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Low-noise charge pumps make it easy to create negative voltages
Do you have a need for a negative voltage? If you are responsible for designing an amplifier, audio system, data converter or gallium nitride (GaN) driver, you may feel all alone in your quest to...
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Powering high-current Broadcom networking processors in Ethernet switches
Broadcom networking processors such as the StrataXGS Tomahawk family enable high density and performance in Ethernet switches (Figure 1 is a block diagram of an Ethernet switch; the switch ASIC could...
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Protecting field transmitters from surge transients
If you are a designer working on field transmitters, you are probably thinking about the physical environment where the system will be installed. Industrial sensor applications require a robust...
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Making trade-offs when integrating input and output capacitors in a DC/DC...
The ideal goal of a DC/DC step-down (buck) point-of-load power module is to integrate the entire bill of materials (BOM) inside the package. In reality, most power modules require several external...
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Use an ULQ buck regulator for energy-efficient power products
Battery life has played a more and more important role in portable devices, contributing to the overall user experience. Longer battery life has become one of the first priorities for engineers to...
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Choosing the right charger for industrial batteries
As battery technology enables smaller size and higher capacity, you’ll find battery-powered devices not only in consumer products but also industrial systems. As a designer, one of the most important...
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Getting started with PMBus
I’m working as a product marketing engineer intern, and immediately received several tasks working with many different devices in the TI arsenal. The biggest problem I had was understanding the...
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GaN reliability standards reach milestone
Design engineers faced with the challenges of reduced space and increased power demands are embracing gallium nitride (GaN) technology. By leveraging new topologies, switching frequencies and magnetic...
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LDO Basics: Thermals – How hot is your application?
A low-dropout (LDO) regulator’s nature is to regulate a voltage by turning excess power into heat, making this integrated circuit an ideal solution for low power, or small VIN to VOUT differential...
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Upgrade your TO-220 linear regulator with a pin-compatible buck power module
Designers have used linear regulators for decades in electronic applications because of their simplicity and low cost. For a complete step-down power supply, you only need an input and output capacitor...
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Sequencing solutions: simple, reliable and cost-effective
As electronics increase in complexity, designers of even simple systems are running into issues associated with multiple power rails. One challenge with having multiple power rails is often the...
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Signal integrity in multiphase, smart power-stage applications
While a proper high-current power-stage layout is always important in DC/DC applications, paying attention to regulator signal routing during printed circuit board (PCB) layout is more important than...
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An easy power-module reference design for RF data converter negative voltages
Do you have a need for a negative voltage rail to bias a radio frequency (RF) sampling data converter such as the DAC38RF80? Most applications don’t require the generation of a negative voltage, but...
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Vary the output voltage in an inverting buck-boost topology
In this blog post, I’d like to discuss a methodology for providing a variable output voltage in an inverting buck-boost topology. In this topology, the choice of resistors on the feedback voltage...
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How to approach a power-supply design – part 4
In the previous installments of this series, I focused on specification, transfer ratios and basic power ratings, and buck, boost and buck-boost topologies. In this installment, I’ll introduce the...
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Finding the maximum adapter power for the fastest battery charging
Figure 1: Smartphone chargingWhen you plug in your smartphone to charge, you want it to charge as fast and safely as possible. The integrated circuit (IC) that a smartphone (or other mobile device)...
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Powering up the performance of sensitive test and measurement systems
When creating high-performance test and measurement equipment, the last thing on your mind is what is powering the board. It may be hard to believe, but the power supply can have a drastic impact on...
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Power management: the big picture
Figure 1: Remote lake in central CanadaEvery few years, my friends and I canoe in the Canadian wilderness for a week, eating only what we can catch (fish) or carry in with us. We cook over a fire and...
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Crank up your power supply with LLC controllers
According to the latest report from the World Bank, energy consumption per capita is increasing exponentially, from 1,200KWh to 3,200KWh. Although there are several driving factors behind this rise in...
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Up your game with LLC resonant controllers
It’s amazing what people will do in order to be the best. For example, athletes will train tirelessly just to shave tenths of seconds off of their race times. Students spend years studying to achieve...
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