Dear Sir/Madam

Saving power does not only save money in your pocket but also protects our global environment by reducing e.g. toxic gases and further pollution in transportation. Let´s save power!

Wolfgang Patelay
Technical Editor, EPN

At Glance, in this issue

1. Products News 2. Articles 3. Design Tips 4. Market Research 5. Book of the Month

1| Product News

Single-phase Power Supplies (Weidmüller)
Specifically designed for use in building automation, for integration in installation distribution boards and other distributed-power-supply concepts, the InstaPower offers a wide input range in a single compact device that's only 70mm in width. Up to three devices can be connected in parallel to increase the output current. The power supplies come with an input-voltage range of 85 to 264VAC or 110 to 370VDC. The output voltages can be adjusted by means of a potentiometer.
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High-Voltage Buck Controller (International Rectifier)
The IRS254x series of high-voltage, high-frequency buck-regulator control ICs is designed for AC/DC offline, non-isolated applications requiring multiple light-emitting-diode circuits or DC/DC colour-mixing capabilities. Rated at 200 or 600V, the device incorporates a continuous-mode, time-delayed hysteretic buck regulator to control the average load current within a tolerance of 5% using an accurate on-chip band-gap voltage reference.
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Dual Step-Down DC/DCs (Linear Technology)
The LT3506 and LT3506A are dual-current-mode PWM step-down DC/DC converters with two 2A power switches packaged in a 16-lead 5x4mm DFN package. Each channel is capable of delivering up to 1.6A of output current. Their wide input range (3.6 to 25V) makes them suitable for power regulation from a wide variety of sources, including four cell batteries, 5 and 12V rails, unregulated wall transformers, lead-acid batteries and distributed power supplies.
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Li-Ion/Li-Polymer Charger ICs (Microchip)
The MCP73833 and MCP73834 are single-cell, high-current (1A) Li-Ion/Li-Polymer charge-management MCUs. By including a pass transistor as well as current-sense and reverse-discharge protection on a single chip, the MCP73833/4 charge-management controllers eliminate the need for external components. Multiple combinations of key charging parameters, including preconditioning current threshold and ratio, charge-termination threshold and recharge threshold ratio, are available.
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2| Articles

How Will the Recall Shape the Future of the Lithium-Ion Battery?
Longer battery runtimes have been the wish of many consumers. Battery manufacturers have responded by packing more active material into a cell and making the electrodes and separator thinner. This enabled a doubling of energy density since lithium-ion was introduced in 1991. But high energy density comes at a price. What you have to pay explains Isidor Buchmann from Cadex Electronics in his article in EPN.
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Energy Recuperation in Transportation
When the environmental impact of transport is discussed, most attention is usually given to cars and aeroplanes. The mass-transportation sector is often be neglected, but this is also has a highly significant effect on the planet. The articles by Dr Adrian Schneuwly from Maxwell Technologies proves that power technology is making big advances in this sector, with energy-storage devices in electric and hybrid vehicles that help to reduce fuel consumption, pollution and overall environmental impact.
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3| Design Tips

LED Drivers minimize Power Dissipation
One option for driving high brightness LEDs uses the standard step-down buck converter. Unfortunately, most buck converters require a relatively high feedback voltage on the order of 1V, which dissipates high power in the sense resistor. The Design Idea by Fons Janssen from Maxim shows how you can reduce the sense resistor’s value by adding an switching converter MAX1951.
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Get Power from a Telephone Line without Disturbing it
An idle telephone line tempts designers to use its 48V potential as a power source. However, telecommunications regulations often specify that any device connected to a telephone line and not actively communicating must present a minimum impedance to the line: in the USA, part 68 of the FCC’s regulations mandates a minimum of 5 MOhm. The Design Idea by Yongping Xia, Navcom Technology explains how to meet this requirement.
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4| Market Research

The “Portable World” Driving Strong Growth in Portable Electronics
As more digital content becomes available, consumers demand new and improved ways to access this content via wired and wireless technologies, reports In-Stat. And, in an increasingly portable world, consumers are demanding ways in which to take their digital content with them wherever they go. As a result, portable products are an increasingly popular part of the consumer electronics market.
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5| Book of the Month

Power Electronics Handbook, by Muhammad Rashid et al
Power electronics, which is a rapidly growing area in terms of research and applications, uses modern electronics technology to convert electric power from one form to another, such as ac-dc, dc-dc, dc-ac, and ac-ac with a variable output magnitude and frequency. Power electronics has many applications in our every day life. This book covers all aspects of switching devices, converter circuit topologies, control techniques, analytical methods and some examples of their applications.
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