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Category Archives: Portable Electronics
ESD Design Considerations for Mobile Device Applications
In the 1970’s, rubbing your feet across the green shag carpet to generate a static charge in order to torture your siblings was fun and would do no damage to the low-tech, large, and robust electronic components of the time. Today, portable devices designed for the increasingly busy, yet very well connected, mobile user has led to the integration of more and more inputs and outputs on our favorite gadgets. Higher current densities, smaller silicon, and limited space available for chip protection all tend to increase the sensitivity of electronic components to transient electrical overstress events such as ESD (electrostatic discharge). Reducing the impact of these transients helps prevent data corruption when devices are talking to each other and improves overall reliability. Continue reading
Also posted in Blog News, Communications, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, electro static discharge, ESD, ESD protection, esd pulse, IEC61000-4-2
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The Black Swans of Circuit Protection
Reading Nicholas Taleb’s “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” (Random House 2007), the definition of a Black Swan caught my attention.
“…an event with the following three attributes. First it is an outlier, as it lies outside the realm of regular expectations, because nothing in the past can convincingly point to its possibility. Second, it carries an extreme impact. Third, in spite of its outliers status, human nature makes us concoct explanations for its occurrence after the fact, making it explainable and predictable.”
Could this description be relevant to circuit protection designs? I suggest that it can, based on these observations. Continue reading
The Circuit Protection Evolution – It’s All About Power
Power electronic devices are modules which transform and control electric energy into the rated current and voltage as required. Although every modern electronic application takes into account power management and control, this post will focus on consumer electronics and automotive applications. Continue reading
Also posted in Automotive, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, high power, overcurrent, thermal protection, thermal runaway
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Circuit Protection FAQ: Can I use a PolySwitch device for overtemperature control?
Although primarily intended as an overcurrent protection device, the PolySwitch device can also be caused to trip by thermally linking it to a component or equipment that needs to be protected against overtemperature conditions – such as a motor. If the equipment temperature reaches the PolySwitch device’s switching temperature it will transition to its high impedance state, regardless of the current flowing through it. Continue reading
Wired For Speed – the New Face of the Electronics Salesman
I have been a salesperson for the electronics industry for more than 20 years. During that time I’ve observed that not only has the industry itself been turned on its head, but that the manner of selling components has also changed dramatically. Continue reading
Also posted in Automotive, Blog News, Communications, Industrial/Appliance, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, overcurrent, overvoltage, thermal protection
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Is it Time to Kiss Your Desktop Goodbye?
Post-PC Devices are the new hot gadgets – and not always in a good way. The “Post-PC era,” a term coined by Steve Jobs when marketing the iPad device, is slowly allowing consumers to make an apples-to-apples comparison between two separate market segments, namely the one comprising PCs such as desktops, notebooks, and netbooks to the other comprising Post-PC devices, which include everything from high-end cell phones and smartphones to e-readers and tablets. Continue reading
Also posted in Blog News, Communications, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, ESD, overcurrent, overvoltage, post-pc, thermal protection
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Determining PPTC Resistance in Your Application
As a circuit protection field application engineer, one of the most common questions I am asked is, “What is the resistance of a PPTC when it is tripped?” The short answer is, “That depends.” PPTCs (polymer positive temperature coefficient devices) are constant power devices in the tripped condition. In other words, in the “untripped” condition, the resistance is constant. But in the tripped condition, the resistance will vary as the voltage varies in order to maintain constant power dissipation, as shown along the curve in Figure 1. Each PPTC device has a power dissipation (Pd) specification. Keep in mind that this is a typical number, not a minimum or maximum. Our customers normally see a lot of variation in the device’s power dissipation, depending on things that may act as a heat sink: e.g. circuit board thickness, trace thickness, etc. There are so many variables in the field that we do not specify an absolute minimum or maximum. Continue reading
Also posted in Automotive, Blog News, Communications, Industrial/Appliance, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, PPTC, PPTC Resistance, Resettable Fuse, short circuit
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“Thunderbolt” — Will the New Blazingly Fast Peripheral Interface be a Blockbuster?
A Hong Kong action movie starring Jackie Chan and a new PC interface from Intel have something in common — both are called “Thunderbolt.” The new interface is aptly named since it would have the ability to transfer the HD version of the movie in less than 30 seconds. Wow!
I know what you’re thinking: another new interface technology? We have been inundated in recent years with new interface technologies HDMI, DisplayPort, USB 3.0, eSATA, etc. Reflecting the evolving digital age, each interface has offered something new to specifically address a consumer demand. For example, HDMI interface transfers HD video and audio to video monitors. USB 3.0 upgrades the speed of its “older-brother” USB 2.0. DisplayPort protocol simplifies internal PC architectures for distributing HD video and data. Lastly, eSATA protocol expands the serial ATA interface to an external connector, enabling fast data transfer to or from an external hard disk drive. Continue reading
Also posted in Communications, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, ESD, High-Speed I/O, Lightpeak, Thunderbolt, USB
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The New USB Charging Specification: Increased User Experience in the World of Power-Hungry Devices
Ever wish you could charge your cell phone right from your laptop’s USB port — even with the laptop turned off? Does your smart phone or iPadTM device charge so slowly the grass seems to grow while you wait? Tired of carrying multiple chargers to power up your many different devices all with different USB ports? If so, good news is on the way. Whether you’re a tech-savvy road-warrior or a casual consumer, portable devices supporting the new USB Charging Specification V1.2 will improve your mobile experience. Continue reading
Also posted in Blog News, Multimedia, Portable Electronics Tagged circuit protection, ESD, ESD protection, I/O ports, overcurrent, overvoltage, PolySwitch, PolySwitch devices, PPTC, SuperSpeed USB, TE
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