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In the realm of lighting, one of the most iconic and enduring symbols is the filament bulb. While newer technologies have emerged, the filament bulb continues to hold a special place in our hearts and homes. In this blog, we delve into the world of filament bulbs, exploring what they are, how they work, their uses, and their advantages.

What is a Filament Bulb?

A filament bulb, also known as an incandescent bulb, is a type of light bulb that produces light by heating a thin tungsten wire filament to a high temperature until it glows. The filament is housed within a glass bulb filled with inert gas to prevent the filament from oxidizing and burning out too quickly.

How Does a Filament Bulb Work?

The principle behind the operation of a filament bulb is simple yet elegant. When an electric current passes through the filament, it encounters resistance, which causes the filament to heat up. As the temperature rises, the filament emits light in the visible spectrum, illuminating its surroundings.

Filament Bulb Uses

Filament bulbs have been a staple in lighting applications for over a century. While their popularity has waned with the advent of more energy-efficient alternatives, filament bulbs still find use in various settings, including:

1. Decorative Lighting: Filament bulbs are prized for their warm, inviting glow, making them a popular choice for decorative lighting in homes, restaurants, and cafes.
2. Vintage Aesthetics: With their classic design and nostalgic appeal, filament bulbs are often used in vintage-inspired interiors, adding a touch of old-world charm.
3. Display Lighting: Filament bulbs are ideal for highlighting merchandise in retail displays, creating an attractive ambience that draws customers’ attention.
4. Special Events: From weddings to outdoor parties, filament bulbs are a popular choice for creating a festive atmosphere, casting a warm and inviting glow over gatherings.

Filament Bulb Advantages

While filament bulbs may not be as energy-efficient as their LED counterparts, they still offer several advantages that make them a preferred choice in certain scenarios:

1. Warmth and Ambiance: Filament bulbs emit a warm, soft light that closely resembles natural sunlight, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere wherever they are used.
2. Instant On: Unlike some energy-saving bulbs that require time to reach full brightness, filament bulbs provide instant illumination, making them ideal for areas where immediate light is needed.
3. Dimmable: Many filament bulbs are dimmable, allowing users to adjust the brightness to suit their preferences and set the mood for different occasions.
4. Affordability: Filament bulbs are often more affordable than LED bulbs, making them a cost-effective lighting solution for those on a budget.
5. Compatibility: Filament bulbs are compatible with most standard fixtures, making them an easy and convenient replacement for traditional incandescent bulbs.

In Conclusion

While filament bulbs may no longer be the go-to choice for energy-conscious consumers, their timeless appeal and unique characteristics continue to make them a popular lighting option in many settings. Whether used for decorative purposes, vintage aesthetics, or special events, filament bulbs shine bright as a symbol of illumination’s enduring legacy.

 

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Microchip Technology Inc. launches a new family of integrated motor drivers, leveraging its dsPIC Digital Signal Controllers (DSC). This innovative solution integrates a dsPIC33 DSC, a three-phase MOSFET gate driver, and an optional LIN or CAN FD transceiver into a single package. It provides a comprehensive solution for efficient, real-time embedded motor control in space-constrained applications.

This integration reduces the components needed for motor control system designs, leading to smaller PCB sizes and simplified design complexity. Particularly beneficial for automotive, consumer, and industrial applications where high performance and compact form factors are crucial.

Key Features Include:

• Single power supply operation up to 29V (operation) and 40V (transient).
• Internal 3.3V low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator for the dsPIC DSC.
• Operating frequencies between 70—100 MHz, enabling high CPU performance for advanced motor control algorithms like field-oriented control (FOC).

Microchip supports the development and deployment of these integrated motor drivers with a comprehensive ecosystem of software and hardware tools. This includes development boards, reference designs, application notes, and the motorBench Development Suite V2.45, a free GUI-based software tool for FOC. Additionally, the dsPIC33CK Motor Control Starter Kit (MCSK) and the MCLV-48V-300W development board offer rapid prototyping solutions with flexible control options for various motor control applications.

Joe Thomsen, Vice President of Microchip’s Digital Signal Controllers Business Unit, highlighted the advantages of the new integrated motor drivers, stating, “By integrating multiple device functions into one chip, the dsPIC DSC-based integrated motor drivers can reduce system-level costs and board space, meeting the evolving demands for higher performance and reduced footprints in various designs.”

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Artificial Intelligence is currently driving an exponential increase in global data generation, and consequently increasing the energy demands of the chips supporting this data growth. Today, Infineon Technologies AG launched its TDM2254xD series dual-phase power modules that enable best-in-class power density, quality and total cost of ownership (TCO) for AI data centres. The TDM2254xD series products blend innovation in robust OptiMOSTM MOSFET technology with novel packaging and proprietary magnetic structure to deliver industry-leading electrical and thermal performance with robust mechanical design. This lets data centres operate at a higher efficiency to meet the high power demands of AI GPU (Graphic Processor Unit) platforms while also significantly reducing TCO. 

Given that AI servers require 3 times more energy than traditional servers and data centres already consume more than 2 per cent of the global energy supply, it is essential to find innovative power solutions and architecture designs that further drive decarbonization. Paving the way for the green AI factory, Infineon’s TDM2254xD dual-phase power modules combine with XDPTM Controller technology to enable efficient voltage regulation for high-performance computing platforms with superior electrical, thermal and mechanical operation.

Infineon introduced the TDM2254xD series at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC). The modules’ unique design allows for efficient heat transfer from the power stage onto the heat sink through a novel inductor design that is optimized to transfer current and heat, thereby allowing for a 2 per cent higher efficiency than industry average modules at full load. Improving power efficiency at the core of a GPU yields significant energy savings at scale. This translates into megawatts saved for data centres computing generative AI and in turn leads to reduced CO2 emissions and millions of dollars in operating cost savings over the system’s lifetime. 

“This unique Product-to-System solution combined with our cutting-edge manufacturing lets Infineon deliver solutions with differentiated performance and quality at scale, thereby significantly reducing total cost of ownership for our customers,” said Athar Zaidi, Senior Vice President of Power & Sensor Systems at Infineon Technologies. “We are excited to bring this solution to market; it will accelerate computing performance and will further drive our mission of digitalization and decarbonization.”

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So my dad who passed back in 09 was, back in his day, big into older electronics, he had this stash of unused tubes back when they adopted me in 83. They're dirty, but all unused. I don't even know where to start with getting rid of them. submitted by /u/WerewolfUnable8641 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/koitharu [link] [comments]

When analog circuits mix with digital, the former are sometimes dissatisfied with the latter’s usual single supply rail. This creates a need for additional, often negative polarity, voltage sources that are commonly provided by capacitive charge pumps.

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

The simplest type is the diode pump, consisting of just two diodes and two capacitors. But it has the inherent disadvantages of needing a separately sourced square wave to drive it and of producing an output voltage magnitude that’s at least two diode drops less than the supply rail. 

Active charge pump switches (typically CMOS FETs) are required to avoid that.

Many CMOS charge pump chips are available off the shelf. Examples include the multi-sourced ICL7660 and the Maxim MAX1673 pumps that serve well in applications where the current load isn’t too heavy. But they aren’t always particularly cheap (the 1673 for example is > $5 in singles) and besides, sometimes the designer just feels the call to roll their own. Illustrated here is an example of the peculiar outcomes that can happen when that temptation isn’t resisted.

The saga begins with Figure 1, showing a (vastly simplified) sketch of a CMOS logic inverter.

Figure 1 Simplified schema of typical basic CMOS gate I/O circuitry showing clamping diodes and complementary FET switch pair.

Notice first the input and output clamping diodes. These are included mainly to protect the chip from ESD damage, but a diode is a diode and can therefore perform other useful functions, too. Similarly, the P-channel FET pair was intended to connect the V+ rail to the output pin when outputting a logic ONE, and the N-channel for connection to V- to pin for a ZERO. But CMOS FETs will willingly conduct current in either direction when ON. Thus, current running from pin to rail works just as well as from rail to pin. 

Figure 2 shows how these basic CMOS facts relate to charge pumping and voltage inversion.

Figure 2 Simplified topology of logic gates comprising voltage inverter, showing driver device (U1), switch device (U2), and coupling (Cc), pump (Cp), and filter (Cf) capacitors.

 Imagine two inverters interconnected as shown in Figure 2 with a square wave control signal coupled directly to U1’s input and through DC blocking cap Cc to U2’s with U2’s input clamps providing DC restoration.

Consider the ZERO state half cycle of the square wave. Both U1 and U2 P-channel FETs will turn on, connecting the U1 end of Cp to V+ and the U2 end to ground. This will charge Cp with its U1 terminal at V+ and its U2 end at ground. Note the reversed polarity of current flow into U2’s output pin due to Cp driving the pin positive and from there to ground through U2’s P FET and positive rail pin.

Then consider what happens when the control signal reverses to the ONE state.

Now the P FETs will turn OFF while the N FETs turn ON. This forces the charge previously accepted by Cc to be dumped to ground through U1 and its complement drawn from U2’s V- pin, thus completing a charge-pumping cycle that delivers a quantum of negative charge:

Q- = -(CpV+ + Cf V–)

to be deposited on Cf. Note that reversed current flow through U2 occurs again. This cycle will repeat with the next reversal of the control signal, and so on, etc., etc.

During startup, until sufficient voltage accumulates on Cf for normal operation of internal gate circuitry and FET gate drive, U2 clamp diodes serve to rectify the Cp drive signal and charge Cf.

That’s the theory. Translation of Figure 2 into practice as a complete voltage inverter is shown in Figure 3. It’s really not as complicated as it looks.

Figure 3 Complete voltage inverter: 100 kHz pump clock (set by R1C1), Schmidt trigger and driver (U1), and commutator (U2).

 A 100 kHz pump clock is output on pin 2 of 74AC14 Schmidt trigger U1. This signal is routed to the five remaining gates of U1 and the six gates of U2 (via coupling cap C2). Negative charge transfer occurs through C3 into U2 and accumulates on filter cap C5.

Even though the Schmidt hysteresis feature isn’t really needed for U2, the same type is used for both chips to improve efficiency-promoting synchronicity of charge-pump switching.

Some performance specs (V+ = 5V):

• Impedance of V- output: 8.5 Ω
• Maximum continuous load: 50 mA
• Efficiency at 50 mA load: 92%
• Efficiency at 25 mA load: 95%
• Unloaded power consumption: 440 µW
• Startup time < 1 millisecond

But finally, is there a cost advantage to rolling your own? Well, in singles, the 1673 is $5, the 7660 about $2, but two 74AC14s can be had for only a buck. The cost of passive components is similar, but this DI circuit has more solder joints and occupies more board area. So, the bottom line…??

But at least using outputs as inputs and ground as an output was fun.

And an afterthought: For higher voltage operation, simply drop in CD4106B metal-gate chips for the 74AC14s, then with no other changes, V+ and V- can be as high as 20V.

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

• A simple, accurate, and efficient charge pump voltage inverter for $1 (in singles)
• Turn negative regulator “upside-down” to create bipolar supply from single source
• “Sub-zero” op-amp regulates charge pump inverter
• Cancel PWM DAC ripple with analog subtraction but no inverter
• The ins and outs of charge-pump-converter ICs

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The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity (OE) has launched the $2.25m American-Made Silicon Carbide (SiC) Packaging Prize. This contest invites competitors to propose, design, build and test state-of-the-art SiC semiconductor packaging prototypes to enable these devices to work more effectively in high-voltage environments such as energy storage. The prize is part of the American-Made Challenges program, which fosters collaboration between the USA’s entrepreneurs and innovators, DOE’s National Labs, and the private sector...

In a groundbreaking announcement, Saelig Company introduced the PicoScope 6428E-D, a cutting-edge four-channel high-speed oscilloscope. This innovative addition to Pico Technology’s renowned PicoScope 6000E Series boasts an impressive bandwidth of up to 3GHz and a remarkable maximum vertical resolution of 12 bits into 50ohm inputs. Featuring an unprecedented real-time sampling rate of 10GSa/s, the PicoScope 6428E-D sets a new standard for precision and performance in waveform analysis.

One of its standout features is its ability to accommodate larger than ±500mV input signals with external attenuators or probes specifically designed for 50ohm inputs. The device’s 4GSa buffer can hold up to two 200ms captures at the maximum sampling rate, facilitating the recording of multiple instances of complex signals under varying conditions. This capability is instrumental in quickly capturing high-frequency signals with unparalleled precision for detailed signal analysis. Moreover, the PicoScope 6428E-D can display single-shot pulses with an impressive 100ps time resolution, enabling users to uncover critical signal integrity issues such as timing errors, glitches, dropouts, crosstalk, and metastability issues.

Key Features:

• 4 channels with four input ranges per channel (±50mV, ±100mV, ±200mV, ±500mV)
• Up to 3GHz bandwidth
• 100ps time resolution
• 4GSa capture memory
• Up to 10 GSa/s real-time sampling
• 8-, 10-, or 12-bit flexible resolution (FlexRes)
• Segmented memory/rapid block trigger
• Built-in 50MHz 14-bit function generator/AWG
• Fast transfer of captured data via USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connection
• PicoScope software included, with drivers and SDK (Windows, Linux, Mac)
• Programming examples for LabView, MATLAB, Python, and C++

Applications:

• High-energy physics
• Particle accelerators
• LIDAR (light detection and ranging)
• VISAR (velocity-interferometer system for any reflector)
• Spectroscopy
• Medical imaging
• Semiconductor/Production test
• Non-destructive testing

Designed for scientists, engineers, and researchers involved in high-speed applications, the PicoScope 6428E-D caters to the need for capturing, measuring, and analyzing sub-nanosecond waveform events. Whether used as a standalone instrument or integrated into a larger system, this oscilloscope offers unparalleled performance at a competitive cost. Unlike traditional benchtop mixed-signal oscilloscopes, which occupy significant bench space and are often financially out of reach for many engineers, the 6428E-D provides a cost-effective solution without compromising on quality. Additionally, users benefit from free software upgrades as new features become available.

Manufactured by Pico Technology, Europe’s award-winning test and measurement manufacturer, the PicoScope 6428E-D is now available through Saelig Company, Inc., their USA technical distributor.

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A corresponding ecosystem of support tools will help simplify motor control system development and accelerate time to market

To implement efficient, real-time embedded motor control systems in space-constrained applications, Microchip Technology has launched a new family of dsPIC Digital Signal Controller (DSC)-based integrated motor drivers. These devices incorporate a dsPIC33 digital signal controller (DSC), a three-phase MOSFET gate driver and an optional LIN or CAN FD transceiver into one package. A significant benefit of this integration is reduction in component count of the motor control system design, smaller printed circuit board (PCB) dimensions and reduced complexity. The devices are supported by development boards, reference designs, application notes and Microchip’s field-oriented control (FOC) software development suite, motorBench Development Suite V2.45.

“Automotive, consumer and industrial designs are evolving and require higher performance and reduced footprints. These expectations often come at a higher expense and increase in dimensional size,” said Joe Thomsen, vice president of Microchip’s digital signal controllers business unit. “By integrating multiple device functions into one chip, the dsPIC DSC-based integrated motor drivers can reduce system-level costs and board space.”

The integrated motor driver devices can be powered by a single power supply up to 29V (operation) and 40V (transient). An internal 3.3V low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator powers the dsPIC DSC, which eliminates the need for an external LDO to power the device. Operating between 70—100 MHz, the dsPIC DSC-based integrated motor drivers provide high CPU performance and can support efficient deployment of FOC and other advanced motor control algorithms.

Development Tools

An extensive ecosystem of motor control software and hardware development tools helps make the design process faster and easier, reducing the customer’s time to market.

The dsPIC33CK Motor Control Starter Kit (MCSK) and the MCLV-48V-300W are two new dsPIC33-based integrated motor driver development boards that provide rapid prototyping solutions with flexible control options. The MCSK includes a dsPIC33CK low-voltage motor control development board, a 24V three-phase BLDC motor, an AC/DC adapter, a USB cable and other accessories. This cost-effective kit supports fast prototyping of motor control applications that operate between 12 and 48 VDC with up to 10 Amps of continuous current. The MCLV-48V-300W development board enables fast prototyping of three-phase permanent magnet synchronous motors that are rated between 12 and 48 VDC and capable of delivering up to 25A RMS continuous current per phase. This inverter board introduces a new modular concept where a separate dual-in-line module (DIM) is inserted into the board to configure it for a particular dsPIC DSC or MCU.

The motorBench Development Suite is a free GUI-based software development tool for FOC that accurately measures critical motor parameters, automatically tunes feedback control gains and generates source code by utilizing the motor control application framework (MCAF). The latest version, v2.45, includes a powerful new feature called zero-speed/maximum torque (ZS/MT), which enables designers to eliminate Hall or magnetic sensors while maximizing the torque output from the motor, from start-up and at low speeds. This feature can be used in pumps, power tools, e-Mobility and many other applications.

MPLAB Discover now contains many dsPIC DSC-based MATLAB Simulink models supporting various motor control algorithms and development boards. Microchip also provides free device blocks for Simulink that can be used to generate optimized code from models for dsPIC DSCs and other Microchip MCUs.

The growing number of dsPIC DSC-based motor control reference designs now includes an automotive cooling fan, low-voltage ceiling fan and a drone propeller controller. These reference designs shorten the time to market by providing a production-ready solution for various motor control applications. Typically, the board design files include schematics and a BOM, a board user’s guide and motor control source code that are available for download.

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The LED packaging market will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9% from US$16bn in 2024 to US$19.4bn in 2029, forecasts a new report from MarketsandMarkets...

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA has released what is believed to be the first comprehensive economic analysis of a vertically integrated solar manufacturer’s value chain in the USA. Commissioned by First Solar and conducted by the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the study used IMPLAN economic software to analyze First Solar’s actual and forecasted US spending in 2023 and 2026, when the company expects to have 14GW of annual nameplate capacity across Alabama, Louisiana and Ohio...

In its meeting room (Hall 2, #2D12MR) on the show floor at Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona (26–29 February), Finwave Semiconductor Inc of Waltham, MA, USA is hosting demonstrations of its latest technology and products, including unveiling the newest performance benchmarks with its gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology and high-power switches targeting the infrastructure and handset markets...

Photovoltaic systems (PV systems) have a central role to play in providing sustainable energy for the future. From private balcony power plants to systems on the roofs of apartment buildings and commercial photovoltaic fields, subsidy programmes and legal simplifications are designed to accelerate the expansion of Europe’s energy systems. Thus, aspects of building-services technology, PV systems, energy storage and control, as well as systems integration, are set to gain significance at the coming Light + Building from 3 to 8 March 2024.

At Light + Building, the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building-services technology, over 2,000 national and international manufacturers are getting ready to present both intelligent lighting systems and future-oriented home and building-services technology. The electrical infrastructure is a prerequisite for convenient home and building automation, efficient energy storage and management, the connection of PV systems and charging stations, as well as electrical heating systems.

“Trade fairs mirror markets. And Light + Building directly reflects the latest developments in the sector. In the field of building-services technology, the subjects of the source, independence and storage of energy have become increasingly important over recent years. Accordingly, these topics are also growing in significance at Light + Building with the number of exhibitors showing such products and services increasing and new companies discovering the world’s leading trade fair for themselves,” says Johannes Möller, Director of Brand Management Light + Building.

Solutions for increasingly important subjects, such as PV systems and energy storage, dominate Halls 11 and 12. 70 of the exhibitors there are experts for the subjects of e‑mobility and charging infrastructure while 45 companies present innovations and products for decentralised energy-supply systems and components. Ten of them are specialists in photovoltaic systems. The key players in Halls 11 and 12 include ABB, ABL, Amperfied, Bosch Thermotechnik, Compleo Charging Solutions, Fronius, Go-e, Hager, Hensel, Hepa Solar, Legrand, Mennekes, OBO Bettermann, Phoenix Contact, Schneider Electric, Siemens, SMA, Senec, Spelsberg, Walther-Werke, Weidmüller and Wieland.

With electrical engineering, home and building automation and connected safety and security technology (Intersec Building), the world of building-services technology is also to be found in Hall 9.

Knowledge transfer & networking: events spotlighting regenerative energies

The Building Plaza in Hall 9.0 is the meeting place for knowledge transfer, events and inspiration in the field of building-services technology. On Tuesday, 5 March 2024, the programme revolves around the subject of regenerative energies with numerous lectures and panel discussions being held under the motto ‘Storing and managing energy’. The programme continues on Wednesday and Thursday, 6 and 7 March 2024, with the first ‘Building in the Energy Transition’ congress. Under the heading ‘Light up the Future: Innovations for a sustainable energy supply in buildings and districts’, visitors can look forward to lectures, panel discussions and tours of the fair offering insights into the latest research from the field of sustainable energy supplies for buildings.

Light + Building – the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Lighting and Building Technology.

The Light + Building event will take place from 3 to 8 March 2024.

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Whether A for Architecture Day or Z for ZVEI Technology Forum – the range of events, specialist presentations and guided tours at Light + Building in Frankfurt am Main is huge. At the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building-services technology from March 3 to 8, 2024, the abundance of events will ensure a plus in knowledge transfer and inspiration.

Light + Building is the international meeting place for manufacturers from the fields of lighting, electrical engineering, home and building automation and connected security technology from March 3 to 8, 2024. The focus is on solutions for the sustainable, safe and comfortable use of homes and buildings. A visit to the trade fair will be an experience thanks to the huge range of talks, specialist lectures, presentations and award ceremonies. Detailed information can be found in the Light + Building event calendar at: www.light-building.com/events

An overview of the wide range of events at Light + Building:

Focus: Architecture, light & design

Design Plaza Hall 3.1, Stand B50

Designer Annetta Palmisano from the bora.herke.Palmisano Style Agency will be presenting the 2024/25 trends for lighting design every day. The team will also be staging the three themes in a trend presentation in Hall 3.1 Stand F81.

On March 3, the stage will be under the sign of World Architects. The programme includes Talks + Tours with Sophia Klees at 11:00 a.m. and Prof. Andreas Schulz at 3 p.m. Further guided tours in English will take place on March 6 at 11 a.m. with Sabine De Schutter and at 2 p.m. with Ulrike Brandi.

The Designplus Awards by Light + Building will be announced in the afternoon at 1.30 p.m. In cooperation with Stylepark, a magazine & platform for architecture and design, Messe Frankfurt will present the awards. All award-winning products will be on display in a special show in the passageway of the foyer in Hall 5.1/6.1 for the entire duration of the fair. Stylepark will be exchanging ideas with selected winners of the Designplus Awards on stage on March 4. Another award ceremony will take place on March 4: the EK Service Group honours the ‘Retailer of the Year’.

Architonic editor-in-chief Simon Keane-Cowell from the DAAily platform group will explore the challenges and opportunities as well as the latest developments in the world of lighting design and planning in a series of entertaining interviews on March 5. Included will be some of the best international A&D practitioners. Outstanding works in the field of lighting design will be honoured with the German Lighting Design Award. The nominees for 2024 will be presented at Light + Building 2024. Another guest on the stage that day will be the Messe Frankfurt’s Italian subsidiary with the theme ‘Right to housing’.

The Design Plaza will be all about light and lighting topics when the Lighting Association of the German Electro and Digital Industry Association (ZVEI) takes to the stage on Wednesday, March 6. This will bring together lighting experts for roundtable discussions on the topics of sustainability, efficiency and digitalization.

For the first time, the IALD – International Association of Lighting Designers will also be a guest on stage on March 7, providing a day of high-quality content.

On International Women’s Day, March 8, the ‘Women in Lighting’ project will be celebrating its 5th anniversary at Light + Building. The theme for the stage programme in the morning is ‘Inspire Inclusion’. This will be followed by a networking session at lunchtime.

Exhibitor Stage@Light + Building, Hall 5.0, Stand B60

The experts for light and lighting will be in the spotlight on the Exhibitor Stage in Hall 5.0. For the first time, there will be alternating specialist lectures and presentations by exhibitors from March 4 to 7.

Focus: Technology & topics of the built world

Building Plaza, Hall 9.0, Stand D60

The leading content creators in the craft industry will come together live at the Power Creator Days on March 3 and 4. On stage, the online & social media world meets the trade fair action while content creators, visitors and exhibitors pedal together on charity bikes for energy generation. Messe Frankfurt converts the energy generated into a sum of money that is donated to a good cause.

MuP Verlag is organizing presentations on the topic of ‘Storing and managing energy’ on the stage on March 5. (lectures in German only)

The European industry organization REHVA will provide information on the topic of ‘Data Driven Smart Buildings’ at the Building Plaza on March 8.

BMWK areas with newcomers, Hall 9.0 / Hall 4.1

Entrepreneurial newcomers to the industry have a special place at Light + Building Autumn Edition. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) is organizing a joint stand in Hall 9.0 in the Electrical Engineering product area and in Hall 4.1 in the Technical Lighting product area.

E-House of the electrical trades, Hall 11.0 C07/D07

The focus of the ZVEH’s E-House in 2024 will be on the topics of ‘energy efficiency’, ‘sustainable energy supply’ and ‘smart health’. Among other things, it will showcase an integrated energy management system that incorporates a PV system, storage unit and heat pump as well as charging infrastructure for e-mobility. It controls the energy flows in the house according to the individual requirements of the residents.

Exhibitor Stage@Light + Building, Hall 11.0, FOY01

For the first time, there will be a stage for specialist lectures and presentations by exhibitors in the building area in Hall 11.0. From March 4 to 7, experts will take turns here to impart know-how on selected topics from the built world.

BIM by BTGA, Hall 11/Portalhaus, Via Ebene, Stand B02

The ‘BIM Cave’ will be at the centre of the trade fair appearance of the Federal Association of the Building Services Industry (BTGA) in 2024. To this end, the BTGA trade fair stand itself will become a BIM model. This gives visitors the opportunity to experience BIM live and discover the benefits of this digital planning method.

IEECB&SC and European ESCO Conference, March 6-7, Portalhaus

The 12th International Conference on Improving Energy Efficiency in Commercial Buildings and Smart Communities (IEECB&SC’24) and the European ESCO Conference will bring together all the key players in the field of commercial buildings and neighbourhood planning. The congress opens on March 6 and 7 from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. in the Portalhaus on level Via, room Frequenz.

House of Energy, March 5/6, Portalhaus

‘Connecting sustainable technologies together’ is the motto of the annual House of Energy Congress on March 6 and 7 in the Portalhaus.

ZVEI Technology Forum, Hall 12.1

The electrification and digitalization of the building sector is the focus of the ZVEI Technology Forum. Experts from ZVEI member companies will take a manufacturer-neutral and cross-product look at innovative solutions and systems as well as changes to standards.

Light + Building – the world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building services technology. The next Light + Building opens its doors from 3 to 8 March 2024.

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Arrow Electronics, Inc. and its engineering services company, eInfochips, are working with Infineon Technologies to help eInfochips’ customers accelerate the development of electric vehicle (EV) chargers.

Development of EV chargers, especially DC “fast chargers,” is becoming increasingly challenging to equipment manufacturers due to several factors, such as lack of prior experience, stringent functional safety and reliability requirements, and a fledgling support network. The collaboration between Arrow and Infineon aims to help innovators navigate these challenges while accelerating time-to-market.

As part of the collaboration, Arrow’s High Power Center of Excellence has developed a 30kW DC fast charger reference platform. This includes Infineon’s 1200V CoolSiC Easy power modules and also hardware design, embedded firmware, bi-directional charging support and energy metering functionality.

“Combining Arrow’s strength in components, engineering and design services with Infineon’s innovative products will help customers accelerate their design and speed to market in e-mobility applications,” said Murdoch Fitzgerald, vice president, global engineering and design services at Arrow. “Customers can rely on this collaboration to deliver innovative and leading edge DC faster chargers, accelerate and de-risk design cycles, and get access to a world-class support team enabling them to plan and manage their product roadmap and lifecycles.”

“Infineon is on a drive towards decarbonization and digitalization with our ecosystem partners, and this collaboration with Arrow is a testament to this mission,” said Shri Joshi, vice president of Green Industrial Power, Infineon Technologies Americas. “The joint 30kW DC fast charger reference platform, which includes Infineon’s latest power modules and devices, will help our customers bring more fast chargers to market as the future moves to electrical vehicles. We look forward to this ongoing collaboration to support our customer base.”

The first reference design from this collaboration, a production-grade 30kW DC fast charger reference development platform, is being demonstrated at the Applied Power Electronics Conference, Feb. 25-29, in Long Beach, Calif.

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ROHM has announced the adoption of its 650V GaN device (EcoGaN) in the C4 Duo, a 45W output USB-C charger from Innergie, a brand of Delta. Delta is a global provider of IoT-based Smart Green Solutions headquartered in Taiwan. ROHM’s EcoGaN device contributes to greater application performance, reliability, and miniaturization by providing higher efficiency in power supply systems.

Efforts to save energy are accelerating toward achieving a sustainable society by reducing power loss, especially in equipment that handle high power. Furthermore, GaN devices that enable high-speed switching are being considered for power supplies, since high-frequency operation not only saves energy but also allows the use of smaller circuits.

Offering GaN-based devices under the brand name EcoGaN, ROHM is advancing product development and providing solutions by focusing on mastering the use of GaN, which has high potential but is difficult to handle. For discrete products, mass production of 150V withstand GaN HEMTs began in 2022 and 650V withstand GaN HEMTs in 2023 featuring industry-leading device performance (RDS(ON) × Ciss / RDS(ON) × Coss). What’s more, integrating an ESD protection element into the GNP1150TCA-Z improves ESD breakdown tolerance by approximately 75% over standard GaN HEMTs, and has been evaluated to improve application reliability that ultimately led its adoption.

Yuhei Yamaguchi, General Manager, Power Stage Product Development Dept., LSI Business Div., ROHM Co., Ltd.

We are pleased to have ROHM’s EcoGaN incorporated into USB-C chargers from Delta, a global leader in power and thermal management solutions. ROHM contributes to Delta’s prowess in high-energy power supplies by leveraging analog technology that maximizes power semiconductor performance and achieves superior topologies. Both companies share a similar management vision to realize a decarbonized and digital society, forming a strong partnership that resulted in the adoption of ROHM devices and ICs in Delta’s power circuit design. Furthermore, we look forward to our continued collaboration to promote greater miniaturization and efficiency in chargers and other products that can contribute to enriching people’s lives.

Jason Chen, General Manager, Innergie, a brand of Delta

The development of GaN power devices is a major focus in the global electronics industry, and therefore, we have deepened our collaboration with ROHM over the past several years. Moreover, in 2022, we initiated a strategic partnership to jointly develop next-generation power semiconductors for power supply systems. This partnership has delivered ROHM’s advanced 650V GaN (GNP1150TCA-Z) devices, which are now supporting Innergie’s new products. The C4 Duo is the first model from Innergie’s One for All Series adapters to use ROHM’s GaN devices, and we expect more models to adopt this state-of-the-art technology. We believe that, by strengthening our collaboration with ROHM, we will be able to provide customers adapters featuring higher power efficiency and capability, but with much smaller product size.

ROHM EcoGaN

Refers to ROHM’s new lineup of GaN devices that contribute to energy conservation and miniaturization by maximizing GaN characteristics to achieve lower application power consumption, smaller peripheral components, and simpler designs requiring fewer parts.

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Arrow Electronics Inc and its engineering services company eInfochips are working with Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany to help eInfochips’ customers accelerate the development of electric vehicle (EV) chargers...

I habitually, admittedly, hold onto computers far longer than I should, in the spirit of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (not to mention “a penny saved is a penny earned”). What I repeatedly forget, in the midst of this ongoing grasping, is that while the computer I’m clinging to might originally have been speedy, sizeable and otherwise “enough” for my needs, the passage of time inevitably diminishes its capabilities. Some of this decline is the result of the inevitable “cruft” it accumulates as I install and then upgrade and/or uninstall applications and their foundation operating systems, as well as the data files I create using them (such as the Word file I’m typing into now). I also fiscally-conveniently overlook, for example, that newer operating system and application revisions make ever-increasing demands on the computer hardware.

Usually, what compels me to finally make the “leap of faith” to something new is some variant of utter desperation: either the existing hardware has been (or will soon be) dropped from the software support list or a software update has introduced a bug that the developer has decided not to fix. Today’s two case studies reflect both of these scenarios, and although the paths to the replacement systems were bumpy, the outcomes were worth the effort (not to mention everything I learned along the way). So much, in fact, that I’ve got another upgrade queued for the upcoming Christmas holiday next-week (as I write these words in mid-December 2023). Wonder how long I’ll wait to update next time?

The 2020 (Intel-based) Apple 13” Apple Retina MacBook Pro (RMBP)

This one had actually been sitting on my shelf for more a year, awaiting its turn in my active-computer rotation, ever since I saw it on sale brand new and open-box discounted at Small Dog Electronics’ website for $1,279.99. When I found out that this particular unit also came with AppleCare+ extended warranty coverage good through mid-May 2025, therefore representing a nearly $1,000 discount from the new-from-Apple total price tag, I pulled the purchase trigger.

It represents the very last iteration of Intel-based laptops from Apple, introduced in May 2020. Why x86, versus Apple Silicon-based? I went for it due in part to its ability to run not only MacOS but also Windows, either virtualized or natively, although I also have a 13” M1 MacBook Air (also open-box, also from Small Dog Electronics, and with similar RAM and SSD capacities: keep reading) in queued inventory for whenever Apple decides to drop x86 support completely.

This high-end RMBP variant, based on a 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 “Ice Lake” CPU, includes four Thunderbolt 3 ports, two on either side, versus the two left-side-only configurations of lower-end models. It also integrates 16 GBytes of RAM and a 512 GByte SSD. Unlike its 2016-2019 “butterfly” keyboard precursors, it returns to the reliable legacy “scissors” keyboard (this actually was key—bad pun intended—for me) that Apple amusingly rebranded as the “Magic Keyboard”. Above the keyboard are the Touch ID authentication sensor alongside the nifty (at least to me), now-deprecated Touch Bar. And thankfully, Bluetooth audio support in MacOS 12 “Monterey” for Zoom and other online meeting and webinar apps now works again.

Normally, I’d restore a Time Machine backup, originating from the old machine, to the new one to get me going with the initial setup. But at the time, I was more than 1,000 miles away from my NAS, at my relatives’ house for the Thanksgiving holidays. Migration Assistant was a conceptual alternative, although from what I’ve heard it’s sometimes more trouble than it’s worth. Instead, particularly with my earlier “cruft” comment in mind, I decided to just start from scratch with software reinstalls. That said, I still leveraged a portable drive along with my relatives’ Wi-Fi to copy relevant data files from the old to new machine.

The process was slow and tedious, but the outcome was a solid success. I can still hear the new system’s fan fire up sometimes (a friend with an Apple Silicon system mocks me mercilessly for this) but the new machine’s notably faster than its predecessor. Firefox, for example, thankfully is much snapper than it was before. And speaking of Mozilla applications, I was able to migrate both my Firefox and Thunderbird profiles over intact and glitch-free; the most I ended up having to do was to manually disable and re-enable my browser extensions to get them working again, along with renaming my device name in the new computer’s browser settings for account sync purposes. Oh, and since the new system’s not port-diversity-adorned like its precursor, I also had to assemble a baggie of USB-C “dongles” for USB-A, HDMI, SD cards, wired Ethernet…sigh.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ (SP7+) for business

This next one shouldn’t be surprising to regular readers, as I telegraphed my intentions back in early November. The question you may have, however, is why did I tackle the succession now? For the earlier-discussed MacBook Pro, the transition timing is more understandable, as its early-2015 predecessor will fall off Apple’s O/S-supported hardware list in less than a year. Its performance slowdowns were becoming too noticeable to ignore. And the Bluetooth audio issues I started having after its most recent major O/S upgrade were the icing on the cake.

The Surface Pro 5 (SP5), on the other hand, runs Windows 10, for which Microsoft has promised full support until at least mid-October 2025, longer if you pay up. Its overheating-induced clock throttling was annoying but didn’t occur that often. And although its RAM and SSD capacity limitations were constraining, I could still work around them. Part of the answer, frankly, ties back to how smoothly the RMBP replacement had gone; it tempted me to tackle the SP7+ upgrade sooner than I otherwise would. And another part of the answer is that I wanted to be able to donate both legacy systems to charity while they were still supported and more generally could still be useful to someone else with less demanding use cases. Specifically, I hoped to wrap up both upgrades in time to get the precursor computers to EChO for pass-along in time for them to get wrapped up by their recipients as Christmas presents for others.

Once again, I did “clean” installs of my suite of applications to the SP7+. This strategy, versus an attempted “clone” of the old system’s mass storage contents, was even more necessary in this case because the two computers ran different operating systems (Windows 10 Pro vs Windows 11 Pro). And again, the process was slow but ultimately successful. That said, the overall transition was more complicated this time, due to what I tackled before the installs even started. As I’d mentioned back in November, one of the particularly appealing attributes of the SP7+ (and SP8, for that matter) versus the SP5 is that their SSDs (like that in my Surface Pro X) are user-accessible and -replaceable. What I did first, therefore, after updating Windows 11 and the driver suite to most current versions, was to clone the existing drive image in the new system to a larger-capacity replacement, initially installed in an external enclosure.

Here’s the 256 GByte m.2 2230 SSD that the system came with, complete with its surrounding heatsink, post-clone and removal:

And here’s the 1 TByte replacement, Samsung’s PM991a (PCIe 3.0-based, to allay any excess-energy consumption concerns):

before cloning the disk image to it and installing it (absent a heatsink or thermal tape, but it still seemingly works fine) in place of its precursor:

As you can probably tell from the sticker on one side, it wasn’t new-as-advertised. But it had been only lightly used (and the bulk of that was from me, doing multiple full- and quick-format cycles on it for both initial testing and failed-clone-recoveries) so I kept it:

First step, the clone. I’d thought this might be complicated a bit by the fact that since the system was running the Pro version of Windows 11, (potentially performance-sapping) BitLocker drive encryption was enabled by default. Fortunately, however, my cloning utility of choice (Macrium Reflect Free, which I’ve long recommended) was able to handle the clone as-is just fine, even on a booted O/S with an active partition, although it warned me afterwards that the image on the SSD containing the clone would be unencrypted. Fast forwarding to the future for a moment, I made sure to archive a copy of the existing SSD’s encryption key before doing the swap, in case I ever needed to use it again. The new SSD came up auto-re-encrypted by Windows on first boot, I didn’t need to re-activate the O/S, and I archived its BitLocker key, too, for good measure.

The other—hardware—aspect of the clone was more problematic. Here’s the enclosure that I used to temporarily house the new SSD, Orico’s TCM2-C3, which I bought back in February 2020 and have been using trouble-free for a variety of external-tether purposes ever since:

This time was different. I initially tried tethering the new SSD-inclusive enclosure to the SP7+ via the USB-C to USB-C cable that came with the enclosure, but shortly after each cloning operation attempt started, I’d get an obscure “Error Code 121 – The semaphore timeout period has expired” abort message from Macrium Reflect. Attempts to reformat the SSD before trying the clone again were also inconsistent, sometimes succeeding, other times not due to spontaneous disconnects. Eventually, I got everything to work by instead using the slower but more reliable USB-A to USB-C cable that also came with the enclosure. Is my USB-C to USB-C cable going bad? Or is something amiss with the USB-C transceiver in the system or the enclosure? Dunno.

Once I booted up the computer with the new SSD inside, I ran into two other issues. The first was that the initial O/S partition, which had been hidden on the original SSD, was now visible and had been assigned the C: drive letter. A dive into Windows’ Disk Management utility got this glitch sorted out.

The other quirk, which I’d encountered before, was that the new SSD still self-reported as 256 GBytes in size, the same capacity as its predecessor. Disk Management showed me the sizeable unused partition on the new SSD, which I’d normally be able to expand the main O/S partition into. In this particular case it wasn’t able to do so, though, because the two partitions were non-contiguous; in-between them was 650 Mbyte hidden Windows Recovery partition. I could have just deleted that one, although it would have complicated any subsequent if-needed recovery attempt. Instead, I used another slick (and gratis) utility, MiniTool’s Partition Wizard, to relocate the recovery partition to the “end”, thereby enabling successful O/S partition expansion:

And as hoped-for, the SP7+ is fully compatible with my full suite of existing SP5 accessories:

What’s next?

Requoting what I said upfront in this piece:

I’ve got another upgrade queued for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

It’s my “late 2014” Mac mini, which I’d transitioned to fairly recently, in mid-2021, for similar obsolescence reasons.

Like the early 2015 13” RMPB, it’s not scheduled to exit O/S support until mid-to-late 2024, but it’s becoming even more performance-archaic (due in part to its HDD-centric Fusion Drive configuration). Its replacement will be a 2018 Mac mini, also x86-based, whose specific configuration is “interesting” (I got a great deal on it, explaining why I went with it): a high-end 3.2 GHz Intel Core i7 CPU, coupled with 32 GBytes of RAM but only a 128 GByte SSD (which I plan to augment via external storage). Stand by for more details to come in a future post. And until then, I’m standing by for your thoughts on this piece in the comments!

—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the company’s online newsletter.

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AXT Inc of Fremont, CA, USA – which makes gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP) and germanium (Ge) substrates and raw materials – says that its full-year revenue fell by 46.3% from $141.1m in 2022 to $75.8m in 2023...