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Demanding More From Analog Takes Work - The design engineer and the vendor must have a ...


most recent messages 5/21/2013 4:38:45 PM Brad Albing Nice to see that we have so many ideas to share that they are overflowing onto LinkedIn. blogs message boards chat SiC Power Inversion Chips for PV & EVs Brian Coppa, Director, Coppa Consulting, 5/21/2013 Comment now Uncertainty hangs over the market for power devices made with the wide-bandgap semiconductor SiC (silicon carbide), due to uncertainty as to when EVs (electric vehicles) will adopt them for various applications under the hood, according to a recent study by analyst firm Yole Développement. Field Programmable Analog & Gallium Arsenide Scott Elder, Senior Analog IC Design Consultant, 5/21/2013 Comment now 2 comments "Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) is the silicon of the future. Is and always will be." That was the humorous perspective circulating among analog technologists in the late 1980s. In a similar vein, I can't count the number of times I've had people ask me when will the world see a field programmable analog array (FPAA) -- the analog counterpart to the digital ... Most recent post, Scott Elder, 5/21/2013 12:05:54 PM Thanks for the comment, Derek. Let's hope others can expand the history.&n... Operations per Joule Brian Bailey, Independent Consultant, 5/20/2013 Comment now 4 comments It has been estimated that the human brain performs 3.6x1015 synaptic operations per second and, from blood flow and oxygen consumption, consumes 12W. That means it manages 3x1014 operations per Joule, yet it is made up of slow and noisy components. Most recent post, DEREK.KOONCE, 5/21/2013 12:08:00 PM Analog, in of itself, has infinite resolution. Yet I see it always ends up being... Using ICs in the Land Beyond Their App-Notes Derek Koonce, Owner, DDK Interactive Consulting Services, 5/20/2013 Comment now Designing circuits is the fun part of engineering. And, as has been often noted here on Planet Analog, finding solutions to problems is what keeps an engineer employed. As an engineer, it is necessary to work with the parts available to meet design criteria. This sometimes necessitates using a part for a purpose for which it was not intended. Thermocouple Nodules, Cold Junctions & Integration Opportunities Dennis Feucht, Electronics Engineer, 5/17/2013 Comment now 9 comments When measurement instruments reach their specified performance limits, one comes to a gray zone separating reality from fantasy. Thanks to sensors, this zone is widening. Most recent post, Brad Albing, 5/21/2013 4:28:21 PM I would hope that the engineers and technicians working in and around the clean... When Are You Done With Verification? Brian Bailey, Independent Consultant, 5/17/2013 Comment now 5 comments In the everyday world that we live in, there is a common saying that says, "Measure twice, cut once". Clearly this is trying to stress the importance of checking things before you take action and that if you are sloppy with the measurement, then it can lead to expensive mistakes. Most recent post, Brad Albing, 5/21/2013 4:24:50 PM Derek - you're right - you at least have to breadboard it. If it doesn't work there,... When the Going Gets Tough... Brian Bailey, Independent Consultant, 5/16/2013 Comment now 4 comments Moore's Law has been driving digital integration for a few decades, and it provides a circular reinforcement. Being able to create smaller devices means that more can be placed on a die. This provides added functionality, decreases costs per device, and makes demand for the end product larger. This spurs another round of integration and geometry reduction. Most recent post, Maciel , 5/21/2013 2:27:13 PM Hello Brian Bailey, Very well exposed a current problem, congratulations. Today... (Dis)Integrating Power Consumption, Counterintuitively Len Sherman, Senior Scientist, Maxim Integrated, 5/16/2013 Comment now 7 comments The present mobile era may be best characterized by its unrelenting pressure to reduce power consumption. Each generation of consumer electronics must offer more functionality while maintaining or extending runtime. Initially, efficiency improvements were the Holy Grail, at least from a power management viewpoint, but the process of engineering ... Most recent post, analoging , 5/17/2013 6:53:53 PM SiGe is implemented more for its high-frequency benefits due to the mobility enhancement... Crack Open One of These Books, Part 2 Brad Albing, Editor in Chief, 5/16/2013 Comment now 2 comments Following up on Part 1 of my look at some favorite engineering books -- which followed Bill Schweber's blog about cracking open a design book -- let's consider a few more that provided solid engineering information. Most recent post, Michael Dunn, 5/16/2013 9:04:24 PM Love the constant-current transformers. Are there details of how they work? Some... Prevent Your Next High-Flying Product Launch From Being Grounded Willie Chan, Sr. Product Marketing Engineer, Linear Technology, 5/16/2013 Comment now 1 Comment The widening gap between the 24V-to-28V intermediate bus commonly found in industrial, aerospace, and defense systems and the input supply voltages of modern digital processors presents design risk that could easily result in system failure, noxious smoke, or, even worse, a fire. Most recent post, eafpres, 5/16/2013 11:36:37 AM Hi Willie--interesting post and situation created by the evolution of voltage standards... The REAL Cost for a Custom IC Scott Elder, Senior Analog IC Design Consultant, 5/14/2013 Comment now 41 comments There have been lots of blogs and messages lately about designing a proprietary analog IC. I wrote a blog about doing it on the cheap for $3,000. Reid Wender posted a message about prototyping 200 parts using a reconfigurable IC for $10,000. Most recent post, Brad Albing, 5/21/2013 4:38:45 PM Nice to see that we have so many ideas to share that they are overflowing onto L... Next 5 blogs+ All blogs All blogs most commented 9 Thermocouple Nodules, Cold Junctions & Integration Opportunities Dennis Feucht, Electronics Engineer, 5/17/2013 7 (Dis)Integrating Power Consumption, Counterintuitively Len Sherman, Senior Scientist, Maxim Integrated, 5/16/2013 5 When Are You Done With Verification? Brian Bailey, Independent Consultant, 5/17/2013 4 Operations per Joule Brian Bailey, Independent Consultant, 5/20/2013 4 When the Going Gets Tough... Brian Bailey, Independent Consultant, 5/16/2013 blog roll message boards chat 5/21/2013 4:38:45 PM Re: Discussion expanding: Nice to see that we have so many ideas to share that they are overflowing onto LinkedIn. Brad Albing on The REAL Cost for a Custom IC 5/21/2013 4:33:14 PM Re: Test: I agree - we need engineers who have done actual hands-on work. I've seen a few coming right out of school who are not educated (with regard to having done lab bench work and tinkering). Brad Albing on The REAL Cost for a Custom IC 5/21/2013 4:28:21 PM Re: TCs are key: I would hope that the engineers and technicians working in and around the clean room would have a complete and thorough understanding of thermocouples - else the company fabricating the microchips will be in big trouble in a hurry. Brad Albing on Thermocouple Nodules, Cold Junctions & Integration Opportunities 5/21/2013 4:24:50 PM Re: Verification method: Derek - you're right - you at least have to breadboard it. If it doesn't work there, revisions are needed. Then you can move on to other methods to verify at a chip level. Brad Albing on When Are You Done With Verification? 5/21/2013 2:27:13 PM Analog Signals : Hello Brian Bailey, Very well exposed a current problem, congratulations. Today it is common for integrated circuits that are not compatible, for example, the brain circuit "microcontroller" which is common to work with the voltage 3v3 thus... Maciel on When the Going Gets Tough... 5/21/2013 12:29:52 PM Re: modelling the transmission line: Amrutah - do you mean, how difficult is it to model multi-strand litz wire when used at high-frequencies as part of a transmission line? Hmm... not sure how well various simulators do in this regard. Or more generally, how well do most simulation... Brad Albing on Litz Wire & Other Component Cleverness 5/21/2013 12:24:17 PM Re: It is not the harmonics!: Sawdust - Something to consider with regard to what signal [frequency] is being squared when you calculate the energy contained in the harmonics. In some cases, it's higher frequency bass or even mid-range signals that are clipping. Combine... Brad Albing on How a Poorly Designed 20W Amplifier Can Destroy a Speaker System 5/21/2013 12:18:58 PM Re: Have a first hand experience: I know Barry - he is an engineer with expertise in multiple areas - electrical, electronic, and IC design. Of course, Barry is not recommending that you blow things up. If he did, you're right - his manager would probably have a talk with him... Brad Albing on Everything’s Better After the First Explosion 5/21/2013 12:08:00 PM Analog precision: Analog, in of itself, has infinite resolution. Yet I see it always ends up being digitized in some form to explain to people. And from a marketing perspective, touting 12 bits over 10 bits would make people want more. General public seem not... DEREK.KOONCE on Operations per Joule 5/21/2013 12:05:54 PM Re: Semiconductor geneology: Thanks for the comment, Derek. Let's hope others can expand the history. Scott Elder on Field Programmable Analog & Gallium Arsenide 5/21/2013 12:03:12 PM Discussion expanding: The discussion is being continued here: http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&gid=27032&type=member&item=242196867&report%2Esuccess=62WUlrnddR6bgwSqXhj6sMCTLzs-Mtpi3fLJWbNsWtuooxKwgTL8r5xsvgkbozKwEkXBakadko Scott Elder on The REAL Cost for a Custom IC 5/21/2013 11:54:36 AM Semiconductor geneology: Scott, This is a wonderful geneology of FPAAs. Thanks for sharing. I have not heard of most of the companies listed. If someone is out there working on updating the semiconductor tree history, this would be a nice small chapter to add. DEREK.KOONCE on Field Programmable Analog & Gallium Arsenide Next 5 messages+ All messages All messages blog roll message boards chat 4/11/2013 4:14:10 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: So I found these awesome Current Sensors but I don't know how effective they are. Help! here's the link <a href="http://www.magnelab.com/products/Current-Voltage-Sensors/three-phase-ropect%C2%AE-ac-current-sensor-rogowski-coil-rcs-1800">rogowski... SGreenovich Newbie 1/16/2013 2:20:07 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Good closing comment Steve. Thanks Steve and Bruce for joining the chat. Brad Albing Blogger 1/16/2013 2:16:59 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Gotta run guys---I really would love to do this again! I'm off to a conference call to pick the brain of another expert for an upcoming article---Once we think we know everything and cannot learn anything new----we are lost! SteveTaranovich Newbie 1/16/2013 2:13:49 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Farhood Moraveji, technical director at TI commented to me, "Kludge boxes were a necessity in that test equipment did not exist that could measure the performance of the IC. These boxes often used some clever measurement tricks, which would... SteveTaranovich Newbie 1/16/2013 2:09:46 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Erroll Dietz said this about early IC designers, "Using design rules that they made up as they went along, these designers worked from transistor-kit parts, used copper-clad breadboards with sockets as design tools, and employed discrete resistors... SteveTaranovich Newbie 1/16/2013 2:07:26 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Right---"Figuring things out" shows good engineering thinking---I like that approach from that blog SteveTaranovich Newbie 1/16/2013 2:03:41 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: You might be interested in this blog, back a few months... http://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/thesignal/archive/2012/09/24/interview-questions-memorable-times-on-both-sides.aspx Bruce Trump Newbie 1/16/2013 2:03:11 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Experience and practice under the tutelage of a good mentor is critical SteveTaranovich Newbie 1/16/2013 2:02:33 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: It's difficult to teach an engineer to have an intuitive understanding. Brad Albing Blogger 1/16/2013 2:01:34 PM Join us for a chat: Imparting knowledge sometimes lost in the past to our fellow engineers: Synthesis ability comes from real experience and practice that they don't get at undergrad level. The genesis, I believe, is an intuitive understanding of how circuits work. Bruce Trump Newbie Next 5 chats+		Hello. We were unable to find the address you requested. You may search for the content you are seeking using our search form or email technical support with any questions. flash poll All polls educational resources sponsored content by our sponsors Analog Latch, One-Shot Circuits Operate with Close to Zero Power Industrial Systems Need the Added Protection of Security ICs Intelligent Lighting Controller Measures Ambient Light and Tracks Time Map Colors of a CIE Plot and Color Temperature Using an RGB Color Sensor ISM Transmitter Has Constant Transmitter Power for Varying Supply Voltage Adding Autorestart Capability to the MAX16046 EEPROM-Programmable System Manager Signal Conditioning for a Sigma-Delta ADC in Industrial Multichannel Data Acquisition Systems information resources sponsored content by our sponsors 24-Bit Sigma-Delta ADC Reduces the Requirement for an Analog Front-End (AFE) for ECG/EKG Trade-Offs in Analog IC Performance, Or Challenges When You Integrate More Analog onto a Digital Design Simplify AISG Control Systems by Integrating the Hardware Discrete Transceiver All resources follow Planet Analog on Twitter like us on facebook our partners

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