Volume 41, Number 3 Print Edition

The Volume 41, Number 3 print edition is now available online.

Providing an Edge in Capacitive Sensor Applications

Designers continuously search for ways to give their products an edge in a crowded marketplace, and simple low-to-medium sensitivity devices are no longer sufficient to meet the demands of embedded sensor applications. Thick molding compounds, noisy environments, reliability, and long interconnects are just some of the new challenges facing capacitance sensor applications.

IC provides temperature, bias, and gain in single-supply applications

Single-supply op-amp applications have inherent problems that are not
usually encountered in dual-supply circuits. A reference voltage,
usually at midpoint of the amplifier's output range, must be established
to allow a symmetrical output swing with respect to "common."

Switching-Regulator Insights—Achieving Longer Battery Life in DSP Systems

Step-down dc-to-dc switching regulators efficiently derive a low voltage from a higher voltage, maintaining a constant output despite variations in supply voltage or load current. This article describes an architecture that provides good regulation, high efficiency, and fast response, showing both fixed-voltage operation and a resistor-programmable circuit that provides dynamic voltage scaling in DSP applications.