issues are resolved and the prod-
uct mix begins to mature. The deter-
mination of whether to use wireless
vs. wired must be made at the applica-
tion level.
Generally, wired connections are
still preferred due to the significant-
ly higher volume of data they can
carry compared to even the best
wireless configurations. Also, wire-
less introduces a slight latency in
conveying data that is not present in
wired connections. Latency comes
from the “handshaking” protocols
required to establish a wireless con-
nection and assure reliable data de-
livery. For wireless, the atmosphere
and terrain may vary and corre-
spondingly change system perfor-
mance. With wired systems, the
variables are fixed and therefore
more consistent.
Circular connectors are used in
many automation technology appli-
cations, such as sensor signal trans-
mission and low power supply, or for
data communication in field bus
technology. Metric-sized circular con-
nectors, such as the M12 and M8,
have been around for many years, but
product evolution and technology
advancement has provided perfor-
mance enhancements and broadened
their applications. The M12 connec-
tor, for example, is a standard product
that is available from a number of
suppliers. It’s a compact yet very rug-
ged IP67 connector designed for harsh
environments that provides a small
16 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Connectors
footprint, pin counts in the range of 3
through 12, gold-plated contacts for
low-level signal integrity and high re-
liability. Although this is a standard
connector that has been commod-
itized, there are still some features
and new configurations available
from different suppliers that should
be considered when specifying such
connectors for a particular design.
Field-attachable versions
Field-attachable connectors allow for
stripped wire to be attached to a con-
nector in the field using just a screw-
driver. This facilitates a faster, less com-
Fig. 1. RJ45 connectors, such as these from CONEC,
with bayonet coupling mechanism are now available
that conform to IEC 61076-3-106 standards.
plicated installation. For example, some
cables may be challenging to install
due to the process of feeding them
through holes as small as 6 mm.
Circular connectors that can be ter-
minated in the field solve this prob-
lem, compared to buying double-end-
ed, overmolded cable assemblies that
require holes or spaces of 20 mm or
more. Also, if the exact cable length is
unknown, cable length may be sized
on the job, avoiding ordering errors.
When selecting a product, try to
identify products that are field attach-
able. This gives the installer a clear
benefit when feeding wire through
various pieces of equipment and bar-
rier openings. The same ease is nearly
impossible with an overmolded cord-
set that already has a connector termi-
nated on it.
OCTOBER 2011
Also consider whether an axial
construction or a 90° angled con-
struction might be beneficial. The
90° angle provides a lower profile/
clearance advantage for tight space
installations. Finally, make sure the
field attachable that you specify
maintains the IP67 (or greater) integ-
rity of the whole system.
Overmolding
Overmolded metric-type connectors
can improve the durability and stream-
line the size, as well as the appearance
of a cable connection. Overmolding
can also reduce the cost of lifetime
ownership of cable assemblies, mak-
ing it an important consideration for
harsh environment applications. An
extra strain relief around the wire ter-
minations offers increased durability
that results from the overmold mate-
rial bonding to the cable jacket. The
overall assembly thus gives a high-reli-
ability connector on each end, with
customer specified cable properties in
between.
In addition to overmolding, cable
jackets must be specified. Some perfor-
mance parameters to consider include
UV and sunlight resistance, low tem-
perature flex rating for indoor-outdoor
applications, burial, chemical/oil-re-
sistance, weld slag, and high-flex
needs with millions of cycles possible.
Overmolded connectors are available
in right angle and straight, shielded
and unshielded versions. LEDs embed-
ded in the overmold material provide
an easy indicator of signal integrity or
power, as an option.
Additionally, overmolding makes
some customization possible, such as
private labeling with company logos,
custom lengths, and colors.
High temperature
Demands for higher temperature resis-
tance continue to increase in industrial
Introducing our latest line of SMA connectors: Features:
The EPSMA™ (Enhanced Performance) series of the t


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SBOHF
DC to 27 GHz
Standard SMA product line provides mode free t


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performance to 27 GHz. In addition, these connectors t



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DPOöHVSBUJPOT
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of field replaceable styles with industry standard t


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1.866.282.4708 | www.CarlisleIT.com | rf@CarlisleIT.com


Connectors
automation, so this may be one of the
most important considerations for an
equipment designer and installer. For
these applications, some suppliers offer
high-temperature connectors, some
which can withstand 8,000 hours at a
constant temperature of 125°C, with
temporary peak values of up to 150°C
over 2,000 hours. Such connectors are
a particularly good fit for food and bev-
erage industry applications, as long as
18 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Connectors for automation, communication applications
they also meet the requirements and
industry standards for chemical and
temperature resistance.
Today, circular connectors can be
made of materials that meet those
high hygienic needs and extended
times at extreme temperatures. Be sure
to recognize in your specs the need to
tolerate harsh cleaning agents, in addi-
tion to high-pressure cleaning pro-
cesses. If you need to withstand high-
OCTOBER 2011
pressure wash downs, you must specify
protection class IP69 K.
Industrial data bus protocols
The use of field bus technology in the
industrial sector has increased rapidly
over the last few years, and if paired
with a cable assembly that uses a circu-
lar connector, the protocol types need-
ed are important to define at the de-
sign stage. Data bus systems such as
Profibus, DeviceNet, and Industrial
Ethernet each have their own defined
type of connector, and in some cases,
color-coding, contact arrangement,
and wiring code.
The construction and design of the
connectors that are necessary for data
communication are bus-specific and
should be carefully selected. Circular
versions are available for Profibus DP,
industrial Ethernet, and DeviceNet
protocols in several specifications
from a number of manufacturers.
RJ45 and USB products
While metric-type connectors have be-
come the standard in industrial appli-
cations, RJ45 and USB circular connec-
tors are expected to become more
popular. Market demand has resulted
in new families of RJ45 for Ethernet,
and USB interfaces in ruggedized forms,
and offer an IP67 rating, or better.
In the industrial automation mar-
ket, much of the upload and download
activity that goes on in programming
machines is done via Ethernet and/or
laptop computer. Such connections
can be plugged into a sealed RJ45 con-
nected point-to-point allowing for
easy download of data without requir-
ing machine shutdown. The rugge-
dized circular body of the RJ45’s hous-
ing is ideal for this, because it protects
against exposure to any kind of abuse
or ingress from dust, dirt, or water.
Housing materials can be plastic, met-
alized plastic, or die-cast zinc.
For structured, industrial cabling
in accordance with Realtime Ether-
Net/IP specifications, RJ45 connectors
with bayonet coupling mechanisms
are now available that conform to IEC
61076-3-106 standards (see Fig. 1). The
receptacle housing kits are available in
front- or rear-panel-mount with differ-
ent termination technologies.
Inside the device, connections can
be made with inline couplers, IDC, or
solder termination options with ap-
propriate strain relief to tolerate ma-
 Connectors for automation,
Connectors communication applications

Fig. 2. USB connector

systems for harsh
environments can be used
for front or rear mounting
into a panel with a
thickness up to 3.2 mm.

chine vibrations. This

recent product devel-
opment provides for
reliable connections for heavy industrial environments. The
mating cable applications can be specified for either indoor or
outdoor use.
The same protection is true of the ruggedized circular
USB housing (see Fig. 2). USB connector systems for harsh
environments can be used for front or rear mounting into a
panel with a thickness up to 3.2 mm. The integrated USB
connector meets USB 2.0 specifications, and provides IP67
sealing performance when the connector halves are fully
mated or the protection cap is applied.
The new addition of USB ruggedized connections now
adds to the data and peripheral possibilities in applications
for harsh environments, such as thumb-drive-loaded appli-
cations and data storage.
Using RJ45s and USBs in these industrial applications are
examples of the connector industry pushing standard I/Os
to the edge in terms of where they’re used. Previously only
used in office-type, clean environments, today’s I/O con-
nections are being tested by a growing need for instant on-
line access by all kinds of machinery.
Many designers want to access their complex electronic
and control systems via the Internet. These new ruggedized
circular connectors enable that ability. Factory floor devices
can now be equipped with these types of connectors. The
need to troubleshoot from a remote location is driving this
trend. Remote access is the key, and the Ethernet interface
provides that.

Price and availability

Last, but definitely not least, pricing and availability are the
most significant considerations in specifying connectors for
industrial applications. While traditional circular connec-
tors based on MIL-originated specifications and sizes were
considered too costly and hard to get, the current metric
circular connectors, RJ45, and USB can be chosen and deliv-
ered in the shortest time period, and at very reasonable
prices, especially considering their robustness in a harsh in-
dustrial environment. If a connector is needed for an instal-
lation on a factory floor, short lead time is critical. Even with
the latest features and advancements, in the end, a design
engineer wants to work with the supplier that won’t delay
installation. ■

About the authors

Fred Kozlof has been in the connector industry for more
than 30 years. Now with Conec Corp. in Garner, NC, Kozlof
is heavily involved with several families of IP67 connectors
for harsh environments.
Brad Swanlund has been in the industrial networking
market for over 15 years. He serves as a product manager for
B&B Electronics and specializes in industrial automation
and connectivity products.

20 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011


FireWire stars in the
Navy’s X-47B
Network backbone in vehicle
management system delivers QoS
and predictable network latencies
BY RICHARD MOURN
Astek
www.astekcorp.com
T
he Northrop Grumman X-47B
is a demonstration Unmanned
Combat Aerial Vehicle that be-
gan as part of DARPA's J-UCAS pro-
gram. Today it is part of the United
States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air
System Demonstration (UCAS-D)
program to create a carrier-based un-
manned aircraft. The original vehicle
carries the designation X-47A Pega-
sus, while the follow-on naval version
is designated X-47B.
When the developers of the X-47B
were designing a network
backbone for real-time con-
trol applications in the air-
craft’s vehicle management
system (VMS), they turned
to the IEEE 1394b standard,
also known as FireWire. The
X-47B required a network
backbone to provide guar-
anteed quality of service
with predictable latencies in
real-time control applica-
tions, which it achieves by
being coupled with SAE-de-
fined AS5643, the mil 1394b
standard.
Because of the critical na-
ture of the vehicle manage-
ment system the X-47B im-
plements three redundant Vehicle network architecture. Colors, shading, and outlines could indicate highly centralized structure
buses each with their own different types of nodes on the buses. (Image courtesy of SAE AS5643.)
vehicle management com-
puter delivering information about
mission details, communication sys-
tems, weapon systems, engine con-
trols, and flight controls. Northrop
Grumman Corporation and the Navy,
along with their many partner con-
tractors, selected the 1394b network
standard based on the success of the
F-35 program.
22 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Connectors
The X-47B employs
Stealth technology and
has a wingspan of just
over 62 ft and a length of
38.2 ft. Capable of alti-
tudes greater than 40,000 Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman
ft and a range greater
2,100 nautical miles, this autonomous-
ly air-refueled UAV can stay in theater
for days while carrying weapon pay-
loads of nearly 4,500 lbs. Powered by a
Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220U jet en-
gine, the X-47B achieves high subsonic
speeds and is equipped with the latest
in EO, IR, SAR, ISAR, GMTI, MMTI,
and ESM sensor technology.
Vehicle management system
network
IEEE 1394b was chosen as the Vehicle
Management System (VMS) network
based on its deterministic behavior,
speed, bandwidth, fault tolerance and
long distance capabilities, and also
because 1394b enables operational
software to be remotely downloaded
OCTOBER 2011
to network modules without remov-
ing them.
Main X-47B flight control and sub-
system processing are completed in a
triplex network of the Vehicle Man-
agement Computers (VMCs), which
act as the master for each 1394b bus.
The three VMCs are cross-channeled
and data-linked together to provide
redundancy. In addition to
the triplexed VMCs, the X-
47B takes advantage of 1394b’s
loop topology feature to pro-
vide additional redundancy
protecting against single port
or cable failures. If a single
port/cable fails, the 1394b bus
will automatically reconfig-
ure using the alternative path
for communication.
IEEE 1394b delivers the
high bandwidth, and when
coupled with AS5643’s fixed-
frame-rate synchronization,
it provides the predictable la-
tencies that allow the VMC
to house all flight control al-
gorithms and all utilities in a
in manner that interfaces
easily to legacy buses such as
1553. The architecture also makes use
of independent controllers for appli-
cations that require dedicated, high-
bandwidth control loops, according
to Northrop Grumman engineer Mat-
thew Pugh.
The VMC incorporates guidance,
navigation, and control as well as
subsystem processing that have been
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 FireWire stars in the Navy’s X-47B
Connectors

performed separately on legacy air-
craft, according to Pugh. Compo-
nents residing on the 1394b network
serve the following systems:
• Vehicle Systems Processing, VMC
and RIO (remote input/output
units).
• Guidance, Navigation and Control
with all flight control surfaces, in-
cluding ailerons, elevons, and spoil-
ers, use of data from the air data
probes and inertial electronics.
• Subsystems such as weapons bay
door drives, precision navigation,
pump and valve control for the fuel
and hydraulic systems;
• Propulsion Systems EIUs (Engine
Interface Unit), and prognostics
health area managers;
• Mission Systems including inter-
face with the mission operator,
waypoint management, mission
planning and validation, command
and control data link path with the
VMS;
• Flight Test Instrumentation, in the
form of a high-speed data acquisi-
tion unit on each bus for capturing
flight test data.
1394b serves X-47B's distance
requirements
Commercial implementations of
1394b are typically limited to 4.5 me-
ters between devices, but the X-47B
uses AS5643/1 specified active trans-
formers, quad cabling, connectors,
and termination methods to robustly
operated at distances up to 10 meters.
These enhancements also ensure op-
timal operation in the harsh tempera-
ture and vibration environments that
characterize safety- and mission-criti-
cal applications for military and aero-
space vehicles.
Test requirements met by
commercially available tools
To meet the special test requirements
for the X-47B design, test tool pro-
viders were able to use existing and
commercially available technology
to provide electrical signaling and
protocol level tools.
For example, Quantum Paramet-
ric's Signal Quality Tester provides
transmit signal integrity and receiver
sensitivity testing, and the FireSpy
1394-protocol analyzer from Dap
Technology has been widely used in
the program. Both test systems are
used as part of system debug and
sub-system qualification, as well as
module acceptance testing.
"The success of 1394b in this
high-profile, mission-critical pro-
gram led by Northrop Grumman re-
flects the bandwidth, distance and
quality of service features enabled by
the standard," said Richard Mourn of
Astek Corporation, a member of the
1394 Trade Association board of di-
rectors. "The guaranteed quality of
service and predictable latencies pro-
vided by 1394 are ideal for these
kinds of applications, as well as in
the consumer, computer and indus-
trial markets."
For the 1394b standard, the suc-
cess in the X-47B is its second suc-
cessful deployment as an aircraft
VMS network. It has been success-
fully deployed in the F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, where more than 70 1394
devices are delivering information
about mission details, communica-
tion systems, weapon systems, en-
gine controls, and flight controls. ■

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24 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Safety

Safety-critical MCUs
for embedded systems
Processor architectures play a critical roll
in the design of safe devices
BY KARL GREB system can operate uninterrupted or where either an attempt will be made
Functional Safety Technologist place itself into a safe state to prevent to recover from the fault and continue
and DEV PRADHAN injury or equipment damage. operation or the fault will be con-
Hercules Product Line Manager tained and the system put into a safe
Texas Instruments Safe island design operating state.
www.TI.com
Functional safety state of the art gen- Safety MCUs such as the RM4x

E
lectronics play an ever-increas- erally recognizes two categories of and TMS570 Hercules families from
ing role in products whose op- faults: systematic and random. Sys- TI employ an architectural concept
eration is critical to the preser- tematic faults often arise from errors known as a “safe island.” The basic
vation of human life, whether on the in the processes of development, man- idea involves a balance between ap-
factory floor, during your morning ufacturing, or operation, and are man- plication of hardware diagnostics
commute, in the operating theater, or aged via robust processes which in- and software diagnostics to manage
in myriad other locations. Ensuring clude checks and balances on each functional safety while balancing
these products always operate in a activity. Random faults are those that cost concerns. With this approach, a
“safe” manner and meet the stringent are inherent to an application, use core set of elements are given con-
functional safety requirements of case, or operating environment when tinuously operating hardware-based
standards such as IEC 61508 or ISO implemented within designed param- safety mechanisms. This core set of
26262 is a big task. eters. Since the inherent failure rate of elements — including power/clock/
Robust development processes, random faults typically cannot be re- reset, CPU, flash memory, SRAM,
in-depth hazard and risk analyses, duced, designs focus on the use of and their associated interconnect —
thoughtful system designs, and care- safety mechanisms to detect and man- is needed to guarantee functionally
ful selection of hardware and soft- age random faults. Once a fault is de- correct software execution
ware components are all critical to tected by a safety mechanism, the Once confidence in the correct op-
ensuring functional safety. Further fault must be signaled to the system eration of these elements is estab-
increasing the chal-
lenge for the design
engineer are aggres-
sive time-to-market
demands and cost
constraints that can
be found even in safe-
ty-related systems.
As with any elec-
tronic design, build-
ing a safe system re-
quires a balance of
reasonable risk versus
cost. The ultimate goal
of safety is to be able
to detect and recover
from errors so that the

Fig. 1: MCUs with a

safety architecture, like
the Hercules series,
provide a significant
advantage for designs
needing IEC 61508 or
ISO 26262 approval.

26 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011


Safety
lished, software executing on these
elements can provide software-based
diagnostics on other system elements,
such as peripherals ports. This concept
has proven viable through multiple
generations of safety-critical products
in the automotive area.
For example, the Hercules MCUs
have a variety of safety features in
hardware (see Fig. 1). Hercules safety
MCUs include three families — the
dual-core lockstep RM4x for high-per-
formance applications, the dual-core
lockstep TMS570 for transportation
systems and the single-core TMS470M
for low-cost safety applications.
Hardware safety functions
Power, clock, and reset: Any com-
prehensive safety architecture must
start with a solid foundation. Ensur-
ing functional power, clock and reset
generation is key. A voltage monitor
is used to detect out of range core or
I/O supply voltage and put the device
into a reset state if faults are detect-
ed. Frequency drift and clock slip
also need to be detected - all the way
from the main internal clock to all
derived and distributed clocks.
Processor: The processor core is
usually the most complex piece of
logic and involved in almost every
operation, making it a natural candi-
date for using a lockstep safety mech-
anism. With this approach, one of
the dual cores is wired to take the
same input as the functional core. A
compare module confirms that the
outputs of the two cores are the same
on a cycle-by-cycle basis.
To address the possibility of com-
mon mode failure, as can occur with
duplicated logic, temporal diversity
of the cores is considered, operating
the cores two cycles out of phase.
Physical design diversity is imple-
mented by flipping and rotating the
checker CPU with respect to the
functional CPU. Guard rings also
provide an additional layer of physi-
cal separation between operating
and the checker care. When imple-
mented in a deep submicron process,
providing a lockstep CPU does not
significantly increase power con-
sumption or reduce performance.
As effective as a lockstep CPU im-
plementation can be, it cannot de-
tect a failure until the circuitry is in
use. Logic built-in self-test (LBIST)
diagnostics provide high coverage
28 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
on the CPU at a transistor-level using
the same design for test (DFT) struc-
tures used to test the part during
manufacturing. LBIST requires less
execution than comparable soft-
ware-based diagnostic approaches,
and reduces the memory overhead to
store software diagnostics. The Her-
cules LBIST allows hardware tests to
be executed in batch at power up or
in periodic time slices during normal
operation.
Memory: Both flash (instruction
memory) and SRAM (data storage)
must be watched over. Error-correct-
ing code (ECC) technology encodes
data in a way that enables detection
of corruption, and also allows cor-
rection of single-bit errors so
system operation can con-
tinue uninterrupted. In the
unlikely event of two-bit er-
rors occurring within the
same block of memory, a
failure event is triggered to
alert the system that memo-
ry has been corrupted.
Traditionally, the ECC
controller is integrated into
the memory block, which
has the drawback that data
is vulnerable while data is
on the memory bus. Moving
the ECC controller into the
CPU addresses this issue
since the integrity of data is
Fig. 2: Safety features implemented in hardware reduces
confirmed for the entire software overhead related to diagnostics by up to 30%.
time it is not being stored by
the CPU. Because of the tight cou-
pling of the ECC controller logic and
the CPU, no processor overhead is
incurred for this safety mechanism
and it is checked by both the lock-
step and LBIST diagnostics.
Peripherals: Hardware safety
mechanisms need to be allocated to
peripherals for the management of
random faults which are not easily
captured by software. Examples in-
clude parity on peripheral SRAMs, I/
O loopback capabilities to check the
input/output paths from peripherals,
BIST of peripheral memories, memo-
ry protection units on bus master pe-
ripherals, and limitation of control
for critical configuration registers
based on CPU privilege levels.
Mission-critical signals: Real-
time checking of mission-critical sig-
nals, such as feedback information
from a motor, can be enhanced us-
ing multiple input channels. For ex-
OCTOBER 2011
Safety-critical MCUs for embedded systems
ample, both the A/D converters on a
Hercules MCU can be configured to
receive the same input signal and a
check can then be done in software.
System lockup: Traditionally,
system lockup is detected using a
watchdog timer that requires the
software to regularly reset the timer.
However, it is possible that a system
could become locked in a loop of
code where the watchdog timer is re-
set. Such failures can occur from
software or clocking issues. A win-
dowed watchdog timer addresses this
issue by requiring the timer to be re-
set within a defined window of time
and triggering if the timer is reset
too soon.
Error signaling: If a failure does
occur, the MCU needs to notify the
system’s safety-monitoring subsys-
tem so that it can place the system in
a safe state. The MCU should also be
able to provide detailed information
such as the severity of error.
Time to market
Implementing safety features in
hardware not only accelerates time-
to-market, speeds certification and
results in more reliable system opera-
tion, it can reduce software overhead
related to safety diagnostics by up to
30% (see Fig 2).
Safety-based MCUs most certain-
ly accelerate new design system cer-
tification. And, MCUs like the Her-
cules series come with a
comprehensive safety manual and a
safety analysis report targeted at ei-
ther IEC 61508 2nd edition or ISO
26262 standards. ■
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Mobile information security
needs to get smarter
Voice and data communications security continues to improve
with the evolution of hardware
BY WILLIAM HOLMES
International Development Consultant
GOTrust Technology
www.GO-Trust.com
M
obile communications has
grown at a phenomenal
rate since the first cell
phone in the early 1970s. In fact, the
concept of going just about any-
where and staying connected has
deeply impacted the framework of
society. For example healthcare data
is shared among medical profession-
als using sophisticated portable de-
vices and soldiers deployed in far-
away places can receive real-time
situation information essential to
their missions.
Keeping wireless information se-
cure has always been an issue and is
growing more so as devices become
more multifaceted and ubiquitous.
Software-based solutions have filled
the need by delivering mid-level se-
curity, but today the rules have
changed. Stronger, hardware-based
security is a requirement for virtual-
ly all business and personal commu-
nications.
Enterprise users in government,
military, healthcare, and industry
have long demanded higher levels of
security and now individuals and
small business owners must safeguard
information in the same way. All this
is driving security developers toward
cost-effective, easy-to-use hardware-
based security that can lock down ev-
eryday portable devices such as smart-
phones, tablets, and PCs.
Wireless growth and
evolving threats
Basic telephone communication is
not secure and can be intercepted.
Improvements in this situation have
been driven by military conflicts
30 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Data Security
and diplomatic issues. Keeping com-
munication secure is essential for the
armed forces and during World War
II a number of phone scramblers
were developed. Many were inher-
ently weak systems and were fre-
quently monitored and decoded.
More hardware muscle was required
and in 1943 Bell Labs delivered two
50-ton room-sized hardware mon-
sters called SIGSALY that were used
for safe communication with the Al-
lies in Europe until 1946.
Over the next 40 years, govern-
ments and military entities de-
manded even greater focus on se-
cure voice and data. They advocated
for telephone communication,
which then almost exclusively re-
lied on landlines, scrambling and
encrypting handsets such as the STE
(Secure Terminal Equipment); these
handsets are still used by the gov-
ernment. One feature worthy of
note is that in the later versions of
the STE, the crypto algorithm is
contained in a standalone/plug-in
(Fortezza) PC-sized crypto card, a
concept that has been reborn in to-
day’s smartphone.
The large portable phones of the
1970s and into the 1980s were usually
installed in cars or carried in brief
cases. By the 1990s, truly portable 2G
phones were proliferating. This grow-
ing popularity caused cellular opera-
tors to use a GSM 64-bit encryption
algorithm (A5/1) to protect conversa-
tions. By late 2008, this de facto wire-
less standard had been completely
broken and offered no protection
from a determined hacker.
Wireless security
options today
Well before the GSM algorithm was
broken users with confidential infor-
OCTOBER 2011
mation were looking for added layers
of security. At the top end of the
market, and very expensive, we have
specially manufactured secure mo-
bile phones that include unique
pieces of hardware. Available for
about $3,300, the General Dynam-
ics’ “Sectera Edge” was developed for
the NSA and supports communica-
tion certifications up to Top Secret
level. It is rumored to have replaced
President Obama’s Blackberry.
At the other end of the spectrum
are the analogue scrambler boxes –
these connect between the headset
and the mobile phone, and require
the user to work with a headset. At
about $250 each, they offer limited
processing capability and need an
extra box that must be carried around
with your cell phone. Its advantages
are not widely embraced, and this
shows that security features need to
be seamless to be effective.
Some users rely on software only
solutions running inside the device’s
operating system. With software
managing encryption processing,
key handling, and key storage, these
functions are at least sometimes in
the open, leaving them potentially
susceptible to hacking or trojan at-
tacks. Further, with all the security
processing done by the device’s CPU,
the quality of the voice can often
suffer. These solutions are not inex-
pensive, ranging from $500 to $750
per user for appropriate features and
acceptable performance.
Hardware integration
increases security
The middle price bracket also offers
users hardware-based secure ele-
ments, such as microSD type devices.
This is where a secure processing
chip is built into a microSD form fac-
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 Mobile information security needs to get smarter
Data Security

tor, creating a hardware element that
can work in a standard “off-the-
shelf” smartphone (if it has a mi-
croSD slot).
At the low end of the se-
curity spectrum, appli-
cations use the secure
chip (usually an 8-bit
chip) to do strong au-
thentication (hand-
shaking to eliminate
“man-in-the-middle”
attacks) and to store
keys. But the encryp-
tion processing is done
in the open and again
relies on the phone’s Fig. 1: Layout showing the components of the GO-Trust KingCall Scrambler.
CPU. To enable higher
security, a microSD can integrate a
32-bit crypto processor powerful
enough to do all the encryption
and decryption inside the secure
crypto chip environment.
For example, the GO-Trust King-
Call scrambler has encrypting and
decrypting for all communications
on the microSD rather than on the
device itself, preventing data from
being intercepted, and removing the
opportunity for snooping, trojan,
and hacking attacks. It includes an
application that maintains a private
network and keeps address books
and call history encrypted and se-
cure and for less than $38 per user-
month.
These characteristics define ideal
features for mobile encryption solu-
tions today:
• Secure crypto hardware for all
cryptographic and key exchange
operations
• Crypto algorithm strengths of:
RSA 2048, SHA-256, AES-256.
• Secure crypto hardware certified
by Common Criteria EAL 5+
• An encryption module is
certified by NIST in the
U.S.
• Unique private and
public keys that are
generated inside the
secure crypto hard-
ware at the first log-
in, with a private key
that is never ex-
posed.
• A voice encryption
key (AES-256 session
key) that is generated by
a true random number generator
inside the secure crypto hardware
and exchanged by RSA and Dif-
fie-Hellman. It must be unique
for each phone call thereby sup-
porting backward secrecy, even if
both phones were stolen.
The ideal hardware-based solu-
tion would meet these criteria and
also include a comprehensive and
easy-to-use caller interface. ■

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These low-cost miniature power supplies are fully featured with
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The well regulated DC outputs include 3.3V, 3,8V, 5V, 9V, 12V, 15V
and 24V single output options plus +/-5V. +/-12V and +/-15V dual
output options. The RAC06 converters are also available with a
flying wire option (/W) for off-board use. The converters are both
EN60950 and UL60950 certified for safety. Applications include
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important.
 Discrete Semiconductors
Improving efficiency across
all loading conditions
Combining a quasi-resonant flyback controller and synchronous
rectification provides excellent efficiency over all load levels
BY BRIAN KING and ROBERT TAYLOR
Applications Engineers, Texas Instruments
www.ti.com
N
ow that the green revolution is
firmly entrenched, power sup-
ply designers have successfully
brought to market many innovative
techniques for reducing power loss.
These techniques usually come with
tradeoffs, often as higher costs. Improv-
ing efficiency at light-load conditions
may require sacrificing power at heavy-
load conditions, while the opposite
may also be true. Here we look at ways
to improve efficiency across all loading
conditions in offline flyback converters
for the commercial market. These sup-
plies tend to be rated for <50 W and
have output voltages of 12 V or less.
Diode-rectified flyback
The most common flyback converter
uses a diode to rectify the secondary
winding voltage on the transformer (see
Fig. 1a). At light loads, much of the pow-
er loss is related to the power supply’s
switching frequency. These losses in-
clude gate drive loss, COSS loss (output
capacitance) in the main power FET,
and turnoff switching loss in the FET.
To improve standby power con-
sumption of commercial products,
IC makers have developed families
of pulse-width modulation (PWM)
controllers that implement a burst-
mode operation at light load. During
burst-mode the controller submodu-
lates the switching frequency at a
much lower frequency, sending
bursts of energy through the trans-
former. This dramatically reduces
the frequency-dependent losses.
These green ICs also tend to enter a
state of reduced quiescent current dur-
ing burst-mode to further reduce pow-
er losses. Because the output is lightly
loaded, the output capacitor is able to
hold up the output voltage between
34 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
bursts without much droop. The out-
put diode is reverse biased, which pre-
vents the power supply from pulling
any energy from the output capacitor.
Most burst-mode flyback control-
lers also implement quasi-resonant
control. With quasi-resonant control,
the controller monitors the trans-
former winding voltage through the
auxiliary bias winding. At the end of
a switching cycle, after most of the
energy has been depleted from the
transformer, the output diode is re-
verse-biased and the voltage on the
drain of the primary MOSFET reso-
nates with the residual energy. The
quasi-resonant controller takes ad-
vantage of this resonance and waits
Fig. 1: Simplified schematics of a diode-rectified flyback (a), synchronous flyback (b), and ideal
diode flyback (c).
until the drain voltage is at a mini-
mum before starting a new switching
cycle. This reduces losses due to dis-
charging the COSS of the FET. By de-
fault, quasi-resonant control man-
dates discontinuous operation.
While diode-rectified flyback
controllers minimize light-load pow-
er loss, their efficiency at heavy loads
usually is less than impressive. All of
the energy transferred from the in-
put of the power supply to output
must pass through the output diode.
Power loss in the diode becomes one
of the biggest barriers to achieving
high efficiency at heavier loads. This
is particularly true at lower output
voltages, where the ratio of the diode
OCTOBER 2011
drop to output voltage is higher.
The power loss in the output diode
can be significantly reduced by replac-
ing it with a MOSFET as shown in Fig.
1b. This configuration is commonly
referred to as a synchronous flyback.
Here, this synchronous MOSFET is
driven directly from an auxiliary
winding on the transformer.
Alternatively, the synchronous
MOSFET could be driven by the pri-
mary controller through auxiliary gate
drive circuitry. In a synchronous fly-
back, the voltage drop across the MOS-
FET is now reduced to the product of
the current in the switch and the on-
state resistance. This can dramatically
increase the full-load efficiency of a
power supply, especially for lower out-
put voltages like 3.3 and 5 V.
Synchronous flyback
Unfortunately, light-load losses are
sacrificed in the synchronous flyback
circuit of Fig. 1b. Unlike the diode rec-
tified flyback, the synchronous fly-
back allows current to flow in both
directions in the secondary winding
of the transformer. This forces the
converter to run in continuous con-
duction mode at all load levels.
Even with no load on the output,
there can be significant currents circu-
lating between the input and output
capacitors. Additionally, during the
switching transition when the syn-
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Discrete Semiconductors
chronous MOSFET turns off and the
primary MOSFET turns on, usually
there is a finite amount of time where
both switches are on simultaneously.
This overlap-transition results in
shoot-through currents and burns ex-
tra power. To minimize this, a syn-
chronous MOSFET with very fast turn-
off characteristics is required.
Implementing burst-mode in a
synchronous flyback converter is
prohibitively complicated. A quasi-
resonant controller cannot be used
because the synchronous flyback al-
ways operates in continuous conduc-
tion. Furthermore, during the dead-
Fig. 3: A dual-
output USB charger.
36 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Improving efficiency across all loading conditions
Fig. 2: Plotting
efficiency
versus load
current shows
that the ideal
diode
approach
minimizes loss
across all
loading levels.
time between bursts, the synchronous
MOSFET completely discharges the
output capacitor. Extra circuitry
needs to be added to detect burst-
mode operation and, subsequently,
disable the synchronous MOSFET.
New-gen MOSFET drivers
Fortunately, a new generation of syn-
chronous MOSFET drivers has been
developed that can be used to leverage
the advantages of quasi-resonant con-
trol, burst-mode operation and syn-
chronous rectification. These drivers
monitor the drain voltage of the syn-
chronous MOSFET to sense when the
transformer’s sec-
ondary winding cur-
rent has decreased to
near zero.
OCTOBER 2011
At this point the synchronous
MOSFET is turned off, preventing con-
tinuous conduction operation. In this
way, the driver and MOSFET act like
an ideal diode (see Fig. 1c). Because the
switch still exhibits the unidirectional
behavior of a diode, burst-mode and
quasi-resonant control are still allowed
and can be used to improve the light-
load efficiency. Further, since the volt-
age drop across the device is signifi-
cantly reduced, efficiency at heavy
loads is also dramatically increased.
Figure 2 helps to visualize the advan-
tages of the ideal diode by comparing
the typical efficiency curves of the
three different approaches.
Figure 3 shows a schematic for a
smartphone/tablet charger that im-
plements these efficiency improving
techniques. This example power sup-
ply uses the UCC28610 for the quasi-
resonant primary controller and the
UCC24610 to control the synchro-
nous MOSFET on the secondary.
The design can charge and power
two devices simultaneously, for a total
output power rating of 25 W at 5 V.
This supply runs from a universal in-
put range (85 to 265 Vac), consumes
only 110 mW of standby power, and
has greater than 86% efficiency at
maximum load. ■
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Elect ronic
OCTOBER 2011

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Line input resistors

for chargers and
supplies ������������������ 44

Meeting shrinking
design objectives������ 48

Silicon-based timing
devices compete
with quartz ������������� 50

Electronic current
limiters offer
superior protection �� 54

Choosing inductive
components for
high-speed
interconnects ���������� 58

Testing passive
devices for
thermals and
noise effects ����������� 63
 Find It Here. Faster.
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PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Capacitor 101
What they didn’t teach you in engineering school
BY DAVE VAN ESS
Application Engineer, MTS
Cypress Semiconductor
www.cypress.com
A
ll in all, they have a lot of nerve
calling a capacitor a “passive”
component (it’s more like pas-
sive aggressive if you ask me). Like
most of you, my first formal exposure
to capacitors was in first year physics,
then again in my first electronics
class. I got even more in analog and
fields and wave classes. In all cases,
they were treated as ideal. THEY ARE
NOT! I had to learn about real capac-
itors one mistake at a time. Here is
what I have learned.
Capacitors are used for the follow-
ing different areas. I will discuss the
first three.
• Power supply decoupling.
• Analog filters.
• Calibration and node tweaking.
• Energy storage.
Power supply decoupling
One of the first designs I did right out
of collage was a digital board with a
handful of small-scale-integrated
(SSI) ICs: I built it up, and of course it
failed to work. I asked one of the se-
nior guys for help, and he asked where
the bypass caps were. I naively said
this was a digital design and didn’t
need caps. He gave me a pained look
and told me to go simulate a digital
inverter with Spice. I did so and found
that a significant pulse of current is
required of the supply whenever the
output transitions. The bypass cap al-
lows this current to be supplied with-
out impacting the supply.
For bypass caps, I prefer 0.01 to
0.1-µF Z5U ceramic caps. Z5U is an
EIA class 2 dielectric that has a low
cost, small size, and really rotten tem-
perature stability, but capacitance
change as a function of temperature
is not important in bypass caps. They
can easily be found in a range of val-
ues from 2200 pF to 3.3 µF. The only
special
other important parameter is the rat-
ed voltage. A good rule of thumb is to
get a cap with a rated voltage at least
twice the supply voltage.
Besides local bypassing, there will
need to be a bulk capacitance. Gener-
ally this is either tantalum or alumi-
num electrolytic capacitors. Both
have polarity and can fail dramati-
cally if a reverse polarity voltage is
supplied. However, they pack a lot of
capacitance into a given volume. Tan-
talum is the preferred capacitance be-
cause of its low equivalent series resis-
tance (ESR). A model of the ESR is
shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1: The equivalent series resistance (ERS)
limits the ability of a bulk capacitor to deliver
or absorb current.
The purpose of the bulk caps is to
supply or absorb pulses of current.
For an ideal capacitor, its impedance
to a step change is zero. This means a
smaller tantalum cap can be used to
replace an aluminum cap. Tantalum
caps have better frequency charac-
teristics, are generally smaller values,
and are constructed from a dry pro-
cess that does not degrade over time.
Aluminum caps, for their part, are
cheaper.
Rated voltage is important but so
is the ripple voltage spec. With more
switched regulators, the bulk capaci-
tor is used to remove the ripple. The
ripple is seen across the ESR resistor
and causes heat. Excess heat will de-
grade a capacitor and cause prema-
ture failure. Think of the ripple as
the sun, the ESR as a magnifying
glass, and the capacitor as the poor
bug. Too much heat, and something
is going to die.
Analog filters
This is where things go nuts. You
could use a poly cap (polypropylene,
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
poly carbonate, polyester), ceramic,
mica, glass, Teflon, foil capacitors, or
film capacitors. It gets SOOO confus-
ing. Well let me try to simplify it.
Use NP0 and X7R ceramic capacitors.
They will work most of the time. X7R
capacitors are an EIA class 2 dielec-
tric. They are slightly piezoelectric
and are readily available in values
from 100pF to 22 µF. They come in
tolerances of ±5%, ±10%, and ±20%,
with a variation over temperature
(–55°C, 125°C) of ± 15%. NP0 capaci-
tors are an EIA class 1 dielectric.
They have negligible piezoelectric ef-
fect and are readily available in val-
ues from 1pF to 0.1 µF. They come in
tolerances of ±1%, ±2%, ±5%, and
±10% (prohibitively priced below
±5%), with a variation over tempera-
ture of ± 30 ppm/ºC. The NP0 capac-
itors are more accurate but they are
also more expense and are limited in
maximum values. With 5% NP0 ca-
pacitors and 1% resistors, it is feasible
to design multistage filters.
The limitation of ceramic caps is
seen with filters with roll off frequen-
cies below 1.5 Hz and high-resolution
dual slope ADCs. This limitation is
caused by dielectric absorption.
Dielectric absorption is the in-
ability for a capacitor to release all its
stored energy in a timely manner.
Figure 2 shows a very simplified mod-
el of dielectric absorption.
Fig. 2: Very
simplified
dielectric
absorption
model.
The dielectric absorption (DA)
value is defined as the ratio of these
two capacitors and is expressed as a
percentage. X7R ceramic capacitors
have a DA of about 1% and are typi-
cally acceptable for filter values down
to 1Hz. Below that and you will need
a “poly” cap. Polyester and polycar-
bonate capacitors have a typical DA
OCTOBER 2011 41
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PASSIVE COMPONENTS

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Fig. 3: A DAC and ADC replace a very large,
very expensive capacitor integrator feedback
high-pass filter.
value of 0.2%. Polypropylene capaci-
tors have a typical value of 0.1%.
One solution is to use a very low DA
capacitor. A polypropylene cap would
be a good choice, but they are expen-
sive and large, which limits moving
your design to an integrated solu-
tion.
tweaking
With passive dividers, the ac should
have the same attenuation as the dc.
An example of this is a scope probe
shown in Fig. 4.
For the ac and dc attenuations to
match dc, the cap across the 9-MΩ
resistor should ideally be 9 pF. On
the left, a wide range trimmer was
used. An option is to use a smaller
range trimmer and construct an on-
board capacitor. This allows for three
times the sensitivity.
Construction of board capacitors
is a very powerful tool. A trick I
learned for high common mode re-
jection circuits adjusts the capaci-
tance on similar nodes to within 0.5
pF. The test I use is to imagine an
impedance check bug sitting on a

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Fig. 4: Exploiting
circuit board
capacitors allows for
better sensitivity in
calibration.
Since most likely the signal is going node. If it cannot determine which
to be digitized, the analog integrator channel it is on, then your design
can be replaced with a DAC and a sim- will have superior common mode
ple digital filter. The topology is shown rejection.
Well, that’s it. 30 years of experi-
below. Instead of buying an expensive
cap, I prefer to replace it with an ADC ence in a thousand words. Not very
and DAC. Figure 3 is a block diagram fast for a typist, but fast enough for
for a high-pass filter. an analog guy. ■

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PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Line input resistors for
chargers and supplies
Selecting a line input resistor is not simple,
and involves many conflicting factors
BY STEPHEN OXLEY
Senior Applications Engineer
TT electronics
www.ttelectronics.com
D
esigners of power supplies and
battery chargers are faced with
many requirements, driven by
the need to minimize manufacturing
cost while maintaining standards of
product safety. A key component
in realizing these require-
ments is the line in-
put resistor.
Selecting
a line input
resistor is not a simple task, and in-
volves many conflicting factors. On
one hand, the resistor must be suffi-
ciently robust to survive repeated in-
rush surges and occasional power line
transients. On the other hand, the re-
sistor is often relied on for failsafe
flameproof fusing in the event of a
short-circuit bridge or capacitor fail-
ure. And, while safety is always para-
mount, certain applications come
with additional requirements like si-
lent fusing, so that in the event of fail-
ure, a consumer is not alarmed.
Functions of the line input
resistor
A line input resistor has several poten-
tial functions, the relative importance
of which varies between applications.
44 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
SPECIAL
Inrush current limiting
First, a common requirement is to lim-
it the peak value of the inrush current.
This is a transient high current, which
flows at switch-on of the PSU and is
caused by the initial filling of the en-
ergy storage capacity in reactive com-
ponents. In most cases this is due to
charging of reservoir capacitors, but in
some high-power applications it re-
lates to the magnetization of large
transformer cores. The restriction of
inrush current protects rectifiers, pre-
vents unwanted fusing or circuit
breaker tripping, and avoids pollution
of the line supply.
If the maximum permissible value
of peak current is known, the required
resistance value is simply derived from
the line voltage divided by the maxi-
mum peak current. The worst case of
switch-on at a voltage peak should be
considered, and the peak value of line
voltage is the figure to use. This gives a
minimum ohmic value and this may
be raised to give a safety margin, but
unless there is a relay shorting the in-
rush resistor after switch-on, this must
be balanced by the need to limit quies-
cent power loss.
The other critical factor to define is
the surge rating required. If the input
resistor is wirewound, the manufac-
turer should be able to give a surge en-
ergy rating in joules. This represents
the energy capacity of the windings
alone, but if the inrush time constant
is around 100ms or more, there is time
for heat to be conducted into the resis-
tor core, so the effective energy capac-
ity is greater. The inrush energy dissi-
pated in the resistor is independent of
ohmic value and simply equals that
stored on the charged capacitor of C
farads charged to V volts, as given by
the formula:
E (joules) = ½ CV2
OCTOBER 2011
Note that maximum values of C
and V should be used, as the tolerance
on both can be wide.
It should be mentioned at this
point that an alternative strategy is to
use an NTC component, which pres-
ents a high initial ohmic value when
cold, and then a lower ohmic value
when hot. This offers an improved
combination of high inrush suppres-
sion and low quiescent power loss.
However, the design for hot running
means it is unsuitable for high-effi-
ciency supplies. Furthermore, a repeat
switch-on whilst the NTC is still hot
will give little or no inrush limiting.
Transient overvoltage protection
Transient surges on a line input are a
common source of product failure and
some level of protection against them
is normally required. This type of sup-
ply line disturbance can, for example,
arise when a lightning strike occurs
close to power lines and a transient
high voltage is induced in the power
system. A common standard for simu-
lating the resulting surge is IEC61000-
4-5, which describes a 1.2/50-μs pulse
(see Fig. 1). The maximum permissible
Fig. 1: 1.2/50-μs
pulse shape.
peak voltage of this pulse across a re-
sistor is limited by pulse energy con-
siderations and increases with resis-
tance value.
In a typical arrangement the input
resistor is followed by a varistor (see
Fig. 2), which limits the transient volt-
age to a safe level. The resistor restricts
the peak current in the varistor and
shares the surge energy with it, there-
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 SPECIAL
PASSIVE COMPONENTS
by lengthening its life. When calcu-
lating the peak voltage across the resis-
tor, allowance should be made for the
varistor clamping voltage and, for low
resistance values, the source imped-
ance of the surge generator.
The first of these is defined on the
varistor datasheet, and should be sub-
tracted from the peak voltage appear-
ing at the supply line terminals. The
second is normally 2 Ω, and the resid-
ual peak voltage is split between this
and the resistor in proportion to their
ohmic values. For ohmic values above
Fig. 2: The circuit with the 10R resistor calculated in Equation 1.
about 40 Ω, the effect of this source
impedance is negligible.
For example, with a surge peak of
4 kV and varistor clamping voltage
of 700 V, the 10R resistor in Fig. 2
will see
Vpk = (4,000 V – 700 V) x 10/12 =
2,750 V (Eq. 1)
Fail-safe fusing
The third function performed by a
line input resistor is failsafe fusing in
the event of a short-circuit failure of
rectifiers or capacitors. In this event,
rapid positive opening with line volt-
age standoff is called for. In some cas-
es, limited overload conditions apply
and low-power fusing must be de-
fined.
For certain end markets it is desir-
able to use a fusible component with
UL recognition to UL1412. This makes
obtaining UL approval easier and en-
sures that safety-critical aspects of
electrical performance and ongoing
consistency of manufacture are inde-
pendently verified. TT electronics has
a range of options in UL File Number
E234469.
Case study
When a high-volume manufacturer
of consumer appliances faced the
challenge of defining the exact fus-
ing mode under wide range of over-
load conditions they approached TT
46 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Line input resistors for chargers and supplies
electronics engineers for a solution.
For this, customer safety was para-
mount, but another key requirement
was for low impact, silent fusing. The
aim was to avoid consumer concern
that could result from visible or audi-
ble signs of the failure. In short, if a
fault developed, the product should
fail gracefully with isolation from
line voltage achieved both safely and
silently.
In wirewound resistors the core
acts as a heatsink for the wire element.
This can delay the fusing resulting in
the body and coating reaching high
temperatures. Depending on the over-
load power applied, this can result in
fragmentation of the coating and ion-
ization of the air close to the point of
fusing. If this ionization occurs close
to the cap edge and at a voltage peak in
the mains cycle, it can initiate a mo-
mentary flashover outside the compo-
nent body. This releases far more en-
ergy than is required to fuse the wire
element. Although the opening of the
circuit is safe for most applications, it
may not be silent.
TT electronics engineers addressed
this issue in close collaboration with
the customer to refine a new coating
material and process that delivers si-
lent fusing performance without ad-
versely affecting either safety or cost.
The new multilayer coating has a
flammability rating of UL94-V0 and
shares the same high temperature and
insulating properties as standard sili-
cone cement. However, it is more com-
pliant and therefore better able to ab-
sorb the thermal and mechanical
stresses of an element fusing without
fragmenting.
This silent fuse coating is one of a
range of options available in the WP-S
Series of wirewound resistors covering
ratings from 1W to 5W which can be
tailored to meet the most demanding
of line input resistor applications. It is
also used on the ULW Series, which is
a UL1412-recognized version.
OCTOBER 2011
Top ten design tips
1. Flameproof wirewound resistors are
commonly the best choice for line in-
put due to good surge performance
coupled with failsafe fusing.
2. Carbon composition technology
can be used for extremely high surge
energy density, but cannot fuse safely.
3. If multiple wirewound resistors are
needed to meet a surge rating, use a
series combination rather than paral-
lel. Not only does this share the volt-
age stress as well as the thermal stress,
but also, lower ohmic value wire-
wound resistors have higher energy
capacity.
4. Take great care if using film resistors
in this application. Metal oxide, thick
film or untrimmed metal film can be
appropriate but only for moderate
surge requirements. Trimmed metal
film types should be avoided.
5. In evaluating the surge and fusing
capability of resistors through testing,
be aware that there can be batch-to-
batch variations. Ideally resistors with
specified surge and fusing perfor-
mance should be used.
6. Flameproof resistors will not ignite.
However, under limited overload lead-
ing to slow fusing times, the body
temperature can become high enough
to ignite adjacent materials. If this is a
possible fault condition, it is vital that
sufficient clearance from plastics and
other components be provided. Also
PCB standoff by leadforming could be
used.
7. Faster fusing under limited overload
conditions can be obtained from a
wirewound resistor with a glass fibre
core instead of a ceramic core.
8. In extreme cases of limited overload
fusing requirements a series connect-
ed thermal fuse is needed to restrict
the body temperature. This can either
be discrete or integrated to form a tem-
perature-limited resistor. If discrete,
assembly must ensure good thermal
contact.
9. It is possible to reduce component
count in UL approved designs by us-
ing a UL-recognized fusible resistor
instead of a resistor with a separate UL
recognized fuse.
10. The effect of moderate surges on a
wirewound resistor is generally a slight
increase in ohmic value due to oxida-
tion. A decrease in value is due to an-
nealing reducing resistivity and is in-
dicative of higher surge stress. Changes
exceeding 5% should be avoided. ■
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PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Meeting shrinking
design objectives
Double-action tactile switches combine
miniaturization with increased functionality
BY JEROME SMOLINSKI
C&K Components, Newton, MA
www.ck-components.com
C
onsumer electronics, particu-
larly the portable variety, re-
quire advanced components
that combine miniaturization with in-
creased functionality. These design
objectives can be difficult for engi-
neers to meet without sacrificing per-
formance and/or operating life.
Highly reliable miniature switches
can play a major role in advanced elec-
tronic devices that need significant
space and weight reductions along
with increasing performance and de-
vice longevity. New tactile switch de-
signs not only meet the size require-
ments of portable consumer devices,
but also the functionality, perfor-
mance, and durability to withstand
harsh environments.
Miniature switch functionality
The significant size constraints associ-
ated with handheld and portable de-
vices have forced switch manufacturers
to develop miniature electromechani-
cal switches with increased functional-
ity. Low-profile double-action double-
tactile switches are now being designed
into handheld and portable electronic
devices that require a specific ergonom-
ics, such as a focus and shutter release
on a digital camera or mobile phone.
The advanced double-action double-
tactile switches provide fast, repetitive
action in these handheld consumer
electronics applications. The increased
functionality from the miniature dou-
ble-action double-tactile switches can
enable designers to eliminate compo-
nents from their designs, decreasing
the weight and size of an end product.
Some miniature double-action
double-tactile switches on the market
today are offered in package sizes as
small as 2.6 x 3.0 x 0.7 mm, including
the height of the actuator.
48 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
SPECIAL
Flexibility in design
The flexibility of switch components
is instrumental in their ability to meet
application-specific needs of consum-
er devices, particularly handheld de-
vices such as mobile phones, MP3 ac-
cessories, and Bluetooth headsets.
Tactile switches are inherently smaller
and more flexible than many other
switch technologies, such as pushbut-
tons. These types of switches afford
the capability of multiple mounting
and actuation configurations, provid-
ing greater flexibility along with the
ability to configure the switch for ap-
plication-specific needs.
Reliability
Reliability is another major require-
ment for switch manufacturers de-
signing consumer electronic devices,
particularly handheld devices that are
constantly exposed to severe environ-
mental conditions, such as vibration,
violent impacts against the ground,
and contaminants such as moisture,
humidity, and dust.
Designing switches with or without
plating is another decision. Plating the
stainless-steel contacts with gold or sil-
ver to resist corrosion requires deposit-
ing a nickel underlay to chemically
prepare the surface to accept the plat-
ing, but this degrades the stainless steel
itself, downgrading the overall capaci-
ty of the product to resist corrosion. As
a result, designing the switch without
plating could be much more effective.
Unfortunately, without plating, the
switch exhibits extremely high and
variable contact resistance, which is
not compatible with the current levels
seen in many handheld consumer de-
vices, and thus has the potential to
compromise the switch design. With
all of these considerations in mind,
the most effective solution is to seal
the switch using Teflon films with ei-
ther acrylic or silicon adhesives. This
OCTOBER 2011
Fig. 1: The KMT0 series switches are
designed without plating, sealed with
Teflon films and adhesives to prevent the
ingress of fluids, and provide maximum
reliability.
provides a robust solution with sealing
to up to IP68 specifications, and
doesn’t allow perspiration or other liq-
uids to corrode the switch. It also al-
lows the designers to apply conformal
coating on its board such Parylene or
other hydrophobic material. Many
critical devices require “zero defect”
components, given the nature of the
application, and portable equipment
used in the field have no room for de-
vice failure.
Life expectancy
Standard pushbutton switches have a
typical life cycle of around 30,000 ac-
tuations, while typical tactile switches
can reach a range of 100,000 and
300,000 actuations, respectively, with a
target goal of up to 600,000 for future
tactile switch designs. A long operating
life is due in part to a resistance to shock
and vibration of 10 to 500 Hz and an
operating temperature of –40° to 85°C.
The miniaturization trend of mo-
bile and handheld devices continues
to be a driving factor in the develop-
ment of innovative switches. Ultra-
miniature double-action switches pro-
vide a nice tactile feel and are an ideal
solution for applications requiring a
small footprint and good tactile feed-
back on both actions. Because electri-
cal and mechanical specifications in
consumer applications are critical —
tolerances are extremely tight and
product profiles are small — and de-
velopment cycles and lead time re-
quirements are short, switch manufac-
turers that develop flexible and reliable
devices are at a distinct advantage for
design wins. ■
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All other company names may be trade names or trademarks of their respective owners.
 SPECIAL
PASSIVE COMPONENTS

Silicon-based timing devices

compete with quartz
What you need to know in order
to select a clock device
BY PIYUSH SEVALIA tance, designers pay particular at-
Vice President of Marketing and tention to the precision and reli-
SASSAN TABATABAEI ability of this clock signal.
Director of Strategic Applications When selecting a clock de-
SiTime vice, engineers focus on key pa-
www.sitime.com rameters such as frequency stabili-

T
iming components are extreme-
ly important in electronics. The
clock signal in every digital
electronic system is its heartbeat, to
which all signals in the system are
synchronized. Because of its impor-
ty (how the frequency varies with
temperature), accuracy (closeness to
target frequency over voltage, stress,
Fig. 1: Silicon MEMS
shock, vibration, time) and jitter timing components
(variation in the actual clock edges in standard plastic
packages.
from their ideal location).

Table 1: Comparison of Silicon MEMS, Quartz and Compensated LC Timing Components

Silicon MEMS Quartz Compensated LC
Best total frequency stability (XO) over 10 ppm 20 ppm 300 ppm (100 ppm for 0°
–40° to 85°C to 70°C)
Best total frequency stability (TCXO) 0.1 ppm 0.1 ppm Not possible
from 0° to 70°C
Frequency range up to 800 MHz up to 70 MHz in fundamental Up to 200 MHz
mode
Using self- Up to 1 GHz using SAW, Using temperature
developed PLL overtone, or PLL technologies compensated LC oscillator
technology with dividers
Supply current (LVCMOS, no load) Low-to-medium Low-to-medium Low to medium
(3 to 33 mA) (2 to 50 mA) (2 to 15 mA)
Phase noise at 10-kHz offset (10-MHz carrier) -148 dBc/Hz –150 dBc/Hz –135 dBc/Hz
Rms period jitter driving 15-pF load 2 to 5 ps 2 to 5 ps 2 to 7 ps
Integrated rms phase jitter (12 kHz to < 1 ps < 1 ps 1 to 10 ps
20 MHz)
Aging (10 years) 3 ppm 3 ppm 10 to 30 ppm (expected)
Flexibility Programmable, Usually fixed, few features Programmable, many features
many features
Robustness to shock 50,000 G 5,000 G Unknown
Robustness to vibration 70 G 10 G Unknown
In-package integration Cost effective Expensive Cost effective
Production lead time 2 to 4 weeks (all) 6 to 10 weeks (standard) 2 to 4 weeks (all)
10 to 20 weeks (custom)
Applications Consumer, Consumer, USB 2.0
Computing, Computing, Some microprocessor and
Networking, Networking memory applications
Telecom, Telecom,
Mobile, Mobile,
Storage, Storage,
RF, Video, Defense RF, Video, Defense
Colored cells indicate best specifications in the row

50 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

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 SPECIAL
PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Quartz timing
components, in spite of
their limitations, have
been extensively used
The electronics industry has been
using timing references that are
based on quartz (also known as crys-
tals) for the past few decades. De-
pending on the type of the system,
two kinds of components are used –
a quartz crystal resonator, which is a
mechanical vibrating element, and a
quartz crystal oscillator, which mar-
ries a resonator with an electrical cir-
cuit to output a clock signal.
A quartz crystal-based reference is
commonly used as the timing refer-
ence because it performs well on the
key technical parameters listed
above. However, for a quartz crystal
device to perform well, it has to be
manufactured very painstakingly,
which compromises on features and
supply-chain flexibility. Because of
the lack of alternate timing compo-
nents, the electronics industry has
accepted these limitations, such as:
a. Using only a few standardized
frequencies because they are easier and
more cost-effective to manufacture.
b. Using additional devices with ex-
tra cost and board area, such as volt-
age-level translators, buffers and spread
spectrum clock generators because this
functionality is not integrated or avail-
able from quartz devices.
c. Using expensive ceramic pack-
aging that is only available from a
few suppliers, and has leakage or
availability issues.
d. Placing production orders for
timing components 6 – 16 weeks in
advance, to ensure that manufactur-
ing of a complex system is not held
up by availability issues on timing
components.
Semiconductor-based
timing components address
quartz limitations
Recently, semiconductor manufactur-
ers have begun to offer reference tim-
ing components which do not use
quartz technology, and address the
quartz limitations without compro-
mising performance, flexibility, fea-
tures, and cost. There are primarily
two approaches to implementing all-
silicon timing references that can be
integrated inside plastic packages:
a. Using micro-electro-mechani-
cal systems (MEMS) technology,
where the mechanical resonator is
manufactured and vacuum sealed in
Silicon. In this case, a high-Q MEMS
resonator die is bonded together
with an analog circuit inside a stan-
dard semiconductor plastic package.
“With the introduction
of semiconductor-based
timing solutions, the
timing components
industry is undergoing
significant changes.”
b. Using compensated LC oscilla-
tors (with no moving components),
with low-Q in an analog circuit,
which is then packaged into stan-
dard semiconductor plastic package.
Table 1 compares MEMS-based os-
cillators, quartz crystal oscillators,
and LC oscillators. Cells highlighted
in blue indicate the best specifica-
tions in that row.
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ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Silicon-based timing devices compete with quartz
As can be seen from the table,
both Silicon MEMS and Quartz tim-
ing components offer very high per-
formance and can be used in virtu-
ally any application. While quartz
timing components are still used ex-
tensively, Silicon MEMS timing solu-
tions have made significant inroads.
The semiconductor-based Silicon
MEMS and Compensated LC timing
components both offer the benefits
of flexibility, features, supply chain
simplification, lower cost, and inte-
gration over quartz-based timing
products. However, because of their
lower performance, Compensated
LC timing components cannot be as
widely used as Silicon MEMS timing
components. To-date, most of the
applications for Compensated LC
have been in microprocessor, memo-
ry and USB 2.0 clocking.
With the introduction of semi-
conductor-based timing solutions,
the timing components industry is
undergoing significant changes. The
increased competition will only re-
sult in more benefits for electronics
manufacturers and consumers. ■
OCTOBER 2011 53

PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Electronic current limiters
offer superior protection
High-speed ECL devices provide simple yet effective protection
for electronic equipment
BY IAN DOYLE
Product Line Manager of
Semiconductor Products, Bourns
www.bourns.com
A
new method of circuit protec-
tion allows designers greater
flexibility and increased reli-
ability while reducing the time to
market. The long-accepted assump-
tion that hundreds of amperes and
thousands of volts cannot be blocked
with a cost-effective circuit protec-
tion solution is now changed with
the availability of electronic current
limiter (ECL) devices.
This circuit protection technolo-
gy introduces a solution that effec-
tively protects sensitive electronic
equipment within nanoseconds of a
power threat, and provides the added
benefit of being resettable. ECLs are
designed to work with existing cir-
cuit protection solutions to virtually
eliminate latency. The result is supe-
rior surge protection for a variety of
applications.
Offering an optimal circuit pro-
tection solution, ECLs block a surge
rather than shunting it for both
power cross and lightning threats.
ECLs also provide extremely effec-
tive, wide bandwidth circuit protec-
tion against lightning, power induc-
tion, power cross and short circuit
events at a reasonable cost. This ar-
ticle will discuss conventional de-
vices that often fall short of full cir-
cuit protection. It will also examine
ECL devices and present how design-
ers can use them as an ideal circuit
protection solution for sensitive elec-
tronic equipment.
Conventional surge
protection
Surge protection is the process of pro-
tecting electronic systems or equip-
ment from currents and voltages that
54 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
SPECIAL
are outside their safe operating limits.
These surge currents and voltages can
be generated by short circuits, light-
ning or faults from a power system
and typically enter the electronic sys-
tem along inter-equipment wiring.
Two primary methods exist for imple-
menting protection against surge
threats, namely diverting (shunting)
or blocking the surge.
Conventional protection methods
used today are mostly based on shunt-
ing architectures to divert the cur-
rent. This is due to the widespread
perception that only higher-priced
devices are readily available to shunt
faults of hundreds of amperes and
thousands of volts.
It is important to note, however,
that none of the available shunt de-
vices is sufficient to protect electronic
equipment by itself. For example,
non-semiconductor surge protectors,
such as the gas discharge tube (GDT)
are slower to react, allowing high and
often dangerous voltages to occur
prior to the activation of the GDT.
As a result, GDTs typically do not
keep voltages low enough to provide
adequate protection by themselves.
Fig. 1: ECL devices
provide superior
circuit protection.
And, the alternative semiconductor-
based overvoltage protection devices
tend to have limited current han-
dling capability.
Hence, protection systems are
usually based on a number of coordi-
nated stages of overvoltage and over-
current protection devices. Either a
OCTOBER 2011
thermally activated series fuse or a
positive temperature coefficient
(PTC) acting as a current-limiting
blocking device is used to prevent
the transient voltage developed
across the overvoltage protector from
exceeding the ratings of the protect-
ed equipment.
Thermally activated devices are
“let-through” energy dependent,
which means that their activation
depends upon a product of the
square of the RMS current, the resis-
tance of the protector, and the time
duration of the current. Testing is re-
quired to assess the performance of a
design and to ensure adequate pro-
tection within a specific system.
This requirement has created the
vast array of testing and design stan-
dards. However, due to the significant
amount of let-through energy required
to activate the overcurrent protectors
in use today, virtually all existing de-
signs have inherent weaknesses such
as sneak currents, fast-rising voltages,
high energy surges, or surges of a par-
ticular frequency or a particular rate of
repetition. These weaknesses can cause
field failures, resulting in lower system
reliability and the possibility of incur-
ring costs for maintenance and re-
placement devices.
Ideal circuit protection
Blocking a transient through an elec-
tronic current disconnecting mecha-
nism rather than an energy depen-
dent thermally activated device is
the ideal form of circuit protection.
ECL devices (see Fig. 1) allow for su-
perior surge protection because their
high-speed protector blocking tech-
nology virtually eliminates latency
in the circuit protection design,
which always limits the current to
less than a specified amount for
complete protection.
 SPECIAL Electronic current limiters offer superior protection
PASSIVE COMPONENTS

Next-generation high-speed ECL

devices match the following list of
system requirements for circuit pro-
tection:
• A predictable, stable and low trig-
ger current (a current that causes a Fig. 2: Overvoltage
device to switch between its con- fault diagram.
ductive and non-conductive state)
that provides effective protection
for sensitive downstream equip- ing the remainder of the surge (time
ment. 4), the ECL device remains in the
• The ability to block the let-through protected state of very low current
energy of the primary protector as and voltage at the load.
a series component (in series with
the transmission line), located
just after the primary protec-
tor. Operating as a series com- Fig. 3: ECL device
ponent, the device will quickly reaction to an
overvoltage fault.
react to current through the
device at a defined level rather
than voltage across the inter-
face.
• Very fast-acting (<100 ns) to
protect equipment from surg-
es that rise to 5 kV in 1 μs such
as direct lightning strikes or
lightning EPRs.
• Very low parasitic impedance
(resistive, capacitive, and in-
ductive) that does not affect
normal circuit operation.
• In the blocking mode, switch-
es to a very high impedance
so that it does not dissipate
significant energy during long
duration surges. High-speed ECL protector
• The ability to block voltages up to benefits
850 V when used by itself, and High-speed ECL protector devices
higher voltages only limited by deliver near ideal current blocking
the coordinated overvoltage pro- protection for both power cross and
tection. lightning. Benefits include overvolt-
• Able to automatically reset after age and overcurrent protection in
the surge occurs to reinstate the one device, precise output current
system and continue to allow nor- and voltage limiting, high blocking
mal system operation. voltages and currents, extremely
• Returns to exactly the same state high-speed performance, very high
(for example, resistance) as it was bandwidth, repeatable and stable re-
prior to the surge event. sistance and a small size. These ad-
• Small in size and low in cost (pro- vantages give designers a protection
viding practical and economic ad- device that provides automatic pro-
vantages). tection coordination, is gigahertz
(GHz) data rate compatible within a
ECL device in action small printed circuit board area and
A lightning or power cross event (see exceeds Telcordia GR-1089 and ITU
Fig. 2) at time 1 (see Fig. 3), raises the K.20/K.21 requirements. These next-
voltage and current until the current generation devices provide designers
limiting portion of the circuit limits with a simple yet superior protection
current to the level of Iout time 2 device for sensitive electronic equip-
(~10 ns). At this point, the voltage ment. For information about ECL
disconnect portion of the circuit op- models from Bourns, visit http://
erates and by time 3 (~1 μs), the load www.bourns.com/ProductLine.aspx?na
is disconnected from the surge. Dur- me=tbu. ■

56 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

FACTORY AUTHORIZED

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MC56F8013VFAE Microcontroller 35,935
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© Rochester Electronics, LLC — All Rights Reserved — 08172011


PASSIVE COMPONENTS
Choosing inductive components
for high-speed interconnects
For next generation networks, new magnetic technologies offer
improved performance, higher quality, and automated production
By STEVEN R. KUBES
Sr. Product Manager, 10G and PlanarMag
Product Technology
TE Connectivity
www.te.com/planarmag
I
mpedance matching and filtering
of high-speed Ethernet data is
commonly performed using
hand-wound toroidal coil transform-
ers and chokes. These devices are
relatively bulky compared with oth-
er modern components, and so must
typically be mounted on the pc
boards adjacent to the RJ-45 connec-
tor. Some innovative designs inte-
grate a small pc board (PCB) with
hand-wound transformers into the
base of the RJ-45 connector to pro-
vide a fully-filtered Ethernet jack.
And in applications where ganged
ports are required, it is common to
find these magnetic components in-
corporated into a back-plane PCB.
However, all of these implanta-
tions have one element in common
– multiple hand-wound toroidal
coils. For such hand-wound coils,
the ability to predict performance
and yield becomes increasingly dif-
ficult, especially at frequencies of 1
GHz or higher. The continued use of
hand-wound coils at higher frequen-
cies will mean more errors, more
production rejects, lower yields, and,
consequently, higher prices. In addi-
tion, the amount of labor content
will increase as well — further in-
creasing costs.
Hand-wound coils will undoubt-
edly remain popular for lower-fre-
quency interconnects and in lower
volume applications. Today, magnet-
ic windings are predominantly man-
ufactured by hand in factories in
China. With about 100,000 people
winding these coils, manufacturing
58 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
SPECIAL
consistency varies depending on the
expertise of the workers, and turn-
over can be as high as 50%.
When downturns and the result-
ing layoffs occur, even experienced
workers can be eliminated. Once the
market improves, it can take several
months to train and develop a new
workforce and reestablish supply
continuity.
Fig. 1. Once the PCB is
drilled, ferrite cores are
inserted and an epoxy
polymers is applied (a)
Standard drilling forms
the vias that go on the
inside and outside of the
ferrites to form windings
once both sides of the
PCB are metallized,
etched, and soldered. A
special technique for
creating differential
toroidal pairs is part of a
wide-band planar
transformer patent.
Such a work-force situation can
obviously lead to extensive product
supply shortages and quality issues.
As the demand for Ethernet ports
continues to increase, and more and
more of these ports support 1-Gbit or
even 10-Gbit data rates, the data
communications industry is looking
for alternatives to wound coils.
Magnetics in the substrate
One alternative can be found in ad-
vanced magnetic technology. By le-
OCTOBER 2011
veraging the latest 3-D PCB process-
es, this technology allow manufacture
of wide-band planar transformers
and common-mode chokes embed-
ded in a substrate. Well-established
PCB techniques are used to more ef-
ficiently manufacture reliable, con-
sistent structures.
The process starts by drilling con-
trolled-depth holes in FR4 PCB and
inserting ferrite cores [Figure 1(a)].
Then an epoxy polymer is applied
that fills the cavities as well as sur-
rounding and protecting the ferrite.
The special epoxy has characteristics
that allow manufacturing processes
similar to FR4 for panelization, drill-
ing, and vias to create the PCB two-
layer process.
After the epoxy polymer is cured,
a planarization process ensures a
very flat structure. Next two prepreg
treatments are performed at elevated
Fig. 2. High-volume PCB technology combined
with proprietary manufacturing techniques has
lead to a highly precise planar magnetic device
that is mass produced and cut into die-like
units as indicated here.
 SPECIAL
PASSIVE COMPONENTS

hundreds and even thousands of

Figure 3. The planar
magnetic 1-Gbit
Ethernet media
filters shown here
embody the
schematic at right.
temperature and pressure to allow
copper to adhere to the FR4.
Copper is then applied to both
top and the bottom to create a two-
layer board and the assembly is
etched, after which it goes through a
solder mask process that fills in the
vias and deposits the solder mask on
top [Figure 1(b)].
A thin tape layer is applied to one
side of the PCB and it then sawn on
the opposite side and singulated into
individual components, in much the
same way as in a semiconductor pro-
cess (Figure 2). Then testing is per-
formed on each device similar to the
100% testing techniques used for
semiconductors to verify confor-
mance to critical parameters and the
consistency of the manufacturing
process.
PCB-based technology using pre-
cision photolithography allows the
manufacturing of boards containing
planar magnetic devices.
Device performance
The planar magnetics advantage is
complete control over leakage induc-
tance, capacitance, and the shapes of
the petals, or wrappings. The consis-
tency of the manufacturing process is
based on design rules for controlling
the size of the component.
For a 1-Gbit BASE-T Ethernet me-
dia filter and isolation transformer
with a 1:1 turns ratio (Figure 3), the
tolerance is ±2% at 100 kHz.
Because of the controllability in
the manufacturing of the embedded
planar magnetics, device-to-device
performance is more consistent than
possible with hand-wound coils.
Since the embedded magnetic prod-
uct structure performs as a tightly-
controlled narrow pass filter with a
high degree of consistency and re-
peatability, the Bob Smith termina-
tion commonly used for impedance
matching can be eliminated or the
components reduced in many appli-

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60 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Choosing inductive components for high-speed interconnects

Fig. 5. Use of
Fig. 4. The cable- embedded planar
side differential magnetic
return loss of technology results
connectors in a simpler
utilizing integrated
embedded connector module
magnetic product (ICM).
technology (blue)
is demonstrably
more repeatable
than that of
equivalent
connectors with
hand-wound coils
(red).

cations. In general, design margins small form factor footprint, such as wound coils are be-
can be reduced compared to wound laptop and notebook computers. coming more evident.
coil designs (see Figure 4). Magnetic components are an es- As shown in the ta-
A fully integrated connector utiliz- sential aspect of high-speed data ble below, evalua-
ing the embedded magnetic product communications interfaces. As data tion of three key
technology (Figure 5) targets applica- rates continue to increase, the design design criteria can
tions that require reduced height and and production limitations of hand provide guidance
on whether to consider hand-wound
Coil selection criteria ferrite coils or embedded planer mag-
netic product technology.
Criterium Hand-wound coils Embedded planar magnetics A white paper that provides more
Data Rates 10/100 Mbit; 1Gbit 1Gbit; 10 Gbit information about the new Planer-
Volume Low to medium Medium to high Mag product technology is available
for download at www.te.com/pla
Quality/repeatability Low to medium High
narmag. ■

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ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 61

 SPECIAL
PASSIVE COMPONENTS

Testing passive devices for

thermals and noise effects
Manufacturers and users of passive components in low-V apps
must pay more attention to, and learn to test for, low-level errors
BY JAMES NIEMANN through the resistance of their path- digital filters (which increase signal
Staff Engineer, Keithley Instruments way. The spectral content of this noise observation time) aren’t helpful.
www.keithley.com is white, dependant only on the mate-
Mechanics of thermals
T
he use of passive devices in low- rial’s temperature and resistance. All
voltage applications is becoming components with non-zero resistance Thermoelectric EMFs develop wher-
increasingly common. For ex- and non-zero temperature produce ever dissimilar materials come togeth-
ample, laptops and cell phones require some level of thermal noise. er in the presence of a temperature
batteries with ultra low internal (ionic) Depending on the material or de- gradient. Three different effects play a
resistance. So manufacturers and users vice involved, at lower frequencies, ad- role: the Seebeck, Thomson, and Pelti-
of passive components must now pay ditional 1/f noise terms may begin to er effects.
greater attention to the materials and emerge from within the white noise Seebeck effect produces a voltage
processes used to build them, as well floor. This kind of noise is frequently that is observed when a uniformly
as new rules about using them in low- the result of material defects that be- conductive material experiences an
voltage applications, in order to pre- have as an electron (or hole) trap. end-to-end temperature gradient. The
vent problems previously unseen. These noise sources have the annoy- voltage is present whether the circuit is
Thermoelectric EMFs are most ing property of increasing in magni- closed (non-zero current) or open (zero
common in passive components con- tude as the bandwidth decreases, so current). In practice, this voltage is dif-
structed of dissimilar materials, such
as resistors. Design and manufactur-
ing activities, such as testing batteries
with ionic resistance, demand greater
focus on the impact of noise and ther-
moelectric EMFs on measurement ac-
curacy. This can be particularly chal-
lenging because very low test currents
are required to measure these single-
milliohm resistances.
Understanding the challenges of
using passive components in low-volt-
age circuits, the sources of error, and
proper means for characterizing them
is crucial to the proper design of low-
voltage devices. The test for suscepti-
bility described here can help engi-
neers identify which passive devices
are most suitable for such applica-
tions.

Mechanics of noise
Though often lumped together, the
mechanisms of thermal noise, low-fre-
quency noise, and thermoelectric
EMFs (or thermals) aren’t identical.
Thermal or Johnson noise develops
when the trajectories of conduction
electrons in a material are altered by
the thermal vibrations of its mole-
cules. These scattered electrons devel-
op noise voltages when they travel

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 63

 special
PASSIVE COMPONENTS
ficult to measure in a single conductor,
but when different kinds of conductors
or materials (each with a different See-
beck coefficient) are paired to form a
thermocouple, it’s much simpler to
measure the difference.
When the Seebeck effect is observed
within a uniformly conductive materi-
al, if the circuit is closed and a current
is allowed to flow, the Thomson effect
can also be observed. The Thomson ef-
fect describes how these charge carriers
absorb or release heat as they pass
through a temperature gradient.
The Peltier effect occurs at the junc-
tion of two dissimilar materials.
Charge carriers (current) must be flow-
ing to observe a temperature differ-
ence generated by the current passing
between the dissimilar materials. Al-
though the Peltier effect doesn’t gen-
erate a voltage, the resulting tempera-
ture changes can affect the Thomson
and Seebeck voltages.
Measurement impacts
Dissimilar materials, currents, and
temperature gradients are all charac-
teristics or consequences of using
passive components, so these EMFs
Testing passive devices for thermals and noise effects
can have a significant impact on
measurement accuracy. The mea-
surement bandwidth determines the
magnitude of the inaccuracies each
contributes when passives are used
in real applications.
Generally, the total signal observa-
tion time determines the low-fre-
quency bandwidth limit; the width
(aperture) of the A/D conversion’s in-
tegration period determines the high-
frequency bandwidth limit. With
thermoelectric EMFs, these offsets
persist even at dc, as long as there’s a
dc temperature gradient created by a
point heat source, either within the
passive component or somewhere on
the circuit board.
However, for passives, a change in
power dissipated within or around
the passive causes a temporary gradi-
ent, which equalizes according to the
thermal time constants of the com-
ponent as situated on the printed cir-
cuit board (PCB). In other words, the
EMF can be time dependent, dimin-
ishing to near zero when tempera-
tures are in equilibrium.
The selection process for resistors
usually revolves around cost and
such application requirements as
temperature coefficient, voltage rat-
ings, voltage coefficient, power re-
quirements, and physical size. The
resistor’s noise and thermoelectric
properties are rarely considered.
Applications across the board have
been affected by the rapid regression
of supply voltage across all semicon-
ductor industries from microproces-
sors to high-performance analog.
Lower supply voltages require less sili-
con (and less cost) and can be assem-
bled into smaller packages. However,
lower volatges also mean that noise
will be more significant on a percent-
age basis. If power/currents are low-
ered in concert with voltage, the same
can be said for noise currents. Fortu-
nately, smaller components can usu-
ally be PCB-mounted in such a way
that minimizes thermal time con-
stants, leading to a desirable thermo-
electric footprint.
Testing
Precision and low-voltage applications
like battery testing sometimes require
characterizing passive components (in
addition to their PCB connections).
 special
PASSIVE COMPONENTS
This can be tricky because the magni-
tude of all three thermoelectric EMF
contributors depends on the tempera-
ture gradients of the connecting wires
and within the components.
This last term is often overlooked.
If the passive component isn’t built
correctly from the correct materials, a
step change in temperature of the en-
tire component will cause temperature
gradients within the component, gen-
erating an EMF. Measuring the same
EMF twice can be difficult due to their
dependence upon the temperature
66 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
nent’s design and application can af-
Figure 1: The fect the magnitude and time duration
negative pulse in of the EMF. If components are built
the above graph symmetrically, and the application is
illustrates the
resulting both symmetrical and isothermal (or
thermoelectric at least if the temperature gradients
EMF generated. A are symmetrical), then the EMFs gen-
temperature step
back to 24°C at erated in each lead can match and
point 1300 causes cancel each other.
the thermals The following procedure may prove
exhibited after
that point. helpful in demystifying elusive ther-
moelectric EMFs. The most repeatable
way to test a component’s thermoelec-
tric suitability is to expose it to a tem-
perature change at a rate equal to or
gradient and the rate of change of this higher than its normal application en-
gradient. vironment.
Many passive components are Figure 1 illustrates the results of
manufactured using different kinds of such a test. In this example, a 1-kΩ re-
materials needed to elicit other desir- sistor was tested using a baseline volt-
able properties (for example, low tem- age of 2.0 µV at 24°C. After the resistor
perature coefficient of resistance or a underwent a temperature step from
stable capacitance with applied volt- 24°C to 50°C, the voltage across it was
age), so it’s impossible to avoid gener- measured. The magnitude of the EMF
ating thermoelectric voltages within indicates how dissimilar the materials
them completely. However, avoiding used to build the component are while
the unwanted temperature gradient(s) the time constant (how quickly the
also required to generate thermoelec- EMF recovers) describes how quickly
tric EMFs is possible. A passive compo- heat dissipates throughout the device.
OCTOBER 2011
 Testing passive devices for thermals and noise effects

Superior Solutions
for Industrial
Figure 2: To test for self-heating effects, a power step is applied to one
resistor in a two-resistor 2.5-kΩ network at constant ambient
temperature, and the thermoelectric voltage on the other resistor in the
network, seen above, is observed. When the power step is removed, the
thermoelectric EMF returns to the previous level.

The dc residual (if any) results from a point source of power

dissipated either within the component or from the sur-
rounding environment.
This test is also useful for measuring the component’s
response to power dissipated within it by replacing the am-
bient temperature shock with an internally generated power
source.
The result of demonstration of thermoelectric EMF vs.
self-heating for a 2.5 kΩ resistor network is seen in Figure 2.
The test begins with 1.0 µV across the network. At constant

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www.tdk-epc.com TDK-EPC Corporation

 special
PASSIVE COMPONENTS
ambient temperature, a power step of
160 mW is applied to one resistor in
the network, and the thermoelectric
voltage on the second resistor in the
network is observed. Obviously, per-
Testing passive devices for thermals and noise effects
nanovoltmeter. Allow the device to
stabilize at 50°C.
5. As quickly and repeatably as pos-
sible, shock the device again by lower-
ing the temperature to 0°C while mea-

E M O UNT forming this type of testing requires a suring the voltage across it with the
C
S U R FdA t h r u - h o l e )
sensitive digital voltmeter (e.g., a nanovoltmeter. Once again, allow the
Keithley’s Model 2182A Nanovoltme- device to stabilize at 0°C.
s
(an
n s f o rmer ter) to ensure sufficient measurement The resulting plot of voltage vs.
Tr a d u c t o r s accuracy and resolution. time provides a good indication of

& In
This procedure is useful for charac- the device’s thermoelectric perfor-
terizing a passive component’s ther- mance. The difference between the
moelectric EMF performance in a 0°C thermoelectric voltages at each tem-

Size to 50°C environment. The DUT is ex-

posed to a thermal shock similar to
perature should be zero in the ab-
sence of device and interconnect

does
the conditions it would experience in temperature gradients.
actual use. If residual thermoelectric voltages
1. Mount the passive(s) under test are present, then either the compo-

matter! as it will be mounted in its intended

application.
2. Using only copper connections,
wire each lead of the passive compo-
nent to a nanovoltmeter.
from 3. Place the passive(s) in an envi-
low- ronmental chamber at 0°C and allow
profile the system to stabilize.
nent under test has not yet reached
thermal equilibrium or there are gra-
dients within the environmental
chamber. During the transition be-
tween temperatures, device construc-
tion symmetries, materials, and ther-
mal resistances will define the peak
thermoelectric EMF as well as the re-

.19"ht.
4. As quickly and repeatably as
possible, shock the device by raising
the temperature to 50°C while mea-
suring the voltage across it with the
covery time. As in Figure 2, power dis-
sipated within a component can fuel
the thermal gradients that cause the
thermoelectric EMFs. ■

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68 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011
PRODUCT
APPLICATION
Class D amps in today’s
high-power audio apps
BY ASHISH GOKHALE
Marketing Manager, Isolation Products
Silicon Labs, www.silabs.com
T
he continuing demand for higher
audio fidelity, lower system cost,
and reduced power consumption
is accelerating the adoption of Class D
amplifiers in today’s high-power audio
applications. Although traditional ana-
log implementations, such as Class AB
topology, are more complex and less ef-
ficient than Class D systems, they have
dominated the high end of the audio
market on the merits of their high-fi-
delity performance. The good news is
that Class D systems are quickly nar-
rowing this performance gap with sim-
pler, more efficient designs that offer
fidelity capable of surpassing that of
analog amplifiers.
A Class D audio system converts au-
dio signals at its input to a digital PWM
Consumer Electronics
signal, adds power amplification in the
digital domain, and then converts the
digital signal back to analog at its output.
As shown in Fig. 1, the incoming audio
signal is applied to a pulse-width modu-
lator (PWM), which consists of an opera-
tional amplifier and a comparator. This
modulator digitizes the audio input by
varying the modulator duty cycle in di-
rect proportion to the instantaneous
value of the audio input signal.
This PWM signal is level shifted and
applied to a gate driver that switches a
two-state power cir-
cuit consisting of
MOSFETs (M1 and
M2). The resulting
amplified signal
then passes through
an output filter,
which removes the
PWM carrier fre-
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
quency, leaving only the amplified ana-
log audio signal that ultimately drives
the speakers. Audio output fidelity is fur-
ther enhanced by the outer feedback
loop from the filter input to the error
amplifier input thereby reducing distor-
tion and noise.
Class D amplifier design
Power efficiency
Historically, analog power amplifiers
have relied on linear amplification cir-
cuits that are prone to high-power losses.
Fig. 1: Class D
amplifier with
gate driver.
OCTOBER 2011 69
PRODUCT
APPLICATION
By comparison, Class D amplifier power
efficiencies can be 90% or higher, de-
pending on the design. This high effi-
ciency benefit is intrinsic in Class D
technology where binary switches, (usu-
ally power MOSFETs) provide the ampli-
fication mechanism. These switches are
either fully on or off, and very little time
is spent transitioning between those two
states. This discrete switching action,
70 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
and low MOSFET on-resistance, mini-
mize I2R losses and increase efficiency.
In practice however, the switch transi-
tion time (dead time) must be long
enough to avoid efficiency-killing shoot-
through currents from both switches be-
ing on simultaneously.
High fidelity
Audio fidelity can be defined as the
OCTOBER 2011
faithfulness with which sound is repro-
duced. For audio systems, fidelity is a
proxy for the all-enveloping term “sound
quality.” While various specifications
are used to quantify fidelity, some of
these measures are especially challeng-
ing for designers. Two of the most chal-
lenging specifications are total harmon-
ic distortion (THD) and noise (N),
collectively referred to as THD + N.
THD is a measure of accuracy of an
audio system. Inaccuracies in signal
reproduction create additional signal
components at harmonic multiples of
the input frequencies, which obvious-
ly distract from the purity of the out-
put signal. THD is the ratio of the un-
wanted energy of all harmonic
frequencies to the energy of the fun-
damental frequencies of the input,
typically measured at half of full pow-
er for a given system. While THD per-
formance of less than 0.1% is adequate
for most non-audiophile audio appli-
cations, discerning listeners usually
prefer THD levels as low as 0.05% or
even lower.
Output noise level is a measure of
the noise floor level of the amplifier
outputs with no signal input. For most
speakers, a noise floor of 100-500 μV is
inaudible from most normal listening
distances, while a noise floor as high as
1 mV will prove to be quite annoying.
THD + N is a very good indicator of the
audio fidelity of a given amplifier.
Class D driver IC:
features and benefits
Programmable dead-time
Class D amplifier dead-time (i.e., the
period when both switches are off) di-
rectly impacts both efficiency and
THD. An overly short dead-time causes
shoot-through currents that decrease
efficiency. However, a dead-time that
is too long results in increased THD,
which negatively affects audio fidelity.
The dead-time period must be set
precisely to hit the “sweet spot” that
optimizes both power efficiency and
THD. The typical high-voltage audio
drivers available today have coarse and
overlapping dead-time settings (that is,
1 of n delay values). As a result, most
designers choose to implement the
dead-time period using discrete com-
ponents, which can be expensive and
time consuming. A more elegant and
cost-effective solution would be to in-
tegrate a gate driver with a highly pre-
cise dead-time generator.
 Consumer Electronics

butes allow the total loop delay in Integration

the feedback path to be exception- In today’s competitive global markets, a
ally low for the best possible noise Class D audio solution that integrates all
performance. Higher frequency of these features would provide a much
operation also improves the “loop needed advantage to high-power ampli-
Fig 2: Level shifting
can provide an
gain,” which typically improves fier designers, enabling them to get their
interface between the distortion performance of the products to market early by minimizing
a low-voltage amplifier. Most HVIC drivers costly design time, component count,
digital modulator
and a high-voltage bipolar output supply.
available today only support mod- insertion costs and the lower reliability
ulation frequencies of up to 1 MHz. associated with higher parts count. ■
Level shifting
Implementing a two-state Class D ampli-
fier can be difficult due to input level
shifting requirements. In high-power
Class D amplifiers, it is desirable to have
high-voltage supply rails (± VSS) for the
power MOSFET stage. For practical Class
D amplifier designs, a voltage of ±100
Vdc can deliver an astounding 600 watts
of audio power into 8 Ω.
Most high-voltage IC (HVIC) Class D
drivers lack the capability to provide
level shifting from the low-voltage mod-
ulation section to the high-voltage power
section. Drivers that provide level shift-
ing have other deficiencies, making them
less than ideal for Class D operation. (For
example, the driver output ground ter-
minal is referenced to a negative voltage
rail, requiring the input drive signal to be
level shifted to the negative supply).
This functionality is added through
discrete components, which can be cost-
ly and difficult to design and take up an
inordinate amount of space. Level-shift-
ing solutions that provide an interface to
high-voltage bipolar supply rails would
be a significant advantage in Class D de-
signs (see Fig. 2.) Most driver solutions
typically do not offer input-to-output
isolation or isolation between the driv-
ers. Thus, it becomes necessary to pro-
vide a level shifting mechanism with ex-
tra components.
Our Catalog also includes:
Reliability and noise immunity • Battery Clips, Contacts & Holders
Typical gate driver ICs available today
• Fuse Clips & Holders • Spacers & Standoffs
have a tendency to latch-up at high volt-
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typically do not have any immunity to • Panel Hardware • Terminal Boards
high slew rate noise transients coupling • Pins, Plugs, Jacks & Sockets
back from the power stage to the preci- • Multi-Purpose Hardware
sion digital input side. This is a major
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ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 71

 Smart Grid

Why DSPs are important

for the smart grid
DSPs help engineers develop systems that guarantee compliance
to smart-grid standards and compatibility with legacy standards
BY THANH TRAN,
New End Equipment CTO, and
GUSTAVO MARTINEZ, Fig. 1: A
smart-grid
Senior Systems Engineer platform
Texas Instruments, www.ti.com showing the
DSP-based

A
s designers develop today’s in- smart power
and energy
creasingly complex smart-grid (SPE)
systems, they are challenged platform.
with determining the appropriate mix
of processing elements and discrete
components to use to optimize system
performance. This article will exam-
ine the benefits of integrating a float- (GPP) to enable optimized processing power line communication (PLC) pro-
ing-point digital signal processor (DSP) by each core. The DSP can handle dif- tocols in real time as well as smart-
with a general-purpose processor ferent wireless communication and power algorithms while the GPP can

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72 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

Is your scope lying to you?
Find out.
Rohde-Schwarz-scopes.com
If you’re not using a new Rohde & Schwarz digital oscilloscope,
your scope may not be giving you honest answers.

Try the industry’s most accurate and reliable digital oscilloscope.

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Smart Grid
run a high-level operating system and
application processing.
Smart-grid systems consist of dif-
ferent applications requiring DSPs to
do real-time signal analysis of the
power waveforms anywhere on the
grid and to transmit the informa-
tion, including signal quality, fault
conditions, transmission losses and
power consumption, to the substa-
74 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Fig. 2: Smart-grid
system architecture.
tion. Figure 1 demonstrates how a
smart-grid system can be deployed
to monitor and share information
about the grid with the PC-based
control facility.
Smart-grid system
architecture
Figure 2 shows a DSP-based smart-
grid architecture. The main blocks
OCTOBER 2011
in this DSP system are a three-phase
analog front-end, a power-analytic
DSP, and a PLC DSP. Real-time DSP
functions include the following.
• Precision power analytics.
• Frequency domain analytics.
• Time domain analytics.
• Metrology.
• Rogowski digital integrator.
• Power line communication.
DSP-based digital integrator
A key component enabling smart-
grid power analytics is the integra-
tor, which detects the 50- or 60-Hz
rms-current from a current sensor
device, such as a Rogowski coil
shown in Fig. 3. The advantage of a
Rogowski coil is the current can be
measured without having to make
an incision onto the power cable, as
it is normally being done when us-
ing current transformers (CT).
The disadvantage is the output of
the sensor is not a true-rms value of
the current; it is a differentiated wave-
form directly proportional to the mea-
sured current and needs to be carefully

Fig. 3: Rogowski coil.
processed to recover the true-rms val-
ue. It is necessary to integrate the
Rogowski output waveform, M(di/dt),
where M is the mutual inductance of
the coil and i is the current, as shown
in Fig. 4. The integrator can be imple-
mented with DSP or analog circuits.
Fig. 4: Integrator.
A DSP-based digital integrator per-
forms better than an analog-based in-
tegrator in low frequency noise rejec-
tion, minimum phase error over the
entire frequency band, and providing
wide dynamic range. All of these are
very important for smart-grid applica-
tions because in order to determine
the power quality of the grid under se-
vere conditions, accurate current de-
tection and power analytics are re-
Fig. 5: Integrator input/output.
quired. The ideal DSP for smart-grid
systems should have a double-preci-
sion floating-point unit, low-latency
complex signal processing and an ef-
ficient FFT engine.
The integrator design is shown in
Fig. 4 where the integrator attenuates
the out-of-band signal 18.4 dB. In
this example, the input to the inte-
grator is 500-Hz signal, which is 8.3
times the fundamental frequency of
60 Hz. The main integrator function
is to recover the fundamental fre-
quency and reject the higher-fre-
quency components.
For the 500-Hz input to the inte-
Why DSPs are important for the smart grid
grator, the output should be
20*log10(60/500) or –18.4 dB, as
shown in Fig. 5. Also, in this DSP de-
Scope Lie #1
sign, the integrator output data is
stored in memory, and then the FFT
engine processes the data and displays
Your digital
the FFT plots on the computer screen.
Metrology
scope’s
bandwidth
Accurate measurements of electrical
systems are essential to the develop-
ment and stability of the smart grid.
These measurements are used to de-
tect symptoms of poor power quality When it comes to small signal
in the grid. Phenomena can lead to bandwidth, engineers need a
false tripping of relays, blown fuses, gradual signal roll-off to avoid
and failure of electrical equipment, seeing a lot of ringing and
among other problems. Moreover, overshoot in the time domain.
identifying and eliminating poor
power quality can lead to a signifi-
0
cant reduction in revenue waste. Ac-
-5
cording to a European-wide survey
conducted in 2007, poor power qual-
-10
Rohde & Schwarz
ity accounted for a loss in excess of -15
€150 billion in Europe alone. -20
Ideal Gaussian response
Electric metrology involves the -25
measurement of parameters such as -30
Other scopes
rms current and voltage, reactive, ac- -35
tive and apparent power components -40
10 8 109 1010
and the frequency of a power signal.
Often, the calculation of these me-
trology parameters involves the use Today’s digital scopes employ
of several multiply-and-accumulate very sharp, high-order frequency
operations. For example, one way to responses that trade minimum
sampling rates for maximum
bandwidth. The result is high
overshoot and ringing when
measuring typical digital signals.
Try the scope that tells the truth by
utilizing slow roll off to eliminate
overshoot and ringing.
Discover how your digital scope
may be misrepresenting results at
calculate the rms-current based on a
set of “n” samples {x1, x2, …., xn} is
to find the mean of the square of
www.rohde-schwarz-scopes.com
each sample and take its square root
using the formula: 888-837-8772
More applications are now requir-
ing higher precision and faster re-
sponse times meaning a floating-
point DSP is better suited for the
task. For example, a floating-point
DSP can calculate the rms value of a
512-sample double-precision float-
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER
RS598 EP 10/11 Lie #1 1/3 V AF.indd 1 9/13/11 75
2011 4:11 PM
 Smart Grid
Why DSPs are important for the smart grid

ing-point buffer in about 2.9 µs

(1,300 cycles at 456 MHz).
A power-quality monitor system
must be capable of detecting abnor-
malities such as voltage swells and
dips, surges and transients, short in-
terruptions, and harmonics. The
presence of harmonics can lead to
overheated transformers, false trip-
ping of relays and even lighting
flicker detectable by the human eye.
One method of identifying the har-
monics present in a power signal is
through the use of discrete fast-Fou-
rier transforms (DFT) or FFT.
When an FFT or DFT is applied to
the input power signal, its output
can be used to identify the different
frequencies that are present in the
input signal. A DSP is very efficient
at performing FFTs and DFTs due to
its specialized multiply-and-accumu-
late instructions.
For example, the TMS320C674x
floating- and fixed-point DSP from
Texas Instruments can calculate a
256-point single-precision complex
FFT in 8 µs (3,696 cycles at 456 MHz).
Response time is also critical in these
types of measurements since a sys-
tem must react fast to prevent equip-
ment from being damaged. This re-
sponse time is well within the
capabilities of a DSP.

Power line communication

(PLC)
PLC is the preferred method for ser-
vice providers to communicate with
the electric meters installed at the re-
mote sites because the advanced me-
tering infrastructure only requires a
moderate data rate to service a large
number of residences and businesses.
One of the biggest concerns is inter-
ference with other wireless networks.
The number one advantage that
DSP-based PLC designs have over
other implementations, such as an
application-specific integrated cir-
cuit (ASIC), is that standards vary
from country to country, so it is cru-
cial to have a design that supports
many different formats and proto-
cols. For example, the primary stan-
dards in Europe are PRIME and G3,
while in the U.S., it is FCC G3. The
bandwidths and modulation schemes
are different among these standards,
so it is best to have a single flexible
DSP running different protocols si-
multaneously as shown in Fig. 2. ■

76 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

ENERGY-SAVING
INITIATIVE
Lithium batteries:
Powering future
smart grids
Renewable energy is creating the
need for utilities to capture and store
electricity for later use
BY TOM LARSEN
Palladium Energy
www.palladiumenergy.com
F
rom Burlington, Vermont, to
Bangalore, India, the global
electrical grid is based on de-
cades-old technology and for years
has suffered from low levels of in-
vestment. All of that is changing as
the industry enters an unprecedent-
ed era of innovation, and it is no co-
incidence that lithium battery
pack technology advance-
ment is happening si-
multaneously.
With the global
growth of renew-
able energy, such
as that produced
by solar collec-
tors and wind
turbines, the
need for utilities
to capture and store
electricity for later
use is becoming in-
creasingly important.
According to a recent
report by the Renewable
Energy Policy Network, renewable
energy now accounts for 20% of
global electricity. As demand for
power-generating capacity contin-
ues, lithium battery technology is
playing a major role in meeting this
need through stationary (large for-
mat) storage batteries and smart me-
tering systems.
an electronic products
special series
Scope Lie #2
Your digital
scope’s noise
specification
Today’s digital scopes only provide
a 5 or 10mV/division setting and
use a digital zoom to “get down to”
a 1mV/division setting. This tactic
signiƛcantly increases noise while
lowering the accuracy. As a way to
reduce the noise, some oscilloscopes
limit bandwidth on low volts per
division settings, while others do not
A modern electricity network offer the 1mV/division setting at all.
Primarily driving this demand is
the smart grid, which has been in
development since 2005. According
to recent industry reports, in the pe-
riod between 2009 and 2014, the
United States’ smart grid industry
revenues will double, and global
revenue is projected to skyrocket to
over $150 billion by 2014.
I n c r e a s i n g l y,
smart grids are de-
Try the scope that has a true,
livering clean power
from regions that have low noise performance and highly
an abundance of sun or wind, accurate 1mV/division setting.
which is why governments are of-
fering incentives for building out Discover how your digital scope
new transmission lines and replac- may be misrepresenting results at
ing aging ones with superconduct-
www.rohde-schwarz-scopes.com
Fig. 1:
Lithium-
based 888-837-8772
batteries
target
the
energy
storage
market
ing high-voltage direct-current pow-
er lines, which are super-chilled to
boost capacity and can carry giga-
watts of electricity.
The smart grid, using a computer-
ized demand response program,
pulls energy from distributed-power
projects, like solar panels (that use
photovoltaics to generate electrical
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 77
ENERGY-SAVING
INITIATIVE
power) and wind turbines, and from
energy stored in lithium-ion batter-
ies, then feeds it back into the grid
and compensates the power genera-
tors accordingly.
Such a modernized electricity net-
work is being promoted by many glob-
al governments and utilities (includ-
ing those in developing countries) as a
way of addressing energy indepen-
smarter, faster, smaller
At CUI, our approach is to develop smarter, faster, smaller power modules.
Whether it’s an embedded ac-dc power supply, a board level dc-dc converter,
or a level V external adapter, we continuously strive to keep our power line, that
ranges from 0.25 W to 2400 W, ahead of the curve.
Check out the latest addition to CUI’s power line:
720 W Novum Intermediate Bus Converter
NQB2 1/4 Brick
IBC Converter
cui.com/power
78 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
dence, global warming and emergency
resilience issues. It also presents these
governments and utilities with an un-
precedented need for storing large
amounts of clean energy.
Li-ion: Stationary
applications in smart grid
With about a dozen or so technolo-
gies vying for a segment of the smart
Highlights
¬ Industry leading power density
¬ Driven by CUI’s patented Solus
Power TopologyTM
¬ DOSA compliant pin-out
Specifications
¬ 720 W / 60 A output
¬ 1/4 brick package
¬ 36-60 Vdc input range
¬ Up to 96.4% efficiency
OCTOBER 2011
grid’s stationary, large format energy
storage market, many experts agree
that the greatest potential lies within
advanced battery technologies — es-
pecially those that are lithium-based
(see Fig. 1). Depending on a variety
of market drivers, such as govern-
ment intervention, global green
movements, utility/grid energy re-
quirements, infrastructure costs and
consumer demand, revenue projec-
tions for lithium-ion large format en-
ergy storage applications are expect-
ed to grow up to 50% within the
next few years.
Driving the utilities’ demand for
reliable and scalable energy storage
is so-called needle peaks in electric-
ity usage that only occur for a small
number of hours each day. It is ex-
pensive and inefficient to size ca-
pacity to these peaks. Therefore,
large format energy storage is play-
ing a significant role in supplanting
Such a modernized
electricity network
is being promoted
by many global
governments and
utilities as a way
of addressing energy
independence,
global warming and
emergency resilience
peaking generation by leveling the
loads and time-shifting periods of
peak demand on the grid. Lithium-
ion’s high energy density (storage)
capabilities allow it to efficiently
supply power and dampen power
fluctuations during these daily nee-
dle peaks in electrical usage.
In addition to lithium’s long life
span, low maintenance costs, ease
of installation and space-saving at-
tributes, which are all very impor-
tant in the development of micro-
grids, utilities are becoming
increasingly attracted to this tech-
nology. In addition, expected price
drops stemming from increased
worldwide production capabilities

and technology improvements will
likely increase lithium-ion station-
ary battery pack use within smart
grids and other large scale energy
storage applications.
End users and lithium-ion
While utilities manage peak energy
storage, they also try to reduce con-
sumer demand during peak usage pe-
riods. Machine-to-machine technolo-
gies communicate with smart meters
in homes and offices, allowing con-
sumers to monitor when energy de-
mand is high and track how much
electricity is used at certain times. To
motivate consumers to cut back, elec-
tricity prices are increased during
high-demand periods and decreased
during low-demand periods.
Due to peak leveling, electric
smart meters need reliable backup
power in order to maintain their real
time clock and avoid disruption in
the grid’s unique two-way commu-
nication. Lithium thionyl chloride
(Li-SOCl2) is one of the ideal chemis-
tries for smart meters because it can
operate in a range of global climates
with solid reliability and minimal
maintenance.
Li-SOCl2 cells are likely to be cy-
lindrical in shape and light-weight
due to their metallic lithium anode.
In addition, the cell’s liquid cathode
is comprised of a porous carbon cur-
rent collector filled with thionyl
chloride. With a voltage of 3.6 V, Li-
SOCl2 batteries are available in ½ AA
to D format, and feature bobbin con-
struction for extended discharge as
well as spiral electrodes for power ap-
plications such as smart meters.
Key specifications for Li-SOCl2:
• Operating temperatures from –
40° to 85°C.
• Inherent long life from 10 to 20
years without maintenance or re-
placement.
• End-of-life indicators built into
the smart battery design.
• High energy density: 3.6 V/19 Ah.
• Low self-discharge: <1%/year
In 2008, there were 46 million
smart meters worldwide, but Pike Re-
search predicts that by 2015, more
than 250 million smart meters will
be installed across the globe, repre-
senting a penetration of 18% of all
electrical meters. In addition, over
the next couple of decades, billions
Lithium Batteries
of electrical measuring devices alone
could be replaced by smart meters
Scope Lie #3
worldwide.
The increase in smart meters can
be attributed to global government
Your digital
incentives and mandates, such as the
American Recovery and Reinvest-
ment Act, in which the Obama ad-
ministration called for the installa-
scope’s
tion of 40 million smart meters by
allocating $4.5 billion for direct in-
vestment in the smart grid. Consid-
update rate
ering that every meter must be Digital scope manufacturers
equipped with reliable backup bat-
boast update rates of 1+ million
tery power, the market presents a
strong opportunity for lithium bat-
waveforms/sec, but this spec
tery technology. excludes measurements and mask
testing. These demanding scope
Powering the future grid measurement tests slow down
Recently, the industry has seen an the update rate of most digital
increase in end user innovation, oscilloscopes. When conducting
which is continuing to fuel con- a mask test at lower update rates,
sumer demand for the smart grid. ƛnding an event that occurs once
per second could take anywhere
Considering that
from minutes to hours.
every meter must be
equipped with reliable
backup battery power,
the market presents
a strong opportunity
for lithium battery
technology. Try the scope that maintains
For example, automobile manufac- extremely high waveform update
turers are beginning to connect rates while performing a mask
lithium-ion-powered electric vehi- test, and locates the error in
cles (EVs) to the smart grid. less than 30 seconds.
General Motors and OnStar re-
cently launched a pilot program to Discover how your digital scope
wirelessly track and direct the EV’s
may be misrepresenting results at
charging behavior, which could
potentially lower the costs to ex-
tend smart grid management fea- www.rohde-schwarz-scopes.com
tures to EVs. In addition, private
companies such as People Power 888-837-8772
are offering smart meter users the
ability to manage home energy re-
motely using smart phone applica-
tions.
As the smart grid continues to
proliferate and provide consumers
with added functionality, one thing
is certain: Lithium battery technol-
ogy will expand alongside this new
electrical grid to power a more sus-
tainable global future. ■
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 79
PRODUCT
ROUNDUP
N
ew wireless benchtop test sys-
tems and significant im-
provements to existing ones
are coming to market with increas-
ing rapidity. In its report, World Wire-
less Test Equipment Market (www.tes
tandmeasurement.frost.com), Frost &
Sullivan explained the dynamics of
this expansion.
The market research firm points
out that increased mobility and Inter-
net access through mobile phones,
coupled with advances such as Long-
term evolution (LTE), which can de-
liver data at rates up to 100 Mbits/s,
challenge wireless operators to man-
age their networks effectively and en-
sure customer satisfaction. Higher mo-
bile data usage creates more traffic on
the network, leading to increased de-
mand to test for quality of service
(QoS) and quality of experience
(QoE).
“Enhanced data usage also triggers
transmission pipeline-related technol-
ogy changes, such as conversion from
copper to optical technologies,” says
Frost & Sullivan Program Manager
80 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Olga Yashkova. This transition re-
quires testing pipelines at rates up to
100 Gbits/s. Then there are interoper-
ability issues to deal with as the num-
ber of devices from different vendors
proliferates and protocol management
will becomes more complex.
On the flip side of the instrument-
user spectrum, component designers
and suppliers need to be sure the prod-
ucts they create will meet their custom-
ers demands, and have to be working
in advance of the market to be ready
when the next wave of new wireless
technologies is ready for rollout.
In the following sections, we look
at what some major instrument sup-
pliers have brought to market for vari-
ous wireless technologies recently.
Aeroflex
In August, Aeroflex (www.aeroflex.com),
announced the release of 390XOPT604
automatic test and alignment software
for Motorola’s APX 7000 and 7500
mobile radios. The APX Series radios
are dual band and can be configured
with any two band combinations. The
OCTOBER 2011
application will test and align both
bands. Mobile power alignment is in-
cluded in this option and alignment
time for both bands on the APX mo-
bile is approximately 16 minutes.
This summer, the company also an-
nounced two new options for its 7100
LTE digital radio test set. The options
support testing of 3G WCDMA/HSPA
and GSM/GPRS, and data call hand-
over between LTE and HSPA. As WCD-
MA network operators migrate toward
Aeroflex
7100 LTE
digital radio
test set
LTE, the devices used by their subscrib-
ers will need to operate with legacy 2G
and 3G networks as well as new LTE
networks, handing over seamlessly be-
tween networks when appropriate. Op-
tions 103 and 105 for the facilitate test-
ing of these multimode devices across
all the standards they are required to
support, and test data handover be-
tween LTE and HSPA.
 Benchtop test equipment
At the start of summer, Aeroflex
and fjord-e-design GmbH announced
the first implementation of a TETRA II
test system on a portable radio tester,
the 3920 digital radio test set. The test
solution allows transmitter and receiv-
er testing of base stations and mobile
stations supporting the TETRA En-
hanced Data Service (TEDS).
Agilent Technologies
Just last month, Agilent Technologies
(www.agilent.com) introduced two solu-
tions for analysis and generation of
wide-bandwidth signals — the indus-
try’s first 160-MHz analysis bandwidth
option for the high-performance PXA
signal analyzer and Signal Studio soft-
ware for 802.11ac signal creation.
Wider bandwidth signal analysis is
necessary to cover all of the band-
widths supported by 802.11ac and Sig-
nal Studio for WLAN software aids
testing by enabling the creation of
802.11ac waveforms with BCC or
LDPC channel coding, all MCS codes,
and single- or multi-user MIMO up to
four streams.
In August, Agilent introduced its
W1716 Digital Pre-Distortion Builder
(DPD) software, a wideband DPD mod-
eling platform for LTE-Advanced and
802.11ac. The software creates an inter-
active RF/baseband platform for 4G
Agilent PXA
mo de l i ng
by linking
the user’s baseband DPD algorithms
with trusted wideband test equipment,
standard references and RF EDA soft-
ware. Armed with higher confidence in
real-world performance, designers can
now accelerate deployment of emerg-
ing communications chipsets, base sta-
tions and transceivers.
Anritsu
In August, Anritsu (www.anritsu.com)
introduced software for its MS269xA
and MS2830A series signal analyzers,
as well as its MG3700A vector signal
generator, that creates single-instru-
ment solutions to support the
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Scope Lie #4
Your digital
scope’s
analog trigger
Most analog and digital scopes
utilize separate circuits for trigger
and waveform acquisition. These
circuits have different bandwidths,
varying sensitivities and diverse
characteristics which can cause
trigger jitter.
The R&S®RTO digital oscilloscope
does not split the captured signal
into a trigger circuit and acquisition
circuit, virtually eliminating trigger
jitter and enabling you to trigger
on any speciƛed trigger point.
Try the scope with the digital
trigger, that triggers on the same
waveform you see on the screen.
Discover how your digital scope
may be misrepresenting results at
www.rohde-schwarz-scopes.com
888-837-8772
OCTOBER 2011 81
PRODUCT
ROUNDUP
IEEE802.11n/p/a/b/g/j wireless LAN
(WLAN) standards. With the software
installed, the instruments provide de-
velopers of WLAN devices, modules
and boards used in home entertain-
ment and automobile onboard wire-
less systems with accurate, cost-effec-
tive solutions to verify design
performance.
The previous month, the company
82 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
introduced the MD8475A signaling
tester, which can test a wide range of
applications and operating systems on
the latest high-speed, multi-mode LTE
devices. The tester can simulate 2G,
3G, LTE, and mixed-generation wire-
less networks, and lets device manu-
facturers conduct end-to-end testing
of applications that run on these net-
works. An enhanced Wireless Network
OCTOBER 2011
Simulator (WNS) graphical user inter-
face enables multi-mode, dual-cell ca-
pability, including handovers between
2G, 3G, and LTE. Since it is Windows 7
based, server applications can be con-
veniently installed on the tester, for
easy one-instrument, end-to-end ap-
plication testing. Up to eight external
servers can be simultaneously linked
to the tester through Ethernet connec-
tion as well.
Anritsu
MD8475A
signalling
tester
This summer, the company also in-
troduced options that extend the digi-
tal modulation analysis, signal genera-
tion, and coverage mapping capabilities
of its LMR Master S412E to meet the
requirements of the ETSI Digital Mo-
bile Radio (DMR) Tier 2 protocol. The
expanded testing capabilities provide
those responsible for deployment, in-
stallation, and maintenance of DMR
radio systems – including MotoTRBO
systems – with a single, lightweight,
durable test solution that meets evolv-
ing testing requirements
Audio Precision
In July, Audio Precision (http://ap.com/)
announced two new interface options
for its APx500 series audio analyzers:
the APx Bluetooth option for measur-
ing audio over Bluetooth wireless
technology, and the HDMI option
with Audio Return Channel (ARC) for
measuring ARC audio in HDMI 1.4a
devices. At the same time, version 2.8
of the APx500 software was released
to support the new interfaces, as well
as deliver new audio measurements
and feature improvements.
Booton
In June, Boonton, a Wireless Telecom
Group (www.wtcom.com) company,
launched the Amplifier Test Bench, a
new software package that simplifies
test and certification of RF amplifiers.
The software not only supports analy-
sis of pulsed and linear amplifiers, it
also measures gain over frequency and
gain over input power. The software
supports both fast Boonton peak pow-
er meters 4540 and 4500B and a vari-
ety of standard generators. No pro-
gramming knowledge is required.
 Benchtop test equipment

Narda Safety Test Systems make complex measure- enable the generator to
Last month, Narda Safety Test Systems ment tasks significantly cover ranges from 100 kHz
(www.narda-sts.us), an L-3 Communica- easier. to 20 GHz and 40 GHz, re-
tions company, introduced two porta- The company also an- spectively. Even at these
ble instruments — the NIM-511 and nounced last month that high frequencies, the sig-
NIM-513 industrial field meters —de- the SMB100A signal gen- Rohde & Schwarz FSW signal nal source makes no com-
and spectrum analyzer
signed specifically for measurement of erator was moving into promises in terms of out-
electromagnetic fields found in indus- the microwave range. The SMB-B120/ put power, spectral purity and cost of
trial environments such as RF heat seal- B120L and SMB-B140/B140L options ownership.
ers and vinyl welders, semiconductor (L versions without step attenuator) Richard Comerford
fabrication equipment, RF induction,
dielectric dryers and heaters, and plas-
ma generation systems. The battery-
powered meters allow industrial plant
managers and safety professionals to
accurately ensure compliance with the
IEEE C95.1-2005 standard and recom-
mendations from ICNIRP that dictate
maximum permissible exposure to
electromagnetic fields.

Rigol
Rigol Technologies (www.rigol.com) in-
troduced the DSA1000A series of 2-
and 3-GHz spectrum analyzers, de-
signed to improve efficiency with a
new interface as well as a widescreen
construction, new key layout and fea-
ture set. These analyzers are intended
for bench top or field service measure-
ment in the cellular, education, auto-
Rigol
DSA1000A
seires
spectrum
analyzers

motive, wireless and electronic indus-

tries. To save time in instrument set-up
and in reacquiring signals, the spec-
trum analyzers offer auto-functions
and saving/recalling setups, traces and
test states. Weighing less than 15 lbs,
these spectrum analyzers are priced
starting at $2,999, and offer optional
battery packs capable of 3 hours con-
tinuous operation.

Rohde & Schwarz

Last month, Rohde & Schwarz (www.
rohde-schwarz.com) introduced the FSW
signal and spectrum analyzer which
they say outperforms all comparable
high-end instruments on the market in
both RF performance and bandwidth.
Available in three models that cover
the frequency ranges of 2 Hz to 8, 13, or
26.5 GHz, the instrument lets develop-
ers view multiple measurement appli-
cations at a glance as well as analyze
signal interactions — features that

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 83

 PRoDuCT Transformers
UPDATE & inductors

T
ransformers and inductors are integral parts of electronic design. They
are used in a variety of circuits from power supplies and converters to
filters and voltage regulators. They are passive devices which come in a
wide range of sizes, types and operational parameters. Their recent design
trends, driven by the proliferation of hand held and mobile electronic de-
vices are pushing miniaturization, weight reduction and surface mount
technology. However, whether the components are intended for sophisticat-
ed integration or a simple base circuit, transformer and inductor manufac-
turers are constantly striving to improve performance and design character-
istics to meet application demands. Here is a sampling of some of the latest
products and innovations.

High-current, low-profile inductors

Vishay Intertechnology (www.vishay.com) has greatly expanded its product
portfolio of high-current, low-profile inductors in the last several months. Its
latest addition is the compact IHLP-3232CA-01 in the 3232 case size with a
3.0-mm profile. The high performance device can operate
at frequencies up to 5 MHz and offers a wide range of stan-
dard inductance values from 0.22 through 10 µH. It has a
maximum DCR down to 1.6 MΩ and saturation currents
from 8.2 A up to 43.0 A. The new inductor can handle high
transient current spikes without hard saturation. It is ideal
for voltage regulator module and DC/DC converter applications used in end
products such as next-generation mobile devices and FPGAs.

Highest inductance for 0603 size

The recently upgraded TDK brand MLG0603S Series by TDK-EPC (www.tdk.

84 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 PRoDuCT
UPDATE
T9 compact, easy to
mount circuit breaker
resists dust and water
com) currently boasts the highest inductance rating for an
0603 component package size in the industry — an as-
tounding 180 nH at 100 MHz. Significant increases in in-
ductance values for the series were achieved by optimiz-
ing the multi-layer ceramic coil electrode design through
improvements in materials and process technologies.
This has resulted in the addition of six new components
with higher inductances to their existing lineup. The
0603S series now encompasses 62 components with in-
ductances of 0.3 to 180 nH, currents rated from 50 to 600
mA, and dc resistance values ranging from 0.1 to 8.5 Ω.
They are well suited for use in high frequency RF applica-
tions such as mobile communication devices and prod-
ucts using Bluetooth technology.

Miniature power inductors

Miniature power inductors got a boost in July with the
release of the 8300 Series from Murata Power Solu-
tions (www.murata-ps.com). These toroidal surface-mount
power inductors can handle maxi-
mum, device-dependent DC cur-
rents up to 3.0A and are available in
inductances of 0.42 to 100 µH.
They have a low dc resistance of
24mΩ to 1.32 Ω across the series
range and feature exceptional EMI
characteristics. The latter is a result of the efficient design
of the torroidal core which ensures that the magnetic flux
is confined to the core - virtually eliminating any stray

Engineering Design Kits

components from authorized manufacturers
The components you need
at your fingertips

www.schurterinc.com/new_cbes

Schurter‘s T9 series resets the industry standard

for fuseholder style Circuit Breakers for Equipment
- single pole thermal circuit breaker
- slim fuseholder style body
• Ceramic Capacitors
- fits a variety of panels with 3 different mounting styles • Tantalum Capacitors
BC Components
Beyshlag
Dale
• front mounting snap-in fits 0.8-2mm panel thickness • Transistors Siliconix
• rear mounting snap-in fits 0.5-3mm panel thickness • Thick-film Resistors Sprague

• rear mounting threaded neck fits 3/8” cut-out. Comes with • Thin-film Resistors
metal nut or plastic nut to meet China RoHS. Optional IP65 • Inductors
protection cover available. • Diodes

- rated currents 3-16A • Varistors

• Ferrite Beads
- press to reset trip indicator • Trimming Potentiometers
- approved to UL 1077, CSA C22.2, IEC 60934, GB 17701 RoHS veteran owned
Compliant small business

Garrett
Electronics Corp.
ph 800 767 0081
fax 805 922 3643
www.garrettelec.com
Certified
ISO-9001:2008

custserv@garrettelec.com

86 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Transformers & inductors

fields. Measuring a compact 7.8 x 5.2 DR79893 feature a "flat wire" design tween coil and core and have a Class
x 1.8 mm, 8300 Series inductors are that is coiled and mounted directly to E Insulation rating making them op-
specifically designed for power ap- the circuit board. erable up to 120°C (248°F) tempera-
plications with restricted PCB space This allows for ex- tures. The DR79892 has a rated in-
and height. They can be used in a tremely efficient ductance of 2.5 µH and current of 45
broad range of consumer electronic heat dissipation, re- A while the DR79893, 40 µH and 30
designs such as hand held devices sulting in superior A, respectively. The rugged design of
and notebook computers. component perfor- these components make them ideal
mance and reliabil- for heavy-duty commercial and in-
Conical inductors ity. Both inductors are insulated to a dustrial environments.
The new "C" series broadband coni- minimum of 100MΩ at 500 Vac be- Michael J. Kawa
cal inductors from Gowanda Elec-
tronics (www.gowanda.com) feature
a unique, space-saving 3-in-1 design
which can replace three inductors
with one conical device. Their preci-
sion winding, wire selection and coil
configuration enable the devices to
give a predictable frequency response
over a wide band with a repeatable
RF performance. They are tailored
for communication applications and
offered in standard and custom
broadband conical design options.
Typical operation is from 40MHz to
40GHz with a power capability up to
150 watts. The inductors are avail-
able in a variety of sizes and come in
standard through-hole (offered with
flying-leads) and surface mount de-
signs (aided by a ruggedized carrier.)

Gate-drive transformers
A newly developed series of EPCoS
brand EP5 SMT pulse transformers
has been released by TDK-EPC (www.
epcos.com) . These devices operate at
switching frequencies in a range from
150 KHz to several megahertz and are
specifically designed to couple gate-
drive circuits to MoSFETs and IGBTs.
They use a special winding technolo-
gy to enhance performance by sub-
stantially minimizing stray induc-
tances and parasitic capacitances
between windings. The transformers
are available in a wide range of turns
ratio, polarities and outputs which
gives them a great deal of design flex-
ibility. Their small size — only 8.1 x
6.7 x 5.4 mm — is due to the use of
miniaturized EP5 cores. The tiny,
highly efficient devices are targeted
for use in half- and full-bridge con-
verters as well as frequency converter
or inverter applications.

Flat-wire inductors
Datatronic Distribution (www.
datatronics.com) has come out with a
pair of flat wire inductors that excel
in high temperature power supply ap-
plications. The DR79892 and the
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 87
NEW Components & Subassemblies
PRODUCTS edited by p.o’shea, c.nickolas, r.comerford and c.mathas
See more online at electronicproducts.com/cs

eGaN FET features 200-V, — available now.)

100-mΩ power transistor
The EPC2012 second-generation
eGaN FET power transistor is a 1.6
mm2 200-V DS de-
vice with a maxi-
mum R DS(on) of 100
mΩ with 5 V ap-
plied to the gate.
The device has an
increased pulsed
current rating of 15 A (compared
with 12 A for the EPC1012), is fully
enhanced at a lower gate voltage, and
has superior dv/dt immunity due to
an improved ratio of QGD/QGS.
Applications for the eGaN FET in-
clude high-speed dc/dc power sup-
plies, PoL converters, class D audio
amplifiers, hard-switched and high-
frequency circuits. Also available is
the EPC9004 companion develop-
ment board to facilitate design of
high-frequency switching power
conversion systems. ($2.10 ea/1,000
Efficient Power Conversion
El Segundo, CA
information 310-615-0279
joe.engle@epc-co.com
www.epc-co.com
Gate-drive xformers
save board space
EP5 SMT B82804A pulse transform-
ers are designed to couple gate-drive
circuits to MOSFETs and IGBTs at
switching frequencies of of 150 kHz
to several megahertz. The small
transformer size — only 8.1 x 6.7 x
5.4 mm — results in significant space
savings on the circuit board. A spe-
cial winding technology enables
parasitic capacitances between only
25 and 95 pF, depending on the type.
Stray inductances are also low, rang-
ing between 0.9 and 2.5 µH.
Short-term dielectric strength is
tested to 1,500 Vdc for all types of
the series. The components are de-
signed for ambient temperatures of
up to 85°C and operating tempera-
tures of up to 125°C. The transform-
ers are available with a wide range of
turns ratios, polarities, and outputs.
Target applications of these new
transformers are the coupling of
gate-drive circuits in half and full-
bridge converters as well as in fre-
quency converters or inverters. (Con-
tact company for price and
availability.)
TDK-EPC, Iselin, NJ
Inductive Component Marketing
800-888-7728
inductors-emc.usa@epcos.com
www.epcos.com
Microphone kit features
iTEDS-enabled preamp
The Endevco EM46AQ is a combined
1/2-in. random incidence micro-
phone and iTEDS-enabled preampli-
fier set to support larger channel
count precision acoustic measure-

ZMOTION Detection Module ZMOTION Occupancy Detection Solution

(ZEPIR0AAS02MODG) (Z8FS040BSB20EG)
4 KB
;.05*0/
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Bundled ZMOTION Occupancy Detection Option ZMOTION Intrusion Detection Solution Bundled ZMOTION Intrusion Detection Option
(ZMOT0BSB0A0AG) (Z8FS021AHH20EG) (ZMOT1AHH0G0AG)
Power Supply
Lens l
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Build your applications with one of our ZMOTION Development Kits listed below:
ZEPIR000102ZCOG ZMOTIONL100ZCOG ZMOTIONS200ZCOG
;.05*0/
%FUFDUJPO
.PEVMF
%FWFMPQNFOU
,JU ;.05*0/
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please visit www.zilog.com/zmotion

88 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Rugged, Reliable MOSFETs
for Industrial Applications
RDS(on) Max. Features
VDS ID QG • Low on resistance per silicon area
Part Number VGS=10V Package
(V) (A) (nC)
(mΩ) • Optimized for both fast switching and
IRFS3004 40 1.75 195 160 D2PAK low gate charge
IRFB3004 40 1.75 195 160 T0-220 • Excellent gate, avalanche and
dynamic dv/dt ruggedness
IRFH5004 40 2.6 100 73 PQFN 5x6 mm
IRF7739L2 40 1 270 220 DirectFET-L8
The IR Advantage
IRFS3006-7 60 2.1 240 200 D2PAK-7
IRFS3006 60 2.5 195 200 D PAK
2 • Best die to footprint ratio
IRFH5006 60 4.1 100 67 PQFN 5x6 mm • Large range of packages
IRF7749L2 60 1.3 108 220 DirectFET-L8 • Available from 40 V to 250 V
IRFB3077 75 3.3 210 160 TO-220
IRFH5007 75 5.9 100 65 PQFN 5x6 mm Applications
IRF7759L2 75 2.2 83 220 DirectFET-L8 • DC Motor Drives
IRFP4468 100 2.6 195 360 T0-247 • Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
IRFH5010 100 9 100 65 PQFN 5x6 mm • DC-DC Converters
IRF7769L3 100 3.5 124 200 DirectFET-L8 • Power Tools
IRFP4568 150 5.9 171 151 D2PAK • Electric Bikes
IRFH5015 150 31 56 33 PQFN 5x6 mm
IRF7799L3 150 11 67 97 DirectFET-L8
OICE
Your FIRST CH
IRFP4668 200 9.7 130 161 T0-247
e
for Performanc
IRFH5020 200 59 41 36 PQFN 5x6 mm
IRFP4768 250 17.5 93 180 T0-247
IRFH5025 250 100 32 37 PQFN 5x6 mm
IRF7779L4 250 38 35 110 DirectFET-L8

for more information call 1.800.981.8699 or visit us at www.irf.com

Distributors :

THE POWER MANAGEMENT LEADER

NEW
PRODUCTS
ment requirements within automo-
tive and aircraft interior noise analy-
sis and NVH-related applications.
The preassembled kit features
cleanroom assembly and calibration.
With a sensitivity of 50 mV/Pa, a fre-
quency response from 3.15 Hz to 16
kHz, and a wide dynamic range of 17
dBA to 135 dB, the EM46AQ is de-
90 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
Components & Subassemblies
signed to meet IEC 61094 Class 1
guidelines for acoustic product reli-
ability and precision. (Contact com-
pany for price and availability.)
Meggitt Sensing Systems
San Juan Capistrano, CA
Technical support 800-982-6732
applications@endevco.com
www.endevco.com
OCTOBER 2011
Tiny TCXO suits
wireless comm apps
Measuring just 2.5 x 2.0 mm, the
VFTX250 TCXO delivers frequency
stability of ±0.5 ppm and
is available across the
industrial temperature
range of –40° to 85°C.
The part offers output
frequencies up to 52 MHz
in the low-power clipped sine wave
output with supply voltages ranging
from 2.8 to 2.5 V.
Typical current consumption is as
low as 1.1 mA and to minimize bat-
tery drain the device also has an out-
put enable/disable option.(Contact
company for pricing — samples now)
Valpey Fisher, Hopkinton, MA
Sales 800-982-5757
sales@valpeyfisher.com
www.valpeyfisher.com
MINI Circuit Breaker
targets vehicles
The Type II version of the 1620 MINI
thermal automotive circuit breaker
offers the lowest operating tempera-
ture in the MINI circuit protection
market and meets
all requirements of
SAE J553 in the min-
iature package. It is
available in current
ratings from 5 to 30
A with voltage rat-
ings of 12 Vdc.
The product housings are color-cod-
ed consistently with industry standard
current ratings and are designed to the
form, fit and function of other MINI
blade products in the market. The am-
bient operating temperature extends
from −40° to 185°F. (Contact 800-462-
9979 for price and availability.)
E-T-A Circuit Breakers
Mount Prospect, IL
Information 847-827-2700
www.e-t-a.com
1200-V IGBTs reduce
switching losses
The IRG7Pxxxxx family of 1,200-V
insulated gate bipolar transistors (IG-
BTs) suit induction heating, uninter-
ruptible power supplies, solar, and
welding applications. The devices
use thin wafer field-stop trench tech-
nology that reduces switching and
conduction losses to deliver high
power density and efficiency at high
frequencies.
 NEW
PRODUCTS
The IGBTs support from 20 to 50-A in packaged devices and up to 150-A for
die products. The devices are available with or without an internal ultra-fast
soft-recovery diode. Die products are also available with solderable front metal
for improved thermal performance. ($3.00 ea/10,000 — available now.)
International Rectifier, El Segundo, CA
Sales 310-252-7105 www.irf.com

Circuit breakers meet UL489 specs

The NDB3-100 series of circuit breakers meet requirements for
UL489 hydraulic magnetic circuit breakers. The breakers are avail-
able in ac and dc trip curves. The hydraulic magnetic overload tech-
nology protects the circuit in both overload and short-circuit situa-
tions. All circuit breakers are ROHS compliant.
The circuit breakers are screw mount and are rated from 1 to
100 A. They have a voltage rating of 230 Vac/400 Vac, and 80 Vdc for
one-, two-, or three-pole. (Contact 877-650-5160 for price and availability.)
Automation Systems, Interconnect, Mechanicsburg, PA
Sales 877-650-5160 info@asi-ez.com
www.asi-ez.com

Tablet antenna has low profile

The 700-LTE high-performance, low-profile switchable antenna for LTE-enabled
tablets is only 1 mm high. It enables four states for low band: 700 to 750 MHz
(LTE low), 750 to 790 MHz (LTE high), 820 to 900 MHz (GSM850), and 880 to 960
MHz (GSM900), and covers 1,800, 1,900, and 2,100 MHz for high-band applica-
tions. Switching is implemented directly from the device's display area.
The antenna has a length of 65 mm, which can be varied to meet require-
ments, and a width of 12 mm. The antenna can be adjusted for various dis-
play sizes, and is compatible with metal tablet holders and such manufactur-
ing technologies as LDS, flex, and sheet metal. (Contact company for price

Millions of Resistors IN STOCK!

No
Shortages Medical

Same Day
Shipping Communication

Low
MOQs Defense

Industrial
Thin Film, Thick Film, High Voltage,
High Power, Current Sense & Much More.
For over 35 years ims has been a premiere provider of precision thick & thin film
off-the-shelf & custom resistors. We stock millions of resistors for same day shipping
making ims your source for passives.
50 Schoolhouse Lane Por tsmouth, RI 02871

See what we have to offer! www.ims-resistors.com

92 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

ep page master 33s.indd 1 5/6/11 11:15:03 AM
 Components & Subassemblies

— engineering samples available.) quency pull range. Such applications to 155.52 MHz. Measuring 7.0 x 5.0 x
Pulse Electronics, San Diego, CA require a typical phase noise at 1-kHz 1.4 mm, the parts offer a supply volt-
Information 858-674-8100 offset to be less than –120 dB, phase age of 3.3 V. (ea/10,000 — $1.0 to
info@pulseelectronics.com jitter from 12 kHz to 20 MHz offset to $12.0 (depending on input and out-
www.pulseelectronics.com be typically less than 0.3 ps rms, and put levels) — available now
pull range to exceed ±100 ppm, pro- Pericom Semiconductor
Silicon carbide JFETs viding wider frequency adjustment to
the input frequency variation.
San Jose, CA
Information 800-435-2336
target high-end audio Popular frequencies include 16.384 www.pericom.com
SJEP120R100A and SJEP120R063A
silicon carbide (SiC) JFETs provide
15% lower cost, high linearity, and
low distortion
in high-end
audio applica-
tions. The de-
vices devices
are compatible
with standard
gate-driver ICs and feature a positive
temperature coefficient for ease of
paralleling; extremely fast switching
with no tail current at up to a maxi-
mum operating temperature of
150°C; and a low R DS(on) max of 0.100
and 0.063 Ω, respectively.
Switch Up to ±320V @ 200mA with TTL Level Signals
Devices are available in TO-247
packages and the 100-mΩ part is also Switches Typically 14.5:, Pairs Matched to 0.1:
available in die form for integration VDD=3.3V
into modules. (Contact company for
price and availability.) CPC7514 S1
SemiSouth Laboratories
Starkville, MS CLARE
Matched Pair 1-2 S2
Information 662-324-7607
www.semisouth.com
S3
Tunable filters offer S4 Matched Pair 3-4
new frequency ranges
The AP-mini-30-88/AP-mini-90-200/
AP-mini-200-400 digitally tuned Switch State Control & Latch
bandpass filters are ideal for military Two-Stage Current Limit
radio applications and join the previ- Thermal Shutdown
ously released 30 to 90-MHz model
AP-mini-30-90. GND
The AP-mini-30-88 offers a fre-
quency range from 30 to 88 MHz, TTL Level Control
the AP-mini-90-200 from 90 to 200
MHz, and the AP-mini-200-400 Robot Communication and Control
from 200 to 400 MHz. (Contact Sales Control 110VAC power to small AC loads
for pricing and availability)
API Technologies, Windber, PA
Switch two telephony lines with dual matched pairs
Information 908.546.3903 Connect critical instrumentation to high-voltage circuits
sales@apitech.com Make BITE smaller, more robust, more reliable, and less expensive
www.apitech.com
Clare, an IXYS Company Three Levels of Built-In Protection
ASSP VCXO suit 78 Cherry Hill Drive
Beverly, MA 01915 • Initial Current Limit
telecom,networking apps 978-524-6768
• Secondary Current Limit
The ASSP VCXO (Applications Spe- • Thermal Shutdown
cific Voltage Controlled Crystal Oscil-
lators) products meet the demanding
Pb RoHS
2002/95/EC
e3
needs of telecom and networking ap- www.clare.com/Products/QuadAnalogSwitch.htm
plications by offering ultra-low phase
noise, low phase jitter, and wide-fre-
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 93
 Contact
LEADING EDGE,
COST-EFFECTIVE
POWER SOLUTIONS

Western/Midwest Region
Corporate Headquarters
2390 Owen Street
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Fax (408) 588-1751
Southwest Region
2102 Business Center Dr.
Suite 203A
Irvine, CA 92612
Fax: 949-253-4174
Eastern Region
1900 West Park Drive
Suite 280
Westborough, MA 01581
Fax (508) 983-1444
us today!
(866) 588-1750 | www.powergatellc.com | sales@powergatellc.com (866) 588-1750
www.powergatellc.com
sales@powergatellc.com

WEB-SITE PRODUCT
SELECTION MENU
LISTED BY
AC-DC OUTPUT VOLTAGE
ITE / Industrial Power Supplies
* Open-Frame 5-350 W
* U-Frame / Bracketed 10-500 W
* Covered / Enclosed 10-1,000 W
* Covered with Fan 200-3,000 W
* Desktop Switchers 10-230 W
* Wallmount Switchers 6-25 W
* Encapsulated Switchers 5-120 W
* Modular & Configurable 300-1,000 W
Medical | Healthcare Power Supplies
* Open-Frame / U-Frame 5-350 W
* Covered & Covered with Fan 15-650 W
* Modular & Configurable 300-900 W
* Desktops & Wallmounts 15-180 W
* Encapsulated & PCB Mount 5-50 W
* Medical DC-DC Converters 2-6 W
LED Power Supplies
* IP64 Rated 20-100 W
* IP65 Rated 100-320 W
* IP66 Rated 60-100 W
* IP67 Rated 18-320 W
ULTRA-WIDE 4:1 INPUT DC-DC CONVERTERS * Constant Current
* Constant Voltage
16-320 W
18-150 W
Ultra-Wide Selection of High Performance Products for Industrial & DIN Rail Power Supplies
* DIN Rail Mount 15-960 W
OEM & Industrial Applications from 2~200 Watt * High Peak Load 100-1,000 W
* Encapsulated Switchers 5-120 W
VIN RANGE Redundant Power, Chargers & Inverters
OUTPUT
SINGLE

TRIPLE

* Front Ends / Power Shelves 1,000-6,000 W

DUAL

POWER FOOTPRINT SMD DIP 4.5-18 9-36 18-75 VOLTAGES SERIES * Current Sharing 24-3,000 W
2W ● ● ● ● ● 5~30VDC ● ● TDR2-WI * DC-AC Inverters 200-3,000 W
0.74 x 0.50 x 0.35”
3W ● ● ● ● ● 5~30VDC ● ● TDR3-WI LISTED BY INPUT
3W 0.94 x 0.54 x 0.31” ● ● ● ● 5~30VDC ● ● THL3-WI
DC-DC & OUTPUT VOLTAGE
* Single In-Line Package (SIP) 1-3 W
6W 0.87 x 0.80 x 0.40” ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THL6-WISM
* Wide 2:1 Input Range 1-600 W
5W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● TEN5-WI
* Ultra-Wide 4:1 Input Range 2-200 W
8W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● TEN8-WI * Surface Mount Converters 1-30 W
1.25 x 0.80 x 0.40”
12W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THD12-WI * High Density Bricks 50-600 W
15W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THD15-WIN * Non-Isolated POL 1-30 Amps
10W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THL10-WI * 300VDC Bus Converters 50-1,500 W
15W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THN15-WI * Chassis Mount & DIN Rail 5-1,000 W
1.00 x 1.00 x 0.40” * High Isolation 2-6 W
20W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THN20-WI
20W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● THL20-WI
15W ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● TEN15-WI
20W 2.00 x 1.00 x 0.40” ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● TEN20-WIN
30W ● ● ● 1.5~30VDC ● ● ● TEN30-WIN 376 PAGE CATALOG
40W 2.00 x 2.00 x 0.40” ● ● ● 3.3~30VDC ● ● TEN40-WI
75W ● ● ● 3.3~48VDC ● TEP75-WI
160W 2.28 x 2.40 x 0.50” ● ● ● 3.3~48VDC ● TEP160-WIR
200W ● ● ● 3.3~48VDC ● TEP200-WIR

* Industry Leading Power Densities * Miniature Footprints

* High Operating Efficiencies * Wide Temperature Range
* 1500~2250 VDC Isolation * Tightly Regulated Outputs
* Built-in OVP / OCP circuits * 3 Year Product Warranty

Western/Midwest Region Southwest Region Eastern Region

Corporate Headquarters 2102 Business Center Dr. 1900 West Park Drive
2390 Owen Street Suite 203A Suite 280
Santa Clara, CA 95054 Irvine, CA 92612 Westborough, MA 01581
Fax (408) 588-1751 Fax: 949-253-4174 Fax (508) 983-1444

(866) 588-1750 | www.powergatellc.com | sales@powergatellc.com


NEW
PRODUCTS
See more online at electronicproducts.com/ps
Compact supplies
comply with DIN 43880
The Epsitron Compact DIN-rail
mount power supply line suit restrict-
ed installation depths and comply
with DIN 43880, specifying equip-
ment dimensions for distribution and
meter panels. The
units feature from
30 to 100-W power
and provide 12- and
24-Vdc outputs.
The DIN rail
mounted supplies
carry UL Protection Class II and use
from 85 to 264-Vac inputs. The sup-
ply design supports building auto-
mation and can be mounted upside-
down within ceiling panels. It uses
constant current mode for switch-
ing-in loads with high inrush cur-
rents. During overload, output cur-
rent is typically limited to 110% of
the rated current with a simultane-
ously lowered output voltage. (Con-
tact 800-346-7245 for price and
availability.)
Wago, Germantown, WI
Sales 800-346-7245
info.us@wago.com
www.wago.us
1,000-W dc/dc converter
suits harsh apps
The BAP 65-125-XXFT series rugged,
industrial quality dc/dc converters de-
liver up to 1,000−W continuous out-
put power. The 155 x 64 x 300−mm
sized units deliver 24-V/40-A or 48-
Vdc/20-A output and accept input
voltages of 110 Vdc or 125 Vdc. Other
input/output values are also available.
The converters are rated for full
specification from 0º to 50°C. They
meet EN61373/IEC61373 shock and
vibration standards and are filtered
to meet EN 55022 Class A EMI re-
quirements. Protection includes in-
rush current limiting, reverse polar-
ity protection, and continuous
current limiting with short-circuit
protection with no hiccup. Efficien-
cy is typically 85% at full load. Out-
put ripple/noise is less than 1% peak-
to-peak and combined line/load
regulation of less than ±1% from
zero-load to full load. An optional
Level V Ad_Layout 1 10/29/2010 7:47 AM Page 1
ADVERTISEMENT
Power
Sources
edited by paulo’shea
GlobTek’s ex-
panded power line
now includes mul-
tiple families of
built-in redundancy diode allows for
parallel and n+1 operation. An out-
Wall Plug-in &
put fail alarm is also available. ($386
Desktop Level V
Power Supplies.
ea/100 — available now.) Designs have reg-
Absopulse Electronics ulated outputs
Carp, Ontario, Canada voltage from: 3.3-
Carole Lombard 613-836-3511 48 Vdc in 0.1V increments, up to 90W. Features:
O.C., S.C., O.V., Thermal Protection; meets mul-
absopulse@absopulse.com tiple International Safety Agency for ITE &
www.absopulse.com Medical applications. All Models carry agencies’
logos and CE-Mark. GlobTek offers a 5-year
LED driver module warranty.
GlobTek, Inc., N.J.
receives UL recognition Sales 201.784.1000
sales@globtek.com
The E100W24V-D LED driver for http://www.globtek.com
general illumination is now a UL rec-
ognized component (E341875) for
safety in the U.S. and Canada. It
meets applicable UL 1310 Class 2 and
GlobTek’s series of “Smart” Li-On chargers
UL 8750 requirements.
offers a compact &cost effective, solution for
The LED driver module is part of charging GlobTek* Lithium-Ion and Lithium
the eDriver product family designed Polymer battery
specifically for SSL applications. It packs. Features:
features up to 100−W constant volt- single or multiple
age output power, is 1.33-in. high bay cradle, custom
and 17.36- charging schemes,
battery condition
in. long, before bulk charg-
accepts 90 ing, programmable
to 300 Vac charge timer back-
input, and provides onboard dim- up, charge status
ming to <10%. The driver offers a LEDs. Multiple bay chargers have the option of
minimum power factor of 0.90 and an MCU incorporated for battery identification,
status & temperature using HDQ from
total harmonic distortion of <20%. BQ27000. *or equal
Full-load efficiency at 110 Vac is 84% GlobTek, Inc., N.J.
and 87% at 220/277 Vac. It suits lin-
ear lighting applications where driv-
Sales 201.784.1000
sales@globtek.com
ing multiple strings of LEDs from a http://www.globtek.com
single output is required. ($100 ea/
prototype qty — available now.)
ERG Lighting, Endicott, NY GlobTek’s Li-On Battery Packs are comprised
Information 800-215-5866 of single or multiple cells rated 3.7V up to
5200 mAh each. Cells can be packaged with
ssl@ergpower.com Seiko S-8232AKFT-T2 control chip protec-
www.erglighting.com tion & TI
BQ27000 based
250-W supply targets fuel gauge circuitry
included. Addi-
medical apps tional features:
protection from
The PPWAM250 series ac/dc power Short Circuit, Over
supplies offer 250−W output power voltage, Over cur-
and are compliant with UL/ rent, Under Voltage, Overcharge, Over dis-
cUL60601-1 and TUV 60601-1 medi- charge, Over Temperature. The packs are a
cal safety standards. They accept a Polycarbonate/ABS mixture frame or case,
90 to 264−Vac input. contacts made of nickel & frames designs are
sealed in an ET label material. Modified and
The medically compliant supplies Custom Designs are also available on all of
feature regulated voltages ranging the above.
from 12 to 48 Vdc with no minimum GlobTek, Inc., N.J.
load. The 3 x 5 x 1.38-in. open-frame Sales 201.784.1000
units suit designs with space con- sales@globtek.com
straints and provide up to 250 W http://www.globtek.com
with 17−cfm forced air. They feature
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 95
NEW
PRODUCTS
efficiencies >85%, and leakage cur-
rents as low as 300 µA at 264 Vac.
Protection circuitry includes over-
voltage and short circuit protection.
They meet FCC and EN55011 Level B
standards and have an MTBF of
100,000 hours at full load. ($87 ea/
large qty — available now.)
Power Partners, Hudson, MA
Power Partners 978-567-9600
tech@powerpartners-inc.com
www.powerpartners-inc.com
6−W wall supplies meet
Level−V requirements
The GT-41134 series of wall plug-in
power supplies include interchange-
able blades for
North America,
Europe, U.K., Aus-
tralia, China, Ko-
rea Class II, S. Af-
rica, and Argentina. They meet
Level−V efficiency requirements,
and have an IEC inlet available in
single blade installation or as a kit.
The plug-in supplies feature dou-
ble-enforced insulation mechanical
configurations, regulated outputs
voltage from 3.3 to 15 Vdc in 0.1−V
increments, up to 6−W continuous
output power. They feature regulated
output with 1% ripple, and provide
over current, short circuit, over volt-
age, and thermal protection. The
supplies accept 90 to 264−Vac input
and comply with EMI/RFI Regula-
tions, EMC Directives, and FCC Class
B for ITE applications. ($5 to $6 ea/
production qty — available now.)
GlobTek, Northvale, NJ
Sales 201-784-1000
sales@globtek.com
www.globtek.com
25-W supplies target
LED Lighting
The LDS25 series power supplies pro-
vide 25-W output that target LED light-
ing. They have an input range from
120 to 277 Vac and deliver up to 700
mA at 36 Vdc. Constant current mode
operates from 36 V down to 26 V, while
constant voltage mode operates with
load currents from 300 to 700 mA. The
output current can be user adjusted
from 0 to 700-mA range by an IEC
60929 compliant dimming function.
Power Sources
The power supplies achieve a
power factor of at least 0.9 and they
feature 86% conversion efficiency.
They are rated for op-
eration over an
ambient tempera-
ture range from
−30° to 60°C or a
case temperature from −30° to 90°C,
with no need for forced air cooling.
(Contact company for price; sample
quantities available now.)
Emerson Network Power -
Embedded Power, Carlsbad, CA
Information 760-930-4600
www.PowerConversion.com
Dc/dc converters aimed
at mil vehicle apps
The MTC35 and MTC50 series of
COTS 35- and 50-W dc/dc converters
target military vehicle and avionics
applications. The robust and encapsu-
lated board mounted modules accom-
modate a 10 to 40-Vdc input range and
can handle transients up to 50 Vdc for
up to 100 ms.
Single output modules are available
with +3.3, +5, +12, +15 or +28 Vdc out-

1 Ampere non-isolated
Step-down
Switching Regulators
www.amrelpower.com
TSRN 1 series: A high efficiency
Operating at Full Load alternative to linear
voltage regulators
200 watts to 200 kilowatts – industry leading
range of fully programmable DC loads.

• Efficiency up to 95 %
• Suitable for positive
and negative output circuit
• Compact SMD or SIP package
• Operating temp. range
-40 °C to +85 °C
• No heat sink required
• Trusted AMREL eLoad™ brand • Over temperature protection
• Most flexible platform – modular and standalone systems • Short circuit protection
available in both benchtop and rackmount configurations • Excellent line / load regulation
• Air or water cooled options
www.tracopower.com

32:(52)&+2,&( POWERGATE LLC 866-588-1750 www.powergatellc.com

Power Sources Unlimited 800-966-7784 www.psui.com/traco
www.amrelpower.com • 800-882-6735 • 858-458-0223 (outside U.S.)

96 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

Budget Squeeze!

Go Direct
Don’t squeeze out product performance,
put up with erratic deliveries, or accept poor
DC/DC Converters!
• 1W to 40W Output Power
customer service to meet tight budget con-
straints. At MicroPower Direct we keep our • Wide 2:1/4:1 Input Ranges
costs down and pass the savings on to our • EN 60950 Approvals (UL)
customers. Get great customer service, fast • Very High Isolation Models
on-time deliveries and experienced techni- • Industry Standard Pin-Outs
cal help on well over 4,000 standard, high
AC/DC Power Supplies!
performance DC/DC converters, AC/DC
switching power supplies, POL switching • 3W to 800W Output Power
regulators and high brightness LED drivers. • EN 60950 Approvals (UL)
New products are being introduced regu- • EN 55022 B Compliance
larly. And all are offered at very low cost. • Multiple Packaging Options
Many of our products have industry stan- • Active PFC Meets EN 61000
dard pin-outs. If you’re using a product
LED Drivers!
that’s too expensive
or getting poor del- • Constant Current Outputs
ivery support; give • 300 mA to 2.1A Out
us a call. We’ll save • Analog & PWM Dimming
you money with a • Very Wide Input Voltage Range
drop-in replacement. • SIP & SMT Packaging
Call MPD today for Switching POL Regulators!
a quotation that is
• 0.5A to 20A Output
budget friendly, &
service that’s surpris- • EN 60950 Approvals (UL)
ingly quick. For full • LM78 Plug In Replacement
Call Now datasheets or free • SIP & SMT Packaging
For our new LED samples, go to: • Industry Standard Pin-Outs
Application Guide

www.micropowerdirect.com

T: (781) 344-8226 • F: (781) 344-8481 • E: sales@micropowerdirect.com

 NEW
PRODUCTS
puts and can be adjusted between −20% and +10% via an external trim pin. The
units meet the environmental MIL-STD 810F specification that covers shock, vi-
bration, humidity, temperature, salt spray and altitude. Operating temperature
extend from −40° to + 100°C. Unit startup is possible from as low as −55°C.
(Ea/500: MTC35, from $125; MTC50, from $139 — available now.)
XP Power, Sunnyvale, CA
Duane Darrow 408-732-7777 ddarrow@xppower.com www.xppower.com

UPSs feature transformerless, hybrid design

The HP UPS R5000 is a 3U-sized unit that delivers 4,500 W, and the HP UPS
R7000 is a 4U unit that delivers 7,200 W. The slim-lined uninterruptible pow-
er systems provide a transformer-less design and a processing system that in-
corporates a three stage power filter with a double-conversion, line-interactive
system to provide all the benefits of an on-line UPS without the side effects of
low efficiency, extra heat, and short battery life.
The rack-mountable UPSs provide a network module
and power protector software that incorporate battery
management technology. They feature hot-swappable
batteries and an intelligent automatic bypass. They of-
fer separate load segments that allow for customizable configuration of each
segment’s power backup requirements. For more information, go to http://
h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/power-protection/rackups/in-
dex.html. (From $3,099 — available now.)
Hewlett-Packard, Houston, TX
Information 281-370-0670 www.hp.com/go/infrastructure

300-W supply provides 12, 15, 24, 48 Vdc out

The MPU-300 series provides 300-W output power in a 5.0 x 3.2 x 1.5-in. 1U-high
case. It provides 300-W with 25 cfm. Four standard models operate from a universal
input of 90 to 264 Vac, providing regulated single outputs of 12, 15, 24, or 48 Vdc.
Standard features include active power factor correction to
EN61000-3-2, filtering to EN55022 Class B,
input/output isolation of 3,000 Vac. All mod-
els are protected for over load, over voltage,
over temperature and short circuit faults.
All power supplies include an on/off con-
trol input and a 12-V fan output as well as
power good and fan fail signals. The MTBF (per MIL HDBK
217F) of the MPU-300 series is greater than 100 kh. All
models are approved to EN 60950, certified to CE and RoHS
compliant. All models are specified for operation from
−25°C to +70°C (ambient). Applications include low profile
systems in machine/process control, telecommunications,
data processing and industrial automation. ($83.80 ea/100
— available now.)
MicroPower Direct, Stoughton, MA
Sales 781 344-8226 sales@micropowerdirect.com
www.micropowerdirect.com
Inverter targets rail, industrial apps
The PRP-1500 series of pure sine wave inverters provide up to
1,500 VA in a package that can be chassis mounted, DIN rail
mounted or fit in a standard 3U Eurorack. The product has
versions that meet industrial (EN60950) or rail (EN50155)
standards.
The sine-wave inverter offers 12-, 24-, 48-, 72-, and 110-
Vdc standard input voltages that are inverted to 120 or 230-
Vac outputs and regulated to 4%. Units also can be configured
for three-phase synchronization. All models feature overload
protection and an LED indicator for output ok or alarm condi-
tions. The operating temperature range extends from −25° to
+70°C. (From $1186 ea/100 – available now.)
Schaefer, Ashland, MA
Information 508-881-7330 info@schaeferpower.com
www.schaeferpower.com

98 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Power Sources

10 to 20-W dc/dc converters offer 4:1 inputs ADVANCED POWER SOLUTIONS

POWER
The VYB series of dc/dc converters feature a 4:1 input that provide outputs rang-
ing from 10 to 20 W. They are packaged in an industry standard 2 x 1-in. foot-
print. The converters target battery-driven applications where
charging and discharging conditions require an ultra-wide in-
put range. The temperature range extends from −40° to +85°C.
They are available in +3.3, +5, +12, or +15 Vdc single output
SUPPLIES
HIGH- QUALITY AT LOW PRICES
models and ±5, ±12, or ±15 Vdc dual output models. They accept
* pricing valid till 12/31/2011
input voltages from 9 to 36 Vdc or 18 to 75 Vdc. Outputs are fully
regulated to within ±0.5% over all line input conditions and ±1.0% for all load
conditions. The converters have an input to output isolation of 1,500 Vdc across
the range. ($19.74 ea/100 — available now.)
CUI, Tualatin, OR APS151MP
MEDICAL
Sales 800-275-4899 sales@cui.com www.cui.com/  150 Watts 1-4 Outputs
60-W adapter offers Level V efficiency  3 x 5 x 1.40” Open-Frame
 Industrial & Medical
The PSA60R 60-W R-series wall-mounted adapter provides international ac-
Safety Approvals
clips, offers Level V efficiency. The ac/dc adapter is available in outputs of
12, 24, and 56 V over a standard dc cable. It suits gaming machines, net-
working devices, peripherals and portable equipment
applications.
The double-insulated, Class B EMI power adapter has
overvoltage, short-circuit, and overcurrent protections,
and has a no-load power draw of <0.3 W. Additionally it

$93
has minimum efficiency ratings of 87% to 92%, and has
safety approval markings from CE, cUL/UL, C-Tick, and SAA. Ac-clips are
available for Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Europe, Korea, India, the
100 pcs*
United Kingdom, and the United States. (From $35.10 each — available now.)
Phihong USA, Fremont, CA (COVER OPTION)

Glenn Morton 510-445-0100 usasales@phihongusa.com www.phihongusa.com

APS303
 300 Watts Single Output
 3.3 x 5 x 1.50” U-Frame

PDUKE TECHNOLOGY, INC

 Power Good, Inhibit and
Fan Functions

$',9,6,212)32:(50$7(7(&+12/2*<&2/7'

DC to DC Converters
$85
100 pcs*

APS250EMG MEDICAL
• High efficiency standard, modified  250 Watts
standard and custom build  Medical & ITE Approvals
• Up to 200 watt single, double & triple  Level V Efficiency
output  7.46 x 3.74 x 1.89”
• 2:1 or 4:1 ultra-wide range input
• Cost effective small possible sizes for
board mount
• Extensive technical support
$99
OEM quantities*
Toll Free: 1-866-997-3853
Email: sale-usa@pduke.com ADVPOWER .COM
WWW.PDUKE.COM
(925)734-3060
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 99
 NEW
NO EOL PRODUCTS
JFETS
edited by christinanickolas, jimharrison and paulo’shea
See more online at electronicproducts.com/ic

TO-92 HIGHLIGHTS
Zero-drift, 36-V op amp is industry’s first
Second Source
Used in high- and low-voltage supply applications requiring ultra-high preci-
sion, such as test and measurement equipment,
electronic weigh scales, medical instrumentation
Replacement and flow meters, the OPA2188 zero-drift, 36-V op-
erational amplifier is offered as the first of its kind.
for Compared to the competition, the dual-channel

Fairchild
op amp provides a 4x improvement in offset volt-
age drift (0.03 µV/°C), 60% improvement in initial
offset voltage (25 µV), and twice the bandwidth at
the same power consumption (2 MHz at 475 µA).
Additional features include a low noise of 8.8 nV/√Hz and an input com-
mon mode range extending from negative rail to within 1.5 V of the positive
rail, which saves additional circuitry and enables 5-V, single-supply operation.
Housing is in 3 x 5-mm MSOP or 5 x 6-mm SOIC packages. ($1.40 ea/1,000;
Universal EVM, $5 — available now.)
Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX
Information 800-477-8924 www.ti.com

Rms-to-dc converter features best-in-class

dynamic range
The AD8436 precision monolithic true rms-to-dc converter features ac con-
version accuracy to better than ±0.5%. It offers a best-in-class 100 µV to 3 V
of usable dynamic range and the ability to measure low signal levels with
high accuracy and no drop in settling time. The converter is immune to
temperature, crest factor and supply voltage variations. Zero dc offset volt-
ages at the converter output simplify calibration.
The 4 x 4−mm package provides an integrated FET input, precision dc
buffer amplifiers, and consumes only 300 µA power. It suits remote, portable
battery-powered instrumentation, energy and automotive applications
where limited board space and outdoor environments are considerations.
The converter extends the crest-factor to 10 — approximately double the cur-
rent industry-standard digital solution — with minimal loss of accuracy. It is
the first rms-to-dc converter specified to operate in the extended industrial
temperature range of –40° to 125°C. ($4.95 ea/1,000 — available now.)
Analog Devices, Wilmington, MA
Sales 800-262-5643 www.analog.com

16-bit MCUs integrate power line communications

The M16C/6S1 group of 16-bit microcontrollers (R5F36S1Exxx, R5F36S16xxx)
feature power line communication (PLC) functions in the low-frequency
band (10 to 450 kHz). The ICs have a IT900 spread-spec-
trum modulation modem core from Yitran Communi-
cations with maximum data speed in the frequency
bands stipulated by the FCC and the Association of Ra-
dio Industries and Businesses in Japan of 500 kbits/s,
and for the CENELEC-A in Europe of 150 kbits/s.
The chips operate at up to 30.7 MHz and implement
DCSK (differential code shift keying) and DCSK turbo
spectrum modulation, which enable robust communication over existing
electrical wiring. They have up to 256 Kbytes of flash, 8 Kbytes of data flash,
and 31 Kbytes of RAM. The chips have an analog front-end with a driver
amplifier, a bandpass filter, and a 10-bit A/D converter. (From $15 ea/sample
1-800-359-4023 — available Oct.)
Renesas Electronics America Santa Clara, CA
Sales 800-366-9782 am.renesas.com

100 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Integrated Circuits

RF power amp targets The pre-driver IC features an inte-

grated charge pump that provides
and fault diagnostics. The IC is avail-
able in a 48L eLQFP package with an
5-GHz Wi-Fi apps full gate drive for battery voltages exposed pad. ($3.07 ea/1,000 —
Suited for 5-GHz IEEE 802.11a/n (Vbb) down to 7 V and reduced gate available now.)
WLAN embedded applications, the drive battery voltages as low as 5.5 V. Allegro MicroSystems
SST11CP15 RF power amplifier oper- It also has a top-off charge pump Worcester, MA
ates on the 4.9 to 5.9-GHz band and that enables 100% pulse-width-mod- Sales 508-853-5000
offers a wide operating voltage of 3.3 ulation, an adjustable dead-time, an sales@allegromicro.com
to 5 V. The part features an output adjustable drain-to-source monitor, www.allegromicro.com
power of 18 dBm at 2.5% EVM, using
802.11a OFDM 54 Mbit/s at 3.3 V
and 20 dBm at 5.0 V, and offers an
output power of 23 dBm at mask
compliance of 6 Mbits/s at 3.3 V.
Offered in a 2 x 2 x 0.55-mm 12-pin
QFN package, the device has a shut-
down current of less than 1 μA. ($0.66
ea/10,000 — samples available now.)
Microchip Technology, Chandler, AZ
Sales 480-792-7200
www.microchip.com

Boost converter targets

solar battery chargers
The SPV1040 step-up dc/dc converter
targets solar battery chargers for por-
table applications and employ Maxi-
mum Power Point Tracking (MPPT),
a technique for collecting the maxi-
mum possible energy from solar
cells. It can be connected to strips of
just a few cells, allowing use in prod-
ucts such as portable healthcare de-
vices, watches, calculators, wireless
headsets, toys, mobile phones, sen-
sors, and security cameras.
The MPPT algorithm embedded
in the step-up converter device dy-
namically adjusts the charger’s input
impedance to ensure matching with
the solar cell. It has an input voltage
range from 0.3 to 5.5 Vdc, up to 95%
efficiency, thermal shutdown and
protection circuitry, and a shutdown
pin. ($2 ea/1,000 — available now.)
STMicroelectronics
Lexington, MA
Information 781-861-2650
www.st.com

Automotive grade pre-

driver IC targets motors
The A4933 automotive-grade three-
phase MOSFET pre-driver IC targets
BLDC motors commonly found in
electronic power steering systems,
engine cooling fans, transmission ac-
tuators and hydraulic pumps. It tar-
gets three-phase systems and is used
in systems that use sinusoidal control
of the motor phase currents. The pre-
driver reduces audible noise and min-
imizes torque ripple at the load.
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 101
NEW
PRODUCTS
Tool inserts board
tester into an FPGA
The FPGA-controlled test (FCT) tools
for the ASSET ScanWorks platform
lets designers select the instrument
paradigms (e.g., oscilloscope testing,
logic analysis, signal generation)
they need, set test parameters, and
insert the isntrumentation into an
FPGA so it can function as a circuit-
board-tester-on-a-chip to perform
validation, test, and debug.
Instruments or instrument func-
tions are selected from a library and
matched with a description of one
of the supported FPGAs in another
USB Data Acquisition
Complete Specs. 5-Day Delivery.
There are over 150 models to choose from, neatly arranged in an easy-to-use chart.
Our performance will exceed your expectations.
800-525-8528
WWW.DATATRANSLATION.COM
102 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com
edited by richardcomerford and carolynmathas
See more online at electronicproducts.com/tm
library. After the user sets the select- hygrometer data-
ed instruments’ configuration pa- logger comes with
rameters, ScanWorks automatically a temperature-hu-
generates all the constructs for the midity probe and
embedded tester, creates the soft- 2-Gbyte SD card.
ware image of the tester need to pro- The datalogger fea-
gram the FPGA, inserts the tester tures automatic
into the FPGA, and provides a drag- temperature com-
and-drop user interface for control- pensation for dew
ling the FCT. (Development license point, wet-bulb, and thermocouple
pricing, $35,000 — available in De- measurements.
cember.) The device has an automatic pow-
ASSET InterTech er off function to extend battery life,
Richardson, TX and holds readings and displays
Sales 888-694-6250 maximum and minimum readings.
Fax 972-437-2826 (From $385 — available now.)
as-info@asset-intertech.com Omega Engineering
www.asset-intertech.com Stamford, CT
Information 203-359-1660
Handheld datalogger info@omega.com
has temperature/ www.omega.com
humidity probe 6-GHz PXI cards offer
Targeting clean rooms, greenhouses,
and pharmaceutical applications, the consistent performance
RHXL3SD handheld thermometer/ Three 10-MHz to 6-GHz PXI switch-
es and a 10-MHz to 6-GHz program-
mable attenuator have been de-
signed with low VSWR and, high
switch isolation to provide consis-
tent RF performance. Each product
uses solid-state switches with auto-
matic termination of unused paths
to reduce VSWR effects in connect-
ing cables.
The 40-880 SPDT switch is avail-
able in dual, quad, hex, and octal
configura-
tions; the
40-881 SP6T
is available
as a single or
dual version;
and the 40-
882 SP4T
switch is
available in single, dual, triple or
quad configurations. The switches
occupy one to three 3U PXI slots de-
pending on configuration. The 41-
ECONseries — Low Cost 182 solid state programmable atten-
Starting at $255 uator is available in single, dual or
triple configurations, each with a 0
to 31.75-dB attenuation range in
0.25-dB steps. (Contact Bob Staso-
nis for price and availability.)
Pickering Interfaces
Woburn, MA
Bob Stasonis 781-897-1710
bob.stasonis@pickeringtest.com
www.pickeringtest.com
OCTOBER 2011
 Test & Measurement

2-core PXIe controller
handles fast data xfer
Used in combinations with the
M9018A PXIe chassis, the three-slot
M9036A 2.4-GHz PXIe embedded
controller, which is an Intel Core i5
2.4-GHz dual-core processor, can de-
liver 4 Gbyte/s data rates for peer-to-
peer applications, the highest-through-
put PXI test
platform capa-
bility available.
The chassis/
controller plat-
form can ac-
cept legacy PXI
i n s t r u me nt s
while provid-
ing up to 8 GByte/s of system band-
width with dual x8 express links. The
controller can also operate in a four-
link configuration, providing compat-
ibility with existing PXIe chassis.
The controller has a removable
160-Gbyte solid-state drive, 4 Gbyte
RAM upgradable to 8 Gbyte, and
built-in front panel connectors for
USB, LAN, DVI-I, GPIB, ExpressCard
34 and an SMB trigger to simplify in-
tegration with traditional standalone
instruments using connector. The
module is preloaded with OS, con-
troller and chassis drivers, soft front
panel, and I/O libraries that include
VISA, Agilent Connection Expert,
and I/O monitoring. (From $6,600
— available now.)
Agilent Technologies
Santa Clara, CA
Sales 800-829-4444
www.agilent.com
5, 50-MHz sig gens are
priced under $600
Employing direct digital synthesis
(DDS) technology, the Siglent 5-MHz
SDG1005 and 50-MHz SDG1050
function / arbitrary waveform gen-
erators offer dual, independent chan-
nels with adjustable relative phase
and are available for $399 and $599,
respectively. In addition to sine
waves, they also provide square,
pulse, ramp, and arbitrary waveforms
as well as white noise.
Along with 125-Msample/s sample
rate, 14-bit resolution, and 16-kpoint
waveform record length, the units
also offer built-in AM, FM, PM, PWM,
and FSK modulation, without ran ex-
ternal modu-
lation source.
Both units can
also function
as a 200-MHz
frequency
counter, and a
USB Device/Host interface allows
storage of waveforms and setups.
(SDG1005, $399; SDG1050 $599 —
available now from Saelig.)
Saelig
Pittsford, NY
Sales 585-385-1750
info@saelig.com
www.saelig.com
5-kVac dielectric tester
delivers 100 mA
The Hypot III model 3780 dielectric
withstand tester can produce up to 5
kVac at 100 mA (500 VA). Designed
for use as either a bench top tester or
an integrated component of an auto-
mated workstation, the tester pro-
vides a graphic LCD for test set-up /
recall as well as an RS-232 interface.

NEW! DG4000 SERIES FUNCTION/ARBITRARY

Waveform Generators • Up to 160 MHz output • 7 inch color LCD display

• 2 output channels • 130 built-in waveforms
• 500 MSa/s sample rate
Simplify your testing with Rigol's new fast, user-friendly DG4000 series
multifunctional generators. Our sleek new design features a high resolution
7" display that gives you excellent visibility and loads of functions...
all controlled from the front panel with ease. The DG4000 series can help
you accomplish a range of testing by combining many functions into one
instrument, including Function Generator, Arbitrary Waveform Generator,
Pulse Generator, Harmonic Generator, Analog/Digital Modulator and
Counter. And our newest arb incorporates Direct Digital Synthesizer (DDS)
technology to deliver stable, precise, pure and low distortion signals.
The DG4000, part of our new family of fast, Check out the Best Value in Generators,
easy-to-use, ultra-modern test instruments! call 877-4-RIGOL-1 or visit RIGOLNA.com/DG4
Starting at COMPARE & SAVE
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ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 103
 NEW Test & Measurement
MORE PRODUCTS
PERFORMANCE The unit has digitally controlled
arc detection, built-in adjustable
ance and sampling rates to 100
ksamples/s. Prices range from $475
MORE VALUE continuity test, electronic up / down
ramping, and 10 test memories that
to $575 depending on model.
The modules provide 12-bit reso-
lution for analog I/O, with 8, 16, or
New Products 24 single-ended analog input chan-
nels depending on the model, as well
from the Leader as 2 analog output channels to gen-
in Low-Cost DAQ erate sine, rectangle, triangle, or dc
waveforms. The modules also have a
can each store three test steps. For 32-bit counter/timer — useful for
operator protection, it has a patented event counting, frequency measure-
SmartGFI high-speed-shut down cir- ment, edge-to-edge measurements,
cuit, as well as a remote safety inter- and rate generation (continuous
lock that lets manufacturers inter- pulse output) operations — and, on
lock the Hypot III within a test some models, 4 or 8 digital I/O lines.
enclosure to limit operator exposure Software and drivers compatible
16-BIT HIGH-SPEED to high voltage. ($3,625 — available with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 are
MULTIFUNCTION DEVICES this month.) included. (DT9812A, $475; 13A,
Associated Research $525; 14A $575 — available now.)
NEW USB-1608G Series Data Translation,
Lake Forest, IL
• Up to 500 kS/s, 16-bit Information 847-367-4077 Marlboro, MA
• 16 analog inputs info@asresearch.com Information 800-525-8528
www.asresearch.com info@datatranslation.com
• 8 digital I/O
www.datatranslation.com/prod-
• Up to 2 analog outputs ucts/usb-low-cost/
Temp transmitters
From Only $399 provide 4 to 20 mA Clamp-on meter checks
24-BIT TEMPERATURE
The PRTXB and
PRTXAL series
motors, generators
AND VOLTAGE DEVICES The CW10 clamp-on power meter
two-wire tem-
combines the basic functionality of a
NEW USB-2408 Series perature trans-
standard clamp on tester, digital
mitters provide
• 1 kS/s, 24-bit multimeter, and power monitor to
4 to 20 mA. A
initially diagnose mainte-
• 8 thermocouple or 316 stainless-
nance and electrical issues
16 voltage inputs steel RTD probe
before more expensive
• 8 digital I/O captures mini-
and sophisticated equip-
mum and maxi-
• Up to 2 analog outputs ment may be required to
mum readings
analyze the performance
and an auto shutoff time feature is
From Only $599 available for battery-powered models
of motors, generators
and other power related
(PRTXB and PRTXBL). Options also
SOFTWARE ENGINEERED equipment.
include alarm outputs.
Meeting CAT IV 600 V
TO MEET YOUR NEEDS The transmitters are used in food
and CAT III 1000 V safety
Linux®, Mac®, Windows® processing, automotive-engine test-
standards and CE rated,
MULTI-PLATFORM SUPPORT ing, HVAC, labs, water bath tempera-
the battery-operated me-
ture monitoring, pressure vessels,
with DAQFlex ter lets users measure 600
and other temperature-monitoring
Aac/dc, 1000 Vac/dc, 600
applications. (From $389 — available
kWac/dc, power factor, total
now.)
harmonic distortion, 1st to 25th har-
Omega Engineering
monics, resistance, and frequency.
Stamford, CT
Other measurement and diagnostic
Information 203-359-1660
capabilities include phase rotation,
info@omega.com
continuity check, diode test, and in-
www.omega.com
rush current. The display is backlit
when clamping and shows 3.5 digits
mccdaq.com/NewProducts 100-kS/s daq modules and a bar graph/meter scale. ($250
— available now.)
(800) 234-4232 have prices under $600 Yokogawa America
The ECONseries DT9812A, DT9813A, Newnan, GA
©2011 Measurement Computing Corporation and DT9814A USB-powered data ac- Information
10 Commerce Way, Norton, MA 02766 quisition modules offer multifunc- meters-instr@us.yokogawa.com
info@mccdaq.com tion capability with USB 2.0 compli- http://www.yokogawa-usa.com/

104 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

NEW
PRODUCTS
See more online at electronicproducts.com/bp
400-Gbyte MLC SSD
targets enterprise apps
The Ultrastar SSD400M MLC solid-
state disk drive family is billed as a
reliable, cost-effective alternative to
SLC SSDs. The drives use Intel’s 25-
nm high-endur-
ance MLC
NAND flash
with a 2-Mh
MTBF. They
come in a 2.5-
in. form factor
with a 6-Gbit/s SAS
interface and 200- or 400-Gbyte ca-
pacities.
The drives feature high write en-
durance with 7.3 petabytes (PB) life-
time random writes, or 10 full drive
writes/day for five years with sequen-
tial throughput performance of up
to 495 Mbytes/s read and 385
Mbytes/s write. They also deliver up
to 56,000 read and 24,000 write sus-
tained IOPS and typically take only
1.7 W idle and 5.5 W operating.
(Contact company for price — pro-
duction now.)
Hitachi Global Storage
Technology, San Jose, CA
Sales 408-717-6000
www.hitachigst.com
SSD provides 1.6 Tbyte
usable capacity
The Optimus solid-state drive (SSD)
targets enterprise storage applica-
tions and features a native Serial At-
tached SCSI (SAS) 6-Gbit/s interface
and up to 1.6-
Tbyte usable ca-
pacity. The 2.5-in.
drive is said to be
the industry’s
highest- capacit y
and fastest SAS
multilevel cell
(MLC) device.
Available in
200-Gbyte, 400-Gbyte, 800-Gbyte,
and 1.6-Tbyte usable capacities, the
unit features read/write speeds of
100K/50K random IOPS and 500/500-
Mbyte/s sustained transfer rates. It
also includes wide-port SAS capabil-
ity, providing up to 1-Gbyte/s sus-
tained read performance. (Contact
Boards, Computers,
& Peripherals
edited by jimharrison
company for OEM price - sample 4th
qtr, production 1st qtr 2012.)
Smart Modular Technologies
Newark, CA
OEM sales 510-623-1231
info@smartm.com
www.smartm.com
Touch computers meet
medical standards
The Elo TouchSystems 19CM and
22CM all-in-one touch computers
handle the unique needs of medical
environments and touch applica-
tions. The 19- and 22-in. LCD com-
puters meet EN 55022 and IEC/UL
60601-1 certifications and have an
IPX1 drip-proof rating.
The fanless and quiet dual-core
Atom D510 all-in-one computers fea-
ture a LED backlight,
six USB 2.0 ports,
and one GbE port,
and take just 54 W.
The system’s
bright screen can
use AccuTouch
(zero-bezel resis-
tive), IntelliTouch Plus
(multitouch surface acoustic wave),
iTouch (zero-bezel surface acoustic
wave) touch technology. (CM Series,
$1,600 to $2,300 — available now.)
TE Connectivity, Harrisburg, PA
Elo TouchSystems 650-361-4800
customerservice@elotouch.com
www.elotouch.com
64-Gbyte SSD drive
meets mSATA spec
The N64G-MSATA SaberTooth M1
solid-state disk drive features an mini
SATA (mSATA) interface compliant
with the JEDEC MO-300B. The 64-
Gbyte drive measures only 2.0 x 1.2
in. and is compatible with many new
netbook and notebook computers.
Sequential read/write speed is up
to 160/80 Mbytes/s using the SATA-II
3-Gbit/s connection; 16- and 32-
Gbyte models are also available.
($190 — available now.)
Active Media Products
Fremont, CA
OEM Sales 510-396-6539
activemp1@gmail.com
www.activemp.com
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 105
ADVERTISEMENT
Sponsored by

A systems approach to solid-state lighting

BY ROB RIX, Vice President, Lighting, TE Connectivity
www.te.com Throwing light on SSL testing
Complete solid-state lighting (SSL) solutions Increasing demand for high-quality, high-
require technical expertise in myriad technol- brightness LEDs for use in solid-state
ogies — several distinct, high-level areas are lighting (SSL) means that manufacturers
easily identified (see Fig. 1). Knowledge in have to be able to ramp up production
one area can be unique and the successful while keeping tight control of device pa-
application of that know-how must be rameters. Since reliable and accurate elec-
brought together at the systems level. Only trical measurements are vital for the mass
in this way can an optimum lighting solu- production of HB LEDs, it follows that a
tion — one that takes into account the in- solid understanding of how to make such-
teraction between the technologies — be measurements is critical.
It takes the multiple elements achieved. Fortunately for those involved with
above to design a complete SSL, Keithley Instruments is making avail-
SSL system solution.
able a treasure trove of information on
how to perform such testing. They are of-
Why lifetime color consistency is important for LEDs
fering a two-part on-line seminar by Ap-
BY MICHAEL GODWIN, Director of Visible LEDs,
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors plications Engineer David Wyban that
www.osram-os.com examines the requirements for and chal-
LEDs provide excel- lenges of testing HB LEDs, along with a
lent color rendering technical article on LED fundamentals
and uniformity of (“Accurate, Cost- Effective High Bright-
light, and thereby ness LED Testing Starts with Device Fun-
achieve a high light damentals” by Mark Cejer, Marketing Di-
quality for most light- rector), two application notes (“High
ing applications. LEDs Speed Testing of High Brightness LEDs”
also give designers a and “Testing High Brightness LEDs under
whole new palette of The fishbone diagram shows the factors that can Pulse Width Modulation Using the Model
affect color consistency over time.
color, and, by enabling 2651A High Power System SourceMeter
advanced digital control and the possibility of environmental sens- Instrument”), and even an introductory
ing, deliver a multidimensional, interactive experience. With most YouTube video by Wyban (“How to Over-
all LED package options available for all colors, LEDs bring a whole come Electrical Measurement Challenges
new dimension of possibilities to lighting and design not possible of HighBrightness LEDs”).
with conventional fluorescent or incandescent lighting. What simplifies the testing of LEDs to-
day is the fact that modern instruments
Illuminating capacitor choices like source/measure units are so much
BY NAOYUKI KOBAYASHI, Senior Product Manager, Murata Electronics, more capable than traditional instruments
www.murata.com (for more on this development, see “Tak-
With a new focus on green ing full advantage of modern bench in-
technology and eco-friend- struments”, http://www2.electronicpro
ly products, American ducts.com/T-article-farc_keithley_jul2011-
households and companies html.aspx). By using SMUs, engineers can
are now familiar with light-
rapidly expand the test capabilities of a
emitting diodes (LEDs).
manufacturing line as demand dictates.
The market for these prod-
SMUs let a single HB LED test system ex-
ucts is extensive; practical-
pand rapidly to test multiple devices.
ly any traditional method
If you’d like to get hold of this infor-
The electrostrictive effect. of lighting can be replaced
mation, you can download it from the
with an LED.
Web by going to http://gw1.vtrenz.net/
?OIQ4NPSWG0:RAVYRL8AE3 and filling
out a simple form. I think you’ll find it
For more on Project Lighting,
visit www.electronicproducts.com/ very useful.
projectlighting Richard Comerford

106 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

NEW
PRODUCTS
edited by paulo’shea, richardcomerford and carolynmathas
See more online at electronicproducts.com/in
Hermaphroditic
connector is low cost
The MezzoStak 0.5-mm-pitch mez-
zanine connector has a "mates-to-
self" design
that is said to
reduce engi-
neering, fi-
nancial, ad-
ministrative
and supply
chain maintenance burdens by 50%.
The easy-mating connector’s tough
construction targets industrial, com-
mercial, and high-reliability applica-
tions.. The connector operates in –
40° to 125°C and has proven
performance up to 50 mating cycles.
The connector is available in a
standard version with solderable
hold-downs and a short version that
eliminates hold-downs with a PCB
stack height range of 4 to 7 mm and
in 20 to 70 positions depending on
configuration. (Contact company for
availability and price.)
FCI Electronics, Etters, PA
Information 800-237-2374
electronics.us@fciconnect.com
www.fciconnect.com
Thermoelectric cooler
provides 200-W cooling
The McLean Thermoelectric Cooler
provides cooling for components in
small indoor or outdoor electronic
enclosures. Operating on Peltier ef-
fect tech-
nology, it
deliver 60,
100 or 200
W of cool-
ing for ap-
plications
including
telecommunications, battery cabi-
nets, industrial enclosures, and secu-
rity systems. The compact coolers
feature no refrigerant, compressors
or filters. The 24− and 48−Vdc cool-
ers are CE- and UL-recognized, and
available in 13 models.
The thermoelectric cooler can be
Packaging &
Interconnections
mounted vertically or horizontally
and multiple units may be used on
an enclosure to increase the cooling
capacity. The only moving parts are
the fans, and the coolers do not re-
quire replenishment of fluids. It is
prewired with a simple terminal
block and is CE and UL Type 3R/Type
4 recognized. (Contact 763-421-2240
for price and availability.)
Pentair Technical Products
Anoka, Anoka, MN
Information 763-421-2240
www.hoffmanonline.com
DVI-D cables suit tight-
space connectivity
DVI-D single link and dual link right-
angle cable assemblies allow DVI-D
connections in such small spaces as
behind a TV or a monitor.
The cables, with a right-angle
connector on one end
and a standard
DVI-D connector
on the other, are
available in lengths
from one foot up to
five meters in length. (Contact com-
pany for price and availability.)
L-com, North Andover, MA
Sales 800-341-5266
sales@L-com.com
www.l-com.com
Kit mounts case quickly
Created for the Art-Case series of
plastic electronic enclosures, the
fast-action mounting kit lets the en-
closure be
m o u nt e d
on a wall,
ceiling,
partition,
vehicle,
machine housing, or other equip-
ment. The special mounting device
clips into the cut-outs on the base or
bottom lid of all Art-Case models.
The molded, off-white, or black
(to match the enclosure) ABS (UL 94
HB) mounting device is simply
mounted to the surface, and the en-
closure is then snapped into place,
ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 107
 NEW
PRODUCTS
thereby producing a secure assembly with fixings screws not visible, which
prevents tampering. The Art-Case series comes in four shapes — round, oval,
square, and rectangular — with external dimensions from 4.33 to 6.29 x 4.33
x 1.49 in., and is configurable with flat or inclined (30° or 55°) bases. (Case
w/mounting ketfrom $14 ea/100 — available now.)
OKW Enclosures, Bridgeville, PA
Sean Bailey 800-965-9872 sales@okwenclosures.com
www.okwenclosures.com

Clips eliminate EMI/RFI shield hand soldering

Autosplice RFI shield clips allow EMI/RFI shield placement to PCBs without
hand soldering. The miniature surface-mount clips permit tape-and-reel pack-
aging using standard high-speed placement equip-
ment, eliminating extra holes and preserving board
space. They are equipped with four independent
spring contacts, allowing for shield removal and re-
placement for rework and tuning, and use a standard
top pick vacuum nozzle.
The clips are designed for the handheld device market, yet can be used in
any application where space is a premium. (Contact company for price and
availability.)
Heilind Electronics, Wilmington, MA
Information 800-400-7041
www.heilind.com

OpenVPX 9-slot back-plane supports Enet

Designed to VITA 65 design principles, the BKP3-CEN09-15.2.17-1-profile 9-
slot OpenVPX backplane also offers an optional Ethernet expansion plane for
out-of-band communication. The unit features a centralized routing topology

LOW COST, HIGH STRENGTH, PHENOLIC

IMPREGNATED, “RESINITE” DIELECTRIC
TUBING FOR COIL WINDING, INSULATING

The original, proven, “Resinite” insulating tubing presents a unique combination

of low cost coupled with high mechanical strength and good dielectric properties.
It will support lugs and terminals and can be fabricated to specifications. Will
accept dip and hand soldering of terminals. Can be embossed for threaded cores.
Also available in U/L flame retardant grade.
To receive literature & details fast - www.pptube.com
Phone: 847-537-4250 • Fax: 847-537-5777 • E-Mail: sales@pptube.com
More Than 75 Years- The Original

Paper Tube Company

1033 S. Noel Ave., Wheeling, IL 60090

108 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Packaging &
Interconnections
with data rate speeds to 3.125 Gbit/s per channel.
The switch slot is connected to slots 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Slots 1-3 are also connected on the data plane, and the
expansion plane signals go across slots 5-8. Contiguous
groups of slots can have their mask-
able reset pin joined via jumpers
within a backplane header. A BKP3-
CEN09-15.2.17-3 profile version is
also available with the same configu-
ration, but with speeds to 6.25 Gbit/s. (From less than
$2,000 — available 2 to 4 weeks ARO.)
Elma Bustronic, Fremont, CA
Justin Moll 510-490-7388
justin.moll@bustronic.com
www.bustronic.com

10GBase-T connector suits servers,

storage
The 10GBase-T integrated connector module 1x1
RJ4510GBase-T platform is halogen free, RoHS compliant,
and offers a choice of multiple LED
configurations and EMI tab options.
It supports the latest 10GBase-T physi-
cal layer device technology and appli-
cations, and they meet or exceed IEEE
803.an.
The connectors are tuned to have
flat insertion-loss curves and excel-
lent return-loss performance at high frequencies. The

stay
connected Over 800 styles in stock and more options
than any manufacturer in North America
s
Available in diameters
from .008” (.20mm) to .250” (6.35mm)
s
Receptacles feature a 4 or 6 finger beryllium copper
contact to ensure integrity of connection
s
Suitable for applications subject to high amounts of
Silver Coated vibration and shock or for use in harsh environments
s
Nickel Filled Epoxy Don’t see what you need?
EP79FL Adhesive Rapid prototyping and custom designs are our specialty.
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ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 109

 NEW
PRODUCTS
new platform is designed to help plated contacts and tin-plated solder
meet tough EMC system require- terminals. The insulator housings
ments such as FCC Part 15 class B. are made of high-temperature glass-
($8.50 each; volume discounts avail- filled LCP, rated UL 94V-0. (Contact
able — available now.) company for price and availability.)
Pulse Engineering Mill-Max, Oyster Bay, NY
San Diego, CA Customer Service 516-922-6000
Information 858-674-8301 www.mill-max.com
www.pulseeng.com
Side-entry jacks target
Mezzanine connectors GbE limited-space apps
suit 1386 apps PowerCat 6A side-entry shielded
The 891-10-064-30-120000 male and jacks incorporate such time-saving
893-43-064-30-420000 female 64- installation features as spring-loaded
position 1-mm-pitch mezzanine con- cable clamp and compatibility with
nectors are intended for parallel the company’s four-pair and stan-
board-stacking interconnections. dard termination tools. They are spe-
They meet EIA-700 cifically designed for high-speed 10
AAAB specifica- Gigabit Ethernet applications such as
tions for IEEE data centers, storage area networks,
1386 applica- server farms, and riser backbones.
tions and can
be used as modular
connectors for front-
panel and backplane I/O cards.
The surface-mount connectors
have a mated height of 10 mm. Pack-
aging is tape and reel, per EIA-783. The solution consists of Category
The connectors feature 30-μin. gold- 6A shield patch panels, both straight

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110 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

 Packaging & Interconnections

and angled, cable, patch cord, and a

die-cast Datagate side-entry and reg-
pany for price and availability.) Thermal gap filler cuts
TE Connectivity
ular shielded 6A jack. (Contact com- Harrisburg, PA excessive heat
pany for price and availability). Product Information Center Counteracting the excessive heat
Molex, Lisle, IL 800-522-6752 generated by high-speed processing
Sales 800-786-6539 www.te.com and unprecedented integration, the
amerinfo@molex.com Sarcon GR-SL thermal gap filler ma-
www.molex.com Fuse terminal blocks terial conforms to all, gaps, peeks,
and air pock-
Docking connector aims provide broad choices ets, for a level,
The 2006 Series disconnect and fuse la rge -su r face
at low-profile apps terminal blocks deliver a common contact point.
The high-performance 0.6-mm- profile for feed-through, disconnect, This in turn
centerline high-speed Champ dock- and fusing. They enables heat-
ing series connector is designed for accommodate sinks to efficiently remove unwant-
high-density, low-profile (3.8-mm) automotive-style ed heat.
shield appli- fuses, 5 x 20-mm, The formulation provides a ther-
cations. The 5 x 30-mm, or mal conductivity of 2.7 W/m°K with
connector’s 1/4-in. x 1-1/4-in. a thermal resistance between 0.94
contacts save fuses. and 1.69°C-in 2/W based on sheet
30% linear The blocks offer quick and easy thickness. Available in 2.5- or 5.0-
board space, wiring based on push-in technology mm-thick sheets to a maximum of
while the for solid or ferruled conductors and 200 x 300 mm, it has an operating
low-profile housing reduces con- screw driver actuation for stranded temperature of –40° to 150°C. (Con-
nector height by approximately conductors. (Contact company for tact company for price and avail-
25%. price and availability.) ability.)
The connector is designed to meet Wago, Germantown, WI Fujipoly America, Carteret, NJ
various industry transmission stan- Sales 800-346-7245 Information 732-969-0100
dards including USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4, info.us@wago.com info@fujipoly.com
and Display Port 1.2. (Contact com- www.wago.us www.fujipoly.com/

advertiser index This index is provided as an additional service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.

Absopulse Electronics Limited ..................... 98
Advanced Interconnections Corp. ............... 24
Advanced Power Solutions ........................... 99
Agilent Technologies ............... Cover 2, 23, 37
AKM Semiconductor Inc. ........................... 101
Allied Electronics Inc. ...........................Cover 3
Ametek Programmable Power ...................... 96
APM Hexseal ................................................. 60
Aries Electronics ............................................ 24
Arrow Electronics .......................................... 59
Avnet Electronics Marketing ..................38, 91
BelFuse Inc. ................................................... 61
Blockmaster Electronics .............................. 112
Bud Industries Inc. ...................................... 108
Carling Technologies Inc. ............................. 64
Carlisle Interconnect Technologies .............. 17
Central Semiconductor ................................ 35
Cirrus Logic ....................................................... 7
CIT Relay & Switch ....................................... 92
Clare, Inc. ...................................................... 93
Coilcraft ........................................................ 10
Coilcraft-CPS ................................................. 85
Cornell Dubilier Electronics ......................... 45
CUI Inc./V-Infinity ....................................... 78
Datatronics, Inc. ............................................ 84
Data Translation, Inc. ................................. 102
Digi-Key Corporation ........................2, 25, 106
Elma Electronics, Inc. ................................... 81
Epcos AG ....................................................... 67
E-T-A Circuit Breakers ................................... 21
FCI Electronics ........................................ 42, 43
Fischer Connectors Inc. ................................ 20
Floyd Bell, Inc. ......................................... 112
Garrett Electronics, Corp. ............................. 86
Globtek Inc. ................................... Cover 1, 95
Hammond Manufacturing Co. ................. 110
Harting, Inc. ................................................ 5
Harwin ........................................................... 18
Hittite Microwave Corp. ............................... 47
Integrated Power Design ............................... 19
International Mfg. Services ........................... 92
International Rectifier ................................... 89
Ironwood Electronics .................................. 112
IxyS Corportaion .......................................... 66
Keystone Electronics Corp. ..........................71
KOA Speer Electronics, Inc. .......................... 76
Krohn-Hite Corp. ........................................ 112
LeCroy ............................................................ 15
Linear Integrated Systems ........................... 100
Linear Technology Corp. ............... Cover 4, 13
LxD Inc. ...................................................... 112
Martek Power Inc. ......................................... 65
Master Bond Inc. ...................................... 109
Maxim Integrated Products .......................... 49
Measurement Computing Corp. .............. 104
Meder Electronics ......................................... 60
Memory Protection Devices ......................... 98
Micrel, Inc. .................................................... 27
Micro Power Direct ....................................... 97
Mill-Max Mfg. Corp. ................................... 109
Mouser Electronics ....................................... 40
MS Kennedy Corporation ............................ 83
Murata Power Solutions, Inc. ....................... 74
National Instruments ..................................... 3
Newark Electronics ......................................... 9
Octagon Systems Corp. ................................ 72
OKW Enclosures Inc. .................................. 107
Omega Engineering, Inc. ................................ 1
Panasonic Industrial Co. ...................... 51, 112
Pduke Technology ......................................... 99
Pico Electronics Inc. ............................. 68, 105
Positronic Industries ..................................... 55
PowerGate LLC. ...................................... 94, 96
Precision Paper Tube Company ................. 108
Premier Magnetics Inc. ................................. 32
Probe Master Inc. .......................................... 87
Recom Power, Inc. ........................................ 33
Rigol Technologies ...................................... 103
Rochester Electronics .............................. 56, 57
Rohde & Schwarz .................. 73, 75, 77, 79, 81
Saelig Co. .....................................................80
Samtec Inc. .................................................... 31
Schurter Inc. .................................................. 86
Spectrum Advanced
Specialty Products ............................. 52, 53
Spectrum Sensors & Controls ................. 62, 63
State of the Art, Inc. ...................................... 82
Statek Corporation ................................ 90, 112
Syfer Technology Ltd. ................................... 67
Taiyo yuden (U.S.A.), Inc. ............................ 68
Toshiba Amer Electronic Cmpnts. ............... 29
Tyco Electronics-Circuit Protection ..............70
Voltage Multipliers Inc. ................................ 84
Wago Corporation ........................................ 69
Zilog Inc. ....................................................... 88

ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011 111

 Product mart Electronic Products Presented by the Manufacturer

BlockMaster’s Clear Connects™ Push-In Module Displays are Custom Built

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Ultra™ Loud Piezoelectric Alarms Small Size, High Reliability

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For Any PCB - GHz Bandwidth Panasonic’s New ECQ-E(B) Series Metallized
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Fixed Frequency Active Filter Modules The Best Decision-making Tool, Just Got Better...
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112 ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS www2.electronicproducts.com OCTOBER 2011

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© Allied Electronics, Inc 2011. ‘Allied Electronics’ and the Allied Electronics logo are trademarks of Allied Electronics, Inc. An Electrocomponents Company.
 Digital Power Done Right

High Performance Plus Programmability

®
The LTC 3880 is a digital power system manager featuring a dual output synchronous step-down controller that is fully
programmable via an I2C-based PMBus compliant serial interface using the LTpowerPlayTM software. This device combines
best in class analog switching regulator performance with precision mixed signal data conversion and onboard EEPROM.
Real time telemetry read-back includes VIN, IIN, VOUT, IOUT and temperature allowing for smart energy management
decisions. Digital control of analog power supplies with a simple PC connection enables designers of multiple rail boards a fast
and easy way to do system debug and to make real-time adjustments to supply voltages, sequencing and operating limits.

Features LTpowerPlay GUI Sequencing Info & Free Samples

2
• I C/PMBus Compliant Serial Interface www.linear.com/product/LTC3880
• High Accuracy Programming and 1-800-4-LINEAR
Read-Back
• Integrated Nonvolatile Storage
(EEPROM)
• Input Voltage: 4.5V to 24V
• Dual Output Voltages: 0.5V to 5.5V
• Current Mode Control for Easy Watch Video
Compensation and Accurate Current video.linear.com/ 77
Free Software Download
Sharing
www.linear.com/LTpowerPlay
• Built-in MOSFET Drivers , LT, LTC, LTM, Linear Technology and the Linear logo are
registered trademarks and LTpowerPlay is a trademark of Linear
Technology Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of
• Up to 30A Output per Channel their respective owners.