US researchers have stretched the operating life of aqueous zinc-manganese oxide batteries to over 5,000 cycles. The result is a rechargeable battery that cost only as much as a car battery but store more energy, according to the US Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is grooming the technology for matching renewable energy sources to power …
Infineon’s 0-10V dimming chip
Infineon has created an integrated circuit specifically for adding isolated 0-10V dc control to LED drivers. Called CDM10V, the chip comes in a tiny 6 pin SOT package. It can be used to transmit analogue voltage based signals from a 0-10 V dimmer or potentiometer to the dimming or PWM input of a lighting controller …
TSMC Dwarfs Foundry Rivals
Apple drove the entire foundry sales increase at TSMC in 2015, says IC Insights. Without Apple, TSMC’s 2015 foundry sales would have dropped by 2% as compared to a 6% increase. The top 13 IC foundries (pure-play and IDM) by foundry sales in 2015 were as follows: TSMC, by far, was the leader in foundry …
Updated: Dyson aims motor expertise at hair drying
Dyson has used its considerable motor and air-flow expertise to develop a hair dryer. Instead of the usual arrangement, the high-speed motor and fan are in the handle, and what would normally be the body of the dryer is now am annular nozzle with a hole right through the middle – much like the firm’s …
ams wins US trade secret and patent infringement ruling
Austria-based analogue semiconductor manufacturer, ams has announced that a US District Judge has awarded its US subsidiary, ams-TAOS damages of $77m from Intersil, including $10m in exemplary damages. The decision comes after jurors in the federal Eastern District of Texas found in favour of ams-TAOS on all claims against Intersil for misappropriation of ams-TAOS’ trade …
You can buy FPGA accelerated Arduino board at Mouser
Mouser Electronics has taken on a another Arduino embedded computing board line. A distribution deal with Alorium Technology will see Mouser offering an Arduino-compatible board with a difference, it adds hardware acceleration of an FPGA. The XLR8 development board’s main processor is also different for an Arduino board. The ATmega328-compatible microcontroller core is implemented in the …
Microswitch works under water
Cyntech Components is offering a range of microswitches that are fully dust-tight and water-sealed. Designed to meet more demanding industrial applications, the Microprecision microswitches are available in various configurations to meet IEC/EN 60529 ingress protection levels of IP67 and IP68, and work over -40 to +125°C and more. “Microprecision has it covered with a range of microswitches …
PCIM: Wolfspeed to show 20kW SiC dc-dc converter
Wolfspeed – Cree’s silicon carbide power transistor division – is to reveal just how small it can make a 20kW dc-dc converter at PCIM in Nurnberg. Alongside this will be an all-SiC 62mm half-bridge power module and gate driver combination (see below) with three-phase evaluation kit, and an on-line simulation tool for SiC power supplies called …
LightFair 2016 exhibitors introduce innovations in San Diego
The LightFair International exhibit floor opens today with solid-state lighting companies showcasing their components, systems, and end lighting products to a global audience.
DOE’s 2016 Next Generation Luminaires winners bask in the glow at LightFair
During the LightFair International conference and exhibition in San Diego, CA, the latest commercial solid-state lighting (SSL) products submitted for the US Department of Energy’s annual competition featured two new product categories and showed overall improvement in efficacy from previous years.