Збирач потоків

A generally accepted fact about relays and solenoids is that after they’re driven into the actuated state, only half as much coil voltage and therefore only one fourth as much coil power, are required to reliably sustain it. Consequently, any solenoid or relay driver that continuously applies the full initial actuation voltage to merely sustain is wastefully squandering four times as much power as the job requires.

The simplest and cheapest (partial) solution to this problem is shown in Figure 1.

 Figure 1 Basic driver circuit where C1 actuates, current-halving R1 sustains, then C1 discharges through R1 during Toff.

Wow the engineering world with your unique design: Design Ideas Submission Guide

But as is often true of “simple and cheap,” Figure 1’s solution suffers from some costs and complications.

1. While R1 successfully cuts sustaining current by half, it dissipates just as much power as the coil as it does so. Consequently, total sustaining power is ½ rather than ¼ of actuating power, so only half of the theoretical power savings are actually realized.
2. When the driver is turned off, a long recovery delay must be imposed prior to the next actuation pulse to allow C1 enough time to discharge through R1. Otherwise, the next actuation pulse will have inadequate amplitude and may fail. This effect is aggravated by the fact that, during actuation, C1 charges through the parallel combination of R1 and Rm, but during Toff it discharges through R1 alone. This makes recovery take twice as long as actuation.

Figure 2 presents a better performing, albeit less simple and cheap, solution that’s the subject of this Design Idea.

Figure 2 Q1 and Q2 cooperate with C to double VL for actuation, Q2 and D2 sustain, then Q3 rapidly discharges C through R to quickly recover for the next cycle.

Actuation begins with a positive pulse at the input, turning Q1 on which drives the bottom end of the coil to -VL and turns on Q2 which pulls the top end of the coil to +VL. Thus, 2VL appears across the coil, insuring reliable actuation. As C charging completes, Schottky diode D2 takes over conduction from Q1. This cuts the sustaining voltage to ½ the actuation value, and therefore drops sustaining power to ¼.

At the end of the cycle when the incoming signal returns to V0, Q3 turns on, initiating a rapid discharge of C through D2 and R. In fact, recovery can easily be arranged to complete in less time than the relay or solenoid needs to drop out. Then no explicit inter-cycle delay is necessary and recovery time is therefore effectively zero!

Moral: You get what you pay for!

But what happens if even doubling the VL logic rail still doesn’t make enough voltage to drive the coil and a higher supply rail is needed? 

Figure 3 addresses that issue with some trickery described in an earlier Design Idea: Driving CMOS totem poles with logic signals, AC coupling, and grounded gates.

Figure 3 Level shifting Q4, R1, and R2 are added to accommodate ++V > VL.

 Stephen Woodward’s relationship with EDN’s DI column goes back quite a long way. Over 100 submissions have been accepted since his first contribution back in 1974.

 Related Content

• Driving CMOS totem poles with logic signals, AC coupling, and grounded gates
• Booster circuit enables reliable solenoid operation
• Solenoid-protection circuit limits duty cycle
• Simple solenoid driver is adaptable and efficient

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At a time when scalable high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivity is becoming critical for artificial intelligence (AI) clusters, the new 400G PCIe Gen 5.0 Ethernet adapter chips aim to resolve connectivity bottlenecks in AI data centers.

Broadcom claims its 400G PCIe Gen 5.0 chips are the first Ethernet adapters built with 5-nm process technology. “We recognize the significance of fostering a power-efficient and highly connected data center for AI ecosystem,” said Jas Tremblay, VP and GM of the Data Center Solutions Group at Broadcom.

The 400G PCIe Gen 5.0 Ethernet adapters deliver higher rack density by driving passive copper cables up to five meters. Moreover, these Ethernet adapters employ low-latency congestion control technology and innovative telemetry features while equipped with a third-generation RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) pipeline.

These Ethernet adapters are built on Broadcom’s sixth-generation hardened network interface card (NIC) architecture. Their software is designed to be vendor agnostic; it supports a broad ecosystem of CPUs, GPUs, PCIe and Ethernet switches using open PCIe and Ethernet standards.

Ethernet adapter chips must resolve connectivity bottlenecks as cluster sizes grow rapidly in AI data centers. Source: Broadcom

According to Patrick Moorhead, chief analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, as the industry races to deliver generative AI at scale, the immense volumes of data that must be processed to train large language models (LLMs) require even larger server clusters. He added that Ethernet presents a compelling case as the networking technology of choice for next-generation AI workloads.

AI-centric applications are reshaping the data center networking landscape, and Broadcom’s new 400G PCIe Gen 5.0 Ethernet adapters highlight the crucial importance of devices operating in the high-bandwidth, high-stress network environment that characterizes AI infrastructure.

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The combined company will bring together two cybersecurity SIEM and UEBA innovation leaders with renowned and demonstrated track records in serving customers with effective threat detection, investigation, and response (TDIR)

The post LogRhythm and Exabeam Announce Intent to Merge, Harnessing Collective Innovation Strengths to Lead the Future of AI-Driven Security Operations appeared first on ELE Times.

The MXO 5C series of low-profile oscilloscopes from R&S provides a bandwidth of up to 2 GHz and either four or eight channels. Although they lack displays, the rack-mount scopes deliver the same performance as the MXO 5 series, while occupying only a quarter of the vertical height (3.5 inches or 8.9 cm).

Built with two in-house ASICs for fast response, the MXO 5C delivers an acquisition capture rate of up to 4.5 million waveforms per second. It also features a 12-bit ADC with a high-definition mode that increases vertical resolution to 18 bits. A small front-panel E-ink display shows key information, such as IP address, firmware version, and connectivity status.

Four-channel models offer bandwidths of 350 MHz, 500 MHz, 1 GHz, and 2 GHz. Eight-channel models provide the same bandwidths, with the addition of 100 MHz and 200 MHz options. Standard acquisition memory of 500 Mpoints per channel can be optionally upgraded to 1 Gpoint per channel.

Although tailored for rack-mount applications, the MXO 5C oscilloscopes can also be used on a bench by connecting an external display via their HDMI or DisplayPort interfaces. Other connectivity interfaces include two USB 3.0 and one 1-Gbit LAN.

The MXO 5C series oscilloscopes are now available from R&S and select distribution channel partners.

MXO 5C series product page

Rohde & Schwarz 

Find more datasheets on products like this one at Datasheets.com, searchable by category, part #, description, manufacturer, and more.

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A single-chip inverse cable equalizer, the QPC7330 from Qorvo allows CATV operators to upgrade their hybrid fiber coax (HFC) networks to DOCSIS 4.0. The QPC7330 streamlines field installation by eliminating the need for plug-ins or complicated circuitry to implement the input cable simulation function. Programmed through an I2C interface, the device seamlessly integrates into the automated setup routine.

The function of the QPC7330 75-Ω inverse cable equalizer is to flatten out an input signal with too much uptilt in a line extender or system amplifier. It features 25 states to simulate the loss of different lengths of coaxial cable, offering tilt adjustments from 1 dB to 24 dB (measured from 108 MHz to 1794 MHz). The device integrates all equalizer functions, including a low-loss bypass mode, into a 10×14-mm laminate over-mold module.

The QPC7330 inverse cable equalizer is sampling now, with production quantities available in August 2024.

QPC7330 product page

Qorvo

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ST’s A6983 step-down synchronous DC/DC converters provide space savings in light-load, low-noise, and isolated automotive applications. The series offers flexible design choices, including six non-isolated step-down converters in low-power and low-noise configurations, plus one isolated buck converter. With compensation circuitry on-chip, these devices help minimize both size and design complexity.

Non-isolated A6983 converters supply a load current up to 3 A and achieve 88% typical efficiency at full load. Low-power variants minimize drain on the vehicle battery in applications that remain active when parked. Low-noise types operate with constant switching frequency and reduce output ripple across the load range. These devices offer a choice of 3.3-V, 5.0-V, and adjustable output voltage.

The A6983I is a 10-W isolated buck converter with primary-side regulation that eliminates the need for an optocoupler. It allows accurate adjustment of the primary output voltage, while the transformer turns ratio determines the secondary voltage.

All of the AEC-Q100 qualified converters have a quiescent operating current of 25 µA and a power-saving mode that draws less than 2 µA. Input voltage ranges from 3.5 V to 38 V, with load-dump tolerance up to 40 V.

The converters come in 3×3-mm QFN16 packages. Prices start at $1.75 and $1.81 for the A6983 and A6983I, respectively, in lots of 1000 units. Free samples are available from the ST eStore.

A6983 product page

A6983I product page

STMicroelectronics

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