Dave further investigates the Varta 15 minute NiMH batter charger.
Mixed signal analysis with the new Keysight 3000T oscilloscope, and current tracing with the TTI iProber 520 positional current probe
And some more reverse engineering.
Forum HERE
Imec breakthrough may commercialise silicon photonics
Imec and Ghent University have monolithically integrated arrays of indium phosphide lasers on 300mm silicon substrates in a CMOS pilot line. It provides a path toward high-volume manufacturing of cost-effective photonic integrated circuits (PICs) with monolithically integrated laser sources. Such laser-powered PICs will revolutionize data transfer between future logic and memory chips. Silicon photonics enables ...
Soraa builds second GaN-on-GaN LED fab
GaN-on-GaN LED maker Soraa is building a semiconductor fab in Syracuse New York, in partnership with the State of New York. The firm, which has a fab in Fremont California, is working with SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, shell completion is scheduled by the end of this year, and production for the second half of ...
350W medical PSU needs no forced air
The CUS350M series of ac-dc power supplies from TDK are rated at 350W and have both medical and ITE certification to IEC 60601-1 and IEC 60950-1 standards. Requiring no forced air for cooling, the PSUs are intended for use where audible noise cannot be tolerated: hospital, dental, broadcast and professional audio application, for example. They ...
Textile pressure sensors can be washed
Flexible mechanical sensors that can be bonded or sewn into woven or knitted fabrics have been developed by German research lab Fraunhofer ISC. Deformation, force and pressure can be measured, and strains up to 100% (doubling length) can be endured. It is an elastomer film with flexible electrodes on both sides. Electrode patterning can be ...
ST Q3 down 6.5% y-o-y; expects 6% sequential fall in Q4.
ST’s Q3 revenue was 6.5% down on Q3 2014 at $1.76 billion with a gross margin of 34.8%. It expects a 6% drop in Q4 revenues on Q3 to about $1.66 billion with a gross margin of 33.5%. ST blamed lower consumer spending in China for the weak Q3 revenues. Compared to Q3 last year, ...
Ensilica opens Bristol chip design centre
IC design house EnSilica, has added a regional office and design centre in Bristol to its headquarters in Wokingham and verification/design centre in Bangalore. “The Bristol office will provide more localised support capabilities for the company’s customers in the area and, additionally, house a centralised design centre that will act as a centre of ...
Ambiq wins design-in with sub-threshold MPU
Sub-threshold MCU firm Ambiq Micro has won a design in for its ARM Cortex-M4F-based Apollo. This is important because, while it is route to dramatically cutting power consumption, sub-threshold operation brings with it manufacturing and yield headaches. They can be made, and analogue sub-threshold circuits are said to have been in watches for years. Getting ...
Electronics patent of the month: Road sign uses lenticular technology
This month features novel road signs that uses lenticular technology to make them more eye catching. Michael Jaeger, patent attorney at leading UK patent and trade mark attorneys Withers & Rogers LLP, writes: GB Patent Number: GB2514562 Granted to: Pulse Technologies Limited One lunchtime last week I was running past the Design Museum and a sign caught ...
NXP had Q3 revenue of $1.52 billion for a gross margin of 48.6% and an operating margin of 24%. “Our profitability in the third quarter of 2015 was very strong, as NXP delivered total revenue of $1.52 billion and non-GAAP operating margin of nearly 30%, said CEao Rick Clemmer, “revenue was approximately flat versus the ...
Google invites developers to its Brillo IoT platform
Google first announced its Brillo IoT platform – “underlying operating system for the Internet of Things” – back in May at its I/O 2015 event. Having been available to early access partners, Google is now opening up the lightweight embedded OS, which is based on Android, to the wider developer community. What exactly is it? Brillo ...
Globalfoundries deal broadens FD-SOI, says Leti CEO
Leti is supporting Globalfoundries’ 22nm fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) semiconductor platform, called 22FDX. The platform incorporates software-controlled transistor body-biasing that are designed to provide trade-offs between power and performance. “Delivering FinFET-like performance and energy-efficiency at a cost comparable to 28nm planar technologies,” says Globalfoundries. Earlier this year, Leti assigned a team of experts to Globalfoundries’ wafer fab in ...
Bosch is squaring up to Dyson. BSH Hausgeräte GmbH the parent company of Bosch and Europe’s largest consumer goods manufacturer with revenues of €11.4 billion, is initiating legal action against Dyson in the UK. “Dyson,” says BSH, ” made a number of false allegations in the press asserting that BSH manipulated energy efficiency tests using ...
Osram joins the push for prettier light bulbs
Osram is the latest company to add ‘filaments’ to its lighting LED portfolio. Filament LEDs are phosphor-coated strings of tiny LEDs, designed to look like incandescent filaments in art bulbs (see photo). Plessey announced filament production in July, and Osram started selling its own LED filament bulbs earlier this month. “Incorporating the LEDs in classic ...
Start-up says multi-band LTE is possible in CMOS
CMOS RF chips continue to make an impact on mobile phone design and a US-based start-up has developed a CMOS power amplifier which will support multi-band 3G/LTE designs. ACCO Semiconductor says it is in production of a CMOS Multi-mode Multi-band Power Amplifier (MMPA) which supports quad-band GSM/EDGE and 12-band 3G/LTE smartphones. “The AC26120 represents a fundamental ...
IoT-connected vehicles will challenge car firms
The growing importance of the internet for providing data services and data analytics is creating challenges for automotive suppliers, which will be very familiar to IT firms, writes Andrew Macleod In the past market needs for consumer electronics, computer networks, and the automotive industry were very separate, each with their own design cycles and security ...
48V dc-dc converter protected to 76V for industry
Rohm has announced a 12-76V input, 3A variable output voltage, dc-dc buck converter with integrated mosfet. Called BD9G341AEFJ, it is optimised for industrial use. The high max voltage is there to “ensuring sufficient margin against sudden surge voltages, such as those caused by lightning, in communication infrastructure , factory automation equipment, industrial machinery, and other applications that normally ...
EU denies net neutrality, delays abolition of roaming charges
The European Parliament has refused to endorse net neutrality while postponing until June 2017 the abolition of roaming charges. Roaming charges were to have been abolished this year but the European Council blocked it. National governments decide European Council rulings and governments like the UK’s have fought against the abolition of roaming charges. In April ...
A look inside the Varta 15 minute 8A NiMH fast charger.
A teardown and look at how it works and the circuit topology.
Can Sanyo Eneloops be charged this fast too?
Forum HERE
Datasheets:
Varta-AA-2100mah-56706-datasheet.pdf
DTM4410.pdf
tl494.pdf
Keysight takes PXIe signal analyser to 5G
Keysight Technologies has introduced a 50GHz frequency extension to its M9393A PXIe vector signal analyser (VSA), which means it covers Ka-band frequencies and millimeter wave (mmWave) measurements. This frequency band is used for satellite comms and mmWave has also being researched for 5G mobile. The module has options to allow for continuous frequency sweeps from 3.6 to 50GHz (option FRX) ...
Tiny IoT radio for smart meters
A tiny radio module for connecting smart meters to a local hub or gateway has been designed by Cambridge-based Amiho Technology in partnership with Rohm subsidiary Lapis semiconductor. The AM060 radio module, which measures just 17.8 x 20.2mm, operates at the Wireless Meter-Bus standard of 868MHz. It has built in data flash specifically for smart metering ...
Taking the brakes off cuprate superconductors
Cuprate superconductors might work at higher temperatures, if only someone could find a way to take the brakes off. The brakes in this case are an electron energy density wave – fixed electrons that inhibit free-flying electrons, according to the US Brookhaven National Laboratory. “Many researchers believe that the density wave is the key to ...
Graphene photon detector works from infra-red to terahertz
Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have developed a graphene optical detector that responds to incident electromagnetic radiation from infra-red to terahertz, and works at room temperature. It has already been used to synchronise two lasers. It consists of graphene on silicon carbide, with inter-digitated electrodes connected to a log-periodic antenna (see photo). “In contrast to ...
ARM launches next-gen CoreLink IP
ARM has announced new ARM CoreLink system IP designed to enhance system performance and efficiency in next-generation premium mobile devices. T The CoreLink CCI-550 interconnect enables ARM big.LITTLE processing and a fully coherent GPU while lowering latency and increasing peak throughput. The CoreLink DMC-500 memory controller provides higher bandwidth and latency response for processors and ...
Element 14 offers custom Raspberry Pi electronics to OEMs
Element14 has negotiated a deal to provide design and manufacturing bespoke designs based upon Raspberry Pi for OEMs. Globally-exclusive and signed with Raspberry Pi Trading – the commercial arm of Raspberry Pi – the announcement follows customer requests to create customised Raspberry Pi boards. Embest and AVID are design businesses owned by element14. “Together with ...
Cherry has speed sensor in plastic package for medical
Cherry is offering an alternative to conventional sensors with metal housings. Its latest sensors feature a plastic flange-mount housing and are suitable for many industrial applications including electric drives, industrial automation, medical and energy applications. The modular system uses differential hall-chip sensor devices with a standard and fully-integrated magnetic circuit. As a result the devices ...
5G teams need FPGAs for massive MIMO research
David Hawke highlights the role programmable hardware is making in research and development of technologies such as massive MIMO for the 5G mobile communications radio access network. The goals for the so-called radio access network (RAN) for 5G mobile are lofty indeed and have been discussed at length by industry experts. What has received far ...
China driving ARM-based server market
The ARM server market is hotting up with the pace being set by China, says Applied Micro which has an ARM architecture licence and pioneered the first ARM-based server chips. “The market has not been this interesting for more than a decade,” says Applied Micro’s marketing vp John Williams, “Intel has 95/7% market share and ...
Bozotti to be ordered to cut dividend
Ahead of Thursday’s Q3 results meeting, STMicroelectronics CEO Carlo Bozotti will be told by ST’s two biggest investors, the French and Italian governments, that it must cut its dividend, reports Bloomberg. ST’s shares fell between 5 p% and 7% on the French and Italian stock markets following the report. In June, the French unions CFDT, ...
Gresham stocks EOS’ smallest 120W PSU
EOS has introduced a 120W open-frame PSU measuring 50 x 75 x 30mm, its smallest yet at 16.94W/in3. Available in medical and commercial versions, as well as 120W with forced air, it can deliver 100W with convection cooling. Medical versions have a BF Rating and Class II Option, -40°C start-up, thermal shut down protection, standby power ...
Mitsubishi claims IGBT power record at 6.5kV
The highest capacity and highest operating temperature in the industry, is what Mitsubishi claimed at the launch of its 6,500V, 1,000A, 150C X-Series IGBT module. Called CM1000HG-130XA, power losses are ~20% down compared with its existing IGBT module (CM750HG-130R) through the use of seventh-generation ‘CSTBT’ chip and ‘RFC’ diode chips, said the firm. Applications are ...
LED Engin claims flux record for RGBW lighting LEDs
Led Engin is claiming a flux density record with a combination of red, green, blue and white die that deliver 3,800 lm from 25 die in a 6.2 x 6.2 mm square on a 12 x 12mm substrate. Power input is 80W, leadig to the claim of a “new world record in both flux and ...
Plessey gets business from Circadian lighting
Plessey is to develop packaged LEDs for circadian-modulated LED lighting systems from Massachusetts firm Circadian ZircLight. Developments at Circadian, according to Plessey, build upon a growing body of research showing that exposure to light at night causes a disruption of brain neuroendocrine systems, including melatonin and cortisol rhythms. “We are developing a set of human-centric ...
High speed CAN bus is coming to cars, says Microchip
Microchip is working with CANbus specialist Kvaser to integrate the Swedish firm’s CAN and CAN Flexible Data-Rate (CAN FD) IP in its microcontrollers. CAN FD is a higher data rate extension to the original CAN protocol as specified in ISO 11898-1, which is used for in-car networks. It allows for a higher data rate and larger packet ...
AYLA Networks finds gold in Clouds
Five year-old Ayla Networks, which runs machine-to-Cloud-to-mobile device networks, has gone from 25 to 100 people in the last 15 months. “The market is growing so fast,” says CEO and co-founder David Friedman. Asked what kind of people he’s recruting he replies: “Cloud engineers – people who understand enterprise systems running on big data centres ...
Toshiba reported to be planning semiconductor re-structuring
This week Toshiba is expected to decide on a plan to re-structure its semiconductor business, reports the Japanese press. The first step has already been taken – a $165 million disposal of its sensor business to Sony. However it is reported that more steps will be taken which may involve ‘thousands’ of job losses. Toshiba’s ...
Parker Hannifin has extended its AC30 series of variable speed AC drives up to 250kW. The move follows a recent upgrade to closed-loop control through a pulse encoder feedback option. The drives are aimed at applications from simple pumps and fans to closed-loop process line applications – using AC induction or permanent magnet servo motors. Energy monitoring is ...
Fast diodes for automotive and telecom power
Vishay is aiming at automotive and telecom power with fast switching soft-recovery (25ns recovery) FRED Pt rectifiers. AEC-Q101-qualified and designed for low leakage and low forward voltage drop (0.93V), the components are intended for dc-dc converters in engine control units (ECUs), anti-lock braking systems (ABS), LED lighting and dc-dc bricks. Current is up to ...
50 and 75W quarter bricks for railways
Minmax is aiming at railway applications with two convection-cooled quarter brick dc-dc converters with EN550155 / IEC60571 railway approvals and EN50121-3-2 railway EMC compliance. MTQZ50 (50W) and MTQZ75 (75W) each come in two basic variants, for 72Vdc (43-101V) and 110Vdc (66-160V) input ranges. Each input range variant then offers four types, with 5, 12, 15, or 24 ...
Are these the rising stars of solar?
Perovskite solar cells seem to be the promising new kid on the block and this fast-improving technology is already demonstrating silicon-like efficiency, without resorting to mono-crystalline semiconductor processing. According to researchers at Imperial College, London, the efficiency of perovskite cells has risen rapidly from less than four per cent in 2009 to over 20 per cent ...
The SEMI book-to-bill hit 1.07 in September. September bookings were $1.60 billion, 4.1% lower than August’s 2015 $1.67 billion, and 35.1% higher than the September 2014 order level of $1.19 billion. September billings were $1.50 billion, 4.6% lower than August’s 2015 $1.58 billion, and 19.7% higher than the September 2014 billings level of $1.26 billion. ...
Analogix SlimPort connects mobiles to TV
Analogix Semiconductor has launched its SlimPort NANO∙CONSOLE on Indiegogo. A mobile-enabled dock with remote for Android mobile devices, the NANO∙CONSOLE allows users to: Connect their SlimPort-enabled mobile device to any HDMI-enabled display. Control their smartphone or tablet remotely from anywhere in the room with the Bluetooth-enabled touchpad NANO Remote; Play and Share media and apps on ...
Lowest drift bandgap voltage reference ever
Linear Tech is claiming a record for its latest voltage reference – the lowest drift bandgap ever – at 1.5ppm/°C, or 30ppm long-term. Called the LT6657, low frequency (0.1-10Hz) noise is also good at 0.5ppmp-p, as is 35ppm of thermal hysteresis. Wired as a low-drop series reference is needs a supply of as little as ...
Picture Gallery: Discovering Start-Ups 2015, the winners
The strength of current UK-based technology start-ups was evident at the Discovering Start-Ups 2015 competition when the winners were announced in London today. The winners ranged from smart glasses for the blind and an online platform for gene testing to an industrial wireless sensor network, real-time risk assessment system for cyber-attacks and a new reversible ...
