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EDN: PCB factories embrace AI

PCB factories embrace AI

The evolution of PCBs from large and antiquated “printed wiring boards” to today’s fine-line designs on high-density interconnect PCBs, IC substrates and more, has been matched by manufacturing processes that have evolved from manual assembly to highly automated production. As manufacturing technology further develops, processes become more complex and more sophisticated, including the ability to inspect and then shape defects that would once have resulted in scrapped panels. A significant opportunity is now emerging for the PCB manufacturing industry to capitalize on artificial intelligence (AI) and optimize production processes and, ultimately, the entire PCB manufacturing facility.

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EDN: Power supply management in quantum computers

Power supply management in quantum computers

In 2016, the first quantum computers were able to be programmed from a high level user interface to run arbitrary quantum algorithms. The design architectures were small in scale, with just a handful of qubits each. Some of the big players like IBM, Google, Microsoft, as well as several start-ups have an ultimate goal to create a larger scale device of commercial viability sometime in the near future.

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EDN: A perspective on digital ANC solutions in a low latency dominated world

A persective on digital ANC solutions in a low latency dominated world

Active noise cancelling (ANC) technology was used typically in pricey headsets to attenuate the engine noise of an aircraft. The technique to attenuate the unwanted ambient noise is rather old and was invented in the last century. Meanwhile, the headset industry noticed the advantages of ANC with its enhanced listening experience to differentiate from commodity headsets. Since ANC was a niche market to the semiconductor industry, the typical technical implementations used to be discrete with stand-alone headphone amplifiers, operational amplifiers, and microphone pre-amplifiers.

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EDN: Meeting the power demands of battery supplied automotive electronics

Meeting the power demands of battery supplied automotive electronics

Have you driven a new automobile recently?  It can be an almost futuristic experience, with sophisticated gauges, touch screens, connected entertainment systems, and lighting—all of which need power. Behind all these electronics are battery regulators and battery chargers that manage the power both into and out of 12V, 24V, and 48V batteries. Each year the ‘must have’ list of supported accessories and electronic systems grows with the expectation that the size, weight and number of supporting power components will keep pace with the increased power demands.

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EDN: Move ICs from defects per million to defects per billion

Move ICs from defects per million to defects per billion

Defective Parts Per Million (DPPM) is one of the key metrics used to measure quality in many semiconductor segments. With electronics becoming more and more a part of everyday life (wearable electronics and semi-autonomous vehicles), there's increasing pressure to improve quality across all semiconductor market segments. For mission-critical segments such as automotive and medical, market forces are driving improvements in quality into the Defective Parts Per Billion (DPPB) range.

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EDN: Data center next generation power supply solutions for improved efficiency

Data center next generation power supply solutions for improved efficiency

“Ok Google: How do I power a Data Center?”

Claude Shannon started it all when he wrote "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" in 1948 in which he reduced the communication of information to 1s and 0s, essentially binary digits. That theory led to the ability to transmit data without error in the noise-filled environment of the real world. Shannon would have been 100 years old on April 30, 2016.


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EDN: Top 10 must-have innovations for power designers from APEC 2016

Top 10 must-have innovations for power designers from APEC 2016

In this slideshow, I will be providing power designers with, what I consider, the top 10 new innovative products and architectures announced at APEC 2016. I view these following slides as essential to designers for near-term design needs as well as additions to a designer’s portfolio for future designs. Please watch for in-depth technical articles on these 10 items in the coming weeks authored by me on EDN.

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EDN: ams and ST team up to secure NFC mobile payments

ams and ST team up to secure NFC mobile payments

There are some potential problems with paying via NFC. Users of near field communication, especially for making payments and storing credit card information, are understandably concerned about the security their private information. Methods that thieves use in typical security attacks include eavesdropping, data corruption or modification, interception attacks, and physical thefts.

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EDN Network: Designing a feedback ANC headset using AS3435

Designing a feedback ANC headset using AS3435

Feed-forward headsets typically are more easily developed because the design engineer usually does not have to deal with stability issues. A major drawback of this topology, however, is wind noise because the ANC microphones are directly exposed to the ambient. An alternative that overcomes this drawback is the use of a feedback ANC technology. This article describes the development steps necessary to design a feedback ANC headset based on the AS3435 from ams AG.