A new antenna solution for 5G and 6G employs MEMS structures using standard CMOS technologies to create digitally tunable nanoscale capacitors within the CMOS layers of a chip along with the control circuitry at the same time. It bolsters linearity and Q factor, which is above 100 at 1 GHz, matching RF MEMS solutions and performing well above solid-state switching solutions. Nanusens has employed its MEMS-within-CMOS technology to create this antenna solution to address challenges in RF front-ends for 5G and 6G systems. It benefits from the CMOS economies of scale and costs much less than RF ..read more

Some applications and markets get lots of media attention and rightly so, as they are huge business opportunities and radiate exciting aspects that appeal to media coverage. Among these are smartphones, almost anything related to AI, and cars of all types: ICE, EV, and HEV. However, there are less glamorous applications that are also noteworthy and demonstrate innovation of their own, even when compared to the glittery applications. While “industrial” is often cited as one of these, I think that smart home—sometimes called home automation—is one of these. What is a smart home? It can be diffe ..read more

A new design solution implements analog-digital fusion control for power supplies serving small to medium industrial and consumer equipment operating at 30 W to 1 kW. It provides the same functionality as fully digital control power supplies at low power consumption and cost equivalent to analog power types. Rohm Semiconductor’s LogiCoA power supply solution fuses digital elements to maximize the performance of analog circuits. The company claims it’s the industry’s first analog-digital fusion power supply that combines a digital control block built on the LogiCoA MCU with analog circuitry co ..read more

I haven’t yet upgraded to using a single, universal remote-control unit to manage the diverse electronic products in my “media center.” That fancy designation is very misleading, as the room includes ancient devices, including a 26-inch CRT TV (circa 1995) which is still in use paired with an over-the-air (OTA) digital converter box, a 15-year-old VCR, which recently stopped working, but has a DVD player which is still used occasionally, and some other oddball items. As a result, as I suspect is the case with many of you, I also have a collection of infrared (IR) remote controls. Most of them ..read more

A new fractal architecture for audio processing claims to form the basis for improvements in operating efficiencies and resulting power savings in wearable designs. Silicon Intervention, a design services company and analog and digital IP supplier based in Kelowna, British Columbia, has developed audio amplifier IPs as part of its New Analog design platform. Allan Cox, CEO of Silicon Intervention, says that his company has taken an architectural and circuit design approach to address the problem of unsustainable increases in power requirements. The outcome of this design effort is Fractal-D a ..read more

A test chip incorporating Mixel’s MIPI C-PHY/D-PHY combo IP has been manufactured on STMicroelectronics’ 40-nm low-power process technology and it has been a first-time silicon success. Other MIPI IP configurations are in development on another ST process technology. Mixel’s MIPI C-PHY/D-PHY combo IP—a high-frequency and low-power physical layer—can be configured as a MIPI transmitter or receiver, supporting both the camera interface CSI-2 v3.0 and display interface DSI-2 v1.1 and is backward compatible with previous generations of each specification. Figure 1 The MIPI C-PHYSM/D-PHYSM IP com ..read more

Voice interface is becoming ubiquitous in Internet of Things (IoT) devices as progress in artificial intelligence (AI) technology makes voice interactions more natural and user-friendly. A new low-power MEMS microphone bucks this trend to enables simpler designs for always-on edge and AI systems in smartwatches, TV remotes, home security, augmented reality (AR) glasses, action cameras, smart speakers, and true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds. TDK’s T5848 microphone supports the I2S interface to save system components and reduce processing requirements such as filtering the microphone output in ..read more

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are an essential part of the automation sector, particularly factory automation. PLCs are classified as voltage and current inputs and convert real-world signals to digital signals. Here, analog input modules with multiple channel counts can address various measurements, depending on the need and the type of measurement. Depending on the design, the component selection for analog front-end and digitization may differ significantly and depend on parameters such as the input impedance of the analog front-end, number of channels, and single-ended or differen ..read more

Consolidation in the analog semiconductor industry has wiped out boutique companies like Linear Technology, Maxim Integrated and Dialog Semi providing more intimate customer experiences for customized chip solutions. According to Andrew Baker, CEO and co-founder of Orca Semiconductor, this creates a void that nimble and adept upstarts can fill. In other words, analog chip industry consolidation creates opportunities for startups to help create customized analog products and better satisfy the demands of design engineers asking for optimized analog solutions. So, Maxim veteran Baker joined han ..read more

As wireless system frequencies increase and wavelengths decrease, RF designs present many new challenges. Among them is the need for dimensional and parameter stability, as changes of even a fraction of a millimeter can affect performance, tuning, impedance matching, and other key parameters such as permittivity. At the same time, the availability of lower-power RF devices and interconnects means these links are being adapted to mobile and even body-mounted applications, primarily for biomedical sensors. That combination can cause problems. You want the ability to mount the wireless-function ..read more