DC/DC converters offer galvanic (input to output) isolation of typically at least 1 kVDC that means the converter will withstand a test voltage of 1000 VDC for one second placed across the input and output pins without the insulation across the transformer breaking down.

Stress induced by thermal cycles causes power electronic systems to have a finite service life. To estimate this service lifetime, accurate information on the thermal profile in the chips under the given operating conditions is required.

Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, a 5.3% increase from IT spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009, according to Gartner.

Today’s manufacturers are using a mechatronics-based approach to integrate the electronic, mechanical and software components of their increasingly complex products. Digital prototyping allows disparate engineering teams to work from a single digital model, saving time and reducing errors throughout the design process.

An Australian-first trial that will monitor the performance, environmental benefits, policy, infrastructure and practical implications for electric vehicle fleets has been launched at the University of Western Australia.

Scientists at Cambridge have developed a simple, accurate way of ‘seeing’ chemistry in action inside a lithium-ion battery.

A collaborative research project claims to have brought the world a step closer to producing a new material on which future nanotechnology could be based.

This article describes how a channel emulator can be used to characterise the performance of a MIMO receiver. The testing was done in stages of increasing complexity, namely, testing under AWGN conditions, MIMO testing with known static channels and, finally, testing with channels chosen to represent ‘real world’ behaviour.

Flat panel display (FPD) manufacturers are placing heavy bets on new technologies to fill the needs of demanding applications. These applications include larger and lower-cost laptop monitors, small area/low power panels for mobile phones and other portable devices, HDTV and widescreen formats for home television and high reliability daylight-readable displays for the ‘glass cockpits’ of fighter aircraft, battle tanks and warships.

Measuring CPU performance in real-time embedded-control applications has always been a widely debated and subjective topic. The market is composed of 8-, 16- and 32-bit microcontroller and digital signal controller products with a wide variety of device pin counts, memory sizes and types and integrated system support and peripheral functions.

Siemens is hard at work on technologies for integrating electric cars into the public power grid. The development of methods to rapidly recharge cars is just one of the company's contributions to Denmark's Edison project, which is the first to plug a pool of vehicles into the grid.

It can be inconvenient to replace batteries in electronic devices that need to work for a long period of time, either in biomedical monitoring systems worn by a patient or in monitors for machinery or industrial installations in remote or inaccessible situations.
 

Material scientists at the Nano/Bio Interface Centre of the University of Pennsylvania have demonstrated the transduction of optical radiation to electrical current in a molecular circuit.

Prototype contact lenses that can be used as biosensors have been developed by Babak Parviz at the University of Washington, in the US. The prototype can be used to display body chemistry or as a heads up display (HUD).

The global market for connectors used in consumer applications is expected to top $2.8 billion by 2013. A key segment of the consumer market is the household appliance, or whitegoods, industry.