Alkaline batteries are convenient because they’re easy tofi nd and relatively inexpensive, making them the powersource of choice for portable instruments and DEVICESused for outdoor recreation. Their long shelf life alsomakes them an excellent choice for emergency equipmentthat may see infrequent use but must be ready to go on amoment’s notice. It is important that the DC/DC convertersin portable DEVICES operate over the widest possiblebattery voltage range to extend battery run time, and thussave the user from frequent battery replacement.
Advances in low power electronics now allow placementof battery-powered sensors and other DEVICES in locationsfar from the power grid. Ideally, for true grid independence,the batteries should not need replacement, but instead berecharged using locally available renewable energy, suchas solar power. This Design Note shows how to producea compact battery charger that operates from a small2-cell solar panel. A unique feature of this design is thatthe DC/DC converter uses power point control to extractmaximum power from the solar panel.
Each year Vishay releases thousands of new components that enable our customers to create new and superior end products. We recognize that offering unique component solutions helps improve the performance of next-generation DEVICES, overcome technical barriers, and create new markets.
Handheld electronic DEVICES play a key role in our everydaylives. Because dependability is paramount, handhelds arecarefully engineered with lightweight power sources forreliable use under normal conditions. But no amount ofcareful engineering can prevent the mistreatment theywill undergo at the hands of humans. For example, whathappens when a factory worker drops a bar code scanner,causing the battery to pop out? Such events areelectronically unpredictable, and important data storedin volatile memory would be lost without some form ofsafety net—namely a short-term power holdup systemthat stores suffi cient energy to supply standby power untilthe battery can be replaced or the data can be stored inpermanent memory.
One of the fi rst lessons in a basic electronics coursecovers the symbols for resistors, capacitors, inductors,voltage sources and current sources. Althougheach symbol represents a functional component of areal-world circuit, only some of the symbols have directphysical counterparts. For instance, the three discretepassive DEVICES—resistors, capacitors, inductors—canbe picked off a shelf and placed on a real board muchas their symbolic analogs appear in a basic schematic.Likewise, while voltage sources have no direct 2-terminalanalog, a voltage source can be easily built with an offthe-shelf linear regulator.
Specifying the right reference and applying it correctly isa more difficult task than one might first surmise, consideringthat references are only 2- or 3-terminal DEVICES.Although the word “accuracy” is most often spoken inreference to references, it is dangerous to use this wordtoo freely because it can mean different things to differentpeople. Even more perplexing is the fact that a referenceclassified as a dog in one application is a panacea inanother. This application note will familiarize the readerwith the various aspects of reference “accuracy” andpresent some tips on extracting maximum performancefrom any reference.
Designers spend much time combating thermal effects incircuitry. The close relationship between temperature andelectronic DEVICES is the source of more design headachesthan any other consideration.
A recent trend in the design of portable DEVICES has beento use ceramic capacitors to filter DC/DC converter inputs.Ceramic capacitors are often chosen because of theirsmall size, low equivalent series resistance (ESR) and highRMS current capability. Also, recently, designers havebeen looking to ceramic capacitors due to shortages oftantalum capacitors.
Photomultipliers (PMT), avalanche photodiodes (APD),ultrasonic transducers, capacitance microphones, radiationdetectors and similar DEVICES require high voltage,low current bias. Additionally, the high voltage must bepristinely free of noise; well under a millivolt is a commonrequirement with a few hundred microvolts sometimesnecessary. Normally, switching regulator confi gurationscannot achieve this performance level without employingspecial techniques. One aid to achieving low noise is thatload currents rarely exceed 5mA. This freedom permitsoutput fi ltering methods that are usually impractical
In an increasing trend, telecommunications, networking,audio and instrumentation require low noise power supplies.In particular, there is interest in low noise, lowdropout linear regulators (LDO). These components powernoise-sensitive circuitry, circuitry that contains noisesensitiveelements or both. Additionally, to conserve power,particularly in battery driven apparatus such as cellulartelephones, the regulators must operate with low input-tooutputvoltages.1 DEVICES presently becoming availablemeet these requirements (see separate section, “A Familyof 20mVRMS Noise, Low Dropout Regulators”).
