Long-life pacemakers powered by plutonium-based thermal decay were implanted beginning in the 1970s, but better battery technology, safety concerns, and regulatory issues made them obsolete within a few decades. The technology Q: What did the nuclear pacemaker look like? How is it identified? A: The unit’s electronics are embedded in epoxy, with the plutonium power […]
Regulatory creepage and clearance requirements are increasingly affecting mainstream designs; understanding and meeting them is a complicated, multifaceted process. The final part of this article looks at an IC pair specifically designed for an enhanced creepage and clearance value, tools for helping with design, and also provides some “pre-electronics” perspective on the subject. Q: Are […]
Long-life pacemakers powered by plutonium-based thermal decay were implanted beginning in the 1970s, but better battery technology, safety concerns, and regulatory issues made them obsolete within a few decades. Recently, I was surfing through my free over-the-air (OTA) TV channels and stumbled across a show from the 1970s called “To Tell the Truth” (there is […]
Get an understanding of how to select sensors and microcontrollers for your IoT product, with an emphasis on circuit design to optimize performance. Sensors in IoT devices collect data from the environment, after which the data can be processed and analyzed to make intelligent decisions. The quality of your sensors and how well you integrate […]
Post quantum cryptography (PQC) standardization is a program being run by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). It began in 2016, and by the end of 2017, NIST had received 82 submissions, of which 69 were accepted for further consideration. Through successive rounds of elimination, the number of proposals dropped from 69 to […]
Over the years, we’ve heard many times that smart homes and automation are now a reality; could it finally be true? I recently saw a story in The Wall Street Journal, “It’s Finally Time to Add Some Smart Tech to Your Dumb Home” making the case that smart lights, locks, and thermostats are ready for […]
There are three main technologies used for digital isolators, capacitive, magnetic, and giant magnetoresistive (GMR). This FAQ briefly looks at capacitive designs (they are covered in more detail in “What is a capacitive digital isolator”), then digs deeper into magnetic and GMR devices. Capacitive digital isolators use two CMOS dies connected with a capacitive isolation […]
Regulatory creepage and clearance requirements are increasingly affecting mainstream designs; understanding and meeting them is a complicated, multifaceted process. This part delves into more details on creepage and clearance. Q: What are the key standards for defining creepage and clearance minimum values? A: It’s complicated. Different documents cover PCB creepage and clearance standards and requirements, […]
Quantum control has several uses. Its primary use is to prevent the performance degradation of quantum computers as a result of the decoherence of qubits. It’s also an important function in the field of quantum sensing; for information on that application, see the FAQ on “What’s a quantum sensor?” This FAQ reviews the current status […]
Basic Single-Pair Ethernet (SPE) requires at least a common mode inductor (CMI). When power over data line (PoDL) functionality is added, so is a differential mode inductor (DMI) and sometimes an isolation transformer. These magnetic elements interact and can reduce SPE performance. Correctly specifying them is important to ensure efficient operation and reliable data transfer. […]
Regulatory creepage and clearance requirements are increasingly affecting mainstream designs; understanding and meeting them is a complicated, multifaceted process. Electrical, mechanical, and packaging designers who work with lower power rails of just a few tens of volts usually have few or no concerns about product safety with respect to stray voltage and user shock. Now, […]
Digital isolators have two primary functions, to provide isolation and to transmit information across the isolation barrier. Part one looked at the various specifications related to voltage and isolation performance. Part two details key specifications related to the transmission of information. Common‐mode transient immunity (CMTI) is one of three key specifications of digital isolators. The […]