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Accelerometers go mainstream

BY DAVID MARSH • CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITOR - 1/12/2007

Now in their second decade of commercialisation, MEMS (microelectro- mechanical systems) technologies make possible devices as diverse as cardiac monitors, inkjet-printer dispensers, and optical multiplexers. But for many electronics engineers, the most rapidly emerging appli...

Improved optocoupler circuits reduce current draw, resist LED aging

By Peter Demchenko, Vilnius, Lithuania - 1/2/2008

It seems deceptively simple to establish galvanic isolation with the help of optocouplers between circuits that operate at different ground potentials. Optocouplers draw power from the isolated circuit, and switching can be relatively slow and uncertain beca...

Reducing output-voltage noise in power supplies

BY KEVIN FRICK • MAXIM INTEGRATED PRODUCTS - 1/11/2007

Circuits such as PLLs (phase-locked loops), ADCs and DACs (analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue) converters, medical instruments, and imaging sensors are often sensitive to noise coming in through the power supply and thus require a very-low-noise supply voltage. In mos...

Battery monitor also enables constant-power-boost converter

By Rex Niven, Forty Trout Electronics, Eltham, Victoria, Australia - 1/12/2007

Some microcontrollers permit operation below a supply voltage of 3V. This feature allows powering directly from a 3V alkaline or lithium battery without the voltage drop and leakage current of a regulator. It is important to monitor the battery voltage to ensure...

50-channel GPS module series can acquire signal in 1 sec

EDN Europe - 20/11/2007

Swiss GPS chip and module maker u-blox has introduced the LEA-5 GPS module series, which it based on its fifth-generation positioning engine, u-blox 5. Fast acquisition time is possible, the company says, due to the module’s 50-channel GPS architec...

FROM EDN EUROPE: Proprietary architectures defend automotive space

By David Marsh, Contributing Technical Editor - 1/9/2006

AT A GLANCE<td clas...

Mastering USB’s software complexities

BY DAVID MARSH • CONTRIBUTING TECHNICAL EDITOR - 1/5/2007

AT A GLANCE USB demands considerable software effort. 8051 and ARM7 kits ease USB dev...

Novel measurement circuit eases battery-stack-cell design

BY JIM WILLIAMS AND MARK THOREN • LINEAR TECHNOLOGY - 1/3/2008

Automobiles, aircraft, marine vehicles, uninterruptible power supplies, and telecom hardware use series-connected battery stacks. These stacks of individual cells may contain many units, potentially reaching hundreds of volts. In such systems, it is desirable to accuratel...

Transimpedance synchronous amplification nulls out background illumination

By Stefano Salvatori and Gennaro Conte, University Roma Tre, Rome, Italy - 1/1/2008

Light sensors find use in a host of important applications, spanning from consumer electronics, such as ambient-light measurements and exposure control for cameras, to scientific instruments, such as optical-absorption spectroscopy, IR (infrared) detection for t...

WLAN/Bluetooth front-end module

EDN Europe - 17/1/2008

EPCOS has developed a single front-end module for Bluetooth and WLAN applications to the 802.11 b/g/n standard, that it claims is the smallest available. With an insertion height of 1.4 mm, it has a footprint of 4.5 x 3.2 mm. The module integrates ...