Electronics design ideas 2019

Innovation is critical in today’s engineering world and it demands technical knowledge and the highest level of creativity. Seeing compact articles that solve design problems or display innovative ways to accomplish design tasks can help to fuel your electronics creativity.

You can find many very circuit ideas at ePanorama.net circuits page.

In addition to this links to interesting electronics design related articles worth to check out can be posted to the comments section.

 

 

 

 

1,934 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Digital Control in Power Supplies Adds Value to Industry 4.0, IoT Apps
    Supply performance can be optimized for applications both on installation and dynamically in operation, with wider systems controlling and monitoring power-supply characteristics for efficient integration.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/whitepaper/21132605/digital-control-in-power-supplies-adds-value-to-industry-40-iot-apps?utm_source=EG+ED+IoT+for+Engineers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200619063&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Digital control in power supplies can mean different things ranging from simple digital signaling of status/alarms and on/off control of a traditional analog controller (Fig. 1), to more sophisticated functions being added with a simple microcontroller, all the way through to full implementation of feedback-loop compensation with a digital signal processor (DSP) (Fig. 2). The latest techniques allow for flexibility in configuring a power supply’s characteristics and performance during development and commissioning, and dynamically in the end application.

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  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Balancing Supercapacitor Stack Voltages
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/whitepaper/21134743/balancing-supercapacitor-stack-voltages?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200619058&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    When you stack supercapacitors to get more voltage, their leakage current can over-voltage some caps and damage them. A balancing circuit will ensure the stack doesn’t get harmed.

    Supercaps and ultracaps are used for energy storage in apps from electric vehicles to the grid.
    Series-connected supercapacitors may run into issues of voltage imbalance, which could cause “over-voltage” of a cell.
    Balancing a string of supercaps can be done with paralleled resistors, carefully-chosen FETs, or via dynamic stack monitoring.

    Resistor Balancing

    A simple way to balance a string of supercaps is with paralleled resistors (Fig. 4). A rule of thumb is the same factor-of-ten that you use to make an unloaded voltage divider. Whatever the leakage current of the supercap, you use a parallel resistor that has 10X the current at the nominal cell voltage.

    This approach has several problems, though.

    FET Balancing

    A far preferable solution is to use carefully-chosen FETs that will turn on slightly as the capacitor cell approaches the operating rated voltage

    The FET manufacturer can control the threshold voltage with ion implantation of a floating gate, or by process, or by hand-selection. With ion implantation, you get a more predictable and precise current at the cell voltage—the parts are screened for this in testing, so you can consider them pre-selected for your application.

    Active balancing with FETs is a more direct solution. The FETs will regulate the cell voltage and even account for aging and temperature changes. Be sure to characterize your supercapacitor cells over time, over temperature, over shock, and over any other factors that you think might affect them, including sunlight, altitude, radiation, or other application-specific environmental variables.

    Dynamic Stack Monitoring

    A more advanced form of active balancing uses a chip that measures the cell voltages and applies the proper shunt currents to keep the cell balanced (Fig. 6). A chip like Texas Instruments’ BQ33100 can balance 2, 3, 4 or 5 capacitors.

    Companies such as Analog Devices also have chips that will charge, monitor, and balance supercapacitor arrays. Dialog Semiconductor makes supercapacitor management chips, too, and has a wealth of information on applying these circuits.

    Out-of-the-Box Solution

    Due to some of these hassles with series capacitors, you might consider just using one higher-value cell and then incorporate a boost converter to increase the 2.7 V to something you can use. Since the capacitor voltage will drop linearly with discharge, you may need a switching boost regulator anyway.

    While not many buck regulators operate from 2.7 V, you might be able to use a higher-voltage rail to power the regulator chip. Another solution would be to fashion a boost circuit from discrete transistors.

    Always remember that stringing components together is never as easy as it looks on a schematic page. Also be aware that if you want to model these strings in Spice, you have to model the cell-by-cell variations and temperature variations. You might be better off with real cells and a temperature chamber.

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  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    LED BLIKING WITH OPTOCOUPLER PC 817
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLZgYDWlcQo

    video how to make a simple led bliking fleshingcricuit with optocoupler ic 817

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Minimizing thermocouples maintains 20-bit DAC precision
    https://www.edn.com/minimizing-thermocouples-maintains-20-bit-dac-precision/?utm_content=buffer5ba7f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=edn_facebook&utm_campaign=buffer

    Subtle parasitics can have pronounced and seemingly inexplicable effects on the performance of low-level circuits

    Perhaps the most prevalent detractors to microvolt-level circuitry are unintended thermocouples.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Injection-lock a Wien-bridge oscillator
    https://www.edn.com/injection-lock-a-wien-bridge-oscillator/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=link&utm_medium=EDNWeekly-20200625

    I recently had the opportunity to investigate a new micropower 6-MHz LTC6255 op amp driving a 12-bit, 250k sample/sec LTC2361 ADC. I wanted to acquire the FFT of a pure sinusoid of about 5 kHz. The problem is that getting the FFT of a pure sinusoid requires, well, a pure sinusoid. Most programmable signal generators, however, have fairly poor noise and distortion performance, not to mention digital “hash” floors, compared with dedicated op amps and good ADCs. You can’t measure 90-dB distortion and noise using sources that are “60 dB-ish.” So rather than try to find and keep an almost-ideal programmable signal generator, I decided to build up a low-distortion Meacham-bulb-stabilized Wien-bridge oscillator using an ultralow-distortion LT1468-2 op amp

    The oscillator powered up fine, giving a nice sinusoidal 5.15-kHz output at several volts, and independent measurements showed the second- and third-harmonic distortion products to be lower than −120 dBc.

    But, of course, this oscillator was purely analog and had no “10-MHz reference input” on the back to allow it to be synchronized with the ADC clock. The result is substantial spectral leakage in the FFT, so that it looks more like a circus tent than a single spike.

    But then it occurred to me that a gentle, analog sinusoidal nudge from a distorting but well-locked external oscillator might be enough to tweak the Wien-bridge frequency to where it needed to be. I decided to try injecting a sinusoid into the input of the Wien-bridge op-amp circuit, and opted to use a high series impedance to avoid simultaneously injecting noise and distortion. I came up with 200k—about 1000× the impedances already there

    With the generators phase locked through the 10-MHz reference, the low-noise and -distortion Wien-bridge oscillator is gently nudged into coherence through the high-impedance, 200k resistor.

    I connected the 10-MHz back-panel references and changed the 33250A frequency to 5.157 kHz, the nearest coherent bin in the FFT. The sinusoids remained in lock, and the programmable 33250A generator successfully pulled the Wien-bridge oscillator slightly away from its natural frequency and into the desired frequency. The result was a nearly ideal FFT; all of the pertinent fundamental and distortion powers were situated in unique bins and were accurately represented

    Programmable sinusoidal generators often have excellent phase-noise characteristics and 10-MHz locking capabilities, but they also have high-output wideband noise floors and distortion.

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Loss in a channel: Rule of Thumb #9
    https://www.edn.com/loss-in-a-channel-rule-of-thumb-9/

    April 4, 2014
    by Eric Bogatin
    Comments 2

    This rule of thumb enables us to estimate the attenuation at the Nyquist for a lossy, uniform channel.

    Attenuation figure of merit : 0.2 dB/inch/GHz, for a lossy channel, 0.1 dB/inch/GHz for a low loss channel.

    There are four important effects which contribute to inter-symbol interference (ISI) in high speed serial link channels: attenuation, reflection noise, crosstalk, and mode conversion.

    If everything is done right in the interconnect design, the attenuation will still be left as a fundamental limit imposed by the choice of materials in the interconnect. It is the frequency dependent attenuation that causes the rise time to increase. When the rise time is long compared to the unit interval, ISI is the result.

    The frequency dependent attenuation arises from two root causes, the conductor loss and the dielectric loss. When all the other problems are reduced, these two loss mechanism will always be left.

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Analyze DC-DC Converter Efficiency with This DIY Electronic Load
    A scratch-built electronic load with LCD display, custom PCB, and salvaged heat sink.
    https://www.hackster.io/news/analyze-dc-dc-converter-efficiency-with-this-diy-electronic-load-f4a81a7b7dc5

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How to Make LED Flasher Very Easy Using PC817 optocoupler
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zikhBiz6dRY

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How to make touch switch using mosfet transistor | IRF3205 MOSFET | ELECTRO FEVER
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5L-EwP6NhY

    Touch ON-OFF switch using only one mosfet
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5L-EwP6NhY

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    High density interconnect (HDI) boards are now the norm in advanced electronics. The first step in creating an HDI board is to create the right PCB stackup.

    https://www.nwengineeringllc.com/article/how-to-design-your-hdi-pcb-stackup.php

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  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    All that Glitters Is Not Gold: Interpreting Datasheet Data When Selecting Parts
    https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/components/article/21134017/all-that-glitters-is-not-gold-interpreting-datasheet-data-when-selecting-parts?utm_source=RF+MWRF+Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200626005&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Look deeper into those shiny front-page “sheet” specs—and search out the truly relevant data—to see if the part really is the best option for your application.

    Application engineers often repeatedly answer the same questions from different customers, especially queries related to choosing parts in their application. One mistake we see in part selection happening time and time again is that the customers become over enamored by what I like to call “the sheet” in data sheets. I’m talking about the shiny, glittery, sexy specs. “Wow! That ADC has a high SNR!”

    This is the story of one such customer who was impressed with one analog-to-digital converter’s (ADC) high signal-to-noise (SNR) but who forgot to consider other important datasheet specs. We will also address common mistakes and how to choose the right parts for your application.

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Ultimate Continuity Tester
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=N2M-p-OGvPg

    In this video, we explore the tricky challenges in trying to design an electrical continuity tester that can survive almost any abuse we can dish out.

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Making a Current Transformer from Washers
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ejfSI7v28vQ

    This is a tutorial showing how to make an AC current sensing transformer out of a handful of steel washers.
    We also do a deep-dive into the design of signal processing circuitry to make our washer transformer into a useful building block.

    http://www.fernekes.com/2020/04/making-a-current-transformer-from-washers/?Clr

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    11 Myths About Signal Integrity in High-Density Backplanes
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21135593/11-myths-of-signal-integrity-in-highdensity-backplanes?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200629024&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    With more connections being packed into backplanes, signal integrity becomes a concern. However, misconceptions have arisen around solving this problem. Elma Electronics’ Ovidiu Mesesan sets the record straight.

    1. Signal-integrity analysis considerations are different in nature, depending on the backplane architecture/topology/technology.

    2. Data provided by the connector and PCB manufacturers have no bearing on the results of pre- and post-layout signal-integrity analysis of channels.

    3. Links in a backplane-based system are independent of one another, and therefore don’t affect overall performance.

    4. The behavior of a complete channel is the sum of the behaviors of its individual sub-sections.

    5. The type of weave used on the layers that carry high-speed signals has no bearing on signal integrity and, therefore, isn’t a critical consideration.

    6. You can expect simulations to be close to measurements, even without validating your models.

    7. The values of copper foil roughness and resistivity given by PCB laminate manufacturers, and even those in empirical formulas, are pretty close to reality.

    8. Developing design rules to test signal integrity should be conducted up to the limit of the application.

    9. The mated interface to the backplane isn’t important when considering the performance of a backplane PCB.

    10. Any simulation software and any de-embedding approach would do a decent job at analyzing SI data and making accurate predictions (i.e., “all SI tools are created equal and it only depends on the user’s ability of how accurately they make predictions about interconnect performance”).

    11. At the end of the day, if my backplane meets the signal budget allocated to it, even within the slightest margin, everything will run smoothly.

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Watch Out, MEMS Switches—Much-Smaller NEMS Relays are Coming After You!
    Using phase-change materials, researchers have devised a nanoscale metal-contact on/off switch that doesn’t use a flexure element and is far smaller than its MEMS-based counterparts.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21135768/watch-out-mems-switchesmuchsmaller-nems-versions-are-coming-after-you?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200702044&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

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  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Diagnosing Class II MLCC Effective Capacitance and Aging Under DC Bias
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21135733/diagnosing-class-ii-mlcc-effective-capacitance-and-aging-under-dc-bias?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS200702044&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Most designers know that dc bias significantly decreases the effective capacitance of Class II MLCCs. But is it enough to estimate the effective capacitance of an MLCC just by looking at the dc bias curve? What other factors also warrant scrutiny?

    For decades, multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) have been the go-to choice for surface-mounted capacitors due to their many advantages, such as wide available capacitance range, non-polarity, low ESR, and low cost. Most designers know that the effective capacitance of Class II MLCCs can be reduced significantly when dc bias is applied across the capacitor.

    However, in addition to the dc bias effect, other important factors can impact the effective capacitance of Class II MLCCs. These factors include ac bias, signal frequency, temperature, and aging. This article aims to provide a holistic view of these effects, and serve as an introduction into a less-well-known phenomenon known as “aging under dc bias.”

    The mechanism of ac voltage dependency for effective capacitance is much more complicated than that of the dc bias effect. This is due to the nonlinear permittivity of the dielectric (hysteresis effect) between the applied electric field and electric flux density.

    Another key point is that the level of dc bias also impacts the effect of ac voltage dependency on effective capacitance. When the applied dc voltage is small, the ac voltage-dependency effect becomes much more prominent and the effective capacitance may drop as much as 30% if the ac voltage amplitude is also close to null

    On the other hand, if the capacitance drop is already more than 50% due to dc bias effect (Fig. 2, again), the capacitance loss due to ac signal becomes much smaller. Consequently, depending on actual signal conditions, caution must be exercised in estimating the effective capacitance by taking both dc bias and ac voltage-dependency effects into consideration.

    Two other graphs that can be found on a typical MLCC datasheet are temperature characteristics of capacitance (TCC) and frequency-dependency characteristics. Compared to dc bias and ac voltage-dependency effects, the TCC and frequency-dependency effects are much less pronounced, contributing to less than 20% of capacitance change in most cases.

    The TCC is regulated by the MLCC’s dielectric type, such as X5R, X6S, X7R, and so on. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the capacitance change will be within the definition of each dielectric type; for example, a 15% change for X5R or X7R. Do note, however, that the capacitance-change range as defined by TCC is independent of the capacitance tolerance. Therefore, for a 22-µF, 20%, X7R MLCC, the initial capacitance could be as low as 15 µF in the worst-case scenario [22 µF × 80% (low end of the tolerance) × 85% (assuming it retains 85% of capacitance at 125°C) = 14.96 µF], and this is even before any voltage is applied.

    The MLCC aging effect states that the capacitance of an MLCC decreases logarithmically with time

    The aging phenomenon is due to the internal structural characteristics of BaTiO3, where the capacitance decreases as the dipoles rearrange their orientation slowly to stabilize internal mechanical stress (Fig. 5). Typically, aging behavior is relatively less of a concern for two reasons. First, aging is reversible. The decreased capacitance can be recovered by heating the MLCC above 125°C, or the Curie point, at which the dipoles are realigned and the capacitance restores. Such heat treatment is called “de-aging” and is observed before nominal capacitance measurement.

    Second, given the logarithmic nature of capacitance drop, the loss in capacitance is most significant within the first 1000 hours of de-aging. The effective capacitance of MLCCs essentially “stabilizes” after 1000 hours as the capacitance drop becomes trivial.

    Another topic related to aging, albeit much less understood, is the capacitor’s aging behavior under dc bias. This topic is much more important than it seems, as MLCCs are very often used as bypass capacitors in power rails to maintain the dc voltage of these rails. It means these capacitors are under constant dc electric fields.

    MLCCs aren’t just for smaller, faster, cutting-edge devices, but rather are a building-block component found in a myriad of applications. A complete understanding of MLCC effective capacitance will not only help a designer build a system that’s more stable and robust, but can also help prevent any potential reliability issues down the road, especially after end products are in the field.

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  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    SSR ideal for challenging high-temperature applications
    https://www.electropages.com/2020/07/ssr-ideal-challenging-high-temperature-applications?utm_campaign=2020-07-07-Latest-Product-News&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=article&utm_content=SSR+ideal+for+challenging+high-temperature+applications

    Littelfuse now offers the PLA172P OptoMOS Relay, an 800V normally-open single-pole six-pin SSR. The device is the first solid-state relay in the company’s product portfolio offers guaranteed electrical parameters at 105C ambient operating temperature.

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Monitoring IC Abnormalities Before Failures
    https://semiengineering.com/monitoring-ic-abnormalities-before-they-become-problematic/

    Deep and widespread dedicated circuitry for monitoring internal states supports deeper analytic insights for engineers

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Calorimetric measurement gauges EV converter power losses
    https://www.edn.com/calorimetric-measurement-gauges-ev-converter-power-losses/?utm_content=buffer7e617&utm_medium=social&utm_source=edn_facebook&utm_campaign=buffer

    To design or evaluate a power converter, it is essential to measure its power loss with great accuracy. Normally measured by a wattmeter, the power loss is expressed as the difference between the value of the input power and that of the output power. Due to the high efficiency, this difference is very small and therefore only full-scale errors can be highlighted.

    An alternative solution to the electrical measurement with the wattmeter is the one that is based on the calorimetric method, capable of achieving high precision without requiring any electrical connection to the converter.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Op amps do integration
    https://www.edn.com/op-amps-do-integration/?utm_content=buffer3c85f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=edn_facebook&utm_campaign=buffer

    Putting a capacitor in the feedback path produces an integrator.

    A more practical integrator circuit is shown in Figure 5. The feedback resistor R2 reduces the DC gain of the circuit to (hopefully) keep it from saturating the output voltage.

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    If they are anti-parallel it is an ESDSCD (expensive, self-destroying short circuit device).

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Amp demo board teams with audio-grade SMPS
    https://www.edn.com/amp-demo-board-teams-with-audio-grade-smps/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=link&utm_medium=EDNPCBDesign-20200713

    GaN Systems offers an amplifier evaluation kit with a 400-W continuous-output switch-mode power supply (SMPS) that enables high-power Class D audio systems. The plug-and-play design features a variety of audio signal inputs, bridge-tied load output, and open-loop/closed-loop toggling.

    June 8, 2020
    by Susan Nordyk
    Comments 0

    GaN Systems offers an amplifier evaluation kit with a 400-W continuous-output switch-mode power supply (SMPS) that enables high-power Class D audio systems. The plug-and-play design features a variety of audio signal inputs, bridge-tied load output, and open-loop/closed-loop toggling.

    GaN Systems PR image for amplifier evaluation kit

    The evaluation board packs a two-channel Class D amplifier that provides 200 W per channel into 8 Ω or 300 W per channel into 4 Ω and achieves 96% efficiency. Its Class D output stage is implemented with 100-V GaN enhancement mode HEMT devices. Performance specifications include total harmonic distortion plus noise (THD+N) of less than 0.01% (8 Ω, 1 W, 20 Hz to 20 kHz) and frequency response of ±0.5 dB to 50 kHz. Also included is an onboard Renesas D2 Audio 24-bit, 300-MHz digital control processor with embedded DSP, integrated hardware accelerators, and PWM engine.

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    3 Ways to Reduce Power-Supply Noise
    Get noise out of your power supply with a multi-prong approach. Filters, bypassing, and post-regulation all can help achieve that goal.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/power-supply/article/21808839/3-ways-to-reduce-powersupply-noise

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Your Guide to High Speed Signal Integrity in PCBs
    https://www.nwengineeringllc.com/article/your-guide-to-high-speed-signal-integrity-in-pcbs.php

    When we talk about high speed signals, we have a very specific meaning. High speed PCBs carry signals with very fast rise times, typically with ECL, CMOS, or other logic families. These systems are meant to run at high clock and data rates, and sometimes with multilevel signalling.

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    1.5v to 220v mini Inverter
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHk9vY5MY28

    Inverter with dead mobile charger and energy saver
    How to Make 1.5V DC to 220V AC Inverter Homemade 1.5 v to 230 v converter how to light 220v led with 1.5v.
    It is very easy and useful project. The main purpose of making this is to teach the beginners as well as master minded engineers. Hope this will be fruitful to my viewers. Subscribe our channel to stay connected with us and get latest updates.

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    LED BLIKING WITH OPTOCOUPLER PC 817
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLZgYDWlcQo

    this video how to make a simple led bliking fleshingcricuit with optocoupler ic 817 it is very easy project.
    How to make simple led blinker at home very eaisy and simple
    using ic 817
    please like subcribe and share my cheenal and watch my video thanks for watching my video

    Reply

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