Infineon is adding two more families of high and medium voltage GaN transistors to its portfolio of CoolGaN HEMTs spanning 40 V to 700 V. According to the company, this expansion will enable customers to use gallium nitride in a broader array of applications that help drive digitalization and decarbonization. G5 and G3 generations of CoolGaN devices are manufactured on 8-in. in-house foundry processes in Malaysia and Austria. The 650-V G5 family addresses applications in consumer, data center, industrial, and solar markets. The medium voltage G3 transistor series supports four voltage classe ..read more

A massive MIMO (mMIMO) predriver from Qorvo, the QPA9822 provides gain of 39 dB at 3.5 GHz and output power of 28 dBm P1dB. The linear driver amplifier enables wideband 5G NR instantaneous signal bandwidths of up to 530 MHz. This makes it well-suited for the n77 band used for 5G deployment and other mMIMO applications. The QPA9822 is internally matched to 50 Ω over the entire operating frequency range of 3.3 GHz to 4.2 GHz. It offers an enable/disable function through the VEN pin for time-division duplexing (TDD) operation. The part, which operates from a 5-V supply, is housed in a 3×3-mm, 1 ..read more

Joining Murata’s ECAS series of polymer aluminum electrolytic capacitors is a device that boasts low equivalent series resistance (ESR) of 4.5 mΩ. This tiny capacitor, designated the ECASD40E477M4R5KA0, is housed in a 7.3×4.3-mm surface-mount case with a maximum height of only 2.0 mm. Despite its diminutive size, the part provides a capacitance of 470 µF ±20%, and capacitance remains stable when DC voltage is applied. The device can be used to smooth or even out voltage fluctuations in a variety of power supply circuits. As as a smoothing capacitor, the ECASD40E477M4R5KA0 helps ensure a stab ..read more

A pair of 50-W Qi-compatible development boards from ST enables rapid wireless charging using the company’s ST Super Charge (STSC) protocol. The STEVAL-WBC2TX50 transmitter and STEVAL-WLC98RX receiver boards accelerate the development of wireless charging for products ranging from medical and industrial equipment to home appliances and computer peripherals. By employing the STSC protocol, the transmitter board delivers up to 50 W of output power at a faster wireless charging rate than standard protocols used with smartphones and similar devices. The board also supports the Qi 1.3 5-W Baselin ..read more

The latest addition to the R&S BBA300 family of RF amplifiers delivers output power of 300 W P1dB or software-adjustable saturation power up to 450 W. Operating at up to 6 GHz, the broadband amplifier can generate the high field strengths required for critical test environments, making it useful for EMC, OTA coexistence, and RF component testing. The 300-W model is available in the both the BBA300-CDE and BBA300-DE series, which have respective continuous frequency ranges of 380 MHz to 6 GHz and 1 GHz to 6 GHz. This wide frequency range enables the instrument to cover GSM, LTE, and 5G/NR ..read more

Malaysia and Taiwan were among the early semiconductor outposts during the late 1960s when U.S. companies like Intel began to outsource their assembly and test operations to Asia. Over half a century, while Taiwan has reached the design and manufacturing pinnacle, Malaysia mostly remained busy on back-end tasks related to chip assembly, packaging, and testing. Malaysia—which currently accounts for 13% of the semiconductor packaging, assembly, and testing market—is now looking to position itself as a global IC design and manufacturing hub amid U.S. restrictions on China’s chip industry. Accord ..read more

The operation of a contactless electric bell is based on a change in the electrical resistance of a temperature-sensitive element (thermistor) when a finger approaches the bell button or upon contact with it. To exclude the possibility of continuous calls, a gradient relay is used in the device, which turns on the bell only under the condition of a short change (increase) in the temperature of the thermosensitive element. Wow the engineering world with your unique design: Design Ideas Submission Guide The operation of the contactless electric bell is based on the use of a gradient relay [1–3 ..read more

Microsoft’s yearly Build developer conference took place last Tuesday-Thursday, March 21-23 (as I write these words on Memorial Day), and was rife with AI-themed announcements spanning mobile-to-enterprise software and services. Curiously, however, many of these announcements were derived from, and in general the most notable news (IMHO) came from, a media-only event held one day earlier, on Monday, March 20. There, Microsoft and its longstanding Arm-based silicon partner Qualcomm co-announced the long-telegraphed Snapdragon X Elite and Plus SoCs along with Surface Laptop and Pro systems bas ..read more

I’ve always been interested in simple-looking components which solve well-defined, clear, bounded problems. One carpentry example I encountered and used many years ago is formally known as a hanger bolt, Figure 1. Figure 1 (left) The schematic of the hanger bolt shows it interfaces a wood-screw thread with a machine-screw thread; (right) the hanger bolt allows a wooden furniture element to be connected to a metal fitting. Source: Plaster and Disaster One end has a wood-screw thread and other has a machine screw for a nut or threaded fitting. It’s the mechanical “interface” between a wooden el ..read more

I’ll admit upfront that there’s more than a bit of irony in the topic I’m about to cover today. As I write these words on Saturday, April 20, Qualcomm is rumored to next week be giving the next public update on the Snapdragon X family, the latest generation of its series of SoCs for computing applications, and following up on last October’s initial unveil. In-between then and now, the company has collaborated with media partners on a series of performance “sneak peeks”, including more recent ones that, per the applications showcased, are of particular personal interest. And it’s a poorly kep ..read more